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PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wreaked havoc on Donovan McNabb in his NFL debut and helped their own quarterback likely keep his starting job for at least one more week. The second overall pick in the draft, McNabb started the second half for the Philadelphia Eagles and was sacked six times as the Buccaneers' defense dominated and made a winner of Trent Dilfer, 19-5. Warren Sapp had 3 1/2 of Tampa Bay's nine sacks, one shy of the team record set 20 years ago. "I love huntin' them (quarterbacks), I don't care who they put in there," Sapp said. "I won't come out and say we're the best (defense), but if you find a better one, let me know and we'll go see if we can hunt them down." McNabb had a dismal debut after a solid start. He handed off to Duce Staley for a 12-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, then slipped two tackles and scrambled for six yards. The former Syracuse standout completed his first NFL regular-season pass, rolling right and hitting fullback Kevin Turner for seven yards on 3rd-and-3. But it was virtually all downhill from there for McNabb, who fired an incompletion before being sacked by Sapp on 3rd-and-8. Under pressure throughout the final 30 minutes, McNabb completed 4-of-11 passes for just 26 yards. "Being out there in that situation was definitely tough," McNabb said. "I didn't do what I wanted to do out there and I didn't take advantage of the opportunities. I will learn from it and hopefully I have another opportunity next week to turn this around." "The protection wasn't tremendous for him, that was a tough situation," said Eagles coach Andy Reid, who announced McNabb will not start next week. "I didn't think we were moving the ball well enough and I wanted to give him the opportunity to get in there and do some things." The Eagles claimed that McNabb took over in the second half because starting signal-caller Doug Pederson suffered a sprained right shoulder. Pederson, who was on the sidelines during the second half, was 12-of-19 for 100 yards with an interception. He came out on the losing end despite posting better numbers than Dilfer, who played the entire game and finished 7-of-14 for just 89 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Rumors swirled this week that Dilfer could be permanently benched after being replaced during Tampa Bay's season-opening loss to the New York Giants. "I've got to play better for us to win the big games, and I'll do that," Dilfer said. "We are a football team that is good enough that if we don't turn the ball over, we will be in every ballgame." Dilfer was aided by a strong running game led by Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott. Dunn rushed for 82 yards as he tied a career high with 24 carries. Alstott ran 15 times for 64 yards and was the Bucs' leading receiver, catching three passes for 33 yards and a score. Defensive linemen Marcus Jones and Chidi Ahanotu contributed two sacks apiece for Tampa Bay's defense, which limited Philadelphia to 37 total yards and three first downs in the second half. "We wanted to come in and stop the run, which we did," Jones said. "When we're working together as a defensive unit, (we're) almost unstoppable." "Of course they're going to throw a lot of blitzes our way with our young quarterback," Turner said. "They threw a lot of blitzes in there with our older quarterback." The turning point may have come as the first half came to a close. The Eagles trailed 13-5 but drove 44 yards to the 11 with 19 seconds left. Pederson hit Turner for a two-yard gain on 3rd-and-10 but he was tackled in bounds, keeping the clock rolling with Philadelphia out of timeouts. The Eagles attempted to quickly set up for a 26-yard field goal and seemed ready in plenty of time. But kicker Norm Johnson was nowhere to be found. He raced into position as the ball was snapped and pulled the attempt wide left as the first half ended. "There's no excuse for a kicker in a hurry-up situation not being on the football field," Reid said. "That's absolutely ridiculous and it's a lack of concentration on our part." Johnson, who missed a 50-yarder in the second half, was signed in the offseason after the Eagles released Chris Boniol. Dilfer seemed to be on track in the early going, leading a 66-yard scoring drive on the game's first possession. Facing 3rd-and-7 at the 19, Dilfer fired to the left sideline for Bert Emanuel, who slipped a tackle and raced into the end zone. The Eagles quickly answered as Johnson connected on a 39-yard field goal to make it 7-3. The momentum continued minutes later, with Dilfer facing 3rd-and-10 at his own 15. In the shotgun, Dilfer was unable to handle a high snap and was forced to bat the ball out of the end zone for a safety. Rookie Martin Gramatica kicked field goals of 51 and 24 yards in the second quarter, helping the Bucs grab a 13-5 halftime lead. Dunn and Alstott combined for all 74 yards on Tampa Bay's first possession of the second half, the team's only scoring drive over the final 30 minutes. Dunn had a 29-yard scamper that led to Alstott's 17-yard touchdown reception. Staley, who rushed for 103 yards in the Eagles' season-opening 25-24 loss to Arizona, was held to 42 yards on 13 carries. Philadelphia has not scored a TD in seven consecutive quarters.
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