Buccaneers vs. Chicago Bears

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 Chicago Bears 48

The Buccaneers almost exceeded their worst-ever loss, a 42–0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, on its 10th anniversary.

They were shut out until the fourth quarter, and only scored when Chicago Bears safety Todd Bell intercepted a Steve Young pass and lateraled it to Mike Richardson, who attempted to lateral it to Shaun Gayle, only to have Tampa Bay receiver Vince Heflin intercept the lateral and run it in for a score.

Mike Tomczak ran for the Bears' first score. Later, a Walter Payton touchdown was called back on a holding penalty.

The Buccaneers stopped the Bears on fourth-and-1, but an offside penalty on Craig Swoope gave the Bears another chance. Tomczak fumbled, however, causing him to be benched in favor of Doug Flutie. Flutie scored two touchdowns, one passing and one running, before Tomczak returned in the second half. Tampa Bay scored a second time on Young's 14-yard pass to Calvin Magee, but Lew Barnes returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.

Magee's 143 receiving yards remain (as of 2009) the Buccaneers' single-game record for a tight end.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights

GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Gordon McCarter
• UMPIRE: Bob Wagner
• LINE JUDGE: Jack Fette
• HEAD LINESMAN: Terry Gierke
• BACK JUDGE: Louis Richard
• FIELD JUDGE: Bernie Kukar
• SIDE JUDGE: Dean Look

SCORING

• BEARS: 06:01-1Q Tomczak 8 run (Butler kick)
• BEARS: 09:43-2Q Sanders 9 run (Butler kick)
• BEARS: 07:28-2Q Flutie 4 run (Butler kick)
• BEARS: 00:20-2Q Payton 27 pass from Flutie (Butler kick)
• BEARS: 07:06-3Q Gault 8 pass from Tomczak (Butler kick)
• BEARS: 01:36-3Q Payton 4 run (Butler kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 14:43-4Q Heflin 48 return of a fumbled lateral (Igwebuike kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 07:12-4Q Magee 14 pass from Young (Igwebuike kick)
• BEARS: 06:55-4Q Barnes 85 kickoff return (kick failed)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #89 V. Heflin
• LT: #72 R. Taylor
• LG: #66 G. Yarno
• C: #60 R. Grimes
• RG: #62 S. Farrell
• RT: #73 R. Heller
• TE: #86 C. Magee
• WR: #87 G. Carter
• QB: #08 S. Young
• RB: #20 R. Springs
• RB: #32 J. Wilder

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #71 B. Nelson
• NT: #76 D. Logan
• RE: #90 R. Holmes
• LOLB: #56 J. Walker
• LILB: #58 J. Davis
• RILB: #52 S. Brantley
• ROLB: #51 C. Washington
• LCB: #21 V. McKeever
• RCB: #22 R. Jones
• SS: #44 I. Sully
• FS: #31 C. Curry

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Igwebuike, 5 Garcia, 17 DeBerg, 23 Castille, 25 Howard, 35 Franklin, 36 Futrell, 37 K Walker, 41 Swoope, 54 Randle, 57 Browner, 59 Murphy, 67 Morgan, 68 Mallory, 75 Kellin, 77 Maarleveld, 80 Williams, 81 Freeman, 85 Dunn, 98 Keys

DID NOT PLAY

• 28 Allen, 64 Robinson, 83 Gillespie

INACTIVE

• none.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Wilder 13-29, Young 4-11, Springs 3-8, Howard 2-2.
• BEARS: Payton 20-78, Gentry 2-36, Anderson 5-33, Sanders 4-31, Suhey 5-28, Tomczak 5-27, Flutie 2-7, Thomas 3-5.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Young 32-16-234-2-1.
• BEARS: Tomczak 11-7-108-1-1, Flutie 7-2-79-0-1.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Magee 8-143, Wilder 4-10, Carter 2-45, Howard 2-36.
• BEARS: Payton 3-98, Gault 2-60, Gentry 2-17, Moorehead 1-12, Wrightman 1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: Curry 1-0.
• BEARS: Fencik 1-3, Bell 1-(-1), Richardson 0 for (-3).

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Freeman 3-61, Walker 3-61, Franklin 1-9.
• BEARS: Gentry 2-45, Barnes 1-85.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Walker 2-(-2).
• BEARS: Barnes 2-11.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• BEARS: Duerson 1-6, Hampton 1-5, Rivera 1-2.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights