2008 Week 1 · Sun, Sep 7, 2008 · Louisiana Superdome
Final
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 at New Orleans Saints 24. Final.
New Orleans Saints 24–20.
The Game Day Roster
Who was out, who dressed and never took a snap, and who was on the field how much. Snap counts begin in 2013. For this season the feed gives the game-day list and who was inactive, but not how many snaps each man took.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
44 dressed
Snap counts do not go back to this season — the game-day list below is what the feed carries.
New Orleans Saints
41 dressed
Snap counts do not go back to this season — the game-day list below is what the feed carries.
Who moved the needle
Top performers
Passing · NO
23/32, 343 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
8.7 expected points added · +7.6% completion over expected
Passing · TB
24/41, 221 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
-3.5 expected points added · -1.0% completion over expected
No opportunity read for this era
Snap, route and expected-points data starts in 2021. This game is older than the usage record, so there is no opportunity read for it — the box score above is the complete picture we hold.
Full stat lines
Box score
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Garcia | 24/41 | 221 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3.5 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earnest Graham | 10 | 91 | 9.1 | 0 | +1.4 |
| Warrick Dunn | 9 | 54 | 6.0 | 0 | −0.2 |
| Jeff Garcia | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | −1.2 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrett Ruud | 7 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tanard Jackson | 8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Hovan | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cato June | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phillip Buchanon | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ronde Barber | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Derrick Brooks | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jermaine Phillips | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stylez G. White | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Byron Storer | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
New Orleans Saints
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Brees | 23/32 | 343 | 3 | 1 | 1 | +8.7 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre Thomas | 10 | 52 | 5.2 | 0 | +0.9 |
| Reggie Bush | 14 | 51 | 3.6 | 0 | −5.1 |
| Drew Brees | 3 | -2 | -0.7 | 0 | −2.1 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Vilma | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Fujita | 6 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kevin Kaesviharn | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roman Harper | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Randall Gay | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Will Smith | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles Grant | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tracy Porter | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Aaron Glenn | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Reis | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Closing number vs result
Betting context
- Closing spread
- Saints -3
- Closing total
- 42.5
- Buccaneers moneyline
- —
- Saints moneyline
- —
Saints closed -3 and covered, winning by 4.
Total closed 42.5; the game landed 44 — over by 1.5.
Conditions and crew
Game environment
- Venue
- Louisiana Superdome
- Roof / surface
- dome · fieldturf
- Kickoff weather
- Played indoors — no weather to report.
- Referee
- Alberto Riveron
- Rest
- Buccaneers 7 days · Saints 7 days
- Coaches
- Jon Gruden vs Sean Payton
Division game — familiarity tightens these matchups; closing numbers tend to be sharper.