Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7 Detroit Lions 16 Sunday 20 November 1977 at the Silverdome
While the Bucs offense generated just 76 yards rushing and 71 yards passing, a 4 yard run by Ricky Bell gave them a 7-0 halftime lead at the Pontiac Silverdome. Dave Green got an astro-turf roll and set a Bucs record with a 70 yard punt. The Lions scored thirteen fourth quarter points, including a 48 yard interception return by linebacker Reggie Pinkney with 1:55 left, to take a 16-7 victory. Tampa Bay had lost their 24th straight game and established an NFL record for most consecutive games without a victory. The Rochester Jeffersons of the 1920's and Washington Redskins of the early 1960's had gone 23 games without winning.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Bell 16-59, Davis 14-19, Carter 1-5, Hedberg 1-0, Owens 1- (-7). LIONS: Kane 19-59, Danielson 3-31, Hubbard 9-30, King 5-24, Bolton 2-3, Hill 1-3, Payton 1-(-3). PASSING BUCS: Blount 12-4-56-1-0, Hedberg 9-3-42-2-0. LIONS: Danielson 17-7-80-1-0, Reed 7-3-20-2-0, Payton 1-0-0-0-0. RECEIVING BUCS: Hagins 2-57, Carter 1-19, Nafziger 1-13, Owens 1-11, Bell 1- 4, Davis 1-(-5). LIONS: J.Hill 3-32, D.Hill 2-33, Sanders 1-14, Thompson 1-7, Hubbard 1-6, King 1-5, Kane 1-3. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Washington 1-26, D Selmon 1-20, Jordan 1-0. LIONS: Pinckney 1-48, Laslavic 1-14, Jauron 1-9. KICK RETURNS BUCS: A.Davis 2-13, Ragsdale 0-21. LIONS:Payton 2-40. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Reece 5-40, Hagins 1-0. LIONS:Payton 8-58. SACKS BUCS: Rudolph 2-16, Jordan 1-10, Johnson 1-5. LIONS:Jauron 1-16.
SCORING TB 4:34-1Q Bell 4 run (Leavitt kick) DET 9:42-3Q Mike-Mayer FG47 DET 14:57-4Q Kane 1 run (kick failed) DET 1:55-4Q Pinckney 48 interception return (Mike-Mayer kick)
COMMENTARY CREW Don Criqui and Emerson Boozer
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 75 Reavis LDE 78 Rudolph LG 62 Winans DT 76 Pear C 51 Ryczek RDE 63 L Selmon RG 68 Medlin LOLB 57 Lewis RT 70 Carlton LILB 61 D Selmon TE 83 Nafziger RILB 54 Wood WR 85 Owens ROLB 56 C Johnson WR 81 Hagins LCB 45 White FB 28 Davis SS 25 Jordan RB 42 Bell FS 34 Brown QB 17 Blount RCB 40 Washington SUBSTITUTIONS 4 Green, 9 Leavitt, 14 Hedberg, 23 Ragsdale, 32 L Carter, 33 Cotney, 43 Williams, 46 Reece, 52 Harris, 53 Bonness, 59 Lemon, 64 Robinson, 65 R Johnson, 66 B Carter, 72 G Johnson, 77 Kollar, 79 Wilson, 80 Novak, 87 Mucker, 89 McKay DID NOT PLAY 82 Waddell INACTIVE 19 Huff, 35 DuBose
VIDEO CLIPS Ricky Bell scored the Bucs touchdown during the first quarter Curtis Jordan got a sack on a cornerback blitz from the blind side Isaac Hagins had a chance to seal the game but fumbled after a long reception from Gary Huff