Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings 
LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 Minnesota Vikings 23
The Rob Taylor injury from the previous week became a factor as Steve DeBerg was sacked four times, two resulting in fumbles. Perkins expressed dissatisfaction with Taylor's replacements, saying "I'm looking for a left tackle". Both fumbles were caused by Chris Doleman and recovered by Keith Millard, and both led to scores, including Tommy Kramer's first touchdown pass since the previous Dec. 14. Several players were injured, including Vikings first-round draft pick D.J. Dozier.
The Buccaneers threw forty-one times, while rushing for a team-low nine attempts. They still had a chance at victory, until Minnesota cornerback Wymon Henderson intercepted a DeBerg pass. He returned the interception 17 yards before fumbling, but the officials ruled him to have been down before the fumble occurred. The instant replay official overturned their call, but the field officials said that they could not return the ball to Tampa because the play had already been whistled dead. This outraged Buccaneer players, who claimed that no whistle had been blown. The Vikings proceeded to run out the clock.
The Buccaneers had entered the game with the lead spot in the wild-card playoff race.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Fred Wyant
- UMPIRE: Art Demmas
- LINE JUDGE: Joe Haynes
- HEAD LINESMAN: Jerry Bergman
- BACK JUDGE: Bob Moore
- FIELD JUDGE: Don Orr
- SIDE JUDGE: Stan Kemp
SCORING
- BUCCANEERS: 11:02-2Q Magee 20 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
- VIKINGS: 06:58-2Q Nelson FG29
- VIKINGS: 00:11-2Q Nelson FG27
- VIKINGS: 10:58-3Q Fenney 1 run (Nelson kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 06:54-3Q Igwebuike FG26
- VIKINGS: 00:03-3Q Nelson FG26
- VIKINGS: 10:56-4Q Jordan 2 pass from Kramer (Nelson kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 07:55-4Q Freeman 64 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #81 P. Freeman
- LT: #77 J. Marleveld
- LG: #66 G. Yarno
- C: #60 R. Grimes
- RG: #68 R. Mallory
- RT: #73 R. Heller
- TE: #86 C. Magee
- WR: #87 . Carter
- QB: #17 S. DeBerg
- FB: #32 J. Wilder
- RB: #35 J. Smith
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #78 J. Cannon
- NT: #94 M. Stensrud
- RE: #90 R. Holmes
- LOLB: #51 C. Washington
- LILB: #58 J. Davis
- RILB: #54 E. Randle
- ROLB: #57 W. Moss
- LC: #29 R. Reynolds
- RC: #22 R. Jones
- SS: #33 B. Kemp
- FS: #28 R. Isom
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 1 Igwebuike, 5 Garcia, 23 Anderson, 24 Tripoli, 25 Howard, 31 Gordon, 36 Futrell, 50 Turk, 52 Brantley, 56 Walker, 59 Murphy, 70 Swayne, 74 Powell, 75 Kellin, 79 Goode, 82 Hall, 83 Miller, 84 Hill, 89 Carrier, 93 Sileo
DID NOT PLAY
- 11 Shula, 14 Testaverde, 42 Bartalo
INACTIVE
- 20 Woods, 32 Gladman, 80 S Holloway. 85 G.Taylor, 91 Gant
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Smith 8-16, DeBerg 1-(-1).
- VIKINGS: Nelson 17-103, Fenney 9-40, Wilson 3-33, Dozier 6-28, Rice 10-22, Kramer 2-(-2).
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: DeBerg 37-22-284-1-2.
- VIKINGS: Wilson 19-8-97-0-0, Kramer 9-4-30-1-1.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Magee 6-65, Smith 5-47, Wilder 5-38, Carter 3-56, Freeman 2-76, Carrier 1-2.
- VIKINGS: Carter 3-37, Jordan 3-28, Lewis 2-27, Rice 2-21, Jones 1-12, Fenney 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Isom 1-29.
- VIKINGS: Henderson 1-17.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: J.Smith 3-43, Futrell 1-40.
- VIKINGS: Guggemos 3-94, Rice 1-18.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Futrell 2-24.
- VIKINGS: Lewis 4-56.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Kellin 1-8, Moss 0.5-6.5, Washington 0.5-6.5.
- VIKINGS: Doleman 2-20, Browner 1-11, Martin 1-9, Team 1-0.
