Buccaneers vs. Oakland Raiders

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48 Oakland Raiders 21

HISTORIC MARKER: SUPER BOWL XXXVII - TAMPA BAY WINS ITS FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, WITH FIVE INTERCEPTIONS AND THREE DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS.

On January 26, 2003, the Buccaneers completed the greatest season in their first 27 years by defeating the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII. The victory at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego delivered Tampa Bay's first Lombardi Trophy and the NFL championship for the 2002 season. In Jon Gruden's first year as head coach, the Bucs followed a 12-4 regular season with three playoff victories to finish 15-4 overall.

Tampa Bay reached the championship game by beating San Francisco 31-6 in the divisional round and Philadelphia 27-10 in the NFC Championship Game. The final opponent was Gruden's former team, now led by Bill Callahan. Against Oakland, the Buccaneers combined a patient offense with a defense that intercepted Rich Gannon five times, returned three of those interceptions for touchdowns and recorded five sacks.

Safety Dexter Jackson earned Super Bowl MVP honors with two first-half interceptions. Dwight Smith added two interceptions of his own, returning both for touchdowns, and Derrick Brooks supplied the other defensive score. Michael Pittman gave the offense a steady foundation with 124 rushing yards on 29 carries. Brad Johnson threw two touchdown passes to Keenan McCardell, while Mike Alstott scored on the ground and Martin Gramatica made both of his field goals and all six extra points.

Oakland scored first after Charles Woodson intercepted Johnson on Tampa Bay's opening possession and returned the ball to the Bucs' 36. The Raiders reached the 16 before Simeon Rice's third-down sack pushed them back. Sebastian Janikowski made a 40-yard field goal with 10:40 left in the opening quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, a Tampa Bay challenge overturned an Aaron Stecker fumble ruling. The Bucs then drove 58 yards, helped by a 23-yard catch from Joe Jurevicius and a 23-yard Pittman run, before Gramatica's 31-yard field goal tied the game 3-3.

Jackson's first interception, late in the opening quarter, gave Tampa Bay the ball near midfield. That possession carried into the second quarter and ended with Gramatica's 43-yard field goal for a 6-3 lead. Jackson intercepted Gannon again on Oakland's next series. After an exchange of punts, Karl Williams' 25-yard return set up the Bucs at the Raiders' 27. Four plays later, Alstott powered in from two yards out, extending the lead to 13-3 with 6:24 remaining in the half.

The Buccaneers added another touchdown before halftime. Starting at their own 23 with 3:45 to play, they moved 77 yards in 10 plays, with three Oakland penalties contributing 15 yards. Johnson found McCardell for a five-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left, and Gramatica's extra point made it 20-3. Oakland managed just 62 net yards in the first half, while Tampa Bay controlled the ball for 17:48.

The Bucs took command in the third quarter. After forcing Oakland to punt, Tampa Bay drove 89 yards in 14 plays and used 7:52 of the clock. Jurevicius contributed a 33-yard reception, and Johnson finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to McCardell at 5:30. On Oakland's next possession, Smith intercepted Gannon and raced 44 yards for a touchdown. With 4:47 left in the quarter, the lead had grown to 34-3.

Oakland answered with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Porter with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter. Replay overturned the initial incompletion ruling and awarded the touchdown. A failed two-point attempt left the score 34-9. Early in the fourth, Tim Johnson blocked Tom Tupa's punt and Eric Johnson returned it 13 yards for a touchdown. Another unsuccessful two-point attempt made the score 34-15 with 14:16 to play.

Tampa Bay's next drive reached the Oakland nine, but a mishandled field-goal snap ended the possession on downs. Gannon then connected with Jerry Rice for a 48-yard touchdown with 6:06 remaining. Oakland's third two-point try also failed, leaving the Raiders 13 points behind at 34-21. The Bucs used 3:22 on their next possession, with Alstott's nine-yard catch on third-and-seven helping them keep the clock moving before a punt returned the ball to Oakland with 2:44 left.

The defense finished the championship victory. Warren Sapp sacked Gannon and forced a fumble that Oakland recovered, then Brooks intercepted a later pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown with 1:18 remaining. On the Raiders' next possession, Smith collected his second interception and brought it back 50 yards for another score with just two seconds left. Gramatica's final extra point completed the 48-21 result.

Johnson finished 18-for-34 for 215 yards, two touchdowns and one interception without being sacked. Jurevicius led Tampa Bay with 78 receiving yards on four catches, while Keyshawn Johnson caught six passes for 69 yards. Gannon completed 24 of 44 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns, but the five interceptions proved decisive. The Buccaneers held Oakland to 19 rushing yards, outgained the Raiders 365-269 and possessed the ball for 37:14. Tampa Bay's first championship was secured by a complete team effort, capped by a memorable defensive finish.

Game facts: official NFL gamebook. Championship context: Buccaneers championship report.

Gameday brief  |  Scoring  |  Team statistics  |  Lineups  |  Individual statistics  |  Play-by-play

View the official Super Bowl XXXVII GAMEBOOK and complete play-by-play

GAMEDAY BRIEF

• GAME: Super Bowl XXXVII - championship game of the 2002 NFL season.
• DATE: Sunday, January 26, 2003.
• VENUE: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California - natural grass, open stadium.
• KICKOFF: 3:26 p.m. PST / 6:26 p.m. EST (official gamebook start time).
• ATTENDANCE: 67,603. GAME DURATION: 3 hours, 50 minutes.
• WEATHER: Sunny, 81°F; humidity 21%; wind west-southwest at 8 mph.
• COACHES: Tampa Bay - Jon Gruden; Oakland - Bill Callahan.
• COIN TOSS: Tampa Bay won and elected to receive; Oakland defended the east goal. Oakland received the second-half kickoff.
• MVP: Dexter Jackson, safety, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

OFFICIALS

• REFEREE: Bill Carollo (#63)
• UMPIRE: Ed Coukart (#71)
• HEAD LINESMAN: Dale Williams (#8)
• LINE JUDGE: Mark Steinkerchner (#84)
• FIELD JUDGE: Tom Sifferman (#118)
• SIDE JUDGE: Rick Patterson (#15)
• BACK JUDGE: Don Carey (#126)
• REPLAY OFFICIAL: Rex Stuart
• VIDEO OPERATOR: Mike Wimmer

SCORING

Scoring times show the clock after the score, as recorded in the gamebook scoring summary. Play-by-play entries below use the clock at the start of the play. Oakland attempted a two-point conversion after each of its three touchdowns; all three attempts failed.

TEAM STATISTICS

Passing totals distinguish gross quarterback yardage from team net passing yardage, which deducts sack losses. Two-point tries are recorded separately from offensive statistics. The blocked punt is included in Tampa Bay's team punt total. Source: NFL gamebook, final team statistics.

STARTING LINEUPS

STARTERS - OFFENSE

STARTERS - DEFENSE

Positions and starting designations follow the official gamebook. Its opening lineup lists defensive back Dwight Smith in the SLB slot.

SUBSTITUTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: #7 Martin Gramatica, #9 Tom Tupa, #23 Jermaine Phillips, #27 Aaron Stecker, #30 Darian Barnes, #35 Corey Ivy, #38 John Howell, #43 Jameel Cook, #51 Al Singleton, #52 Nate Webster, #58 Jack Golden, #66 Ryan Benjamin, #74 Cornell Green, #75 Lomas Brown, #77 Todd Washington, #80 Todd Yoder, #83 Joe Jurevicius, #86 Karl Williams, #88 Rickey Dudley, #93 DeVone Claybrooks, #95 Ron Warner, #96 Ellis Wyms.
• RAIDERS: #9 Shane Lechler, #11 Sebastian Janikowski, #22 Terrance Shaw, #23 Darrien Gordon, #28 Randy Jordan, #32 Zack Crockett, #36 Derrick Gibson, #38 Clarence Love, #40 Jon Ritchie, #41 Eric Johnson, #47 Tyrone Wheatley, #49 Jeremy Brigham, #51 Tim Johnson, #56 Travian Smith, #57 Rod Coleman, #66 Langston Walker, #70 Brad Badger, #74 Matt Stinchcomb, #75 Chris Cooper, #83 Marcus Knight, #87 Alvis Whitted, #92 Junior Ioane.

DID NOT PLAY

• BUCCANEERS: #11 Rob Johnson (QB).
• RAIDERS: #8 Marques Tuiasosopo (QB).

INACTIVE

• BUCCANEERS: #10 Shaun King (QB), #31 Tim Wansley (CB), #41 Daniel Wilcox (TE), #59 Justin Smith (LB), #64 Dan Goodspeed (T), #84 Reggie Barlow (WR), #89 Casey Crawford (TE), #90 Buck Gurley (DT).
• RAIDERS: #1 Ronald Curry (QB), #3 Rick Mirer (QB), #30 Madre Hill (RB), #44 Keyon Nash (S), #63 Barret Robbins (C), #78 Chad Slaughter (T), #82 James Jett (WR), #90 Kenyon Coleman (DE).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

PASSING

RECEIVING

INTERCEPTIONS

KICKOFF RETURNS

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Karl Williams - 1 return, 25 yards, 25.0 average, long of 25; 4 fair catches.
• RAIDERS: Darrien Gordon - 3 returns, 29 yards, 9.7 average, long of 17. Tim Brown made 1 fair catch.
• BLOCKED PUNT: Tim Johnson blocked the kick; Eric Johnson returned it 13 yards for an Oakland touchdown. This score is recorded separately from ordinary punt returns.

SACKS

Oakland recorded no sacks.

KICKING

PUNTING

Tupa's 38.8-yard gross average covers his four unblocked punts. Including the blocked punt, Tampa Bay's team total is five punts with a 31.0-yard gross average. The gamebook's 25.2-yard net average includes the blocked punt.

FUMBLES

• BUCCANEERS: Tom Tupa fumbled once on the aborted fourth-quarter field-goal play. Martin Gramatica recovered, and Tampa Bay lost the ball on downs; no fumble was lost. The play counts as a zero-yard Tupa rushing attempt, with 12 yards lost in the fumble and recovery sequence. It does not count as a field-goal attempt.
• RAIDERS: Rich Gannon fumbled once on a Warren Sapp sack. Mo Collins recovered for Oakland; no fumbles were lost. Sapp was credited with the forced fumble.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

Statistics and game-day participation follow the official NFL gamebook. Full player names were checked against the NFL's 2002 Tampa Bay roster and 2002 Oakland roster.

PLAY-BY-PLAY

All four quarters are recorded below in a compact factual play log. OAK = Oakland; TB = Tampa Bay. Field position identifies the line of scrimmage before the play; the clock shows time remaining at the start of the action. Nullified plays, penalties and replay reversals are identified in the description. Two-point attempts are shown separately from regular offensive plays.

Open the NFL GAMEBOOK for the official play descriptions, drive charts and complete defensive statistics

First quarter  |  Second quarter  |  Third quarter  |  Fourth quarter

FIRST QUARTER

SECOND QUARTER

THIRD QUARTER

FOURTH QUARTER

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS - SUPER BOWL XXXVII WORLD CHAMPIONS
BUCCANEERS 48 - RAIDERS 21

Sources: NFL Super Bowl XXXVII gamebook (statistics, lineups, officials and underlying play-by-play facts); Buccaneers championship recap; NFL 2002 Buccaneers roster; NFL 2002 Raiders roster. This page uses an original recap and concise factual play summaries.