BUCPOWER.COM
Every player, every game and every detail in Buccaneer history
|
THE 50 GREATEST GAMES
as featured on this site in 2004
|
|---|
| 1 |  2002 Bucs 48 Raiders 21
The Super Bowl. Nothing will ever be so sweet as the first time. The Bucs managed to tie their franchise record for points scored, set numerous defensive records on the day and generally beat the living tar out of the Raiders' No.1 ranked offense. Marvellous!
Click here for the game details |
| 2 |  2002 Bucs 27 Eagles 10
Third time lucky for the Bucs in NFC Championship Games - the last ever game played at the Vet and in the freezing cold of Philadelphia, every Buccaneer player was a hero as the franchise found itself on the way to the Super Bowl in San Diego.
Click here for the game details |
| 3 |  1977 Bucs 33 Saints 14
The Bucs have won 176 regular season games to the end of 2004, but none will ever be as special as the first one. After 26 straight defeats, Tampa Bay finally tasted success on the road in the SuperDome thanks to six interceptions of Saints' quarterbacks.
Click here for the game details |
| 4 |  1979 Bucs 24 Eagles 17
From "Worst to First" - the dream continues for another week as the heavily-favoured Eagles were upset at a sold-out Tampa Stadium. This remained the franchise's only play-off win in its first 21 years of existence.
Click here for the game details |
| 5 |  1976 Bucs 0 Oilers 20
And this is where it all started - the very first game in franchise history in the old Astrodome. And of course, the first of those 26 consecutive defeats too. Lee McGriff dropped what would have been the first TD pass and the jokes just started from there.
Click here for the game details |
| 6 |  1999 Bucs 6 Rams 11
Those pesky Rams did it again to the Buccaneers in a championship game, this time in the Trans World Dome despite the "Greatest Show on Turf" being held to a season-low 11 points. Ricky Proehl broke our hearts with a touchdown in the final five minutes.
Click here for the game details |
| 7 |  1979 Bucs 0 Rams 9
From "Worst to First" - but the impossible dream of the fourth-year Buccaneers would come to an end at Tampa Stadium with a loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. For 20 years, this would remain the franchise's highpoint.
Click here for the game details |
| 8 |  1999 Bucs 14 Redskins 13
This was a playoff victory that very nearly didn't happen - the Bucs (and all their fans) were guilty of looking ahead to the potential NFC Championship game match-up with the Rams and hence only just scraped a narrow win over the Redskins.
Click here for the game details |
| 9 |  1997 Bucs 20 Lions 10
After waiting 15 years, Buc fans finally got a chance in 1997 to see their team in the post-season. The Lions were the visitors in what was the final game ever to be played at the old Tampa Stadium, the so-called Big Sombrero. And it closed with a bang too on the field.
Click here for the game details |
| 10 |  1979 Bucs 3 Chiefs 0
Two years on from their first-ever home win, the Buccaneers stood at the edge of another milestone - their first playoff berth. And on a rainy Tampa afternoon, John McKay's team won the NFC Central Division title in a memorable game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Click here for the game details |
| 11 |  2002 - Bucs 31 49ers 6
The Buccaneers took a step towards their first Super Bowl with a total annihilation of the San Francisco 49ers at Raymond James Stadium. This was a total victory, 4 first-half TDs and then some familiar Monte Kiffin-led defense to ensure no chance of a comeback.
Click here for the game details |
| 12 |  1998 - Bucs 27 Bears 15
The opening of Raymond James Stadium saw the Bucs fall behind at half-time and then score 27 unanswered points to make the first game there a truly memorable one. And the Bucs UK were there in the front row to celebrate that day in style.
Click here for the game details |
| 13 | 1997 - Bucs 13 49ers 6
The season opener from 1997 and the first time the Buccaneers wore their new colours and logo in a regular season game. This was also the turning point of the franchise in terms of results and Tony Dungy's team never looked back from here on.
Click here for the game details |
| 14 |  1977 Bucs 17 Cardinals 7
After 26 straight defeats, the Bucs returned home to Tampa from their inaugural win in New Orleans and promptly made it two in a row with their first-ever home win in franchise history. As 1977 wound down, Buccaneer fans knew better days were ahead.
Click here for the game details |
| 15 | 2000 - Bucs 38 Rams 35
One of the most exciting games in franchise history with the lead changing numerous times, great plays, lucky plays, and in the end, some kind of revenge for the 1999 NFC Championship defeat to Kurt Warner and his St.Louis Rams.
Click here for the game details |
| 16 |  1982 - Bucs 23 Dolphins 17
This Monday Night win over the Dolphins is so high in the countdown because it is the single reason that I became a Buccaneer fan all those years ago. And without that, there would be no Bucs UK and definitely no BUCPOWER.COM for you to be reading!
Click here for the game details |
| 17 |  2003 - Bucs 35 Colts 38
One of the greatest Monday night games of all time as Tony Dungy returned to Tampa and saw his Colts overturn a 35-14 deficit inside the final five minutes. Ratings were sky-high but most Bucs fans had gone to bed before the end of this one.
Click here for the game details |
| 18 | 1997 - Bucs 31 Dolphins 21
This really was a great night - a nationally-televised game with our Florida rivals, and the new-look Bucs went to 4-0 by absolutely hammering Miami. And the Bucs UK presented Channel 4's coverage of the game too.
Click here for the game details |
| 19 |  1984- Bucs 41 Jets 21
John McKay's final game as coach of the Buccaneers and also the one in which he tried to get James Wilder his NFL rushing/receiving record. The Bucs actually set a then-franchise record for points scored in this one but that quickly became forgotten.
Click here for the game details |
| 20 | 1981- Bucs 20 Lions 17
Winner takes all in the Silverdome as the NFC Central Division title was up for grabs in this Week 16 encounter. The Bucs won it on big plays and opportunistic defense and a second trip to the playoffs in three years was the result.
Click here for the game details |
| 21 | 2001 - Bucs 9 Eagles 31
The second straight year that the Buccaneers went out of the playoffs in Philadelphia and this one ultimately cost Tony Dungy his job as head coach. It was another night in offensive futility and one that of course led to Jon Gruden taking over the reins.
Click here for the game details |
| 22 |  1997 - Bucs 7 Packers 21
1997 was a dream season for Buc fans but this was where the journey ended for Tony Dungy's team. After a 5-0 start and a wild-card win over the Lions, this trip to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field was just a bridge too far but brighter days were on the way.
Click here for the game details |
| 23 | 2000 - Bucs 3 Eagles 21
The countdown takes us into the post-season games well and truly now, but with playoff exits at this stage rather than successes. This was a cold weather debacle in Philadelphia, one that would even be repeated 12 months later on an even-bigger scale.
Click here for the game details |
| 24 |  1982 - Bucs 17 Cowboys 30
This was the Bucs' last appearance in the playoffs for nearly 15 years (Jan 1983 to Dec 1997). The Cardiac Kids had won three dramatic games to make the post-season but this trip to Texas Stadium was a game too far for John McKay's 1982 team.
Click here for the game details |
| 25 | 1987 - Bucs 28 Cardinals 31
When you lead 28-3 going into the fourth quarter of a game, you expect to win. Unless it's 1987 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. How to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and begin a slump that would see no further victories for the rest of the season.
Click here for the game details |
| 26 | 2002 - Bucs 15 Bears 0
A win in the cold would not only lift the cold weather monkey off the Buccaneers' back, it would also give them a much-needed bye week in the playoffs and thereby boost their chances of reaching the Super Bowl. How important a win was this in the long term?
Click here for the game details |
| 27 | 1981 - Bucs 0 Cowboys 38
This was the Buccaneers' third-ever appearance in the post-season but not a happy one. The previous week's euphoria of the winner-takes-all encounter in the Silverdome was quickly forgotten as America's team gave John McKay's squad a game they wanted to forget.
Click here for the game details |
| 28 | 1982 - Bucs 26 Bears 23
Game three of the Cardiac Kids' run to the 1982 post-season tournament. This one saw them trailing 23-6 to Chicago with the playoffs on the line. Time for another patented comeback capped by Bill Capece's winning fieldgoal in overtime.
Click here for the game details |
| 29 | 1987 - Bucs 38 Dolphins 41
The Bucs have won the last couple of inter-state rivalries with the Dolphins but for most of the 80s and 90s, they got hammered. This was a far closer affair and featured wild swings and comebacks throughout its 60 riveting minutes.
Click here for the game details |
| 30 |  1987 - Bucs 48 Falcons 10
A record margin of victory and a record for most points scored in a game. Not bad for Ray Perkins for his first game as Bucs' head coach. Shame it didn't last of course. Steve DeBerg threw five touchdown passes in this one too.
Click here for the game details |
| 31 | 1982 - Bucs 23 Lions 21
More Cardiac kids - after the win over Buffalo (Game 34), the next nerve-wracker came a week later at Tampa Stadium as John McKay's side clawed their way back from a 21-6 third quarter deficit on their way to the post-season tournament that year.
Click here for the game details |
| 32 | 1989 - Bucs 42 Bears 35
"They can do no wrong" - the entire Buccaneer offense was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week as Mike Ditka's Bears lost to Tampa Bay for the first time in 13 attempts. This game was also shown on the fledgling Screensport channel here in the UK.
Click here for the game details |
| 33 | 1985 - Bucs 0 Packers 21
The Snow Bowl - a foot of snow across Lambeau Field, terrible visibility for players and fans alike, and the Buccaneers were playing in all white. Green Bay outgained Leeman Bennett's team by 512 yards to 65.
Click here for the game details |
| 34 | 1997 - Bucs 31 Bears 15
The Buccaneers had waited 15 years to get back into the playoffs and now here they were, one win away from the reality of that moment. It could have been the final game in the Big Sombrero but this marvellous victory meant a playoff game the following weekend.
Click here for the game details |
| 35 |  1982 - Bucs 24 Bills 23
The 1982 season featured a nine-game regular season and a 16-team playoff tournament because of the players' strike. The Cardiac Kids were born as the 1982 Bucs came from an 0-3 and 2-4 starts, to make that post-season with some dramatic wins.
Click here for the game details |
| 36 | 1999 - Bucs 20 Bears 6
A game for the division - the Bucs went into Soldier Field in the 1999 season finale knowing a win would give them the NFC Central Division crown and a bye-week in the playoffs. The defense dutifully obliged and the post-season began here.
Click here for the game details |
| 37 | 1992 - Bucs 27 Rams 31
At half-time in this game, the Bucs led 27-3 on national TV and everything looked good for Sam Wyche's team. Tyji Armstrong scored on an 81-yard play, the Bucs scored on a fumble return and all was rosy. And then the second half started.
Click here for the game details |
| 38 | 1989 - Bucs 32 Bears 31
A memorable win that capped the first-ever season sweep of the Bears and also featured one of the wildest five minute periods in franchise history with no less than 370 yards of offense being amassed by both teams in that final part of the game.
Click here for the game details |
| 39 | 1990 - Bucs 13 Cowboys 17
The start of a six-game losing streak and the end of Ray Perkins' reign in Tampa. His 1990 Bucs were 4-2 and tied for the lead in the Central Division and somehow threw away a game they had dominated at the Big Sombrero.
Click here for the game details |
| 40 | 1988 - Bucs 15 Bears 27
My first live NFL game and once I got to see from the Buccaneer sideline as a guest of then-coach Ray Perkins. This was actually the 12th straight time that the Bucs had lost to the Bears, a record in divisional futility that tops the NFL record books.
Click here for the game details |
| 41 | 1987 - Bucs 34 Saints 44
Vinny Testaverde's first start in the NFL and also the game where Mark Carrier set a franchise record with 212 yards receiving and coach Ray Perkins had a fight with one of his players, offensive lineman Ron Heller. The 87 Bucs were certainly not boring.
Click here for the game details |
| 42 | 1996 - Bucs 20 Raiders 17
The game when it all began to turn around for the Bucs under the Glazers and Tony Dungy. From 1-9, this overtime win over the Raiders set the Tampa franchise on a way out of 14 years of turmoil and despair and ultimately a Super Bowl victory over the same team.
Click here for the game details |
| 43 | 1997 - Bucs 19 Cardinals 18
The 1997 team in their new pewter uniforms started the season 5-0 and this was the fifth of those victories. Not a classic performance, but it was a win all the same and the euphoria of the New Day in Tampa Bay began to sweep the state.
Click here for the game details |
| 44 | 1992 - Bucs 31 Packers 3
The Vincredible game - Testaverde produces one of the finest QB performances in NFL history let alone the Bucs, to totally demolish the Packers at Tampa Stadium and start Sam Wyche's coaching career with the Bucs with a 2-0 record.
Click here for the game details |
| 45 | 1985 - Bucs 28 Jets 62
They took a 14-0 lead, scored 28 points on the road and were coming off a shutout the previous week. And still the 1985 Buccaneers ended up with their biggest loss in franchise history. One of Leeman Bennett's low points and remember, there were enough of them.
Click here for the game details |
| 46 | 1988 - Bucs 24 Packers 22
After a 15-year absence, Monday Night Football returned to Tampa with a cracking match-up against the Packers. The Bucs gained revenge for their playoff loss the previous year but it was not quite enough to see them make the post-season in 1998.
Click here for the game details |
| 47 | 1983 - Bucs 33 Oilers 24
The famous Repus Bowl. So named because Repus is Super spelt backwards and this match-up between the 1-11 Buccaneers and the 1-11 Oilers was about as far from the Super Bowl as you could possibly have got.
Click here for the game details |
| 48 | 1981 - Bucs 37 Packers 3
For many years, this was the biggest victory in franchise history. Everyone got involved, offense, defense, special teams and even all the back-ups. There weren't many Buc players who didn't see playing time in this one.
Click here for the game details |
| 49 | 1987 - Bucs 31 Lions 27
The first of three games played by the replacement Buccaneers also watched by the lowest crowd ever to see a Tampa Bay game as less than 5,000 filed individually into the Silverdome.
Click here for the game details |
| 50 | 1983 - Bucs 9 Packers 12
This would be the last time the Bucs would play on Monday Night Football for 15 long years. A narrow loss to Green Bay brought about by more kicking problems and John McKay famously announcing that "Capece is kaput".
Click here for the game details |