Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 Cincinnati Bengals 56 Sunday 29 October 1989 at Riverfront Stadium
SCORING TB 10:30-1Q Hill 3 pass from Testaverde (Igwebuike kick) CIN 6:11-1Q Holman 1 pass from Esiason (Breech kick) CIN 14:03-2Q Ball 1 run (Breech kick) TB 8:37-2Q Safety - Esiason stepped over endline TB 4:37-2Q Carrier 17 pass from Testaverde (Igwebuike kick) CIN 0:17-2Q Brown 8 pass from Esiason (Breech kick) CIN 12:58-3Q Brooks 4 run (Breech kick) CIN 8:43-3Q McGee 14 pass from Esiason (Breech kick) CIN 1:42-3Q Holman 9 pass from Esiason (Breech kick) CIN 12:13-4Q Brown 18 pass from Esiason (Breech kick) CIN 7:28-4Q McGee 46 pass from Wilhelm (Breech kick) TB 4:52-4Q Hill 2 pass from Testaverde (Igwebuike kick)
The Bucs actually had their third-highest offensive output in team history in this one - problem was, the Bengals were in full no-huddle flow and scored 42 unanswered points to flatten the Bucs. Ray Perkins famously gave his players two days off after this loss stating "that he just didn't want to see them again".
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Tate 17-84, Wilder 9-54, Testaverde 1-1. BENGALS: Brooks 17-131, McGee 1-25, Ball 9-23, Taylor 3-18, Jennings 3-(-9). PASSING BUCS: Testaverde 39-23-336-3-3. BENGALS: Esiason 28-17-197-0-5, Wilhelm 6-5-98-0-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Hill 7-125, Carrier 7-100, Wilder 6-48, Peebles 2-38, Hall 1-25. BENGALS: McGee 5-127, Holman 5-56, Brown 4-49, Brooks 3- 17, Martin 2-19, Taylor 1-13, Jennings 1-9, Riggs 1-5. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: none. BENGALS: Kelly 1-25, Bussey 1-0, Thomas 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Elder 3-59, Howard 1-19, Futrell 1-14. BENGALS: Hillary 2-17. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Drewrey 1-9. BENGALS: Martin 2-1. SACKS BUCS: Smith 1-1. BENGALS: none.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 74 Gruber DE 79 Davis LG 73 McHale DT 78 Cannon C 60 Grimes DE 92 Smith RG 75 Bax LOLB 59 Murphy RT 72 Taylor LILB 99 Marve TE 82 Hall RILB 54 Randle WR 84 Hill ROLB 58 Moss WR 88 Carrier LCB 29 Reynolds FB 43 Howard RCB 22 Jones RB 34 Tate SS 30 Robinson QB 14 Testaverde FS 25 Cocroft PLAYED 1 Igwebuike, 5 Mohr, 20 Harris, 32 Wilder, 36 Futrell, 40 Elder, 47 Smith, 51 Thomas, 56 Anno, 57 Najarian, 70 Swayne, 77 Weston, 83 Peebles, 85 Walker, 86 Harris, 87 Drewrey, 95 Jarvis, 97 Lee DID NOT PLAY 11 Bell, 12 Ferguson, 61 Ingram, 65 Graham, 71 Cooper INACTIVE 39 Hamilton, 94 Goff
COMMENTARY CREW Greg Gumbel and Pat Haden
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to watch the clip Bruce Hill’s reception on a goal-line slant pass opened the scoring Sean Smith forced a safety when Boomer Esiason stepped out of the back of the endzone Mark Carrier’s touchdown reception put the Bucs ahead before the Bengal onslaught began