Cowboys
Fifty years ago this Saturday, on October 10, 1976, the expansion Buccaneers walked off the field at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati with a 21-0 loss and a record of 0-5. A crowd of 49,700 watched the Bengals, who moved to 4-1, score twice in the first quarter and once more in the third (Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives).
Key facts
- On October 10, 1976, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-0 at Riverfront Stadium in front of 49,700 fans (Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives).
- Cincinnati led 14-0 after the first quarter on a 10-yard Ken Anderson pass to Bob Trumpy and a 3-yard Boobie Clark run (Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives).
- Tommy Casanova scored the last touchdown on a 25-yard fumble return in the third quarter (Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives).
- Steve Spurrier completed 12 of 22 passes for 122 yards and threw two interceptions for Tampa Bay (Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives).
- The loss dropped the Buccaneers to 0-5; they finished 0-14, scoring 125 points and allowing 412 (Wikipedia).
How the game was lost
Cincinnati needed one quarter to decide it. Ken Anderson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bob Trumpy, and Boobie Clark ran in from 3 yards out for a 14-0 lead after 15 minutes. Chris Bahr kicked both extra points.
The third touchdown came from the defense. Tommy Casanova returned a fumble 25 yards in the third quarter, and the Bengals never had to score again (Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives).
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tampa Bay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cincinnati | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Source: Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives.
Spurrier struggles again
Steve Spurrier, the former 49ers quarterback Tampa Bay acquired for a second-round pick, completed 12 of 22 passes for 122 yards and threw two interceptions. Casanova had one of them, a 21-yard return. Tampa Bay ran for 114 yards against 188 for Cincinnati and finished with 12 first downs to the Bengals' 17 (Ultimate 70s, Pro Football Archives, Wikipedia).
Where it fit in the season
It was the third shutout in five games for coach John McKay's team. The first five weeks read like this (Wikipedia):
Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sept. 12 | at Houston Oilers | L, 0-20 |
2 | Sept. 19 | San Diego Chargers | L, 0-23 |
3 | Sept. 26 | Buffalo Bills | L, 9-14 |
4 | Oct. 3 | at Baltimore Colts | L, 17-42 |
5 | Oct. 10 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L, 0-21 |
We covered the first two games in the opener in Houston and the first home game against the Chargers. The full Bucs-Bengals series history lists this game among the meetings.
The season ended 0-14, with 125 points scored and 412 allowed. Tampa Bay then lost its first 12 games of 1977 as well, a 26-game streak that is still the longest in modern NFL history (Wikipedia).
A fifty-year-old echo
This year's Buccaneers are 0-4 and play at the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, October 8, at 8:15 PM ET, 02:15 CEST on Friday, on Prime Video (Buccaneers.com). Our guide to watching from Europe has the details.
The comparison only goes so far. The 1976 team had no history to lean on and lost every week. But the Bucs of 1976 are a reminder of how this franchise began: with five weeks and no win, and a long climb still ahead.
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