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TAMPA, Fla. -- A steady, strong wind that passed through Raymond James Stadium Sunday could have marked the winds of change for the Atlanta Falcons, who officially started a new era without former head coach Bobby Petrino against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Falcons got swept away, however, as four turnovers resulted in 20 Buccaneers points in a 37-3 loss. Atlanta, working under interim head coach Emmitt Thomas, fell into a 27-3 hole in the first half and never recovered.
The Falcons took the ball to open the game but fell behind just one minute in as Pro Bowl cornerback Ronde Barber intercepted a Chris Redman pass on third down and returned it 29 yards for a score.
Atlanta answered with a seven-play, 59-yard drive and a field goal, but fell victim to a scoring blitz by the Buccaneers that started with the first kickoff return for a touchdown in team history. Michael Spurlock took the kick after Morten Andersen's field goal and went 90 yards for a score -- the first in 1,865 kickoff returns in Buccaneers record books.
As expected, the score gave the crowd of 65,133 a shot of energy and put Tampa Bay well on its way to clinching the NFC South crown.
Two more first-half turnovers led to 10 Buccaneers points while another long drive resulted in a field goal.
"I thought the guys came out with a lot of passion, fought hard, and we had some misfortune," Thomas said. "Third down defensively we couldn’t get them out and third down offensively we didn’t make many plays. It was a team effort all the way around. What we are going to have to do today is, like I told the team earlier, a couple of years ago this happened when Dan Reeves was here. We went to Indianapolis and they beat us the same way. However, we came back as a staff, got our guys together and we worked hard.”
The Falcons defense was on the field for nearly 20 minutes in the opening half. Still, the unit surrendered only one touchdown, notched two sacks (John Abraham and Chauncey Davis) and got an impressive sideline interception by DeAngelo Hall in the first 30 minutes. Jonathan Babineaux also made an impressive stop in the backfield, dropping Michael Pittman for a 5-yard loss in the first half.
A 7:13 drive to open the third quarter ended with a Buccaneers punt, but went a long way in taking away precious game clock from the Falcons, who fall to 3-11 on the season.
"It was very frustrating," Hall said. "It’s very frustrating, obviously, when you feel like you’ve prepared to the best of your ability and you still come out and get just ran all up and down all over the field. It’s definitely frustrating.”
The offense struggled throughout the game but had its share of bright spots, especially in the abbreviated play of Jerious Norwood. Norwood's first two carries went for 36 yards. He missed some time with an injury, but rebounded to finish the game with 73 yards on just nine touches.
The Buccaneers finished the game with brutal efficiency on offense, holding the ball for 42:47 and enjoying great game management by Jeff Garcia.