Josh Freeman didn't use his arm - just his body - to record his team's lone touchdown as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snapped a five-game losing skid against the Atlanta Falcons with a 16-13 home victory on Sunday.
Freeman threw for just 180 yards, but capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive in the second quarter by using his sizable frame at the goal line. The 6-foot-6 quarterback bulled his way into the end zone from 1 yard out with 3:37 remaining before halftime.
LeGarrette Blount rushed for 81 yards and Connor Barth kicked field goals of 49, 26 and 28 yards for Tampa Bay (2-1), which defeated Atlanta for the first time since Sept. 14, 2008.
Matt Ryan brought the Falcons to within six at 16-10 with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter when he found veteran tight end Tony Gonzalez for a 10-yard score.
Ryan completed 26 of 47 passes for 330 yards for Atlanta (1-2), which is now one loss shy of last season's total. Roddy White had a team-leading nine catches for 140 yards while rookie Julio Jones added six for 115.
Atlanta | Tampa Bay | |
Michael Turner | Player | LeGarrette Blount |
11 | Attempts | 24 |
20 | Yards | 81 |
1.8 | Avg Yards | 3.4 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
9 | Long | 12 |
Atlanta | Tampa Bay | |
Roddy White | Player | Mike Williams |
9 | Receptions | 5 |
140 | Yards | 43 |
15.6 | Avg Yards | 8.6 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
30 | Long | 16 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Atlanta | 325 | 30 | 295 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 |
Tampa Bay | 295 | 115 | 180 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4.0 | 2 |