Buccaneers vs. Los Angeles Rams 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 Los Angeles Rams 31
With the smallest home game attendance of the season (38,387) the nationally televised game was blacked out in the Tampa Bay area, as fans in attandance witnessed the worst collapse by a Buccaneers team since 1987, when the Bucs gave away a 25-point lead in the fourth quarter at St. Louis against the Cardinals.
The Buccaneers entered the locker room at halftime up 24 points. In the second half a fumble by rookie fullback McDowell opened the floodgates with two Testaverde interceptions twice. Everett's 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Carter gave the Rams the lead for good with 5:40 left. An interception by cornerback Darryl Henley, killed the Buccaneers final hopes at the Rams' 27 with 1:52 left.
The come-from-ahead loss spoiled an otherwise grand night "This is a real uppercut to the gut," Sam Wyche said, "especially since we had a chance to win it. We were saying the right things at halftime, `Let's start over like it's 0-0.' But we didn't play that way. On the road, to win a game like that - they've got to feel like a million dollars."
The defeat guaranteed Tampa Bay (4-9) its 10th consecutive losing season. Meanwhile, the Rams improved to 5-8. "I don't rank them," Bucs quarterback Vinny Testaverde said of the loss. "This is certainly not a very good feeling. It's embarrassing to come in at halftime, be up by 24 points, not score in the second half and lose the game."
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Johnny Grier
- UMPIRE: Ed Coukart
- HEAD LINESMAN: Dave Anderson
- LINE JUDGE: Jim Quirk
- BACK JUDGE: Jim Kearney
- FIELD JUDGE: Scott Green
- SIDE JUDGE: Dean Look
- REPLAY OFFICIAL: NOT DOCUMENTED
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 8:23-1Q Murray FG34
- BUCCANEERS: 6:24-1Q Murray FG47
- BUCCANEERS: 14:02-2Q Armstrong 81 pass from Testaverde (Murray kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 13:49-2Q Jones 26 fumble return (Murray kick)
- RAMS: 7:29-2Q Zendejas FG18
- BUCCANEERS: 1:45-2Q Carrier 10 pass from Testaverde (Murray kick)
- RAMS: 13:05-3Q Anderson 40 pass from Everett (Zendejas kick)
- RAMS: 10:20-3Q Chadwick 27 pass from Evertett (Zendejas kick)
- RAMS: 7:19-3Q Lang 1 run (Zendejas kick)
- RAMS: 5:40-4Q Carter 8 pass from Everett (Zendejas kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #88 M. Carrier
- LT: #74 P. Gruber
- LG: #66 B. Reimers
- C: #61 T. Mayberry
- RG: #62 I. Beckles
- RT: #70 C. McRae
- TE: #82 R. Hall
- WR: #80 L. Dawsey
- QB: #14 V. Testaverde
- RB: #37 A. McDowell
- RB: #34 R. Cobb
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LDE: #95 M. Duckens
- NT: #77 M. Wheeler
- UT: #71 S. Dotson
- RDE: #52 K. McCants
- LLB: #54 J. Williams
- MLB: #55 D. Brownlow
- RLB: #51 B. Thomas
- LCB: #29 R. Reynolds
- RCB: #21 M. Mack
- SS: #23 M. Carter
- FS: #27 D. Fullington
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 3 Murray, 4 Stryzinski, 22 Lewis, 24 Jones, 31 Pollard, 33 Royster, 40 Anderson, 41 King, 46 Ryan, 53 Brady, 56 Burnette, 59 Alexander, 73 McHale, 78 Mayfield, 83 Moore, 85 Hawkins, 86 Armstrong, 87 Thomas, 99 Grant
DID NOT PLAY
- 7 Erickson, 17 DeBerg, 67 Sullivan, 76 Dill
INACTIVE
- 50 Coleman, 57 Chamblee
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Cobb 26-100, Testaverde 4-41, McDowell 3-9.
- RAMS: Gary 15-47, Delpino 4-8, Everett 4-7, Lang 1-1.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Testaverde 22-12-177-2-2.
- RAMS: Everett 38-25-342-0-3.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: 6-65, McDowell 3-10, Armstrong 1-81, Dawsey 1-15, Hall 1-6.
- RAMS: Anderson 4-63, Price 4-45, McNeal 3-72, Chadwick 3-59, Delpino 3-24, Gary 3-7, Ellard 2-43, Lang 1-14, Carter 1-8, Thompson 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: none
- RAMS: Lyght 1-39, Henley 1-3.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Anderson 3-67, Hawkins 1-16.
- RAMS: Delpino 4-53, Lang 2-40.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Hawkins 3-4.
- RAMS: Harry 1-7.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: none
- RAMS: Gilbert 2-12, Robinson 1-2.
