WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 Cincinnati Bengals 12
The Buccaneers faced a Cincinnati Bengals team missing quarterback Ken Anderson, who injured his leg during the final preseason game. Buccaneers defensive backs Mike Washington and Cedric Brown were expected to see limited action, to avoid aggravating their preseason injuries on Riverfront Stadium's artificial turf.
The game was played in a downpour, with coach McKay at one point ordering punter Tom Blanchard to run into the end zone and give up a safety, rather than risk a mistake that might lead to a Bengals touchdown.
Randy Crowder sacked Bengals quarterback Jack Thompson deep in Bengals territory twice in one second-quarter series.
Doug Williams took advantage of the resulting good field position to throw a 32-yard touchdown to Jimmie Giles shortly before the end of the half.
Blanchard fumbled the snap on what could have been a game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter, but the error was nullified when Bengals punter Pat McInally's fumbled punt snap gave the Buccaneers possession at the Bengals' five-yard line. Williams threw a 15-yard touchdown to Giles to clinch the game.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Fred Wyant
- UMPIRE: Don Hansley
- LINE JUDGE: Wilson Gouldstien
- HEAD LINESMAN: Ed Marion
- BACK JUDGE: Don Wedge
- FIELD JUDGE: Fred Swearinger
- SIDE JUDGE: Vince Jockey
SCORING
- BENGALS: 00:56-1Q Sunter FG35
- BUCCANEERS: 04:15-2Q Yepremian FG19
- BUCCANEERS: 00:29-2Q Giles 32 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 02:44-3Q Safety - Blanchard stepped out of endone
- BUCCANEERS: 12:05-4Q Ross 3 pass from Thompson (Sunter kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 01:47-4Q Giles 15 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #81 I. Hagins
- LT: #75 D. Reavis
- LG: #74 G. Sanders
- C: #50 S. Wilson
- RG: #61 G. Roberts
- RT: #73 C. Hannah
- TE: #88 J. Giles
- WR: #84 G. Jones
- QB: #12 D. Williams
- RB: #42 R. Bell
- RB: #43 J. Eckwood
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #77 B. Kollar
- NT: #71 R. Crowder
- RE: #63 L. Selmon
- LOLB: #57 D. Lewis
- SILB: #58 D. Selmon
- WILB: #54 R. Wood
- ROLB: #56 C. Johnson
- LCB: #25 C. Jordan
- RCB: #40 M. Washington
- SS: #33 M. Cotney
- FS: #34 C. Brown
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Yepremian, 16 Blanchard, 20 Colzie, 36 Berns, 41 Thomas, 46 Reece, 52 Brantley, 55 Brown, 59 Hawkins, 62 Leonard, 65 Stalls, 68 Yarno, 76 Logan, 78 Radford, 86 Obradovich, 87 Mucker, 89 House
DID NOT PLAY
- 14 Fusina, 15 Rae, 28 G Davis, 38 J Davis, 72 Snell, 79 Lewis
INACTIVE
- none.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Eckwood 19-43, Williams 7-36, Bell 8-12.
- BENGALS: Griffin 18-68, Alexander 16-44, Thompson 1-0, McInally 1-0.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 21-11-155-0-2, Eckwood 2-0-0-0-0.
- BENGALS: Thompson 21-6-47-1-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Bell 5-57, Giles 3-62, Hagins 1-19, Eckwood 1-12, Jones 1-5.
- BENGALS: Ross 2-22, Curtis 2-17, Griffin 1-4, Alexander 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Lewis 1-0.
- BENGALS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Hagins 2-39, Berns 1-19.
- BENGALS: Turner 2-53. Hicks 2-38, Kreider 1-17.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Reece 5-57.
- BENGALS: Heath 3-16.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Crowder 2-22, L.Selmon 1-9.
- BENGALS: none.