Sunday December 22, 1990 - Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gameday Report

WIN - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Atlanta Falcons 17

The Buccaneers entered the game with the NFL's fourth-ranked run defense, but the Falcons were able to match the season-high rushing total of 181 yards that had been previously set by the Cardinals on September 18. John Settle broke several tackles in a 48-yard run, the longest against the Buccaneers all season, which set up Chris Miller's game-winning 37-yard touchdown pass to Michael Haynes.

Gerald Riggs rushed for 98 yards, while Settle gained 83. The Buccaneers outgained the Falcons in total yardage, but dropped passes and committed penalties and turnovers at key times. Vinny Testaverde's three interceptions gave him an NFL-leading total of 31 for the season. The game was played in a downpour, in front of an NFL season-low crowd of 14,020.

Calvin Magee suffered a season-ending knee injury, and was replaced by Jeff Parks, who had spent parts of the 1986–1988 seasons with the Oilers and the Packers. The team also cut wide receiver Joey Clinkscales, and replaced him with speedy former Vikings receiver Jeff Richardson.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights

GAMEDAY BRIEF

WEATHER: Partly Cloudy - 80°F. - Humidity 50 - Wind S. 10 mph - Gusty Storms

OFFICALS

REFEREE: Tom White
UMPIRE: Ed Fiffick
LINE JUDGE: Jim Quirk
SIDE JUDGE: Bill Carollo
HEAD LINESMAN: Jerry Bergman
BACK JUDGE: Bob Moore
FIELD JUDGE: Don Orr
REPLAY OFFICAL: Fritz Graf

SCORING

FALCONS: 0:09-1Q Johnson 3 run (Davis kick)
BUCCANEERS: 5:44-2Q Drewrey 89 pass from Testaverde (Christie kick)
BUCCANEERS: 0:25-2Q Christie FG39
BUCCANEERS: 0:00-2Q Christie FG44
FALCONS: 13:09-4Q Rozier 9 run (Davis kick)
BUCCANEERS: 10:03-4Q Christie FG21
FALCONS: 4:30-4Q Davis FG46
BUCCANEERS: 0:39-4Q Carrier 35 pass from Testaverde (Christie kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

QB: #14 Testaverde
LT: #74 Gruber
LG: #73 McHale
C: #60 Grimes
RG: #62 Beckles
RT: #72 Taylor
WR: #84 Hill
WR: #88 Carrier
TE: #82 Hall
FB: #33 Cobb
RB: #40 Anderson

STARTERS DEFENSE

LDE: #79 Davis
NT: #91 White
RDE: #93 Roland
LOLB: #51 B. Thomas
LILB: #99 Marve
RILB: #58 Moss
ROLB: #52 McCants
LCB: #29 Reynolds
SS: #30 Robinson
FS: #39 Hamilton
RCB: #45 Haddix

SUBSTITUTIONS

2 Christie, 3 Royals, 7 Carlson, 20 Harris, 26 Harvey, 31 Rice, 32 Perkins, 42 Everett, 53 Coleman, 54 Randle, 56 Anno, 59 Murphy, 61 Mayberry, 66 Wyatt, 70 Swayne, 75 Bax, 80 Pillow, 86 E Thomas, 87 Drewrey, 89 J Anderson, 96 Newton

DID NOT PLAY

17 Chandler, 81 Ford

INACTIVE

69 Bruhin, 78 Cannon

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

BUCCANEERS: G Anderson 5-20, Testaverde 4-16, Cobb 2-6.
FALCONS: Rozier 23-115, Jones 6-41, Johnson 9-33, C.Miller 2-26, Settle 3-7.

PASSING

BUCCANEERS: Testaverde 33-17-351-1-2.
FALCONS: C.Miller 13-4-66-3-0, Campbell 9-7-93-0-0.

RECIEVING

BUCCANEERS: Hill 4-43, Cobb 4-34, Hall 3-51, Drewrey 2-119, J Anderson 1-52, Carrier 1-35, G Anderson 1-11, Pillow 1-6.
FALCONS: Collins 3-56, Rison 3-32, Wilkins 1-22, Thomas 1-22, Haynes 1-12, Milling 1-8, Dixon 1-7.

INTERCEPTIONS

BUCCANEERS: Reynolds 1-24, Haddix 1-20, Rice 1-4.
FALCONS: Jordan 1-0.

KICK RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: G.Anderson 2-33, Harvey 2-33.
FALCONS: Sanders 2-67.

PUNT RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Drewrey 2-26.
FALCONS: Sanders 1-12.

SACKS

BUCCANEERS: Murphy 1-7.
FALCONS: Green 2-15, Epps 1-5.