Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Detroit Lions 21
Local product and former Florida Gators kicker Brian Clark was signed to take the injured Bill Capece's place on kickoffs, but was benched after failing to get the ball inside the Lions' 20-yard line on two attempts. Norris Thomas said that the Buccaneers "stunk up the joint" and could not do anything right until the third quarter. After allowing the Lions a 21–6 third quarter lead, the Buccaneer defense stopped them on three consecutive plays on one series, and only allowed them only nine yards the rest of the game.
Gary Danielson was held to one completion on four second-half pass attempts, while Billy Sims was held to 68 yards on 21 carries. The Lions' pass rush kept the Buccaneers from attempting long passes, despite the injury-riddled nature of the Lions' secondary. Doug Williams brought the team to within one point on a three—yard touchdown run and a 2-yard pass to James Owens. A late fourth-quarter interference call against Bobby Watkins gave the Buccaneers field position on the Detroit 13-yard line. The Lions were angered by this call, as they believed that Williams had overthrown Kevin House on the play, and that House had interfered with Watkins. McKay admitted that the Lions had a "legitimate gripe" about the call, but pointed to an earlier play on which Giles was ruled to have fumbled, despite the Buccaneers' belief that Giles was already down and that the play was over.
Bill Capece kicked field goals of 34 and 29 yards, and scored the winning points on a 27-yard field goal with 25 seconds left. Detroit linebacker Stan White taunted Capece with calls of "Remember Oakland last year?" as Capece prepared to kick, referring to a block of Capece's potentially game-winning field goal against the Raiders
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Jim Tunney
- UMPIRE: Pat Harder
- LINE JUDGE: Boyce Smith
- HEAD LINESMAN: Sid Semon
- BACK JUDGE: Pat Knight
- FIELD JUDGE: John Grier
- SIDE JUDGE: Gil Mace
SCORING
- LIONS: 10:21-1Q Thompson 19 pass from Danielson (Murray kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 11:47-2Q Capece FG34
- LIONS: 06:02-2Q Hill 7 pass from Danielson (Murray kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 00:31-2Q Capece FG29
- LIONS: 09:12-3Q Sims 3 run (Murray kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 04:25-3Q Williams 3 run (Capece kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 12:46-4Q Owens 2 pass from Williams (Capece kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 00:25-4Q Capece FG27
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #84 G. Jones
- LT: #75 D. Reavis
- LG: #72 R. Snell
- C: #50 S. Wilson
- RG: #61 G. Roberts
- RT: #62 S. Farrell
- TE: #88 J. Giles
- WR: #89 K. House
- QB: #12 D. Williams
- FB: #32 J. Wilder
- WB: #86 J. Obradovich
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. Brantley
- 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, 5 Clark, 9 Swider, 21 Holt, 22 Smith, 24 Morris, 26 Owens, 28 Carver, 33 Cotney, 51 Nafziger, 54 Wood, 57 Leonard, 58 Davis, 68 Yarno, 73 Hannah, 78 Cannon, 82 J Bell, 83 T Bell, 87 Carter, 90 White
DID NOT PLAY
- 8 Hewko, 65 Stalls
INACTIVE
- none.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Carver 24-68, Wilder 11-47, Williams 4-3 , Owens 2-2.
- LIONS: Sims 21-68, King 5-37, Bussey 1-7, Danielson 3-1.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 34-21-276-1-1.
- LIONS: Danielson 16-7-106-2-2.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Wilder 7-73, House 4-40, Giles 3-69, Carver 2-32, T.Bell 2-21, Jones 1-24, Obradovich 1-15, Owens 1-2.
- LIONS: Hill 3-49, Thompson 2-25, Sims 1-21, King 1-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Brown 2-31.
- LIONS: Cobb 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Morton 2-44, Obradovich 1-12.
- LIONS: Hall 4-82, Martin 2-30.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Holt 2-17, T.Bell 1-5.
- LIONS: Martin 3-25.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Selmon 1-9.
- LIONS: Gay 1-11, Pureifory 1-8.
