Twas two days after Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring… Because the Bucs were needing a win and a prayer to make the playoffs, and got the first two of three things needed to win!! In a situation almost similar to what would have transpired week 16 of 2008, the Bucs needed to beat Oakland then hope for a Philly loss. Well in this case, the Bucs needed to beat Cincinnati on the road, in 45 degree weather, then hope for a Giants loss, and hope the Chargers beat the Arizona Cardinals in Tempe. Game time was 1PM for the Bucs game, and the Cardinals game was 4:00 start. Tampa Bay simply took it to Cincinnati, and while the game may have teetered at first in the beginning, the Bucs took control and put up 28 first half points on their way to their still record largest margin of defeat of an opponent; 35-0. It is still the only Shut out loss registered by the Bucs on the Road. The Highlight clips below are even more memorable, because someone who recorded this dubbed in the Bucs radio calls by Gene Deckerhoff and and the late former Buc defensive nose tackle David Logan.
Logan preceeded Scott Brantly, so thats how far back this goes! Once the Bucs won, they had to scoreboard watch. On the plane, back then there was no internet. The Pilot read them off the scores. It would be the last time the Bucs would NOT make the playoffs until after they won a Super Bowl. It was also only the second non winning season for Tony Dungy. Oh, and that Cardinal Team? Notice Michael Pittman? Simeon Rice was also on the team. And another Buc…, well sort of. Jake Plummer. OK, I’ll stop now. Tomorrow, we will take a look at the only other Pewter visit to the Queen City, on our march towards the Super Bowl.
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