Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 Detroit Lions 10
Abandoning their conservative running game of recent weeks, the Buccaneers passed on 10 of their first 16 plays. The early result was that Testaverde was sacked four times, and threw three interceptions for a season total of 35, a record for both the team and the NFC. However, he rebounded to throw a career-high three touchdown passes.
Lions quarterback Rusty Hilger was sacked twice by Shaun Lee, and once by John Cannon. Donnie Elder, Harry Hamilton, and Mark Robinson all intercepted Hilger. Bruce Hill caught a touchdown and passed the 1,000 yard receiving mark, while Mark Carrier caught two and fell just short of 1,000 yards.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Bob McElwee
- UMPIRE: Dennis Riggs
- LINE JUDGE: Ron DeSouza
- SIDE JUDGE: Stan Kemp
- HEAD LINESMAN: Dale Hamer
- BACK JUDGE: Jim Kearney
- FIELD JUDGE: Jack Vaughan
- REPLAY OFFICAL: Tom Kelleher
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 09:00-1Q Hill 31 pass from Testaverde (Carney kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 03:14-2Q Carrier 31 pass from Testaverde (Carney kick)
- LIONS: 04:34-3Q Murray FG27
- LIONS: 11:54-3Q Chadwick 19 pass from Hilger (Murray kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 04:48-4Q Carrier 27 pass from Testaverde (Carney kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #89 M. Carrier
- LT: #74 P. Gruber
- LG: #68 R. Mallory
- C: #60 R. Grimes
- RG: #50 D. Turk
- RT: #72 R. Taylor
- TE: #82 R. Hall
- WR: #84 B. Hill
- QB: #14 V. Testaverde
- FB: #35 J. Smith
- RB: #27 K. Goode
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #79 R. Davis
- NT: #95 C. Jervis
- RE: #94 R. Goff
- LOLB: #59 K. Murphy
- LILB: #99 E. Marve
- RILB: #54 E. Randle
- ROLB: #57 W. Moss
- LCB: #29 R. Reynolds
- RCB: #36 B. Futrell
- SS: #30 M. Robinson
- FS: #39 H. Hamilton
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 4 Carney, 13 Criswell, 20 Harris. 22 R Jones, 25 B Howard, 34 Tate, 40 Elder, 47 D Smith, 51 Washington, 52 V Jones, 53 Coleman, 55 Rolling, 56 Walker, 64 Thomas, 69 Bruhin, 71 Cooper, 73 McHale, 75 Kellin, 78 Cannon, 80 Pillow, 85 Parks, 97 Lee
DID NOT PLAY
- 12 Ferguson
INACTIVE
- 43 W Howard, 89 Richardson
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Tate 19-53, J.Smith 10-39, Goode 4-9, Hill 1-3, Testaverde 1-(-1).
- LIONS: James 7-26, Paige 5-16, Jones 5-14, Hilger 3-2, Mandley 1-1.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Testaverde 23-12-189-3-3.
- LIONS: Hilger 39-16-211-3-1, Jones 1-0-0-0-0.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Carrier 3-71, Hill 3-53, J.Smith 3-17, Hall 2-37, D.Smith 1-11.
- LIONS: Chadwick 5-70, Mandley 4-69, James 3-19, Jones 2-22, Bland 1-17, Carter 1-14.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Hamilton 1-1, Elder 1-0, Robinson 1-0.
- LIONS: Blades 1-5, Griffin 1-0, Mitchell 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: D.Smith 1-19, Elder 1-13, J.Smith 1-13.
- LIONS: Starring 3-48, Painter 1-25.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Futrell 3-31.
- LIONS: Mandley 5-30.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Lee 2-15, Cannon 1-5.
- LIONS: Jamison 2-21, Blades 1-19, Ball 1-10.
