INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Carver 20-89, Wilder 8-25, Williams 7-24. BILLS: Leaks 13-62, Cribbs 13-49, Ferguson 3-23, Brown 2-20, Kofler 1-12. PASSING BUCS: Williams 36-20-204-3-2. BILLS: Ferguson 25-17-168-3-0. RECEIVING BUCS: Wilder 9-58, House 4-69, Giles 2-31, Jones 2-28, Carter 1- 9, Obradovich 1-7, Carver 1-2. BILLS: Cribbs 4-16, Butler 3-42, Brammer 3-22, Piccone 2-38, Leaks 3-17, Barnett 1-22, Lewis 1-11. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Colzie 1-13, Washington 1-13, Thomas 1-0. BILLS: Freeman 1-14, Simpson 1-3, Marve 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Morton 4-67, Yarno 1-14. BILLS: Mosley 4-138. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: T.Bell 1-7. BILLS: Holt 1-6, Hooks 1-1. SACKS BUCS: Reese 1-16. BILLS: none.
Leading by a single point inside the final minute, Lee Roy Selmon forced Roosevelt Leaks to fumble at the Tampa 17-yard line and Cedric Brown recovered to prevent the Bills attempting a game-winning fieldgoal. The Bucs had moved to a 24-16 lead early in the fourth quarter when rookie RB Mel Carver scored on a 13-yard run. The Bills closed to within a point when Joe Ferguson scrambled for a touchdown with just over four minutes left and having forced a Tampa Bay punt, were driving for a winning fieldgoal attempt when Selmon came up with the crucial play of the season. Undrafted rookie Mel Carver replaced the injured James Owens as the starting tailback and had his best day as a Buccaneer in the process.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24 Buffalo Bills 23 Sunday 19 December 1982 at Tampa Stadium
SCORING BUF 12:52-1Q Leaks 8 run (kick failed) TB 4:36-1Q Carver 2 pass from Williams (Capece kick) BUF 1:00-2Q Herrera FG49 TB 0:00-2Q Capece FG27 BUF 9:57-3Q Leaks 3 run (Herrera kick) TB 4:16-3Q Jones 2 pass from Williams (Capece kick) TB 14:00-4Q Carver 13 run (Capece kick) BUF 4:05-4Q Ferguson 10 run (Herrera kick)
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 75 Reavis LDE 65 Stalls LG 72 Snell NT 76 Logan C 50 Wilson RDE 63 Selmon RG 61 Roberts LOLB 59 Hawkins RT 62 Farrell LILB 56 Johnson WR 89 House RILB 52 Brantley WR 84 Jones ROLB 53 Green TE 88 Giles LCB 41 Thomas TE 82 J Bell SS 20 Colzie RB 32 Wilder FS 34 Brown QB 12 Williams RCB 40 Washington SUBSTITUTIONS 1 Morton, 3 Capece, 9 Swider, 21 Holt, 22 Smith, 24 Morris, 28 Carver, 30 Barrett, 33 Cotney, 44 Middleton, 51 Nafziger, 54 Wood, 57 Leonard, 58 Davis, 66 Reese, 68 Yarno, 78 Cannon, 83 T Bell, 86 Obradovich, 87 Carter, 90 White DID NOT PLAY 11 Golsteyn, 15 Quinn, 26 Owens, 73 Hannah, 74 Sanders, 81 Tyler
COMMENTARY CREW Charlie Jones and Lynn Dawson
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to watch the clip Mel Carver opens the scoring for the Buccaneers on a clever passing play Gordon Jones catches a two-yard scoring pass from Doug Williams Lee Roy Selmon forces the fumble that secures the win for the Bucs in the final minute