Buccaneers vs. Los Angeles Rams 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Los Angeles Rams 26
Three Buccaneer starters went out with injuries, most significantly Doug Williams, who suffered a broken jaw on a Jack Youngblood blitz. Darryl Carlton separated a shoulder, and Dewey Selmon broke his wrist. Mike Rae played in relief of Williams, completing 9 of 17 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.
The Rams double-covered both Buccaneer receivers, leaving no coverage to prevent Rae from rushing for 95 yards on four carries. Ricky Bell had his first 100-yard rushing day, with 21 carries for 104 yards.
The Buccaneers set several team records in this game: 209 yards was their highest rushing total yet, Bell's 555 yards were a Buccaneer single-season rushing record, and Neil O'Donoghue's 38 points were a new season scoring record.
Although the Rams were not on McKay's list of 18 teams that he felt the Buccaneers were competitive with, Buccaneers rallied to a 23–23 fourth-quarter tie before losing on a late Frank Corral field goal. It was the Buccaneers’ third fourth-quarter collapse in four weeks. The Buccaneers’ performance drew cheers from the Los Angeles crowd, among whom McKay was still a popular figure.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Jim Tunney
- UMPIRE: Pat Barder
- HEAD LINESMAN: Burl Toler
- LINE JUDGE: Dale Hamer
- BACK JUDGE: Pat Knight
- FIELD JUDGE: Don Hakes
SCORING
- RAMS: 3:57-1Q Corral FG29
- RAMS: 14:50-2Q Cromwell 16 run (Corral kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 9:10-2Q O'Donoghue FG42
- RAMS: 0:55-2Q Waddy 68 pass from Haden (Corral kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 0:01-2Q O'Donoghue FG25
- BUCCANEERS: 13:02-3Q O'Donoghue FG30
- RAMS: 4:23-3Q Corral FG27
- BUCCANEERS: 13:41-4Q Bell 1 run (O'Donoghue kick)
- RAMS: 8:08-4Q Corral FG32
- BUCCANEERS: 0:47-4Q McKay 23 pass from Rae (O'Donoghue kick)
- RAMS: 0:03-4Q Corral FG27
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #83 F. Grant
- LT: #75 D. Reavis
- LG: #64 G. Horton
- C: #79 S. Wilson
- RG: #72 G. Puetz
- RT: #70 D. Carlton
- TE: #86 J. Obeadovich
- WR: #85 M. Owens
- QB: #12 D. Williams
- FB: #38 J. Davis
- RB: #42 R. Bell
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #73 C. Hannah
- T: #76 D. Pear
- RE: #63 L. Selmon
- LOLB: #57 D. Lewis
- LILB: #61 D. Selmon
- RILB: #54 R. Wood
- ROLB: #53 R. Bonfess
- LCB: #45 J. White
- RCB: #40 M. Washington
- SS: #33 M. Cotney
- FS: #34 C. Brown
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 4 Green, 6 O'Donoghue, 15 Rae, 23 Ragsdale, 25 Jordan, 28 White, 32 L Carter, 44 Cesare, 46 Reece, 55 Brown, 65 Johnson, 68 Medlin, 71 Crowder, 74 Freitas, 77 Kollar, 84 Farmer, 87 Mucker, 88 Giles, 89 McKay
DID NOT PLAY
- 19 Huff, 51 Nafziger, 56 Johnson, 60 Chambers
INACTIVE
- none
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Bell 21-104, Rae 4-95, Davis 5-12, Carter 2-1, Ragsdale 2-(-1), Mucker 1-(-2).
- RAMS: Cappelletti 9-48, McCutcheon 14-30, Cromwell 1-16, Bryant 2-10, Haden 2-10, Nelson 1-10, Jodat 1-(-2).
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 4-1-13-0-0, Rae 17-9-123-3-1, Carter 1-1-66-0-0.
- RAMS: Haden 27-15-233-0-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Bell 3-10, McKay 2-51, Obradovich 2-31, Giles 2-25, Owens 1-66, Grant 1-19.
- RAMS: Miller 6-105, Cappelletti 4-12, McCutcheon 3-35, Waddy 1-68, Jessie 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: none
- RAMS: Cromwell 1-32, Thomas 1-0, Perry 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Ragsdale 1-25, Carter 1-21, Obradovich 1-14, Giles 1-9.
- RAMS: Latin 4-77, Jodat 1-4.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Reece 6-31, Mucker 1-11.
- RAMS: Wallace 4-48.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Pear 1-7, Kollar 1-3, Bonness 1-3, Hannah 1-1.
- RAMS: Jones 3-34, Brudzinski 2-14, Jack Youngblood 1-9, Jim Youngblood 1-7, Dryer 1-6.
