The Bucs were winning this game 7-0 at halftime, but the Panthers kicked their butts 24-3 in the second half.  It’s hard to win when you turn the ball over 4 times in a game, and that’s exactly what the Bucs did last night.

Bruce Gradkowski completed 17 of 32 passes for 173 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT.  Gradkowski also carried the ball 5 times for 22 yards and lost a fumble.  Cadillac Williams never really got going last night as he carried the ball 15 times for 44 yards (2.9 ypc) and lost a fumble.  Joey Galloway played a good football game and caught 5 passes for 87 yards.  Ike Hilliard caught 4 passes for 30 yards and a TD.

The defense played well the first half, but the second half was quite a different story.  Ronde Barber came to play, like he always does, and had 5 tackles, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.  The Bucs did a real good job stopping the Panthers running game as they held them to 78 yards on 30 carries (2.6 ypc).  The Panthers did pass the ball well, completing 22 of 34 passes for 240 net yards passing.