Buccaneers vs. Cleveland Browns

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 00 Cleveland Browns 20

The Browns' victory over the Buccaneers was their first shutout since 1974.

Jimmie Giles was held out of the game with an injury, while Mike Washington became the third member of the opening-day secondary to go on injured reserve. Injuries to starting defensive ends Lee Roy Selmon and John Cannon contributed to the lack of pressure on Cleveland quarterback Brian Sipe, who had time to complete 14 of 26 passes for 174 yards and no interceptions. Rookie cornerback Jeremiah Castille had seven tackles, but was exploited by Sipe throughout the game.

The Buccaneers' best scoring opportunity ended when Jerry Bell dropped a pass in the end zone.

Long snapper Steve Wilson played with a broken bone in his right hand, which contributed to Bill Capece's missed field goal attempts of 23 and 31 yards. For the second week in a row, Melvin Carver fumbled on his first play of the game. The Browns defense was able to stifle James Wilder, who was held to 62 yards on 19 carries before a blow to the chest from the helmet of linebacker Eddie Johnson knocked him out of the game. Nevertheless, he became only the second Buccaneer (after Ricky Bell in 1979) to combine for over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in a season. The injury, which Wilder called a "cheap shot", ended his season.

McKay did not bother to show up for the postgame press conference, making reporters wait for 15 minutes but issuing only a brief written statement through a spokesperson.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Dick Jorgensen
• UMPIRE: Neil Gereb
• LINE JUDGE: Dick McKenzie
• HEAD LINESMAN: Bob McLaughlin
• BACK JUDGE: Roy Clymer
• FIELD JUDGE: Dick Dolack
• SIDE JUDGE: Dave Wawk

SCORING

• BROWNS: 08:53-1Q Bahr FG27
• BROWNS: 01:23-1Q Pruitt 1 run (Bahr kick)
• BROWNS: 06:55-3Q Bahr FG42
• BROWNS: 03:29-4Q Pruitt 1 run (Bahr kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #87 G. Carter
• LT: #75 D. Reavis
• LG: #60 R. Grimes
• C: #50 S. Wilson
• RG: #62 S. Farrell
• RT: #70 K. Thomas
• TE: #82 J. Bell
• WR: #89 K. House
• QB: #14 J. Thompson
• FB: #46 A. Armstrong
• TB: #32 J. Wilder

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #78 J. Cannon
• NT: #76 D. Logan
• RE: #63 L. Selmon
• LOLB: #53. Judie
• LILB: #58 J. Davis
• RILB: #52 S. Brantley
• ROLB: #53 H. Green
• LCB: #23 J. Castille
• RCB: #21 J. Holt
• SS: #33 M. Cotney
• FS: #43 B. Reece

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Morton, 3 Capece, 5 Garcia, 22 Smith, 24 Morris, 28 Carver, 41 Thomas, 54 Wood, 55 Spradlin, 56 Thompson, 57 Leonard, 64 Lowry, 66 Reese, 69 Arbubakrr, 72 Snell, 77 Bujnoch, 81 Tyler, 83 T Bell, 85 Witte, 86 Obradovich, 90 Whitee

DID NOT PLAY

• 7 Komlo, 11 Golsteyn, 68 Yarno, 74 Sanders

INACTIVE

• 26 Owens, 88 Giles

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Wilder 19-62, Thompson 1-4, Carter 1-0.
• BROWNS: Pruitt 23-60, Green 6-23, Sipe 4-12, Davis 2-5, Walker 2-4, Adams 1-2, Belk 1-(-5).

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Thompson 31-17-182-0-0.
• BROWNS: Sipe 26-14-174-0-0.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: House 5-110, J.Bell 4-34, Wilder 4-10, Carter 2-14, Carver 1-10, Armstrong 1-4.
• BROWNS: Pruitt 4-26, Newsome 3-81, Walker 2-25, Adams 2-22, Green 1-8, Logan 1-7, Jones 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• BROWNS: none.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Smith 1-22, Morton 1-21, Spradlin 1-7.
• BROWNS: Walker 1-28.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Tyler 1-8, T.Bell 0-0.
• BROWNS: Hall 3-19.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• BROWNS: Puzzoli 1-7, Golic 0.5-5, Camp 0.5-5.

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