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| Eric Dickerson had the fourth and final 200 yard game of his illustrious career in the Rams win over the Buccaneers in 1986. |
To beat the Los Angeles Rams of the mid 1980s, the first thing a team needed to do was stop running back Eric Dickerson.
But for NFL teams that was almost an impossible task as the #2 overall pick of the 1983 NFL draft ran for 5,147 yards in his first three seasons including the single season record for most yards in a season with 2,105 in 1984, a record which still stands today.
In week 6 of the 1986 NFL season, it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' turn to try and stop Dickerson as they traveled to Southern California to take on the Rams.
The Rams came into the game with a 3-1 record under fourth year head coach John Robinson as Dickerson ran for 450 yards in the team's first four games of the season but was coming off a 17-carry, 58-yard performance the week before in a 34-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Rams were hoping that Dickerson could return to his top form especially since starting quarterback Steve Bartkowski, who had been signed in the preseason after incumbent starting quarterback Dieter Brock had been lost for the season because of a knee injury, was unavailable because of injury as Steve Dils would be making his first start in three years.
LA's opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, came into the game with a 1-3 record hoping to win their second game of the season which would match the total from the previous season where they went 2-14 during the 1985 season which was the first season for head coach Leeman Bennett.
The 1986 offseason had been a tumultuous one for the Bucs as future Hall-of-Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon retired a week before the 1986 NFL Draft where Tampa Bay selected running back Bo Jackson with the #1 overall pick.
But Jackson would not suit up for the Buccaneers as he elected to play baseball as he would sign a contract to play for the Kansas City Royals after his selection in the 1986 MLB Draft.
The Bucs started the season losing their first two games of the season as quarterback Steve DeBerg would be benched in favor of Steve Young, who led the Bucs to a 24-20 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 3 despite only throwing for 39 yards, as Tampa would fall to the Atlanta Falcons one week later.
Young would get the start again for the Bucs' game with the Rams, who The Rams were expected to win the game as they were favored by 11 points.
After the Bucs went three-and-out to start the game, the Rams took over at their 34-yard-line as they rely on Dickerson to drive them down the field as he carried the ball seven times for 53 yards on a 10-play, 66-yard drive that ended with an one-yard touchdown run by Barry Redden to give Los Angeles a 7-0 lead.
Following another Tampa Bay three-and-out, the Rams got the ball back at their 48-yard-line as Dils would attempt his first pass of the game, an incomplete pass on 1st & 10, which was followed by two Dickerson runs for 12 yards and then another incomplete pass as LA was face with a 2nd & 10 at the Buccaneers' 40-yard-line.
That is when Dickerson took a handoff from Dils and ripped through the middle for a 40-yard touchdown run to cross the 100-yard rushing mark on just 10 carries to increase the Rams' lead to 14-0 with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
Tampa Bay would pick up a 1st down on their ensuing possession but it once again ended on a punt as the Rams would begin their next drive at their 16-yard-line as Dils was able to complete a screen pass to Dickerson who ran for 22 yards until he was hit by Buccaneers cornerback Ricky Easmon, resulting in a fumble that was recovered by strong safety Craig Swope to give the Bucs the ball at the Los Angeles 38-yard-line.
The Bucs would run the ball on three straight plays gaining 10 yards before Young completed a 11-yard pass to wide receiver Gerald Carter for a Tampa Bay 1st down at the Rams' 17-yard-line as an one-yard run by running back Nathan Wonsley followed by an eight-yard pass from Young to tight end Jimmie Giles set up a 3rd & 1 at the eight-yard-line.
Wonsley would be stopped for no gain to make it 4th & 1 when Bennett decided to go for the 1st down which he got when Young snuck up the middle for two yards to move the sticks as Tampa Bay would have a 1st & goal at the six-yard-line.
After a Wonsley run that lost two yards, Young would get the two yards back on a quarterback run on 2nd down, then scramble on 3rd & goal for the four-yard touchdown to cut the Rams' lead in half to 14-7 with 9:43 to go in the second quarter.
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| Buccaneers quarterback Steve Young only completed eight of 23 passes for 83 yards while running for 37 yards and scoring a touchdown on eight carries. |
From there, the Rams would slowly drive down the field as it took them eight plays to 24 yards before calling on Mike Lansford to attempt a 34-yard field goal, which he made to extend the LA lead to 17-7 with 4:56 to remaining in the first half.
The Bucs would go three-and-out again on their next drive as the Rams would get the ball back at their 27-yard-line as a Dickerson run that lost four yards would bring up 2nd & 14 when Dils was sacked by Buccaneers linebacker Keith Browner, forcing a fumble that Browner recovered to give Tampa Bay the ball at the Los Angeles 11-yard-line.
However, the Bucs could only gain three yards on three plays as they would settle for a 26-yard field goal by Donald Igwebuike to once again make it a seven-point game at 17-10 with 1:55 left before halftime.
The Rams would get the ball back at their 15-yard-line but were content to go into the halftime break with the 17-10 lead as they basically ran out the clock but set to get the ball to start the second half.
But the Bucs' defense would force the Rams to go three-and-out on their initial possession of the second half as the two teams traded punts until midway through the third quarter when Wonsley exploded for a 59-yard touchdown run that with the extra point tied the game at 17.
The two teams would go back to trading punts until early in the fourth quarter when the Rams got great field position as a 11-yard punt return by Mickey Sutton gave Los Angeles the ball at the Tampa Bay 44-yard-line.
Dils would complete back-to-back passes for 12 yards to give LA a fresh set of downs at the Bucs' 32-yard-line as an end around reverse to wide receiver Ron Brown cost the Rams five yards as Dils would complete two straight passes for 14 yards to set up a 4th & 1 at the Tampa Bay 23-yard-line.
Robinson would send in Lansford to attempt the go-ahead field goal, which he made from 40 yards out to give the Rams a 20-17 lead with 9:41 left to play in the fourth quarter.
After another Tampa three-and-out, the Rams took over at their 30-yard-line as Dickerson, who had been held to 44 yards in the second and third quarters combined, ran for 12 yards on back-to-back carries to pick up a LA 1st down which was followed by a three-yard run by Redden and then two straight carries for Dickerson for seven yards to give the Rams a 1st down at Buccaneers' 48-yard-line.
But the drive would stall as the Rams would punt the ball back to the Buccaneers but would get a perfect punt by Dale Hatcher as the ball was downed at the one-yard-line, meaning Tampa Bay would have to go 99 yards for a possible game-winning touchdown with 4:34 left in regulation.
The drive would begin with a six-yard run by Wonsley followed by a 11-yard pass from Young to Carter to pick up a 1st down as it took three straight running plays to pick up the next 1st down at the Tampa Bay 30-yard-line right at the two-minute warning.
The Bucs would pick up the pace as Young would complete a eight-yard pass to Wonsley, then scramble for four yards and the 1st down, when Young connected with Carter for 15 yards and another 1st down at the Rams' 43-yard-line.
After throwing an incomplete pass on 1st down, Young would find Carter again, this time for 11 yards to move the sticks again as a quarterback sack and an incomplete pass would force a 3rd & 12 situation when Young fired a 15-yard pass to wide receiver Phil Freeman to put the Bucs at the LA 19-yard-line with 20 seconds left in regulation.
Young would throw two straight incomplete passes to bring up 3rd down when it looked like Rams linebacker Kevin Greene sacked Young for a five-yard loss but ended up inadventrly grabbing the quarterback's face mask resulting in a five-yard penalty which essentially meant the play did not counted as the clock stopped with four seconds to go.
Needing at least a field goal to tie the game, Bennett sent in the field goal unit as Igwebuike would make a 37-yard field goal as time expired to cap off the 17-play, 80-yard drive but more importantly tie the game at 20 and send into overtime.
The Rams would win the overtime coin toss and elected to receive as Brown would return the overtime kickoff 21 yards to the LA 27-yard-line as the drive would begin with a 18-yard pass from Dils to wide receiver Bobby Duckworth for a LA 1st down at their 45-yard-line.
Following a Dickerson run that lost three yards, Dils would hit Brown for 16 yards and another Rams 1st down at the Tampa Bay 42-yard-line when they called "46 Gap" an off tackle run to the left side.
Dils handed the ball off to Dickerson, who was able to break a tackle at the 40-yard-line, then run up the middle where he dodged a diving attempt from a Buccaneer defensive back around the 25-yard-line and ran in untouched for the 42-yard touchdown to give the Rams the 26-20 win as Dickerson finished with 207 on 30 carries and two touchdowns.
The 1986 season would be another disaster for the Buccaneers as they would win just one more game to finish the season with a 2-14 record resulting in the firing of Bennett after just two seasons.
The Bucs would once again have the #1 pick in the NFL draft which they used to pick 1986 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who would play for the team, as Young would be traded to the San Francisco 49ers a few days before the 1987 NFL draft.
As for the Rams, they would continue to lean on Dickerson as he would win the rushing title for the third time in four years as he finished with 1,821 yards and 11 touchdowns as Los Angeles would finish the regular season with a 10-6 record, good enough to earn a spot in the playoffs despite tough losses in the final weeks of the season to the New England Patriots(To read about that game, click on the link highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/nfl-old-school-game-of-week.html) and Miami Dolphins(To read about that game, click on the link highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-marino.html).
In the playoffs, the Rams would fall to the Washington Redskins 19-7 in the NFC Wild Card Game as Dickerson ran for 158 yards but lost three fumbles as Los Angeles turned the ball over six times in the game.
It would be one of Dickerson's final games as a Ram as in the middle of the 1987 NFL season, he was traded to the Indianapolis Colts, where he played through the 1991 season as he won the rushing title for the final time in his career in 1988 with 1,659 yards.
Dickerson would play two more years before retiring from the NFL after the 1993 season as he was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1999 as Dickerson would make amends with the Rams and have his number #29 retired in 2009.
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