Week 1 Reports

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Seattle Seahawks 

The return to the coaching position at the Buccaneers for MCFCDAP has finally happened, having left the Buccaneers several years ago he has now returned for a second chance and hopefully a play off push, little else will be acceptable following coach Hammy's successful season last year.

Opening weekend saw the Buccaneers travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks at one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL. 

The Buccaneers began well, a solid first drive saw them stopped short of the red zone but Catanzaro successfully kicked a FG to put the Buccaneers up 3-0.  A failed first drive from the Seahawks saw them forced to punt and give the ball back to the Buccaneers who would hope to improve on their previous drive. 

And the drive followed a similar pattern, a good mix of running and passing plays that was stopped short of the red zone once again, but this time Catanzaro couldn't kick the FG and the score stayed 3-0.  The teams traded punts in a very defensive battle and this showed the teams strengths and even more so when Winston was sacked in the end zone for a safety to make the scores 3-2, following the fumble from Justin Watson the Seahawks finally put some offense together and worked it into the FG range to convert to give them a half time lead.  HT - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 Seattle Seahawks 5


The second half continued in the exact same pattern, and the Buccaneers were once again let down by the leg of Catanzaro as a chance to go 6-5 in front was missed.  Punts were again traded and the Buccaneers left Seattle inside their own 10 yard line and tried to apply pressure, however Rashaad Penny had other ideas and from the first play of the drive broke a couple of tackles and was racing home for a 91 yard TD to make the score 12-3 to the Seahawks. 

Going into the final quarter, Winston knew he had to get his offense going like earlier in the game and he did just that, leading a great drive that ended with a pass to 2nd year WR Justin Watson, making up for his previous fumble that had cost the Buccaneers 3 points.  However another missed kick from Catanzaro meant the Buccaneers were a FG behind at 12-9 with under 5 minutes to go. 

For the 7th time, the Seahawks were forced to punt giving the Buccaneers around 2minutes 30 seconds to get a game tying FG, but could they trust the leg of the kicker?  The Buccaneers made to to mid-field and were left with a 4th and 8, Winston dropped back threw a pass to Watson that was defended well by the Seahawks and the game looked over .... a flag was down, roughing the passer was the call and the Buccaneers were still alive.  With under a minute to go the Buccaneers were stopped and Catanzaro jogged out, the pressure was on and he nailed it, straight down the middle to make it 12-12.  

47 seconds on the clock the Seahawks had the ball, all 3 time outs and fancied themselves to do it, but two incomplete passes and a run for a loss, meant the Buccaneers could call a time out with 24 seconds to go.  The 8th punt of the day from the Seahawks gave the Buccaneers the ball back, a clever HB draw was run by the Buccaneers taking them closer to mid-field and a time out was called, they have one left and 15 seconds on the clock.  

This was the chance to get into field goal range, Winston from the shot gun, looks for Evans who is in double coverage, then checks Howard, he is wide open downfield, he releases it and Howard stretches out one handed and brings it in and he is tackled on the 7 yard line, the Buccaneers call their final time out and know they have a chance to win it with 3 seconds left on the clock.  

Catanzaro, having missed 2 FGs and an extra point, has a chance to win it. the Seahawks wait for everyone to get set up and call a time out to "ice" the nervous kicker.  It's a chip shot most of the time but having not had the best of days, it isn't easy.  The ball is snapped, a good hold, Catanzaro puts his laces through the ball ..... IT'S GOOD!! The Buccaneers have won it as time expires!! 

Final Score - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) 15 Seattle Seahawks (0-1) 12


A great comeback on the opening weekend will give the Buccaneers fans plenty of hope this season and they looked comfortable on both sides of the ball with the defense contributing 5 sacks and forcing 8 punts from the Seahawks. With Winston in his contract year, it was important for him to get off to a good start and he did, over 200 yards and a TD with no interceptions were just the kind of stats you'd want to see from the man many consider to be their franchise QB. 

The Buccaneers return home for MCFCDAP's first game at the Raymond James Stadium since his comeback to face NFC South rivals the Atlanta Falcons.

The Browns opened their campain against a surprisingly lacklustre Steelers team, who only began to show in the 4th quarter, with the game already dead.

The Browns had raacked up 27 unanswered points, with the visitors unable to get any yardage on the ground out of Connor and Roethlisberger not being able to find Brown, his go-to receiver until he managed to begin hooking up with him in the 4th quarter, culminating in a late consolation TD.

The Steelers had no answer for Antonio Callaway, who had a career day with 8 receptions for just shy of 200 yards, plus a couple of TDs.

The Browns opened the scoring with a Carlos Hyde run (no highlight ) and the two Callaway scores were interspersed with a couple of Gonzalez Fgs.

Week 2 sees the Browns facing a tricky trip to Seattle while Pittsburgh opens their home campaign with another divisional game vs Cincinnati.