Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24 Dallas Cowboys 27
The Cowboys got their sixth come-from-behind victory in six games, despite being outplayed by the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers remained (with Houston) one of only two winless teams.
Tampa Bay's defensive lapses allowed the Cowboys to move the ball when they needed to. Fourteen Buccaneer penalties for 185 yards, the most ever by a Cowboys opponent and five yards short of the Buccaneer team record, led to 13 Cowboy points. The most damaging was a running-into-the-kicker penalty against Thomas Morris that gave Rafael Septién a second, successful chance to kick a game-winning field goal.
The miscues erased the Buccaneers' best offensive performance to this point in the season. With the Buccaneers playing the same offensive line for two weeks in a row the first time all season, they were able to score the most points they ever had against the Cowboys. The secondary got a boost from the return of Mark Cotney. The linebacking corps received a blow only days after the loss of Cecil Johnson, when Andy Hawkins suffered a season-ending knee injury and was replaced by former 49ers linebacker Ed Judie, described by McKay as "a guy who just got in Thursday".
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Bob McElwee
- UMPIRE: Al Conway
- LINE JUDGE: Carver Shannon
- HEAD LINESMAN: Earnie Frantz
- BACK JUDGE: Richard Douglas
- FIELD JUDGE: Ernie Merrifield
- SIDE JUDGE: Bob Rice
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 10:11-1Q Capece FG48
- COWBOYS: 09:02-1Q Springs 80 pass from White (Septien kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 01:50-1Q Owens 9 pass from Thompson (Capece kick)
- COWBOYS: 01:53-2Q Newsome 1 run (Septien kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 08:58-3Q Carter 56 pass from Thompson (Capece kick)
- COWBOYS: 07:08-3Q Septien FG41
- BUCCANEERS: 08:53-4Q Wilder 23 run (Capece kick)
- COWBOYS: 00:47-4Q Newsome 52 pass from White (Septien kick)
- COWBOYS: 10:22-OT Septien FG42
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #87 G. Carter
- LT: #75 D. Reavis
- LG: #60 R. Grimes
- C: #50 S. Wilson
- RG: #68 G. Yarno
- RT: #70 K. Thomas
- TE: #88 J. Giles
- WR: #89 K. House
- QB: #14 J. Thompson
- FB: #32 J. Wilder
- TB: #26 J. Owens
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #78 J. Cannon
- NT: #76 D. Logan
- RE: #63 L. Selmon
- LOLB: #59 A. Hawkins
- LILB: #58 J. Davis
- RILB: #52 S. Brantley
- ROLB: #53 H. Green
- LC: #21 J. Holt
- RC: #40 M. Washington
- SS: #33 M. Cotney
- FS: #34 C. Brown
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Morton, 3 Capece, 5 Garcia, 22 Smith, 23 Castille, 24 Morris, 28 Carver, 29 LaBeaux, 46 Armstrong, 51 Judie, 54 Wood, 55 Spradlin, 57 Leonard, 65 Stalls, 66 Reese, 69 Arbubakrr, 81 Tyler, 82 J Bell, 83 T Bell, 85 Witte, 86 Obradovich, 90 White
DID NOT PLAY
- 7 Komlo, 11 Golsteyn, 72 Snell, 74 Sanders
INACTIVE
- 62 Farrell
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Wilder 10-51, Owens 10-34, Carver 1-3, Thompson 2-(-1).
- COWBOYS: Dorsett 24-68, Springs 6-24, Newsome 6-11, White 1-1.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Thompson 30-19-272-1-2.
- COWBOYS: White 44-29-377-3-2.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Wilder 5-13, Owens 4-15, T.Bell 3-44, House 3-43, Giles 2-83, Carter 2-74.
- COWBOYS: Springs 11-126, Johnson 5-88, Pearson 5-42, DuPree 3-17, Newsome 2-61, Dorsett 2-8, Cosbie 1-15.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Brown 2-36, Cotney 1-1.
- COWBOYS: Walls 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Owens 4-80.
- COWBOYS: Hill 3-73, Fellows 2-36.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Tyler 2-25.
- COWBOYS: Hill 6-36.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Logan 2-11, Selmon 1-10, Holt 1-9, Reese 1-7.
- COWBOYS: Clinskcale 1-9, Thurman 1-8, Martin 1-7.
