Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24 Philadelphia Eagles 17

POST-SEASON: NFC Divisional Playoff Game

The Buccaneers won their first playoff game in team history by holding the Eagles to 48 rushing yards, while running back Ricky Bell recorded 142 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.

Bell's 38 rushing attempts set a playoff record, tied later by John Riggins in Super Bowl XVII, while the Eagles' Wilbert Montgomery was held to 35 yards on 12 attempts. The Buccaneers' opening drive resulted in a Bell touchdown, and a Neil O'Donoghue field goal gave the Buccaneers an early 10–0 lead. Wally Chambers forced a Montgomery fumble that was recovered by Randy Crowder on the 4-yard line and led to Bell's second touchdown run, giving the Buccaneers a 17–0 second-quarter lead.

Trying to extend that lead before halftime, Doug Williams hurried a pass that wound up in the hands of Eagles linebacker Jerry Robinson at the Tampa Bay 11-yard line. This set up Ron Jaworski's touchdown pass to Charles Smith. After the Eagles narrowed the gap to 17–10 on a Tony Franklin field goal, a series of Lee Roy Selmon sacks of Jaworski killed the Eagles' rally. A 9-yard touchdown pass to Jimmie Giles completed the Buccaneers' scoring.

It was only in the final minutes of the game that the Eagles were able to put together a long drive, ending in a touchdown pass to Harold Carmichael. The Buccaneers held the ball for over 36 minutes of the game. The Buccaneers' defensive strategy revolved around stopping Carmichael and Montgomery. At one point, when Leroy Harris was gang-tackled following a short reception, the entire Buccaneer defense was penalized for unnecessary roughing. The Buccaneers' hard-hitting play intimidated the Eagles' receivers into dropping 10 passes.

Going into the matchup, the Eagles were expected to have edges in playoff and quarterback experience. Jaworski was the third-rated quarterback in the NFC, while Williams had the lowest rating of all NFC starting quarterbacks. The game represented a rematch of old coaching rivals, McKay of USC and Dick Vermeil of UCLA.

The game was the Buccaneers' first on national television. Word of the upset spread as far as Iran, where the hostages were surprised to learn of the Buccaneers' contention for the Super Bowl.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Fred Silva
• UMPIRE: Ralph Morcroft
• HEAD LINESMAN: Burl Toler
• LINE JUDGE: Jack Fette
• SIDE JUDGE: Don Wedge
• FIELD JUDGE: Armen Terzian
• BACK JUDGE: Ben Tompkins
• ALTERNATE: Frank Glover

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 05:26-1Q Bell 4 run (O'Donoghue kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 08:06-2Q O'Donoghue FG40
• BUCCANEERS: 05:24-2Q Bell 1 run (O'Donoghue kick)
• EAGLES: 01:28-2Q Smith 11 pass from Jaworski (Franklin kick)
• EAGLES: 10:44-3Q Franklin FG42
• BUCCANEERS: 07::08-4Q Giles 9 pass from Williams (O'Donoghue kick)
• EAGLES: 03:36-4Q Carmichael 37 pass from Jaworski (Franklin kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• TE: #86 J. Obradovich
• LT: #75 D. Reavis
• LG: #64 G. Horton
• C: #50 S. Wilson
• RG: #61 G. Roberts
• RT: #70 D. Carlton
• TE: #88 J. Giles
• WR: #87 L. Mucker
• QB: #12 D. Williams
• RB: #42 R. Bell
• RB: #43 J. Eckwood

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #60 W. Chambers
• NT: #71 R. Crowder
• RE: #63 L. Selmon
• LOLB: #57 D. Lewis
• LILB: #58 D. Selmon
• RILB: #54 R. Wood
• ROLB: #56 C. Johnson
• LCB: #45 J. White
• RCB: #40 M. Washington
• SS: #33 M. Cotney
• FS: #34 C. Brown

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 6 O'Donoghue, 16 Blanchard, 23 Ragsdale, 25 Jordan, 27 T Davis, 36 Berns, 38 J Davis, 44 Cesare, 46 Reece, 51 Nafziger, 53 Bonness, 55 Brown, 66 Yarno, 69 Austin, 74 Sanders, 76 Logan, 77 Kollar, 86 Obradovich, 87 Mucker

DID NOT PLAY

• 14 Fusina, 15 Rae, 79 Lewis, 84 Jones

INACTIVE

• none.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Bell 38-142, Eckwood 8-19, Williams 6-19 J.Davis 3-6, Ragsdale 1-(-5).
• EAGLES: Montgomery 13-35, Harris 4-13, Jaworski 1-0.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 15-7-132-1-1.
• EAGLES: Jaworski 39-15-199-0-2.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Giles 3-43, Hagins 2-34, Mucker 1-34, Owens 1-21.
• EAGLES: Montgomery 4-35, Carmichael 3-92, Smith 3-49, Krepfle 3-23, Harris 1-2, Campfield 1-(-2).

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• EAGLES: Robinson 1-37.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Hagins 3-59, T.Davis 1-0.
• EAGLES: Henry 3-72, Giammona 1-15.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Reece 3-33.
• EAGLES: Henry 4-48.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: L.Selmon 2-20.
• EAGLES: none.

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