Buccaneers vs. Chicago Bears

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 15 Chicago Bears 00

In the final week of the season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled to Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, to meet the Chicago Bears. A win would secure the #2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Brad Johnson sat out for the second game in a row, and Rob Johnson started the game at the delight of Buccaneers Fans.

The temperature at kickoff was 38°, and Tampa Bay looked to snap a 0–21 record in games under 40°. Rob Johnson passed for 134 yards and no interceptions, and Michael Pittman rushed for 90 yards, but the Buccaneers offense could not score a touchdown. Martín Gramática kicked a franchise-best 5-out-of-5 field goals, and his 15 points were the only scores of the game.

Bears quarterback Henry Burris was intercepted four times by Tampa Bay (twice by Brian Kelly, and once each by Brooks and Smith).

With the win, Buccaneers secured a bye for the wild card round and recorded the club's first win with the temperature under 40°.

The Buccaneers finished with a franchise-best 12–4 regular season record along with a club-best 6–2 road record.

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

GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Bernie Kukar
• UMPIRE: Bill Schuster
• HEAD LINESMAN: Ed Camp
• LINE JUDGE: Tom Barnes
• SIDE JUDGE: Tom Hill
• BACK JUDGE: Steve Freeman
• FIELD JUDGE: Lloyd McPeters
• REPLAY OFFICIAL: Bob Mantooth
• VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 03:22-2Q Gramatica FG30
• BUCCANEERS: 00:02-2Q Gramatica FG32
• BUCCANEERS: 13:12-4Q Gramatica FG33
• BUCCANEERS: 07:05-4Q Gramatica FG33
• BUCCANEERS: 03:14-4Q Gramatica FG26

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #19 K. Johnson
• LT: #72 R. Oben
• LG: #71 K. Jenkins
• C: #62 J. Christy
• RG: #60 C. Coleman
• RT: #67 K. Walker
• TE: #85 K. Dilger
• WR: #87 K. McCardell
• QB: #11 R. Johnson
• RB: #32 M. Pittman
• FB: #40 M. Alstott

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #94 G. Spires
• DT: #99 W. Sapp
• NT: #91 C. Darby
• RE: #97 S. Rice
• SLB: #51 A. Singleton
• MLB: #53 S. Quarles
• WLB: #55 D. Brooks
• LCB: #25 B. Kelly
• RCB: #20 R. Barber
• SS: #47 J. Lynch
• FS: #34 D. Jackson

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 7 Gramatica, 9 Tupa, 23 Phillips, 26 Smith, 27 Stecker, 30 Barnes, 35 Ivy, 38 Howell, 43 Cook, 52 Webster, 58 Golden, 66 Benjamin, 74 Green, 75 Brown, 77 Washington, 80 Yoder, 83 Jurevicius, 86 Williams, 88 Dudley, 93 Claybrooks, 95 Warner, 96 Wyms

DID NOT PLAY

• 10 King

INACTIVE

• 14 Johnson, 31 Wansley, 64 Goodspeed, 81 Lee, 84 Barlow, 89 Crawford, 90 Gurley

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Pittman 21-90, Alstott 12-42, R.Johnson 3-29.
• BEARS: Peterson 7-42, Johnson 9-21, Burris 4-14, Sauter 2-8.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: R.Johnson 25-16-134-0-0.
• BEARS: Burris 19-7-78-4-0, Sauter 9-6-59-0-0, Brooks 1-0-0-0-0.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: K.Johnson 5-41, Dilger 3-32, Pittman 2-28, Jurevicius 2-12, McCardell 2-11, Dudley 1-6, Alstott 1-4.
• BEARS: Booker 4-25, Merritt 4-22, White 2-21, Johnson 1-31, Gilmore 1-30, Shelton 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: Kelly 2-(-1), Brooks 1-44, Smith 1-2.
• BEARS: none.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Stecker 1-29.
• BEARS: Merritt 4-106.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Jackson 1-21, Williams 1-7.
• BEARS: Merritt 2-11, Johnson 1-13.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Wyms 1-4.
• BEARS: Daniels 1.5-6.5, Boone 1.5-4.5, Green 1-10, Urlacher 0.5-1.5, Howard 0.5-0.5.

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