Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24 Minnesota Vikings 13
***HISTORIC MARKER*** Tony Dungy earned his first NFL victory as his Buccaneers squad defeated the Minnesota Vikings, a team that coach Dungy served four years as defensive coordinator.
The Vikings entered the game tied for the best record in the NFL at 5-1, atop the NFC Central. Their only loss was to the New York Giants. The Giants were about to play a team with a five game losing streak now coached by Tony Dungy, the Vikings' former defensive coordinator, a situation that would be mirrored many years later against the Raiders.
Tampa Bay allowed 398 total offensive yards as Dungy developed a perfect defensive plan against Moon. Mixing blitzes during passing atempts, the Buccaneers sacked Moon three times, intercepted him once and caused his fourth-quarter fumble. Instead of utilizing linebacker Demetrius DuBose the blitzing of reserve cornerback Tyrone Leggette caught the Vikings offguard. "That's something we really hadn't expected so much, and they hadn't shown a lot of that," Moon said. "In their recent games, they've been pretty vanilla. I guess they figured they couldn't just sit back and zone. They had to try to get some pressure and played pretty good man coverage."
Buccaneers tackle Warren Sapp, sealed the victory with 2:05 remaining by sacking Warren Moon resulting in a fumble recovered by C. Ahanotu. Sapp presented Dungy with the game ball. "I had to give him a game ball," Sapp said. "I said to myself when I came out to practice this week, it didn't look like he'd been sleeping too well. He'd been growing the beard and everything. I said, `Let's give this game ball to him and keep it going from here.' "
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Howard Roe
- UMPIRE: Ron Botchcan
- LINE JUDGE: Tom Barnes
- SIDE JUDGE: Tom Finchen
- HEAD LINESMAN: Aaron Pointer
- BACK JUDGE: Tony Corrente
- FIELD JUDGE: Don Dorkowski
- REPLAY OFFICIAL: not documented
SCORING
- VIKINGS: 00:29-1Q Smith 26 run (Sisson kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 06:29-3Q Thomas 31 pass from Dilfer (Husted kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 03:25-3Q Sisson FG33
- VIKINGS: 13:54-4Q Alstott 12 pass from Dilfer (Husted kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 09:19-4Q Thomas 11 pass from Dilfer (Husted kick)
- VIKINGS: 03:38-4Q Sisson FG32
- BUCCANEERS: 00:43-4Q Husted FG35
STARTERS OFFENSE
- WR: #82 A. Harper
- LT: #74 P. Gruber
- LG: #60 J. Pyne
- C: #61 T. Mayberry
- RG: #62 I. Beckles
- RT: #79 D. Riesenberg
- TE: #81 J. Harris
- WR: #85 C. Hawkins
- QB: #12 T. Dilfer
- RB: #41 R. Brooks
- FB: #40 M. Alstott
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #72 C. Ahanotu
- LT: #77 B. Culpepper
- UT: #99 W. Sapp
- RE: #73 R. Upshaw
- LLB: #51 L. Marts
- MLB: #56 H. Nickerson
- RLB: #55 D. Brooks
- LCB: #35 M. Mayhew
- RCB: #39 C. Dimry
- SS: #47 J. Lynch
- FS: #25 M. Johnson
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 5 Husted, 6 Barnhardt, 21 Abraham, 23 Bouie, 29 Gant, 37 Ellison, 43 Johnson, 45 Legette, 50 Gooch, 54 Stephens, 70 Odom, 71 Adams, 78 Jones, 82 Tate, 83 Moore, 84 Thomas, 86 Williams, 87 Silvan, 93 DuBose, 97 Jackson
DID NOT PLAY
- 11 Weldon, 64 Diaz, 68 Crisman, 91 Smith
INACTIVE
- 13 Milanovich, 22 Mincy, 27 Austin, 34 Thompson, 69 Pierson, 75 Curry, 90 Maniecki
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Brooks 20-45, Alstott 8-16, Dilfer 1-8, Ellison 2-7.
- VIKINGS: Smith 18-133, Lee 1-7, Evans 1-0, Moon 1-(-1).
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Dilfer 35-22-218-0-3.
- VIKINGS: Moon 34-22-277-1-0.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Thomas 5-73, Harris 5-38, Hawkins 5-33, Alstott 3-33, Harper 2-22, Ellison 2-19.
- VIKINGS: Reed 5-89, Lee 5-32, Carter 3-63, Jordan 3-23, Ismail 2-48, Walsh 2-15, Palmer 1-4, DeLong 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Johnson 1-24.
- VIKINGS: none.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Silvan 2-42.
- VIKINGS: Ismail 1-20, Palmer 1-20, Lee 1-17.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Silvan 1-11.
- VIKINGS: Palmer 3-5.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Sapp 1.5-8.5, Ahanotu 1-11, Upshaw 0.5-2.5.
- VIKINGS: Edwards 1-10.
