Buccaneers vs. Houston Oilers 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33 Houston Oilers 24
The Buccaneers won the matchup between the two teams with the league's worst records, referred to variously as the "Turkey Bowl", the "Toilet Bowl", and the "Repus Bowl". It was the first time since the AFL merger that a meeting had occurred between two teams with such poor records so late in the season.
Steve Wulf wrote of the game, "Yes, this was the Small One, the battle of the beatens, the movable object meeting the resistible force. There were only tomorrows. When these two teams get together, nothing can happen. This game was for a marble."
There were 20,474 no-shows for the game; some of the fans in attendance held up a banner that read "Our Wives Think We're At A Pro Football Game".
The offensive line suffered no major injuries for the first time all season, with the result that Jack Thompson had time to complete four touchdown passes. The first was to fullback Adger Armstrong, who had been released by the Oilers earlier in the year. Thompson also threw two to Kevin House and one to Jim Obradovich, and completed 17 of 29 passes for 224 yards with no interceptions.
The Buccaneers got three interceptions, one by Booker Reece and two by Beasley Reece. The early Tampa Bay lead kept Earl Campbell from becoming a factor in the game.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Tom Dooley
- UMPIRE: Dave Hamilton
- LINE JUDGE: Ron De Souza
- LINESMAN: Ed Marion
- BACK JUDGE: Bob Williams
- FIELD JUDGE: John Vaughan
- SIDE JUDGE: Dick Ferguson
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 14:56-2Q House 25 pass from Thompson (kick failed)
- OILERS: 02:29-2Q Kempf FG51
- OILERS: 13:05-3Q Campbell 1 run (Kempf kick
- OILERS: 11:17-3Q House 41 pass from Thompson (Capece kick)
- OILERS: 08:56-3Q Owens 4 run (Capece kick)
- OILERS: 14:55-4Q Campbell 2 run (Kempf kick
- OILERS: 08:45-4Q Obradovich 2 pass from Thompson (Capece kick)
- OILERS: 04:04-4Q Dressel 7 pass from Luck (Kempf kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #83 T. Bell
- LT: #75 D. Reavis
- LG: #68 G. Yarno
- C: #60 R. Grimes
- RG: #62 S. Farrell
- RT: #74 G. Sanders
- TE: #86 J. Obradovich
- WR: #89 K. House
- QB: #14 J. Thompson
- FB: #28 M. Carver
- TE: #82 J. Bell
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #66 B. Reese
- NT: #76 D. Logan
- RE: #63 L.R. Selmon
- LOLB: #51 E. Judie
- LILB: #58 J. Davis
- RILB: #54 R. Wood
- ROLB: #53 H. Green
- LCB: #23 J. Castille
- RCB: #21 J. Holt
- SS: #33 M. Cotney
- FS: #43 B. Reece
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Morton, 3 Capece, 5 Garcia, 7 Komlo, 22 Smith, 26 Owens, 24 Morris, 41 Thomas, 44 Middleton, 46 Armstrong, 52 Brantley, 55 Spradlin, 56 Thompson, 57 Leonard, 64 Lowry, 69 Arbubakrr, 85 Witte, 87 Carter, 90 White
DID NOT PLAY
- 11 Golsteyn, 72 Snell, 77 Bujnoch, 81 Tyler
INACTIVE
- 50 Wilson, 70 Thomas, 78 Cannon, 88 Giles
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Owens 20-80, Carver 9-38, Armstrong 3-15, Middleton 2-4, Thompson 4-(-2).
- OILERS: Campbell 24-87, Luck 1-5.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Thompson 29-17-224-0-4.
- OILERS: Luck 31-19-186-3-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Obradovich 4-20, House 3-68, Armstrong 3-43, Carter 2-49, Owens 2-17, Carver 2-12, T.Bell 1-15.
- OILERS: Smith 8-97, Craft 4-24, Dressel 2-18, Bryant 1-19, Renfro 1-11, Holston 1-9, Walls 1-9, Campbell 1-(-1).
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Reece 2-30, Reese 1-11.
- OILERS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Morton 2-45, Smith 1-13, Obradovich 1-0.
- OILERS: Brown 2-98, Roaches 2-26, Dressel 1-13.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Holt 3-31, T.Bell 1-6.
- OILERS: Roaches 2-5.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Selmon 1-12, Green 1-9.
- OILERS: Baker 1-8, Hamm 1-6.
