Bucs win a narrow one on the road
Michelle Kaufman, The St.Petersburg Times, published 27 November 1989

Spoilsports Tampa ruined the head coaching debut of Hank Kuhlmann, installed as interimchief following Gene Stallings' sacking. And Vinny Testaverde's in-the-clutch heroics made sure of the 14-13 win. "Tampa Bay made the big plays on third and fourth down" admitted Kuhlmann. "We didn't make the plays when it counted but it shouldn't have come down to that."

And Ray Perkins pointed to the victory as the beginning of a lucky streak for the long-suffering orange and white. "I don't think we played well in any phase of the game" he admitted. "But like I told out players, we hadn't had too much luck in the last two years so maybe it's our turn."

Vinny Testaverde hit Mark Carrier with a five-yard TD pass with 43 seconds left to seal a moral boosting win. The jittery Bucs nearly blew it though when they allowed the Cards to get in fieldgoal position with a second left. But Al Del Greco watched in agony as his 47-yard attempt flew wide.

Del Greco took the blame for the miss, which hooked to the left. "It wasn't a bad snap, it just wasn't right in the holder's hands" he sighed. "I hit it just like I wanted to but it tailed off at the end."

Testaverde completed passes on two fourth-down situations in the winning drive which covered 82 yards in 14 plays and took just two minutes. Tampa had scored irst on a five-yard TD pass from Vinny to Bruce Hill.

The Cardinals responded with Del Greco fieldgoals of 21 and 28 yards and a one-yard run by Earl Ferrell.