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| The St. Petersberg Times headline the day after the Buccaneers won their first game in team history. |
As an expansion team in 1976 under former USC head coach John McKay, the Bucs went 0-14 as they were outscored 412-125 over the course of the season as 11 of their 14 losses were by more than one touchdown and were shut out five times.
Things did not get better for the Bucs in 1977 as it appeared they were going to have another winless season as they were 0-12 entering their Week 13 game with the New Orleans Saints.
While the defense had improved, going from 27th in '76 to 12th in '77, their offense had not as the Bucs had been shut out six more times and only score at least 10 points in two of their games.
Still, if the Bucs were going to get a win before the '77 season came to an end, their best chance would come in New Orleans as they faced off with the 3-9 Saints.
Before the Bucs came along, the Saints had the reputation as the most futile franchise in the NFL as they had failed to have a winning season since their inception in 1967.
The Saints hoped to change that when they hired former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Hank Stram before the 1976 season, but even the former Super Bowl winning head coach could not turn around the Saints' misfortune as New Orleans went 4-10 in his first season and were looking at another double digit losing season.
Still, the Saints remained confident as they prepared to host the winless Bucs as Saints starting quarterback Archie Manning was quoted as saying "It would be disgraceful" if the Saints lost to Tampa.
If not having won in 26 games wasn't motivation enough, Manning's statement provided bulletin board material for the Bucs as they traveled to the Bayou to face off with the Saints.
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| This sign summed up how fans felt about the Week 13 matchup between the 3-9 New Orleans Saints and the 0-12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. |
The Saints got the ball to start the game as they began their opening possession from their 28-yard-line, but turned it over on the third play from scrimmage when Manning fumbled the football which was recovered by Bucs defensive end Lee Roy Selmon at the New Orleans 36-yard-line.
Tampa Bay drove 20 yards to the Saints' 16-yard-line before having to settle for a 33-yard field goal attempt, but in typical Buccaneer fashion they missed the kick as Dave Green's kick sailed wide right keeping the game scoreless.
However, Green would redeem himself on the Bucs' following possession as his 40-yard field goal put Tampa on top 3-0 with 5:40 left in the first quarter.
Green's kick had been set up by a 20-yard punt return by Tampa Bay punt returner Danny Reece to the Saints' 28-yard-line.
After the Bucs defense forced another Saints punt, Reece would again put Tampa Bay in New Orleans territory as another 20-yard return plus a 15-yard personal foul on the Saints' Kurt Schumacher put the Buccaneers offense at the New Orleans 43-yard-line.
The Bucs could only pick up five more yards, forcing Tampa to punt but pinning the Saints back at their six-yard-line with six seconds left in the first quarter.
That is when the Bucs defense forced their second turnover of the game as Tampa cornerback MIke Washington picked off a deep pass intended for Saints tight end Jim Thaxton at the Bucs' 40-yard-line, then lateraled the ball to free safety Cedric Brown who ran it back 27 yards to the New Orleans' 33-yard-line as the first quarter came to a close.
The Bucs would ran the ball nine straight times for 25 yards before having to settle for another field goal, this one from 25 yards out to increase the Tampa lead to 6-0 with 9:46 left in the second quarter.
After both teams exchanged punts, the Bucs took over at their 29-yard-line with 3:27 left in the first half.
Following a two-yard run by Anthony Dubose, quarterback Gary Huff went deep and hit wide receiver Morris Owens for a 39-yard gain to put the Bucs at the Saints 30-yard-line as the two-minute warning arrived.
After the two-minute warning, Huff hit Dubose for eight yards on a screen pass, then handed it off to Dubose who picked up four yards and the 1st down at the 18-yard-line.
Disaster nearly struck on the next play for Tampa as Huff threw a pass to Louis Carter, who picked up 13 yards, only to have Carter fumble the ball at the end of the play.
However, Carter recovered his own fumble, allowing for Huff to find Owens wide open in the left corner of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown, which increased the Tampa lead to 13-0 with 1:12 left before halftime.
The Saints managed to drive into Bucs territory for the first time in the game but the drive stalled at the Tampa 42-yard-line as the first half came to a close with Tampa Bay holding a 13-0 halftime lead, marking only the fourth time that the Buccaneers had a halftime lead in their dubious team history.
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| Bucs linebacker Gary Johnson(56) swarms Saints quarterback Archie Manning as the Tampa defense forced seven turnovers, six of them interceptions with three being returned for touchdowns. |
After the Bucs punted on their opening possession of the second half, the Saints took over at their 46-yard-line with Bobby Scott replacing Manning at quarterback.
But on the second play from scrimmage, Scott was picked off by Washington, who returned the interception for a 45-yard touchdown to increase the Bucs' lead to 20-0 with 12:23 left in the third quarter.
Following the pick-six, the Saints began a drive from their 31-yard-line and drove to the Bucs' 30-yard-line until Scott was intercepted again as his right arm was hit by Tampa linebacker Dave Lewis as Scott began to throw, leading to linebacker Richard Wood picking off the pass and returning it to the Tampa 47-yard-line.
From there, the Bucs ran ball the six straight times between Dubose and Carter, driving Tampa to the Saints' 32-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-1.
Even though they were up by three touchdowns, McKay decided to go for the 1st down.
But the gamble did not pay off as Huff was stopped at the line of scrimmage, giving the ball back to the Saints at their 32-yard-line with over four minutes left in the third quarter.
Once again, the Saints were able to drive into Bucs territory as Scott hit wide receiver Don Herrmann for 23 yards, which was followed by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Tampa nose tackle Dave Pear to put the Saints at the Bucs 29-yard-line.
However, Scott would throw three straight incomplete passes leading to Stram to gamble on 4th-and-10 where Washington broke up Scott's pass intended for John Gilliam, giving the Bucs the ball back at their 29-yard-line with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
The Saints would force the Bucs go three-and-out to get the ball back at their nine-yard-line as the fourth quarter began.
Following a sack of Scott by Selmon for a five-yard-loss, Scott was intercepted again by Wood, who returned the interception 10 yards for a touchdown, pushing the Tampa lead to 26-0 with less than 14 minutes left in the game(Green missed the extra point).
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| Tampa Bay linebacker Richard Wood had two of the Bucs' six interceptions and one of their three INT return for TDs. |
Manning was put back in the game on the Saints' ensuing possession which began at the 50-yard-line following a 40-yard return by Rich Mauti.
However, the Saints would turnover it on downs for the second time in the game when Chuck Muncie was dropped for a five-yard loss by cornerback Jeris White, giving the ball back to the Bucs at their 35-yard-line.
Tampa would go three-and-out on their next possession, giving the Saints the ball back at their 44-yard-line where it took them four plays to get in the end zone as Manning ran it in for a two-yard touchdown to put New Orleans on the scoreboard, but still down 26-7 with over seven minutes left in regulation.
The Saints attempted an onsides kick, but Owens recovered the kick for the Bucs at the Saints' 48-yard-line leading to Tampa running four minutes off the clock until fullback Ed Williams coughed up the football, giving New Orelans the ball at their 11-yard-line with 2:59 left in the game to pull off a miracle.
But those hopes were dashed when Manning dropped back to his own end zone, only to have his pass get deflected by defensive end Glenn Robinson, which was caught by defensive tackle Greg Johnson for the touchdown, the third pick-six of the game for the Bucs, to increase their lead to 33-7 with 1:55 left.
As the Bucs began to celebrate the end of their 26-game losing streak, Manning had to endure the mocking screams of "Disgraceful" by the Buccaneer defense, even as he drove the Saints 67 yards in nine plays for a touchdown, a 11-yard pass from Manning to Gilliam.
All that did was make the final score 33-14 as Tampa Bay finally had its first win in team history.
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| Head Coach John McKay cracks a little smile as his Buccaneers won their first game in franchise history after losing their first 26 games. |
When talking to the media after the game, Stram called the loss "The worst expereince of my coaching career".
His coaching career would come to an end the following week as he was fired after going 7-21 in his two seasons in New Orleans.
But Stram would begin a successful career in broadcasting which was highlighted by a 18-year partnership with Jack Buck on CBS Radio's broadcasts of Monday Night Football.
It would take the Saints another 10 years until their had their first winning season which came in 1987 as they went 12-3 and made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
As for McKay and the Bucs, it did not take long for them to win their second game as they defeated the Cardinals 17-7 in front of their fans to finish the season 2-12.
Two years later, the unthinkable occurred as the Bucs finished 11-5 and won the NFC Central Division title to earn their first trip to the postseason where they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-17 in the Divisional Playoffs, before being losing 9-0 to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game.
The Bucs would make the playoffs two more times under Mckay(1981-82)but would be one-and-done both times as they were eliminated by the Dallas Cowboys both years.
Mckay would step down following the 1984 season, finishing with a 44-88-1 record.
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