Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 St.Louis Cardinals 21 Sunday 21 December 1986 at Busch Stadium
SCORING TB 4:58-1Q Howard 1 run (Igwebuike kick) STL 12:31-2Q Sikahema 71 punt return (Schubert kick) STL 3:27-2Q Sikahema 60 punt return (Schubert kick) STL 0:39-2Q Lomax 2 run (Schubert kick) TB 12:38-3Q Igwebuike FG36 TB 3:31-3Q Freeman 33 pass from Young (Igwebuike kick)
Only the 1986 Bucs could give up two punt returns for touchdowns in the same game. This was the encounter where LB Keith Browner fell asleep on the bench in the fourth quarter and the lights thankfully went out on Leeman Bennett's coaching career.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Howard 15-37, Springs 9-37, Franklin 7-7, Allen 1-3, Young 1-2. CARDINALS: Ferrell 9-71, Lomax 7-30, Sikahema 7-21, Wolfley 1-4, Mitchell 2-3. PASSING BUCS: Young 34-13-157-2-1. CARDINALS: Lomax 31-19-144-2-0. RECEIVING BUCS: Magee 4-24, Heflin 2-27, Dunn 1-38, Freeman 1-33, Howard 1-11, Mallory 1-9, Carter 1-8, Springs 1-5, Franklin 1-2. CARDINALS: Smith 5-66, Green 3-28, Mitchell 3-15, Sikahema 3- 14, Marsh 2-13, Ferrell 2-4, Wolfley 1-4. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: McKeever 1-10, Jones 1-0. CARDINALS: Mack 2-42. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Walker 2-27, Freeman 1-13, Dunn 1-0. CARDINALS: Sikahema 2-42, Swanson 1-9. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Walker 2-10. CARDINALS: Sikahema 4-145. SACKS BUCS: Kellin 1-2, Randle 0.5-3, Washingon 0.5-3. CARDINALS: none.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 72 Taylor DE 71 Nelson LG 66 Yarno DT 76 Logan C 60 Grimes DE 90 Holmes RG 62 Farrell LOLB 56 Walker RT 73 Heller LILB 58 Davis TE 86 Magee RILB 52 Brantley WR 87 Carter ROLB 51 Washington WR 84 Heflin LCB 21 McKeever RB 20 Springs RCB 22 Jones RB 25 Howard SS 44 Sully QB 8 Young FS 31 Curry PLAYED 1 Igwebuike, 5 Garcia, 17 DeBerg, 23 Castille, 26 Easmon, 28 Allen, 35 Franklin, 36 Futrell, 37 K Walker, 38 Bligen, 44 Sully, 54 Randle, 57 Browner, 59 Murphy, 64 Robinson, 68 Mallory, 75 Kellin, 77 Maarleveld, 78 Cannon, 80 Williams, 81 Freeman, 85 Dunn DID NOT PLAY 83 Gillespie
COMMENTARY CREW Tom Brookshier and Dick Vermiel
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to watch the clip Bobby Howard took over at tail-back and scored the first Tampa Bay touchdown of the game Rod Jones had his first NFL interception on a deflected pass Phil Freeman scored the final touchdown of the two-year Leeman Bennett era in Tampa