1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
The Buccaneers added offensive threats to complement their solid defense; a healthy Doug Williams played his first full season and Ricky Bell became the team's first 1,000-yard back, rushing for a career-high 1,263 yards.
The playoff spot was secured in the final week in a rain-sodden game against the Kansas City Chiefs, with the only score being a 19-yard field goal by Neil O'Donoghue.
[note 1] The Buccaneers had extra picks in the second and third rounds in return for trading nose tackle Dave Pear to the Oakland Raiders.
[4][5] Gordon Jones, with a 4.59 time in the 40-yard dash, drew pre-draft comparisons to Lynn Swann, but dropped to the second round due to concerns over his speed.
[11] Dave Green, the punter and kicker through the first three seasons, had to be replaced when he tore his Achilles tendon stepping over a tackling dummy in training camp.
[20] After dropping three games in a row, of which winning any of the three would have clinched the division, McKay launched into an obscenity-laced tirade against reporters who called the team a "laughingstock" and "Chokeneers".
[28] When Wally Chambers forced the Lions' Horace King to fumble in the first quarter, Lee Roy Selmon returned the ball 29 yards for a touchdown.
The Buccaneers overcame a shaky start in which they were penalized for 80 yards and gave up 17 points in what the St. Petersburg Times called "one of the worst and most frustrating first quarters" in team history.
Doug Williams’ first pass of the day was intercepted by Norman Thompson, but it took the Colts, hampered by the loss of quarterback Bert Jones and running back Joe Washington, 9 plays to get to the end zone from the Buccaneers' 23-yard line.
After Randy Crowder stripped the ball from Landry 1:31 into the overtime period, Neil O'Donoghue was immediately sent in to kick the game-winning 31-yard field goal.
Jim Youngblood, who had been in on the sack that broke Doug Williams' jaw the previous season, returned an early interception for a touchdown and a 6–0 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Bill Kollar recovered a Lawrence McCutcheon fumble at the Rams 27-yard line, leading to a 15-yard touchdown reception by Larry Mucker.
The Buccaneers scored 10 points and recovered two fumbles, all in the last four minutes, to pass the Lions and maintain their two-game division lead over the Chicago Bears.
After Neil O'Donoghue's fourth-quarter field goal, Dewey Selmon forced a Detroit fumble that was recovered by Dana Nafziger at the Lions' 23-yard line.
Mucker, who earlier had been fined for missing the team bus to the stadium, beat close coverage from Walt Williams to make the catch.
The Buccaneers used a two-tight end set, providing additional blocking that helped spring Ricky Bell for 152 yards in three quarters of play.
In a game that would have clinched the Buccaneers' first playoff berth, coach McKay was booed after a one-point loss in which three kick attempts were blocked.
[52] The Times nonetheless reported that the locker room was more subdued than during the 0–26 losing streak: "One by one, the players filed out grim-faced, reluctantly said a few words and then left".
I wish they would boo the people who can't block",[53] and had to issue a public apology after shouting an obscenity at the end zone stands, saying later that he was angry over racist statements being made from that direction.
The Buccaneers' Williams was nearly ejected from the game after throwing Bears lineman Mike Hartenstine to the ground by his face mask after a Gary Fencik interception.
The offense's single touchdown, a 19-yard pass from Doug Williams to Jimmie Giles, was a season low, while injuries to Mike Washington and Cedric Brown left the Buccaneers' secondary vulnerable.
Williams, who tearfully accepted blame for the loss, threw five interceptions that left McKay considering either benching him or avoiding pass plays.
[19] When reporters described the team as "Chokeneers" and a laughingstock, McKay denounced them and Lewis in what the news agency described an "obscenity-filled tirade", stating that "the word choke is terribly degrading.
Playing in a torrential downpour, the Buccaneers scored the first shutout in franchise history to clinch their first playoff berth and the NFC Central title in what would become known as "the Rain Bowl".
Shut out of the end zone on three tries with first-and-goal from the 9-yard line, the Buccaneers brought in Neil O'Donoghue to kick what would be the winning field goal with 8:50 remaining.
O'Donoghue admitted ("In my two years at Auburn, we won about three games") that he was playing on a championship team for the first time since youth soccer in Ireland, and linebacker Lewis said "We won't be called the Chokeneers any more".
Wally Chambers forced a Montgomery fumble that was recovered by Randy Crowder on the 4-yard line and led to Bell's second touchdown run, giving the Buccaneers a 17–0 second-quarter lead.
Trying to extend that lead before halftime, Doug Williams hurried a pass that wound up in the hands of Eagles linebacker Jerry Robinson at the Tampa Bay 11-yard line.
[71] Rams defensive end Jack Youngblood played the game with a hairline fracture of his left leg, and Vince Ferragamo continued to start in place of the injured Pat Haden.
With Tyler's speed enabling the Rams to run outside, the Buccaneers were no longer able to clog the inside lanes with defenders and put the linebackers into coverage on passing downs.
