Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Minnesota Vikings Match Player Stats On Oct 25, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 25, 2012

Buccaneers 36, Vikings 17: Josh Freeman threw three touchdown passes and rookie Doug Martin broke loose for 214 total yards and two scores as Tampa Bay snapped a nine-game road losing streak.

Martin rushed for a career-high 135 yards - his first 100-yard game - and a score and caught three passes for 79 yards, including a 64-yard screen pass for a touchdown on the opening possession of the second half.

Freeman threw for 262 yards and connected on a pair of short first-half scoring passes to Erik Lorig and Mike Williams as the Buccaneers (3-4) beat the Vikings (5-3) for the sixth straight time and won on the road for the first time since a victory at Minnesota on Sept. 18, 2011.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 123 yards and had a 64-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter to make it 30-17, but Tampa Bay snuffed out any comeback hopes with a 16-play, 87-yard drive that consumed over nine minutes and was capped by Martin's 1-yard plunge.

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder wound up throwing for 251 yards with one TD and one interception on 19-of-35 passing but most of the yards came with the game out of hand. Percy Harvin had seven catches for 90 yards and a score.

Tampa Bay capitalized on two short punts and a fumble to score the game's first 13 points and extended the lead to 20-7 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half when Freeman hit Mike Williams with a 3-yard scoring pass following a fumble by Peterson.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Peterson had his 30th career 100-yard game, eclipsing the franchise record held by Robert Smith. ... Freeman became the second Tampa Bay quarterback to throw at least three touchdown passes in three straight games (Vinny Testaverde, 1989). ... Vikings CB Chris Cook left the game early in the third quarter with an injury to his right arm and was taken to the locker room for X-rays. ... Buccaneers K Connor Barth kicked three field goals to extend his streak to 37 successful conversions from 40 yards and in.