Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30 Minnesota Vikings 38

***HISTORIC MARKER*** Buccaneers quarterback Doug Williams threw for a Tampa Bay record 486 yards, then the fourth-highest total in NFL history

The Buccaneers lost to the Minnesota Vikings in an offensive shootout, in which the Vikings were playing for the first time with a set of fully healthy starters at offensive line and quarterback. Quarterback Tommy Kramer credited the Vikings' success to their strategy of throwing the short passes which the Buccaneer defense allowed, then switching to long passes when the Buccaneers adjusted to the short passes.

Improved receiver play helped Doug Williams complete 30 of his 55 passes for 486 yards, then the fourth-highest total in NFL history. This remains (as of 2010) the Buccaneers' single-game record, as does Williams' total of 499 yards rushing and passing.

The game marked the emergence of rookie Kevin House, who beat Nate Wright for two touchdowns. Issac Hagins caught a 48-yard touchdown, while Gordon Jones caught 7 passes for 121 yards. When Ricky Bell suffered a knee bruise, Tony Davis got his first playing time in his two seasons with the team, and scored a touchdown the first time he touched the ball. A second Davis touchdown reception was nullified by an illegal motion penalty, leaving Tampa Bay to settle for a Garo Yepremian field goal.

Kramer threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns, and Ted Brown rushed for two touchdowns for the Vikings.

For the second week in a row, a Buccaneer game involved a strange officiating incident. Trying to avoid the pass rush, Williams dumped a pass to tackle Charley Hannah, who threw the ball to the ground when he saw an official waving his arms. Vikings end Randy Holloway picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. The officials needed several minutes to sort out the situation, and eventually penalized Tampa Bay 14 yards for an illegal forward pass.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Daniel Jorgensen
• UMPIRE: Jim Keck
• LINE JUDGE: Doug Hantak
• HEAD LINESMAN: Larry Hagerty
• BACK JUDGE: Richard Clymer
• FIELD JUDGE: Doug Dolack
• SIDE JUDGE: Robert Cathcart

SCORING

• VIKINGS: 10:47-1Q White 27 pass from Kramer (Danmeier kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 06:00-1Q House 19 pass from Williams (kick failed)
• VIKINGS: 01:23-1Q Senser 12 pass from Kramer (Danmeier kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 14:53-2Q House 49 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)
• VIKINGS: 09:28-2Q Brown 3 run (Danmeier kick)
• VIKINGS: 01:46-2Q Danmeier FG19
• BUCCANEERS: 10:55-3Q T.Davis 9 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)
• VIKINGS: 08:43-3Q Brown 7 run (Danmeier kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 01:31-3Q Yepremian FG32
• VIKINGS: 14:57-4Q Young 1 run (Danmeier kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 11:56-4Q Hagins 29 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #84 G. Jones
• LT: #75 D. Reavis
• LG: #68 G. Yarno
• C: #50 S. Wilson
• RG: #72 R. Snell
• RT: #73 C. Hannah
• TE: #88 J. Giles
• WR: #81 I. Hagins
• QB: #12 D. Williams
• RB: #42 R. Bell
• RB: #28 G. Davis

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #77 B. Kollar
• NT: #76 D. Logan
• RE: #63 L. Selmon
• LOLB: #57 D. Lewis
• SILB: #58 D. Selmon
• WILB: #54 R. Wood
• ROLB: #56 C. Johnson
• LCB: #25 C. Jordan
• RCB: #40 M. Washington
• SS: #33 M. Cotney
• FS: #34 C. Brown

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 1 Yepremian, 16 Blanchard, 20 Colzie, 27 T Davis, 36 Berns, 38 J Davis, 41 Thomas, 43 Eckwood, 46 Reece, 52 Brantley, 55 Brown, 59 Hawkins, 62 Leonard, 65 Stalls, 69 Austin, 74 Sanders, 78 Radford, 79 Lewis, 80 Samuels, 82 Shumann, 86 Obradovich, 89 House

DID NOT PLAY

• 14 Fusina

INACTIVE

• none.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Bell 9-24, Eckwood 7-24, G.Davis 2-14, Williams 2-13, J.Davis 3-12.
• VIKINGS: Brown 16-76, Young 8-36, Kramer 2-12.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 55-30-486-2-4, Hannah 1-0-0-0-0.
• VIKINGS: Kramer 37-24-324-0-2, Dils 3-1-7-0-0.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Jones 7-121, Eckwood 6-59, T.Davis 5-40,Hagins 3-93, House 3-77, Bell 3-33, Giles 2-49, Obradovich 1-14.
• VIKINGS: White 6-120, Young 6-45, Senser 4-44, Rashad 3-32, Brown 3-31, Tucker 2-40, LaCount 1-19.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• VIKINGS: Hannon 1-16, Bryant 1-0..

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: G.Davis 4-89, T.Davis 1-15, Samuels 1-10, Obradovich 1-7.
• VIKINGS: Payton 6-176.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Reece 3-21.
• VIKINGS: Payton 1-12.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Johnson 1-5, Stalls 1-0.
• VIKINGS: none.

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