Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Detroit Lions 20

Buccaneers players Lars Tate, Kerry Goode, and William Howard combined for 223 yards rushing, which allowed Vinny Testaverde to overcome his early struggles. Testaverde passed for a season-low 107 yards, but was 5-for-5 in the second half, including a 26-yard pass to Bruce Hill with 16 seconds left that set up Donald Igwebuike's winning field goal.

Tate's 106 yards rushing made him the first Buccaneer to rush for over 100 yards since James Wilder's 130-yard performance against the Lions two years prior. Howard rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries, in front of a crowd of 250 supporters who had driven to Detroit from his Lima, Ohio, hometown. Testaverde celebrated his 25th birthday with the win.

Ron Holmes suffered a season-ending knee injury.

The crowd of 25,956 was the smallest non-strike attendance in Silverdome history, and was the smallest Detroit crowd since a 1951 game against the New York Yanks in Briggs Stadium drew 21,807 fans.

The loss resulted in Lions owner William Clay Ford firing head coach Darryl Rogers, and replacing him with former Buccaneer defensive coordinator Wayne Fontes.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Ben Dreith
• UMPIRE: Dave Moss
• LINE JUDGE: Dick McKenzie
• SIDE JUDGE: Doyle Jackson
• HEAD LINESMAN: Tom Barnes
• BACK JUDGE: Al Jury
• FIELD JUDGE: Dick Dolack
• REPLAY OFFICAL: Dixon Holman

SCORING

• LIONS: 08:03-1Q Murray FG39
• LIONS: 03:49-1Q James 1 run (Murray kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 00:22-1Q Howard 29 run (Igwebuike kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 02:06-2Q Igwebuike FG23
• LIONS: 11:39-4Q Murray FG38
• BUCCANEERS: 08:23-4Q Tate 5 run (Igwebuike kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 02:10-4Q Igwebuike FG22
• LIONS: 00:45-4Q James 19 pass from Hilger (Murray kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 00:10-4Q Igwebuike FG52

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #89 M. Carrier
• LT: #74 P. Gruber
• LG: #68 R. Mallory
• C: #60 R. Grimes
• RG: #69 J. Bruhin
• RT: #72 R. Taylor
• TE: #82 R. Hall
• WR: #84 B. Hill
• QB: #14 V. Testaverde
• FB: #34 L. Tate
• RB: #43 W. Howard

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #78 J. Cannon
• NT: #95 C. Jervis
• RE: #90 R. Holmes
• LOLB: #59 K. Murphy
• LILB: #99 E. Marve
• RILB: #53 S. Coleman
• ROLB: #57 W. Moss
• LCB: #29 R. Reynolds
• RCB: #36 B. Futrell
• SS: #20 O. Harris
• FS: #39 H. Hamilton

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Igwebuike, 13 Criswell, 22 R Jones, 27 Goode, 28 Brown, 35 J Smith, 40 Elder, 47 D Smith, 51 Washington, 52 V Jones, 54 Randle, 55 Rolling, 56 Walker, 64 Thomas, 71 Cooper, 73 McHale, 79 Davis, 80 Pillow, 83 Clinkscales, 86 Magee, 94 Goff, 97 Lee

DID NOT PLAY

• 12 Ferguson

INACTIVE

• 70 Swayne, 85 Taylor

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Tate 18-106, Howard 14-78, Goode 4-39, J.Smith 1-3, Testaverde 1-(-1).
• LIONS: Jones 9-40, James 15-34, Paige 1-1, Hilger 1-0.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Testaverde 13-9-107-2-0.
• LIONS: Hilger 41-20-212-2-1.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Carrier 3-34, Hill 2-35, Hall 2-28, Howard 1-7, Tate 1-3.
• LIONS: James 8-84, Chadwick 3-43, Bland 3-33, Jones 3-21, Starring 2-20, Mandley 1-11.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: Hamilton 1-24, Elder 1-0.
• LIONS: Jamison 2-4.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: D.Smith 3-76, Elder 1-28.
• LIONS: Bland 3-70, Starring 2-37, Lee 1-24.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Futrell 1-21.
• LIONS: Mandley 1-15, Bland 1-8.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Marve 1-9.
• LIONS: Griffin 1-19, Cofer 0.5-4.5, Williams 0.5-4.5.

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