Buccaneers vs. New York Giants

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 New York Giants 03

The Buccaneers routed a Giants team that came in having won 5 of their past 6 games.

Giants quarterback Phil Simms was sacked 5 times for 75 yards, intercepted twice, and gave up two fumbles. One Cecil Johnson-caused fumble was picked up by Dave Lewis and returned 39 yards for a touchdown. Both sides denied running up the score during either of the season's matchups, though the Buccaneers players were said to have approached this game as a grudge match.

The game was mostly devoid of the trash-talking that had characterized the previous meeting, the Giants having little room for words. The Giants' 3 points was the lowest score allowed by the Buccaneers, and the Buccaneers had their second-highest point total with 31. The Buccaneers used a two-tight end set, providing additional blocking that helped spring Ricky Bell for 152 yards in three quarters of play.

Bell spent the fourth quarter holding an ice pack "...to keep Ricky from getting a swollen head", joked coach McKay. The win left the Buccaneers with an NFC-best 9–3 record.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Fred Wyant
• UMPIRE: Tom Hensley
• LINE JUDGE: Gene Carrabine
• LINESMAN: Leo Miles
• BACK JUDGE: Jimmy Rosser
• FIELD JUDGE: Fred Swearingen
• SIDE JUDGE: Jim Osborne

SCORING

• BUCCANEERS: 08:56-2Q Mucker 10 pass from Williams (O'Donoghue kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 02:09-2Q Lewis 39 fumble return (O'Donoghue kick)
• GIANTS: 11:27-3Q Danelo FG21
• BUCCANEERS: 09:26-3Q Mucker 42 pass from Williams (O'Donoghue kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 00:54-3Q O'Donoghue FG40
• BUCCANEERS: 01:05-4Q Davis 4 run (O'Donoghue kick)

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #86 J. Obradovich
• LT: #75 D. Reavis
• LG: #64 G. Horton
• C: #50 S. Wilson
• RG: #61 G. Roberts
• RT: #73 C. Hannah
• TE: #88 J. Giles
• WR: #85 M. Owens
• QB: #12 D. Williams
• RB: #38 J. Davis
• RB: #42 R. Bell

STARTERS DEFENSE

• LE: #60 W. Chambers
• NT: #71 R. Crowder
• RE: #63 L. Selmon
• LOLB: #57 D. Lewis
• LILB: #58 D. Selmon
• RILB: #54 R. Wood
• ROLB: #56 C. Johnson
• LCB: #45 J. White
• RCB: #40 M. Washington
• SS: #33 M. Cotney
• FS: #34 C. Brown

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 6 O'Donoghue, 16 Blanchard, 23 Ragsdale, 25 Jordan, 27 T Davis, 36 Berns, 43 Eckwood, 44 Cesare, 46 Reece, 51 Nafziger, 53 Bonness, 66 Yarno, 69 Austin, 70 Carlton, 74 Sanders, 76 Logan, 77 Kollar, 79 Lewis, 81 Hagins, 87 Mucker

DID NOT PLAY

• 14 Fusina,15 Rae, 84 Jones

INACTIVE

• none.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Bell 22-152, J.Davis 9-25, Eckwood 6-11, Williams 1-9, Mucker 1-(-10).
• GIANTS: Kotar 11-44, Simms 4-25, Johnson 6-14, Taylor 2-12.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 24-12-176-0-2.
• GIANTS: Simms 33-17-180-2-0.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Giles 3-67, Hagins 3-41, Mucker 2-52, Obradovich 2-18, Bell 2-(-2).
• GIANTS: Taylor 5-34, Shirk 4-70, Scales 4-67, J.Perkins 2-12, Johnson 2-(-3).

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: Brown 1-72, Washington 1-0.
• GIANTS: none.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Ragsdale 1-19, T.Davis 1-3.
• GIANTS: Odom 3-114, Taylor 2-53, Coffield 1-12.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Reece 2-(-1).
• GIANTS: Odom 3-15.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: L.Selmon 2-17, Lewis 1-30, Johnson 1-14, White 0.5-7, Crowder 0.5-7.
• GIANTS: none.

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