1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Season 17 Brief
The 1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season began with the team trying to improve on a 3–13 season. It was the first season of Sam Wyche's four-year spell as the Buccaneers' head coach. Wyche said before the season that he believed he could turn Vinny Testaverde into a great player.
Tampa Bay had lop-sided wins in the first two weeks, and looked like they would prove good the coach's words. They started the season 3–1 but then lost ten of the next eleven, starting with a ten-point loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Tampa's closest loss of the year was a four-point Week Thirteen loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Tampa Bay had a first half 27–3 lead, but the Rams scored 28 unanswered points to steal the win.
Special teams suffered too, especially from kickers like Ken Willis making only eight of fourteen field goals. Reggie Cobb became only the third player in the team's history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and Santana Dotson made the All-Rookie team. The Bucs finished the season the way they started it, with a win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 1992 Buccaneers had the worst special teams squad of the year, and fourth-worst all time (later having been recalibrated to 7th-worst all-time): "Tampa Bay actually got a solid year from punter Dan Stryzinski, but the return men were poor, the kickers were horrific, and the kick coverage was putrid. Ken Willis and Eddie Murray combined to go 12-for-22 on field goals, and they couldn't stop kicking the ball out of bounds. Willis kicked the first nine games of the season and hit it out of bounds five times. Murray took over for the final seven games and didn't have a single touchback, while hitting it out of bounds three more times. He averaged only 55.5 yards per kickoff. The Bucs weren't the only other team with a single-digit touchback total, but at least the others – New England, Green Bay, and the New York Giants – had the excuse of playing in cold weather."
| PRESEASON | ||||
| Date | Opponent | Week/Record | Outcome | |
| Saturday Aug. 7 |
|
Denver Broncos Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
PS - wk 1
0-1 |
Lost 7-23 |
| Saturday Aug. 14 |
|
@ Atlanta Falcons CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA |
PS - wk 2
0-2 |
Lost 10-20 |
| Saturday Aug. 21 |
|
Buffalo Bills Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
PS - wk 3
1-2 |
Won 32-12 |
| Friday Aug. 27 |
|
Cleveland Browns Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
PS - wk 4
2-2 |
Won 23-20 |
1992 Season ResultsRecord: 5-11, DIV: 3-5 (3rd in NFC Central) |
||||
| Date | Opponent | Week/Record | Outcome | |
| Sunday Sep. 6 |
|
Arizona Cardinals Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 1
1-0 |
Won 23-7 |
| Sunday Sep. 13 |
|
Green Bay Packers
Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 2
2-0 |
Won 31-3 |
| Sunday Sep. 20 |
|
@ Minnesota Vikings
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minnesota, MN |
RS - wk 3
2-1 |
Lost 20-26 |
| Sunday Sep. 27 |
|
@ Detroit Lions
Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, MI |
RS - wk 4
3-1 |
Won 27-23 |
| Sunday Oct. 4 |
|
Indianapolis Colts
Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 5
3-2 |
Lost 14-24 |
| Sunday Oct. 11 |
BYE | RS - wk 6
3-2 |
||
| Sunday Oct. 18 |
|
@ Chicago Bears
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL |
RS - wk 7
3-3 |
Lost 14-31 |
| Sunday Oct. 25 |
|
Detroit Lions
Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 8
3-4 |
Lost 7-38 |
| Sunday Nov. 1 |
|
@ New Orleans Saints
Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA |
RS - wk 9
3-5 |
Lost 21-23 |
| Sunday Nov. 8 |
|
Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 10
3-6 |
Lost 7-35 |
| Sunday Nov. 15 |
|
Chicago Bears
Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 11
4-6 |
Won 20-17 |
| Sunday Nov. 22 |
|
@ San Diego Chargers
Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CA |
RS - wk 12
4-7 |
Lost 14-29 |
| Sunday Nov. 29 |
|
@ Green Bay Packers
Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, WI |
RS - wk 13
4-8 |
Lost 14-19 |
| Sunday Dec. 6 |
|
Los Angeles Rams
Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 14
4-9 |
Lost 27-31 |
| Sunday Dec. 13 |
|
Atlanta Falcons
Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
RS - wk 15
4-10 |
|
| Saturday Dec. 19 |
|
@ San Francisco 49ers
Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA |
RS - wk 16
4-11 |
Lost 14-21 |
| Sunday Dec. 27 |
|
@ Arizona Cardinals
Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ |
RS - wk 17
5-11 |
Won 7-3 |
| PLAYOFFS | ||||
| Date | Opponent | NFC/Superbowl | Outcome | |
| Season Ended |
|
@ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL |
None
None |
00-00 |
