The team was largely competitive and showed an ability to outplay opponents in the second half of games, but continued their tendency toward mental errors, and finished with a disappointing 5–11 record.
[1] The team filed suit against former linebacker Hugh Green, saying that he still owed more than half of the signing bonus that he was required to repay as part of his trade to Miami.
[5] The team declined to make qualifying offers to tackle Marvin Powell and punter Frank Garcia, who became free agents with the expiration of their contracts.
[7] Several free agents were signed during the offseason, including former Hurricanes and Dolphins linebacker Jay Brophy, and former Buccaneer replacement player Harold Ricks.
[12] Several of the previous season's backups were released, including Steve Bartalo, Charles Gladman, Harold Ricks, Conrad Goode, and Mike Stensrud.
[21] A pair of draft-day trades gained the Buccaneers two extra fourth-round picks; Perkins reasoning that after the first dozen or so selections, the talent level is fairly similar between the next 100 players.
Despite pre-draft talk that they would select South Carolina wide receiver Sterling Sharpe with their fourth-overall pick, the Buccaneers took Wisconsin tackle Paul Gruber.
[27] Perkins claimed that Tate was the running back that the team had rated highest before their trades were made, and that they were surprised to find him still available in the lower second round.
One of Perkins’ former players at Alabama, he had been one of the Southeastern Conference's top running backs before suffering a knee injury, and after recovering had been unable to get past Bobby Humphrey into the starting lineup.
Despite the draft's unusual depth of talent at wide receiver, the Buccaneers’ only selection at that position was 11th-round choice Frank Pillow of Tennessee State University.
[32] 74 players reported to the University of Tampa for the opening of training camp,[33] only twenty of whom were on the team when Perkins was hired,[5] and only three of whom (Gerald Carter, Joe Ferguson, and James Wilder) were 30 or older.
[35] Lacking a game-breaking receiver, the team pursued Ron Brown of the Rams, but eventually signed Patriots holdout Stephen Starring.
[37] Perkins reported difficulty finding a second safety to play along with Mark Robinson, until the Jets cut Harry Hamilton in a salary dispute.
[42] Perkins’ often-harsh treatment of players was in evidence as tight end Calvin Magee walked out of camp, due to pressure to lose 19 pounds in two weeks.
[43] Rookie fullback William Howard was singled out for his poor physical condition when he was the first to drop out of the 12-minute run on the first day of training camp, although Perkins later praised his toughness.
[68] Randall Cunningham scored two touchdowns passing and one rushing before sitting out the second half, along with Anthony Toney, Mike Quick, Reggie White, and Keith Byars.
Quick and Keith Jackson caught touchdown passes, while Toney rushed for one and Terry Hoage added to his two interceptions by scoring on a fake punt.
They capitalized on the Packers' mistake-prone play, which included a Brent Fullwood fumble that led to a Lars Tate touchdown run, and a late-game fourth-down conversion at the Buccaneer 35 that was called back by a penalty.
[70] Packers nose tackle Jerry Boyarsky suffered a broken arm that required the insertion of a plate and caused him to miss the rest of the season.
[76] After failing to block several blitzers, Lars Tate was replaced with Kerry Goode, who led the team in rushing with ten carries for 44 yards in his NFL debut.
[61] Oct 9, 1988, at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis The Buccaneers took a 10–7 halftime lead, after controlling the ball for 12:17 of a second quarter in which they allowed the Vikings only three offensive plays.
Stephen Starring caught a late Hail Mary pass that put the Buccaneers in range for a game-winning field goal, but confusion over the play call allowed time to run out before the kick could be made.
[53] Oct 16, 1988, at Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis Vinny Testaverde set a new career high of 469 passing yards in a second-half rally that overwhelmed the Colts' defense, but was not enough to overcome the Buccaneers’ early errors.
This time, running backs Kerry Goode, Lars Tate, and William Howard combined for four fumbles, leaving the team with a −20 giveaway/takeaway ratio for the season.
[90] The loss resulted in Lions owner William Clay Ford firing head coach Darryl Rogers, and replacing him with former Buccaneer defensive coordinator Wayne Fontes.
[92] The Buccaneers matched up well statistically with the Bears, but were unable to overcome the early deficit due to mistake-prone play and a poor game from Vinny Testaverde.
[95] Nov 27, 1988 at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta The Buccaneers entered the game with the NFL's fourth-ranked run defense, but the Falcons were able to match the season-high rushing total of 181 yards that had been previously set by the Cardinals on September 18.
John Settle broke several tackles in a 48-yard run, the longest against the Buccaneers all season, which set up Chris Miller's game-winning 37-yard touchdown pass to Michael Haynes.
[103] The unusual move backfired, as a pair of Irving Fryar receptions set up Jason Staurovsky's 27-yard field goal that won the game for the Patriots without the Buccaneers ever getting a chance to touch the ball.
Testaverde also threw a touchdown to Mark Carrier for the Buccaneers' only score, although a John Carney field goal was called back due to a tripping penalty on Jackie Walker.