Week 1 Game Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, Minnesota Vikings 13

What you need to know

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers started the game slow, quickly punting after failing to establish a rhythm on their first two possessions. On the third play of the third drive of the game, Brian Griese threw an interception right to Darren Sharper that was returned 88 yards for the first score of the game. After the interception, the offense seemed to awaken and Griese started hitting his targets.

Rookie Carnell Williams made a great debut. He consistently ran for positive yardage averaging 5.48 yards a carry although this statistic is a little skewed from his 71 yard touchdown run at the end of the game when Tampa Bay was attempting to run out the clock. With all the talk that Michael Pittman would see plenty of playing time, it was all Williams running the ball.

Griese seemed to find a new favorite target in the red zone as the teams first two scores were a 23 yard and a two yard touchdown pass to Alex Smith, not the number one pick, but the Buccaneers’ new tight end. Smith finished with four receptions for 34 yards on four targets.

Joey Galloway and second year receiver Michael Clayton were also on Griese's radar as the rest of his passes were almost evenly split between the two receivers. Galloway made a nice adjustment on a ball thrown behind him to pick up 30 yards right before the end of the first quarter, which set up the Buccaneers’ first touchdown. Clayton also showed he can make big plays finishing a 41 yard completion with about a 20 yard run after bouncing off a Minnesota defender.

The Tampa Bay defense was big in the team's victory as they forced three interceptions and recovered two fumbles from Daunte Culpepper. Brian Kelly had two interceptions with a tackle and Simeon Rice had three tackles and one sack, but was putting pressure on Culpepper most of the game.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings started the season after losing their offensive coordinator and of course former star wide receiver Randy Moss. Culpepper struggled the entire game along with the offense that was never able to find a rhythm. The offense seemed to be moving the ball early in the game, but turnovers and costly penalties prevented the Vikings from rewarding themselves with an offensive touchdown. The highlight of the game was an 88 yard interception return by Darren Sharper who was an offseason addition from the Green Bay Packers.

Jermaine Wiggins was Culpepper's favorite target and they hooked up for two touchdown passes, however, neither of them counted because of costly penalties. Wiggins was called for pass interference on a questionable call and, the other touchdown was called back for a block in the back. Despite all the penalties and fumbles, Culpepper was still able to pass for 233 yards and even though Wiggins only had four receptions for 33 yards, he did have ten targets. Burleson had eight targets, but he only had three catches for 45 yards.

The Vikings running game was non-existent, and they ended the game with 33 rushing yards, and Culpepper ran for 19 of them. Moe Williams and Michael Bennett looked lost, running the ball straight into the Buccaneers front seven, six times each.

The Vikings’ defense forced two interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown by Sharper who also led the team with seven tackles. Newly acquired Pat Williams also looked strong when he picked Cadillac Williams up off the ground and slammed him down for a loss to go along with his four tackles and one sack. Fred Smoot had the other interception.

What you ought to know

QB Brian Griese, Pass: 18 - 29 - 213 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0

Griese got off to a slow start as he seemed to have early season jitters trying to find a rhythm with his receivers. He threw two early interceptions down the field in the first half, one for an 88 yard touchdown return and another on a pass that he was trying to throw away. After his two interceptions, he looked great, spreading the ball around to Galloway, Clayton and Alex Smith. He seemed to slightly prefer Galloway when it came to deep passes even though Clayton had one more target than Galloway. Alex Smith was definitely his main target in the red zone.

RB Cadillac Williams, Rush: 27 - 148 - 1

Williams came into this game with high expectations, and he lived up to them. He showed an ability to wait for his blockers and grind out four and five yard gains on a consistent basis. He finished with 148 yards rushing, although his stats were padded by a 71 yard touchdown runat the end of the game. He showed toughness and tenacity. He is definitely the main option at running back.

RB Jameel Cook, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (3 targets)

Cook was not much of a factor in the game and only had seven yards receiving.

RB Mike Alstott, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (3 targets)

Alstott wasn't much of a factor in the game. He had one rush for no gain and incomplete pass thrown his way.

RB Michael Pittman (1 targets)

Pittman wasn't used in the game except for a pass thrown his was which he dropped. There had been plenty of talk that Pittman might still be a factor with Williams but this was not the case.

WR Joey Galloway, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 5 - 97 - 0 (7 targets)

Galloway is known as a dependable receiver, and he showed why on Sunday as he came up with two big plays. He made an excellent catch on a ball thrown behind him for 30 yards to set up the first touchdown and made another 36 yard reception to set up a Matt Bryant field goal. He finished with 97 yards and seemed to be slightly favored by Griese when he needed a big play even though Clayton received more targets.

WR Michael Clayton, Rec: 4 - 57 - 0 (8 targets)

Clayton looked like he was ready to have another great year, as Griese started looking his way in the second quarter. He had one more target than Galloway so he could end up losing some receptions to Galloway who is also a viable option at receiver. His best play was a 41 yard reception after he spun off of his defender and ran down to the 16 yard line, which set up a Buccaneers’ touchdown.

WR Ike Hilliard, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets)

Hilliard was not much of a factor in the game and made one reception for a four yard gain.

TE Alex Smith, Rec: 4 - 34 - 2 (4 targets)

Alex Smith, the rookie tight end from Stanford, had a breakout game, and he looked like the red zone target for Brian Griese. He caught the first two touchdowns of the game, and his longest was a 23 yard touchdown. He didn't get many catches for big yards, but Brian Griese seemed to have plenty of confidence in him when looking for a touchdown.

TE Anthony Becht, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets)

Anthony Becht only caught one pass and Alex Smith looked like the main target at tight end.

PK Matt Bryant 1 - 1 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points

Matt Bryant made all of his kicks in this game, even though he didn’t have many options, except for extra points. The field goal he made was 41 yards.

TB Rush Defense

It doesn't get much better than allowing the entire Minnesota Vikings team to rush for 33 yards and 19 of them came when Daunte Culpepper was scrambling out of the pocket. There were no holes to run through and the Vikings looked like they were wasting their time by running the ball up the middle 12 times for no gain. Simeon Rice tackled Culpepper from behind while he was on the run causing two fumbles from Culpepper that was recovered by Tampa Bay.

TB Pass Defense

The pass defense looked a little suspect even though they had three interceptions. There were two touchdowns thrown by Culpepper which were called back by penalties and they still allowed 233 passing yards. Brian Kelly had a big game with two of the three interceptions. Derrick Brooks had three tackles with an interception and Simeon Rice put pressure on Culpepper most of the game and had three tackles along with a sack.

QB Daunte Culpepper, Pass: 22 - 33 - 233 - 0 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 4 - 12 - 0

Culpepper's first game without Randy Moss was a tough one. He didn't have a running game to help him, he threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles. He looked like he was having trouble with the new offense, and when he finally got on track, big plays were brought back because of penalties. He threw two touchdown passes to Jermaine Wiggins but both were brought back because of a questionable offensive pass interference call and a block in the back. He was able to move the ball on the Buccaneers’ defense and still passed for 233 yards, but nothing went his way. The Vikings still had a chance to win the game, but Culpepper threw an interception that bounced off the hands of Moe Williams on a catchable pass. His third interception was at the end of the game when the Vikings were down by two scores, and he was taking chances down the field.

RB Michael Bennett, Rush: 6 - -1 - 0, Rec: 3 - 21 - 0 (3 targets)

The whole running game for the Vikings was atrocious, and the blocking didn't help the running backs. Bennett didn't have anywhere to run, and his best play was on a screen pass when he eluded two tacklers for a ten yard gain. He ended up with more receiving yards than rushing yards, but that’s not saying much since he ran for negative one yard. The Vikings only handed him the ball six times, but the good thing is that he did not incur any injuries.

RB Moe Williams, Rush: 6 - 15 - 0, Rec: 2 - 32 - 0 (3 targets)

Moe Williams had the second most rushing yards for the Vikings’ running backs, but that's not saying much because Bennett didn't have any positive rushing yards and Culpepper had more with 19 rushing yards. Williams best play was a screen play where he ran for 25 yards, but that was really the only thing he did for the entire game. To his credit, the Vikings fell behind and were passing the ball most of the game. The blocking up front was not good either.

WR Marcus Robinson, Rec: 3 - 22 - 0 (5 targets)

Robinson's longest catch was for 14 yards, but he didn't make his presence known for the rest of the game. Culpepper's rough day didn't help Robinson put up fantasy numbers, but he didn't look like one of the top targets for the Culpepper because of all the different options.

WR Nate Burleson, Rec: 3 - 45 - 0 (8 targets)

Burleson did not live up to the expectations of Randy Moss type numbers on Sunday. Culpepper didn't look his way early and when he did, Culpepper couldn't hit him in stride. One of Culpepper's interceptions looked like it came from an incorrect route run by Burleson early in the game. Culpepper spread the ball almost evenly between seven receiving options, and even though Burleson lead the team in receiving yards with 45 yards and eight targets, he looked lost in the mix. Burleson's longest catch was for 20 yards but it was nothing spectacular.

WR Travis Taylor, Rec: 3 - 38 - 0 (4 targets)

Travis Taylor made a nice catch for 25 yards, but he seemed lost in the mix with all the different receiving options.

TE Jim Kleinsasser, Rec: 4 - 42 - 0 (5 targets)

Kleinsasser made an important third down catch to put the Vikings in scoring position late in the game only to fumble the ball, but it was luckily recovered by the Vikings. He did put up 42 receiving yards, but Jermaine Wiggins established himself as the better fantasy tight end.

TE Jermaine Wiggins, Rec: 4 - 33 - 0 (10 targets)

Jermaine Wiggins had as big of a game as you can have without scoring barely any fantasy points. He caught two touchdown passes from Daunte Culpepper which were both nullified by penalties. Culpepper was throwing his way the entire game and when Culpepper was in trouble he looked to throw the ball to Wiggins. He was definitely Culpepper's go-to-guy with 10 targets.

PK Paul Edinger 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points

After winning the kicking job in preseason, Edinger looked impressive in his first game as a Viking. He made a 53 yard field goal look routine and added another 22 yard field goal to go along with an extra point.

MIN Rush Defense

The Vikings' rush defense looked decent at the beginning of the game holding Carnell Williams to short three yard runs. But he quickly wore them down turning those runs into four and five yard runs and finally ending the Vikings’ chances of winning the game with a 71 yard touchdown run. It's probably not a good sign for the rush defense when defensive back Darren Sharper led the team in tackles with seven.

MIN Pass Defense

The pass defense looked strong at the beginning of the game when Darren Sharper returned an interception for a touchdown and Griese threw another one shortly after to Fred Smoot at the sideline. After that, they seemed to fall apart as Griese seemed to be a different quarterback throwing for 213 yards and two touchdowns.