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