Buccaneers vs. Chicago Bears 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 Chicago Bears 10
The Buccaneers drew inspiration from pregame comments in which Gary Fencik and other Bears players said that the Buccaneers lacked patience and could only win by the big play. The Buccaneers responded by winning on big plays, touchdown passes of 81 yards to Jimmie Giles and 51 yards to Kevin House. Giles scored his touchdown by outrunning safety Doug Plank, the player who had notoriously speared him during a meeting the previous year. It was the longest pass play in Buccaneers history, and is still the longest reception by a Buccaneers tight end. The Buccaneers also scored on two Bill Capece field goals, although he missed two others from short range.
A third-quarter interception by Hugh Green was considered to be the key play of the game.
Walter Payton became only the fourth running back in the history of the NFL to gain 9,000 career rushing yards, the only bright spot for the Bears in a loss that left them with the second-worst record in the NFL.
A Minnesota Vikings loss left the Buccaneers tied with the Vikings for first place in the NFC Central.
McKay mocked Fencik's comments during his postgame press conference, in which he pointed out the "patience" with which various players performed, claimed to have gotten Patience on waivers from Green Bay, and said that "they've got enough problems with their team without coaching our team".
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Fred Silva
- UMPIRE: Ralph Morcroft
- LINE JUDGE: Vern Marshall
- HEAD LINESMAN: Frank Glover
- BACK JUDGE: Jim Kearney
- FIELD JUDGE: Don Orr
- SIDE JUDGE: Merrill Douglas
SCORING
- BEARS: 07:52-1Q Roveto FG40
- BUCCANEERS: 08:18-2Q Capece FG46
- BUCCANEERS: 03:58-2Q Giles 81 pass from Williams (Capece kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 04:00-3Q House 51 pass from Williams (Capece kick)
- BEARS: 11:29-4Q Payton 1 run (Roveto kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 03:40-4Q Capece FG30
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #83 T. Bell
- LT: #74 G. Sanders
- LG: #68 G. Yarno
- C: #50 S. Wilson
- RG: #61 G. Roberts
- RT: #73 C. Hannah
- TE: #88 J. Giles
- WR: #89 K. House
- QB: #12 D. Wiliams
- FB: #32 J. Wilder
- TB: #43 J. Eckwood
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #77 B. Kollar
- NT: #76 D. Logan
- RE: #63 L. Selmon
- LOLB: #59 A. Hawkins
- LILB: #56 C. Johnson
- RILB: #54 R. Wood
- ROLB: #53 H. Green
- LC: #41 N. Thomas
- RC: #40 M. Washington
- SS: #20 N. Colzie
- FS: #34 C. Brown
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 3 Capece, 9 Swider, 21 Holt, 26 Owens, 27 T Davis, 44 Cesare, 45 Mitchell, 51 Nafziger, 52 Brantley, 57 Lewis, 62 Leonard, 65 Stalls, 70 Hutchinson, 72 Snell, 84 Jones, 86 Obradovich, 87 Carter, 90 White
DID NOT PLAY
- 10 Ford, 14 Fusina, 42 R Bell, 75 Reavis, 79 Campbell
INACTIVE
- none.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Eckwood 21-110, Owens 10-68, Williams 3-28, Wilder 3-3.
- BEARS: Payton 22-92, McClendon 1-2, Evans 1-0, Suhey 6-(-2).
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 21-9-192-1-2.
- BEARS: Evans 36-21-239-2-0.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: House 3-73, Eckwood 3-23, Giles 1-81, Wilder 1-10, T.Bell 1-5.
- BEARS: Margerum 6-78, Payton 5-40, Suhey 4-17, Baschnagel 3-40, Watts 2-65, Cobb 1-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Washington 1-23, Green 1-6.
- BEARS: Schmidt 1-4.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Owens 1-27.
- BEARS: Moorehead 2-51, Frazier 1-13, Fisher 1-12.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Holt 1-12.
- BEARS: Fisher 2-62, Baschnagel 0-0.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Logan 1-6.
- BEARS: Hampton 1-9.
