The Patriots rolled through the struggling Buccaneers to improve to 3-0. Although the Patriots struggled early, they finally flexed their muscles on offense with an equally as impressive show of force on defense. On the first play of the game, Tom Brady hit Brandon Bolden for 11 yards and a first down. After an incomplete pass, Brady hit receiver Julian Edelman for 8 yards, but on 3rd-and-2, Brady was sacked by Lavonte David and Mark Barron and the Patriots punted. Josh Freeman drove the Buccaneers 50 yards in 8 plays, but Ryan Lindell missed a 38-yard field goal. The Patriots punted again on their next drive. This time the Buccaneers drove 71 yards aided by 35 yards in Patriots penalties before Ryan Lindell hit a 30-yard field goal, giving the Buccaneers a 3-0 lead. An 8-yard sack by Adrian Clayborn doomed the Patriots next drive as they punted again. With the drive starting at their own 45, the Bucs drove to the Patriots 34, but on 4th-and-5, rather than attempt a 52-yard field goal, they went for the first down, but Freeman's pass was incomplete. The Patriots' offense finally got going on the succeeding drive. Brady completed two passes to rookie receiver Aaron Dobson, including a 4-yard catch on 4th-and-2. Then hit Kenbrell Thompkins for a 16-yard touchdown pass as the Patriots marched 66 yards to take a 7-3 lead early in the 2nd quarter. The Bucs drove to the Patriots 38-yard line on their next drive once again turned it over on downs when Doug Martin was tackled for no gain by Brandon Spikes on 4th-and-1. This time Brady commandeered a 61-yard drive and hit Thompkins for a 5-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead 14-3. Josh Freeman was intercepted by ex-Buc Aqib Talib on the next drive and Stephen Gostowski hit a 53-yard field goal right before halftime. Tom Brady threw an interception on the Patriots first drive after halftime, but the Buccaneers punted on their first two after halftime. Gostowski later kicked a 46-yard field goal for the only scoring of the 3rd quarter as the Patriots defense shut down the Buccaneers.  The Buccaneers turned it over for the third time on downs early in the fourth-quarter. The Patriots took it and kicked a 33-yard field-goal for the final score of 23-3. Tom Brady had his best game of the season so far going 25/36 for 225 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception despite 3 sacks. Running back Doug Martin could not reach the end zone for Tampa Bay despite running for 88 yards and Josh Freeman could not lead the Buccaneers offense to a touchdown. Tampa Bay's starting quarterback Josh Freeman would be released in the week following the game.. How many points did the Patriots win by?