Buccaneers vs. Miami Dolphins

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Miami Dolphins 17

***HISTORIC MARKER*** The Buccaneers' five interceptions were a home-field record.

Don Strock, playing the second half in relief of ineffective Dolphins quarterback David Woodley, was intercepted four times by the Buccaneer secondary, which had made only one interception in the preceding three games.

The Buccaneers took a 16–3 lead on Bill Capece field goals of 27, 28, and 36 yards, and a 3-yard Doug Williams touchdown run. Strock then threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Joe Rose, the Dolphins' first touchdown since September 19. On the Dolphins' next possession, Neal Colzie faked a coverage shift to the outside, but instead cut back to the middle. This left Colzie, a native of Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood, in position to catch a 51-yard interception which set up a 1-yard James Wilder touchdown.

An 11-yard Rose touchdown reception brought the Dolphins to within a touchdown with 34 seconds left. The Dolphins were able to get the ball back after an onside kick, but Mike Washington's game-ending end-zone interception preserved the win.

James Owens rushed for 82 yards on 18 carries, his second-highest total as a Buccaneer. Williams completed only 7 of 19 passes for 81 yards and no touchdowns, which broke his 27-game streak of 100-yard passing games that dated back to October 26, 1980.

A new defensive statistic was created to account for the Buccaneers' performance in this game. The Elias Sports Bureau, who had been unable to conceive of a situation in which three or four defensive players reach a quarterback at the same time, was forced to credit Dave Logan, Hugh Green, and Andy Hawkins each with ⅓ of a sack when they all tackled Woodley simultaneously.

Colzie, not simply content to have played a large part in defeating the coach who had previously demoted and traded him, afterward accused Don Shula of intolerance toward outspoken black players.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Jerry Seeman
• UMPIRE: Fran Sinkovitz
• LINE JUDGE: Bama Glass
• HEAD LINESMAN: Leo Miles
• BACK JUDGE: Paul Baetz
• FIELD JUDGE: Bill O'Brien
• SIDE JUDGE: DuWayne Gandy

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 00:17-1Q Capece FG28
• DOLPHINS: 07:30-2Q Von Schamann FG29
• BUCCANEERS: 00:22-2Q Capece FG27
• BUCCANEERS: 03:20-3Q Williams 3 run (Capece kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 00:52-3Q Capece FG36
• DOLPHINS: 11:57-4Q Rose 7 pass from Strock (Von Schamann kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 09:27-4Q Wilder 2 run (Capece kick)
• DOLPHINS: 00:34-4Q Rose 11 pass from Strock (Von Schamann kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• TE: #86 J. Obradovich
• LT: #75 D. Reavis
• LG: #68 G Yarno
• C: #57 J. Leonard
• RG: #62 S. Farrell
• RT: #73 C. Hannah
• TE: #88 J. Giles
• WR: #89 K. House
• QB: #12 D. Williams
• FB: #32 J. Wilder
• TB: #26 J. Owens

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #65 D. Stalls
• NT: #76 D. Logan
• RE: #63 L. Selmon
• LOLB: #59 A. Hawkins
• LILB: #56 C. Johnson
• RILB: #52 S. Bratley
• ROLB: #53 H. Green
• LCB: #41 N. Thomas
• RCB: #40 M. Washington
• SS: #20 N. Colzie
• FS: #34 C. Brown

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Morton, 3 Capece, 9 Swider, 21 Holt, 22 Smith, 24 Morris, 28 Carver, 30 Barrett, 33 Cotney, 51 Nafziger, 54 Wood, 58 Davis, 61 Roberts, 66 Reese, 67 Cobb, 72 Snell, 74 Sanders, 78 Cannon, 82 J Bell, 83 T Bell, 84 Jones, 87 Carter, 90 White

DID NOT PLAY

• 1 Golsteyn, 44 Middleton, 50 Wilson, 81 Tyler

INACTIVE

• none.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Owens 18-82, Wilder 10-36, Carver 8-32, Williams 1-3, Morton 1-1.
• DOLPHINS: Franklin 9-56, Woodley 3-22, Vigorito 5-17, Hill 3-7, Nathan 1-1, Strock 1-0.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 19-7-81-0-0.
• DOLPHINS: Woodley 13-7-40-1-0, Strock 34-17-204-4-2

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Giles 2-35, Wilder 2-8, Carter 1-17, House 1-16, Morton 1-5.
• DOLPHINS: Vigorito 7-39, Rose 6-62, Cefalo 4-81, Diana 2-21, Hill 2-14, Harris 1-15, Nathan 1-7, Hardy 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: Colzie 2-51, Washington 2-0, Brown 1-0.
• DOLPHINS: none.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Morton 1-17.
• DOLPHINS: Walker 6-123.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: T.Bell 0-0.
• DOLPHINS: Vigorito 3-38.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Logan 1.3-11, Hawkins 0.3-3, Green 0.3-3.
• DOLPHINS: Baumhower 1-11, Kowlowski 1-9.

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