Buccaneers vs. Washington Redskins

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 Washington Redskins 21

For the second week in a row, the Buccaneers lost to an opponent they outgained, due to numerous errors.

The first half was played in a torrential downpour in which lightning struck Tampa Stadium. The Buccaneers had ball-handling problems, fumbling the center snap four times. Joe Theismann credited purposeful practice in the rain to his avoidance of the type of struggles that Williams had. Two of Williams' fumbles led to Mark Moseley field goals, while the other two hurt Tampa Bay's field position.

The Buccaneers were able to close the lead to 18–13 in the fourth quarter, before Washington was able to dominate the game with their running. The home crowd booed the team, particularly Williams, through the first half. For the second week in a row, they ended an opponent's drive, only to give the opponent a second chance due to a defensive holding penalty. The Redskins ran the ball 45 times, 43 of them to their right side (away from Lee Roy Selmon and Hugh Green), despite injury problems on that side of their line. John Riggins' 34 carries tied the Redskins record set in 1937 by Cliff Battles, remained for several years as the record by a Buccaneer opponent, and extended his streak to 236 consecutive carries without fumbling. At one point, he carried seven straight times for 48 yards.

Former Buccaneer Curtis Jordan scored the winning touchdown when he recovered his own block of a Larry Swider punt in the end zone. The Redskins noticed the Buccaneer center's tendency to drop his head while snapping, and used that to their advantage on Jordan's punt block. A late rally attempt fizzled when an apparent 71-yard Doug Williams touchdown pass to Kevin House was called back when House was ruled to have been pushed out of bounds. Having opened the season with two victories over 1981 playoff teams, Washington, coach Joe Gibbs told his players, "We're hot, let's not strike now".

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Gordon McCarter
• UMPIRE: Ron Botchan
• LINE JUDGE: Jack Fette
• HEAD LINESMAN: Tom Johnson
• BACK JUDGE: John Sanders
• FIELD JUDGE: Pat Mallette
• SIDE JUDGE: Dean Look

SCORING

• REDSKINS: 03:05-1Q Brown 8 pass from Theismann (kick failed)
• REDSKINS: 00:09-1Q Moseley FG35
• BUCCANEERS: 14:49-2Q House 62 pass from Williams (kick failed)
• REDSKINS: 06:25-2Q Moseley FG21
• REDSKINS: 05:20-2Q Jordan recovered blocked punt in the endzone (kick failed)
• BUCCANEERS: 13:56-4Q Wilder 7 run (Capece kick)
• REDSKINS: 04:16-4Q Moseley FG19

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #84 G. Jones
• LT: #74 G. Sanders
• LG: #68 G. Yarno
• C: #50 S. Wilson
• RG: #61 G. Roberts
• RT: #73 C. Hannah
• TE: #88 J. Giles
• WR: #89 K. House
• QB: #12 D. Williams
• FB: #32 J. Wilder
• TB: #26 J. Owens

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #65 D. Stalls
• NT: #76 D. Logan
• RE: #63 L. Selmon
• LOLB: #59 A. Hawkins
• LILB: #56 C. Johnson
• RILB: #52 S.Brantley
• ROLB: #53 H. Green
• LCB: #41 N. Thomas
• RCB: #40 M. Washington
• SS: #20 N. Colzie
• FS: #34 C. Brown

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Morton, 3 Capece, 9 Swider, 21 Holt, 22 Smith, 28 Carver, 30 Barrett, 33 Cotney, 51 Nafziger, 54 Wood, 57 Leonard, 58 Davis, 62 Farrell, 66 Reese, 67 Cobb, 78 Cannon, 82 J Bell, 83 T Bell, 86 Obradovich, 87 Carter, 90 White

DID NOT PLAY

• 11 Golsteyn, 75 Reavis

INACTIVE

• 10 Ford, 24 Morris, 44 Middleton, 81 Tyler

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 9-49, Wilder 11-35, Owens 8-17.
• REDSKINS: Riggins 34-136, Wonsley 6-22, Harmon 3-13, Theismann 2-6.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 27-14-199-0-1.
• REDSKINS: Theismann 20-12-112-0-1.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Wilder 5-46, House 4-105, Giles 2-22, T.Bell 1-14, Jones 1-7, J.Bell 1-5.
• REDSKINS: Monk 4-41, Brown 3-33, Warren 2-15, Riggins 2-15, Didier 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• REDSKINS: none.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Morton 6-120.
• REDSKINS: Nelms 2-41, Williams 1-2.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: T.Bell 3-29.
• REDSKINS: Nelms 4-33.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Hawkins 2-11, Stalls 1-10, Logan 1-10, Brantley 1-8, Selmon 1-2.
• REDSKINS: Manley 1-16, McGee 1-6.

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