INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Wilder 6-61, House 4-95, Jones 4-56, T.Bell 4-50, Giles 3- 75, Owens 3-23, Carter 1-7. BEARS: Bachnagel 4-59, Payton 3-17, Margerum 2-41, Watts 1- 31, Suhey 1-15, Moorehead 1-4. PASSING BUCS: Williams 49-25-367-2-2, Golsteyn 1-0-0-0-0 . BEARS: McMahon 30-12-167-0-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Wilder 6-61, House 4-95, Jones 4-56, T.Bell 4-50, Giles 3- 75, Owens 3-23, Carter 1-7. OPPONENTS: Baschnagel 4-59, Payton 3-17, Margerum 2-41, Watts 1-31, Suhey 1-15, Moorehead 1-4. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: none. BEARS: Wilson 1-39, Fencik 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Owens 3-52, Carver 2-44, Davis 1-0. BEARS: Watts 4-78, Gentry 2-30, Harper 1-0. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Holt 3-28, T.Bell 2-6. BEARS: Fisher 2-24. SACKS BUCS: Stalls 2-15, Colzie 1-14, Selmon 1-3. BEARS: Osborne 1-20, Harris 1-11, Hampton 1-11.
To clinch their playoff berth, the Bucs came from 23-6 down midway through the fourth quarter, their biggest-ever comeback at the time. Doug Williams passed for 367 yards, with two scores to Jimmie Giles. Bill Capece tied the score with a 40-yard fieldgoal with 26 seconds remaining and after James Wilder rushed 47 yards on the Bucs' first play of overtime, Capece converted a 33- yarder to win it for Tampa Bay. One of the key plays in the game came late in the first quarter when Doug Williams was hit and fumbled but then chased down DT Steve McMichael after a 64-yard return to the Tampa 8. The Buc defense held the the Bears to a fieldgoal which turned out to be decisive in the long run.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26 Chicago Bears 23 Sunday 2 January 1983 at Tampa Stadium
SCORING CHI 7:59-1Q Thomas FG43 CHI 13:58-2Q Thomas FG19 CHI 12:02-2Q Wilson 39 interception return (Thomas kick) TB 7:26-2Q Capece FG27 TB 4:26-2Q Capece FG31 CHI 1:41-2Q Baschnagel 19 pass from McMahon (Thomas kick) CHI 6:58-3Q Thomas FG19 TB 5:03-3Q Giles 35 pass from Williams (Capece kick) TB 8:03-4Q Giles 31 pass from Williams (Capece kick) TB 0:26-4Q Capece FG40 TB 12:21-OT Capece FG33
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 FB 32 Wilder SS 20 Colzie RB 28 Carver FS 34 Brown QB 12 Williams RCB 40 Washington SUBSTITUTIONS 1 Morton, 3 Capece, 9 Swider, 11 Golsteyn, 21 Holt, 22 Smith, 24 Morris, 26 Owens, 33 Cotney, 35 Moser, 44 Middleton, 54 Wood, 57 Leonard, 58 Davis, 66 Reese, 68 Yarno, 73 Hannah, 78 Cannon, 82 J Bell, 83 T Bell, 86 Obradovich, 87 Carter, 90 White DID NOT PLAY 15 Quinn, 55 Jeffers, 74 Sanders, 81 Tyler
COMMENTARY CREW Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to watch the clip Jimmie Giles catches his second touchdown pass of the game from Doug Williams James Wilder’s 47-yard run on a play called “EAT 18” in overtime Which set up Bill Capece’s winning fieldgoal to send the Bucs into the playoffs again