Sunday, September 30, 1984 - Green Bay Packers vs. Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Gameday Report for BuccaneersFan

WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30 Green Bay Packers 27

James Wilder rushed 43 times for 172 yards, tying Butch Woolfolk's year-old NFL record for single-game carries, and breaking Wilder's own team mark of 42. He became the only running back in NFL history to have at least forty single-game carries on more than one occasion. His four receptions for 44 yards put him in first place in the league for total yards from scrimmage.

The Buccaneers appeared to have the game put away until Lynn Dickey hit James Lofton at the Packer 16-yard line. Although Lofton was in the grasp of Jeremiah Castille, he was able to lateral the ball to Gerry Ellis, who scored the tying touchdown with 21 seconds left.

The game was marked by big plays from the Buccaneer defense. Castille intercepted a pass that bounced off of Cecil Johnson's helmet, one of several Buccaneer takeaways. Dave Logan broke up a fourth-quarter tie by intercepting a Lynn Dickey pass and returning it for a touchdown. Logan later assisted Jeff Davis on a tackle of Ray Crouse for a loss on fourth-and-one. This in turn influenced Packers coach Forrest Gregg's decision to punt on fourth-and-one in overtime, with Gregg admitting to feeling intimidated by the Tampa Bay defense.

The decision seemed justified when Bucky Scribner punted the ball to the Tampa Bay 2-yard line, but neither team was able to advance the ball on their ensuing possessions. The Buccaneers eventually drove to the Packer 17-yard line, where McKay elected to try to gain more yardage instead of attempting an immediate field goal. This decision almost backfired due to consecutive 10-yard penalties on Jimmie Giles and Gerald Carter, but Obed Ariri was successful on a 48-yard game-winning field goal attempt.

Ariri became the first Buccaneer kicker to make three field goals of over 40 yards in a single game. As all other NFC Central teams lost that weekend, the victory moved Tampa Bay into a second-place tie with the Minnesota Vikings.

Wilder was later named NFL Offensive Player of the Week for his performance.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights

GAMEDAY BRIEF

WEATHER: Cloudy - 79°F. - Humidity 73% - Wind S. 6 mph Wind Chill 75°F.

OFFICALS

REFEREE: Chuck Heberling
UMPIRE: Gordon Wells
LINE JUDGE: Dale Orem
HEAD LINESMAN: Tom Johnson
BACK JUDGE: Al Jury
FIELD JUDGE: Charley Musser
SIDE JUDGE: Bill Quinby

SCORING

BUCCANEERS: 07:19-1Q Wilder 33 run (Ariri kick)
PACKERS: 06:40-1Q Clark 43 run (Garcia kick)
PACKERS: 05:00-1Q Garcia FG41
BUCCANEERS: 06:12-2Q Ariri FG46
BUCCANEERS: 00:30-2Q DeBerg 6 run (Ariri kick)
PACKERS: 00:00-2Q Garcia FG51
PACKERS: 01:53-3Q Coffman 4 pass from Dickey (Garcia kick)
BUCCANEERS: 12:04-4Q Ariri FG49
BUCCANEERS: 06:32-4Q Logan 27 interception return (Ariri kick)
PACKERS: 00:08-4Q Ellis 36 pass from Dickey (Garcia kick)
BUCCANEERS: 04:22-OT Ariri FG48

STARTERS OFFENSE

WR: #89 K. House
LT: #74 G. Sanders
LG: #72 S. Courson
C: #50 S. Wilson
RG: #62 S. Farrell
RT: #73 R. Heller
TE: #88 J. Giles
TE: #82 J. Bell
QB: #17 S. DeBerg
FB: #46 A. Armstrong
TB: #32 J. Wilder

STARTERS DEFENSE

LE: #78 J. Cannon
NT: #76 D. Logan
RE: #63 L. Selmon
LOLB: #57 K. Browner
LILB: #58 J. Davis
RILB: #52 S. Brantley
ROLB: #53 H. Green
LCB: #23 J. Castille
RCB: #21 J. Holt
LS: #43 B. Reece
RS: #34 C. Brown

SUBSTITUTIONS

2 Ariri, 5 Garcia, 16 Kiel, 20 Morton, 24 Harvey, 27 Acorn, 28 Carver, 29 Bright, 33 Cotney, 41 Thomas, 51 Washington, 54 Wood, 55 Spradlin, 56 Johnson, 60 Grimes, 67 Morgan, 71 Braggs, 75 Manor, 79 Kaplan, 81 Tuttle, 85 Witte, 86 Carroll, 87 Carter

DID NOT PLAY

14 Thompson, 65 Jackson, 70 Thomas, 83 T Bell

INACTIVE

none.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

BUCCANEERS: Wilder 43-172, DeBerg 3-7, Morton 1-1.
PACKERS: Clark 6-63, Ellis 14-58, Huckleby 5-29, Crouse 14-17.

PASSING

BUCCANEERS: DeBerg 40-21-246-3-0, Garcia 1-0-0-0-0.
PACKERS: Dickey 31-16-232-3-2.

RECIEVING

BUCCANEERS: Carter 8-75, House 4-48, Wilder 4-44, J.Bell 2-28, Giles 1-23, Armstrong 1-16, Carver 1-12.
PACKERS: Lofton 3-70, Ellis 3-41, Jefferson 3-37, Huckleby 3-28, Epps 2-37, Clark 1-15, Coffman 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS

BUCCANEERS: Logan 1-27, Brantley 1-4, Castille 1-0.
PACKERS: Lewis 2-40, Anderson 1-22.

KICK RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Morton 3-45, Bright 1-30, Wood 1-16.
PACKERS: Epps 6-122, Prather 1-7.

PUNT RETURNS

BUCCANEERS: Bright 2-14.
PACKERS: Epps 3-19.

SACKS

BUCCANEERS: Browner 1-10, Selmon 1-6.
PACKERS: Johnson 1-10, Scott 1-5, Murphy 1-5.