Bye Weeks are Boring…So Let’s do Some History Lessons!

To keep myself awake during this Buccaneers-less week of football, I have decided to do a little history. I will pick a random game from a random year and talk about it. It’s a good history lesson for our younger Buc fans. So here goes.

1996-97 Season
Week 11
Tampa Bay (2-8) vs. San Diego (6-4), San Diego, California
Tampa Bay-25, San Diego-17

The Buccaneers were fighting to survive, as a dismal 2-8 record cursed them in their NFC Central Division. They traveled into San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium riding a 1-game win streak. Tony Dungy’s squad was ready to continue their winning ways. The Bucs were also looking to win a game on the road for the first time in 10 tries, dating back to a victory over Carolina in 1995.

The game started off in the home teams’ favor, when Chargers quarterback Stan Humphries threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Charlie Jones. Later in the first quarter, Leonard Russell ran in a touchdown from 14 yards out. With :44 seconds remaining in the first, Michael Hustedput the Bucs on the board with a 33-yard field goal.

In the second quarter, the Bucs inched closer, adding 7 points on the board from a Mike Alstott 4-yard touchdown run. The score was now 14-10. With no time left on the clock, Husted kicked a 29-yard field goal to reduce the Chargers lead to one, 14-13. In the first half alone, Tampa quarterback Trent Dilfer threw for 232 yards, which is more than he had thrown in any gamethat season. His 30 completions was one shy of tying a team record set in 1989, by Vinny Testaverde.

The third quarter was quiet, until Dilfer was sacked and stripped of the ball at the San Diego 20 yard line. That lost fumble led to a 42-yard field goal from John Carney, increasing the Chargers lead to 17-13.

With only 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Husted kicked a 27-yard field goal, once again making the Chargers lead one point, 17-16. Only two minutes later, the Bucs scored a touchdown on 1-yard run by Errict Rhett, which was set up by a John Lynch interception, one of three the Bucs defense had on the day. The Bucs took their first lead of the day, 22-17. The Bucs held onto the ball for another 3:47 on the back of Mike Alstott, when a 10 play drive ended with a Husted 19-yard field goal. The field goal iced the victory for the Bucs, 25-17.

It was the Buccaneers second straight victory, their first on the road in over a year. The offense put up 423 yards, their most in a game since 1994. In the end, Trent Dilfer was 30/40 for 327 yards and 1 TD. Mike Alstott led the rushing game with 39 yards on 9 carries. The Bucs leading receiver was Courtney Hawkins, who had 94 yards on 7 catches. The Bucs finished the season with a 6-10 record, finishing 4th in their division.