Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 Minnesota Vikings 10
The Buccaneers took advantage of Minnesota Vikings mistakes to get an upset and their first win of the season.
The Buccaneers scored on a 5-yard pass from Doug Williams to Morris Owens, after a live ball that had hit a Viking on a punt return was recovered by Billy Cesare on the Vikings’ 5-yard line. Vikings coach Bud Grant later claimed that returner Kevin Miller never touched the ball, and blamed the loss on the officials.
Fran Tarkenton completed 23 of 31 passes for 180 yards, but threw two interceptions and was replaced by Tommy Kramer in the final two minutes. Kramer promptly threw an interception to Cecil Johnson.[54] Tarkenton also hit Ahmad Rashād for a 4-yard touchdown to finish a 63-yard first-quarter drive. Later, Jeris White's interception of a Tarkenton pass would lead to a 2-yard Ricky Bell touchdown run.
The Buccaneers’ defense, still steamed over Tarkenton's comments two years earlier that the Buccaneers would be his preferred AFC opponent in the Super Bowl, held the Vikings to 73 yards rushing and sacked Tarkenton four times. They also came through big by holding the Vikings to a field goal, following a bizarre play in which the Vikings recovered a live ball on a failed field goal attempt and returned it for 80 yards.
Grant called the game a defensive contest, saying that there were no good offensive plays in the entire match. John McKay said that "when we shut off their running game, we knew we were in the game and could get 'em", and that the Buccaneers should have a 3–0 record. The game left the two teams tied with 1–2 records.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Ben Dreith
- UMPIRE: Bob Boylston
- LINE JUDGE: Bob McElwee
- HEAD LINESMAN: Frank Glover
- BACK JUDGE: Stan Javie
- FIELD JUDGE: Pat Mallette
- SIDE JUDGE: Ed Ward
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 07:50-1Q O'Donoghue FG42
- VIKINGS: 01:46-1Q Rashad 4 pass from Tarkenton (Danmeier kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 03:40-2Q Bell 2 run (kick failed)
- BUCCANEERS: 4:26-3Q Owens 5 pass from Williams (O'Donoghue kick)
- VIKINGS: 03:37-4Q Danmeier FG47
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #87 Mucker
- LT: #75 D. Reavis
- LG: #78 K. Schumacker
- C: #79 S. Wilson
- RG: #68 D. Medlin
- RT: #70 D. Carlton
- TE: #88 J. Giles
- WR: #85 M. Owens
- QB: #12 D. Williams
- RB: #33 Davis
- RB: #42 R. Bell
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #73 C. Hannah
- DT: #76 D. Pear
- RE: #63 L. Selmon
- LOLB: #57 D. Lewis
- LILB: #61 D. Selmon
- RILB: #54 R. Wood
- ROLB: #56 C. Johnson
- LCB: #45 J. White
- RCB: #40 M. Washington
- SS: #33 M. Cotney
- FS: #25 C. Jordan
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 4 Green, 6 O'Donoghue, 23 Ragsdale, 32 L Carter, 35 DuBose, 44 Cesare, 51 Nafziger, 53 Bonness, 55 Brown, 60 Chambers, 64 Horton, 67 Moritz, 71 Crowder, 74 Freitas, 77 Kollar, 81 Hagins, 82 Darby, 86 Obradovich, 89 McKay
DID NOT PLAY
- none.
INACTIVE
- 15 Rae, 19 Huff, 34 Brown, 46 Reece, 65 Johnson
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Bell 21-59, DuBose 15-37, Williams 3-(-4), Green 1-0.
- VIKINGS: Foreman 12-25, Young 7-20, Tarkenton 5-18, Miller 3-5, White 1-5.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Williams 19-5-63-0-1.
- VIKINGS: Tarkenton 31-23-180-2-1, Kramer 6-2-9-1-0.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Owens 4-42, Giles 1-21.
- VIKINGS: Foreman 7-33, Young 6-16, White 4-62, Rashad 4-38, Tucker 3-37, Miller 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: White 1-31, Jordan 1-22, Johnson 1-0.
- VIKINGS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Ragsdale 2-43.
- VIKINGS: Miller 4-93.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Mucker 2-16, Hagins 1-0.
- VIKINGS: Miller 6-12
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: L.Selmon 3-26, Chambers 1-17.
- VIKINGS: none.
