http://youtube.com/watch?v=0Hi_ZJVhOWQ
Unlike '79 when the Bucs stormed out to a 5-0 record then cruised to 10-6 and playoff birth ending in a home NFC CHampionship game at Tampa Stadium, the '78 team was not quite as ready. It was Doug Williams rookie year, and Williams rifle arm added a new dimension to Bucs football; a QB who could add 7 points with a flick of his wrist!
The Bucs defense started to come together in 1977 where they finished the year ranked 13th (in only their 2nd year of existance!!), by 1978 they ranked 4th on the way to a #1 ranking in '79. So the team was competative in '78 and McKay, eager to prove naysayers wrong, let everyone know it.
In this game the Bucs took on Kansas City on the road with the Bucs coming in 2-3 in the standings. Tampa Bay flirted with a .500 record most of the year until Williams was knocked out for the rest of the year with a broken jaw suffered by Fred Dryer of the LA Rams.
Without Williams arm the Bucs were back to being helpless on offense and won only one game the rest of the way. But there is no telling what would have happened had the Bucs kept Doug Williams healthy that year. The Vikings won the division with an 8-7-1 tie breaker advantage over Green Bay (Green Bay was 8-7-1…how little things change in the NFL huh?). Could the Bucs Mystique have come in 78 instead? Would it have ruined the luster of what happened in '79 when the Bucs had a more experienced Williams and another breakaway capable running back in Jerry Eckwood?
Who knows! But things to pay attention to in this video clip-
*McKays Golf "Bucs" hat passed out during the inauguration to the Ring of Honor
*McKays "5 year plan"…coaches do NOT get that long any more
*Cheerleaders in KC..now you understand why the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders were such a phenom back then
*You can tell when a Team has a defense; it finishes games off with it.
*How many hits do you see in two plays that would have been flagged in the NFL in 2013?
*"Another player from Southern California"… Bucs were full of USC players back in the 70s; McKay coached at USC. You always saw Alabama players under Ray Perkins. Coaches do that, it wasn't that crazy that Bucs had Rutgers players under Shiano.
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