Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21 Minnesota Vikings 13 Saturday 5 September 1981 at Tampa Stadium
SCORING TB 5:32-1Q House 55 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick) MIN 10:41-3Q Danmeier FG45 MIN 0:33-3Q Danmeier FG25 TB 13:17-4Q Williams 10 run (Yepremian kick) MIN 2:29-4Q Senser 4 pass from Dils (Danmeier kick) TB 0:21-4Q Colzie 82 interception return (Yepremian kick)
Neal Colzie ensured the Bucs won their season opener for the third straight season when he intercepted Steve Dils and returned it 82 yards for a TD with 21 seconds remaining. The Vikings had reached 3rd & 4 from the Tampa 26 prior to Colzie's score, well within Rick Danmeier's fieldgoal range. The Bucs were outgained 443-219 in total yardage, but four turnovers proved decisive.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Eckwood 6-36, R.Bell 11-35, Williams 3-26, Wilder 8-14. VIKINGS: Brown 20-79, Dils 4-14, Young 2-7, Redwine 1-0. PASSING BUCS: Williams 22-8-108-0-1. VIKINGS: Dils 62-37-361-1-1, Brown 1-0-0-1-0. RECEIVING BUCS: House 3-74, Wilder 2-(-3), Giles 1-20, R.Bell 1-11, Jones 1-6. VIKINGS: Brown 12-77, White 8-92, Young 7-47, Senser 5-60, LeCount 2-38, Rashad 2-30, Harrell 1-17. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Colzie 2-89. VIKINGS: none. KICK RETURNS BUCS: G.Davis 2-38, Obradovich 1-14, Brantley 1-0. VIKINGS: Payton 3-70, Nord 1-22. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: T.Bell 1-8. VIKINGS: Payton 6-59. SACKS BUCS: Selmon 1.5-13, Logan 0.5-5. VIKINGS: none.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 72 Snell DE 77 Kollar LG 68 Yarno DT 76 Logan C 50 Wilson DE 63 Selmon RG 61 Roberts LOLB 57 Lewis RT 74 Sanders LILB 56 Johnson TE 88 Giles RILB 54 Wood WR 89 House ROLB 53 Green WR 84 Jones LCB 41 Thomas FB 32 Wilder RCB 40 Washington RB 42 Bell SS 20 Colzie QB 12 Williams FS 21 Holt PLAYED 1 Yepremian, 16 Blanchard, 26 Owens, 27 T Davis, 28 G Davis, 34 Brown, 43 Eckwood, 44 Cesare, 45 Mitchell, 51 Nafziger, 52 Brantley, 59 Hawkins, 62 Leonard, 65 Stalls, 70 Hutchinson, 83 Bell, 86 Obradovich, 87 Carter, 90 White DID NOT PLAY 10 Ford, 14 Fusina, 73 Hannah, 75 Reavis
COMMENTARY CREW unknown
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to watch the clip Kevin House recorded the first touchdown of the 1981 NFL season with a typical bomb from Doug Williams Neal Colzie had the play of the game with his interception return touchdown The NFL Films review of the game