Buccaneers vs. New York Giants 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30 New York Giants 13
The Buccaneers regained their form of the previous season to take a 23–0 halftime lead, as they faced a New York Giants team with even worse injury problems than their own. With seven starters lost with injuries, the Giants started six rookies on defense. The Buccaneers attempted to alleviate their own injury problems by activating linebacker Rik Bonness from injured reserve, but this required that he clear waivers, and he was claimed by the Giants only to be released two days later and return to Tampa Bay.
Ricky Bell gained 130 yards on 25 carries, and scored two touchdowns. In the minute before halftime, Tampa Bay turned a 10–0 lead into a 23–0 lead, scoring two field goals and a touchdown with the aid of two Giants fumbles. Bill Kollar caused a Phil Simms fumble that Lee Roy Selmon recovered, setting up Doug Williams' 25-yard touchdown pass to Mike Shumann. On the next play from scrimmage, Selmon delivered a hard hit on Billy Taylor that caused a fumble which Kollar recovered, setting up a field goal.
The Giants were held to 2 first downs, 2 yards passing, and 17 offensive plays in the first half.
Garo Yepremian's parents were in attendance to see him kick his 200th career field goal and set a Buccaneer record of 18 consecutive successful extra-point attempts. The game continued a trend of last-minute rallies.
In three of their four victories, 37 of their 57 points were scored during the last two minutes before the end of a half, and three times the winning points were scored after the two-minute warning.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Fred Silva
- UMPIRE: Ralph Morcroft
- LINE JUDGE: Jack Johnson
- LINESMAN: Frank Glover
- BACK JUDGE: Jim Kearney
- FIELD JUDGE: Don Orr
- SIDE JUDGE: Jim Osborne
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 06:38-1Q Bell 21 run (Yepremian kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 11:19-2Q Yepremian FG22
- BUCCANEERS: 00:48-2Q Yepremian FG37
- BUCCANEERS: 00:16-2Q Shumann 25 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 00:00-2Q Yepremian FG35
- GIANTS: 01:28-3Q Shirk 8 pass from Simms (kick failed)
- BUCCANEERS: 03:05-4Q Bell 1 run (Yepremian kick)
- GIANTS: 00:49-4Q Heater 1 run (Danelo kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- TE: #80 T. Samuels
- LT: #75 D. Reavis
- LG: #68 G. Yarno
- C: #50 S. Wilson
- RG: #72 R. Snell
- RT: #73 C. Hannah
- TE: #88 J. Giles
- WR: #81 I. Hagins
- QB: #12 D. Williams
- RB: #38 J. Davis
- RB: #42 R. Bell
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #77 B. Kollar
- NT: #76 D. Logan
- RE: #63 L. Selmon
- LOLB: #57 D. Lewis
- SILB: #58 D. Selmon
- WILB: #54 R. Wood
- ROLB: #56 C. Johnson
- LCB: #25 C. Jordan
- RCB: #40 M. Washington
- SS: #33 M. Cotney
- FS: #34 C. Brown
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Yepremian, 14 Fusina, 16 Blanchard, 20 Colzie, 27 T Davis, 28 G Davis, 36 Berns, 41 Thomas, 43 Eckwood, 46 Reece, 52 Brantley, 55 Brown, 59 Hawkins, 62 Leonard, 69 Austin, 78 Radford, 79 Lewis, 82 Shumann, 84 Jones, 86 Obradovich, 89 House
DID NOT PLAY
- 65 Stalls
INACTIVE
- none.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Bell 26-130, Eckwood 14-54, House 1-32, Williams 4-15, J.Davis 4-13.
- GIANTS: Taylor 14-56, Heater 5-16, Perry 1-5, P.Simms 1-1, Matthews 4-(-5).
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 25-13-163-0-1, Eckwood 1-0-0-0-0.
- GIANTS: Simms 34-22-155-2-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Bell 3-21, Jones 3-21, Shumann 2-47, Hagins 2-38, Eckwood 2-23, House 1-13.
- GIANTS: Taylor 11-67, Shirk 5-36, Gray 2-22, Matthews 2-(-1), Friede 1-26, Pittman 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Wood 1-15, Washington 1-0.
- GIANTS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: G.Davis 2-55, Jordan 1-0.
- GIANTS: B.Reece 5-99, Lapka 1-3, Pittman 0-11.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Reece 4-10.
- GIANTS: Garrett 2-21.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Kollar 1-8.
- GIANTS: Martin 2-17, B.Reece 1-11.
