1981 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL) |
| 1st place • National Football Conference • Central Division • 9-7-0 .563 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: John McKay |
| Tom Bass | Defensive Coordinator |
| George Chaump | Running Backs |
| Boyd Dowler | Receivers |
| Wayne Fontes | Defensive Secondary |
| Abe Gibron | Chief Assistant/Defensive Line |
| Bill Johnson | Offensive Line |
| Bill Nelsen | Quarterbacks |
| Howard Tippett | Linebackers/Special Teams |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/8/1981 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 17-24 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 67554 | |
| Sat | 8/15/1981 | H | New England Patriots | 16-17 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 62785 | |
| Sat | 8/22/1981 | H | Houston Oilers | 27-17 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 64734 | |
| Fri | 8/28/1981 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 7-27 | L | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 53688 | |
| Sat | 9/5/1981 | H | Minnesota Vikings | 21-13 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 66287 | |
| Sun | 9/13/1981 | A | Kansas City Chiefs | 10-19 | L | Kansas City, MO | Arrowhead Stadium | 50555 | |
| Sun | 9/20/1981 | A | Chicago Bears | 17-28 | L | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | 60130 | |
| Sun | 9/27/1981 | H | St. Louis Cardinals | 20-10 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 65850 | |
| Sun | 10/4/1981 | H | Detroit Lions | 28-10 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 71733 | |
| Sun | 10/11/1981 | A | Green Bay Packers | 21-10 | W | Green Bay, WI | Lambeau Field | 55264 | |
| Sun | 10/18/1981 | A | Oakland Raiders | 16-18 | L | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 42288 | |
| Sun | 10/25/1981 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 10-20 | L | Philadelphia, PA | Veterans Stadium | 70714 | |
| Sun | 11/1/1981 | H | Chicago Bears | 20-10 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 63688 | |
| Sun | 11/8/1981 | A | Minnesota Vikings | 10-25 | L | Bloomington, MN | Metropolitan Stadium | 47038 | |
| Sun | 11/15/1981 | H | Denver Broncos | 7-24 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 64518 | |
| Sun | 11/22/1981 | H | Green Bay Packers | 37-3 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 63521 | |
| Sun | 11/29/1981 | A | New Orleans Saints | 31-14 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 62209 | |
| Sun | 12/6/1981 | H | Atlanta Falcons | 24-23 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 69221 | |
| Sun | 12/13/1981 | H | San Diego Chargers | 23-24 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 67388 | |
| Sun | 12/20/1981 | A | Detroit Lions | 20-17 | W | Pontiac, MI | Pontiac Silverdome | 80444 | |
| NFC Divisional Playoff | |||||||||
| Sat | 1/2/1982 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 0-38 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 64848 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Ricky Bell | 42 | TB | 6-2 | 218 | 26 | Southern California | 7 | 3 |
| Theo Bell | 83 | WR | 5-11 | 180 | 28 | Arizona | 16 | 9 |
| Tom Blanchard | 16 | P | 6-0 | 185 | 33 | Oregon | 3 | 0 |
| Scot Brantley | 52 | LB | 6-1 | 230 | 23 | Florida | 16 | 0 |
| Cedric Brown | 34 | FS | 6-1 | 190 | 27 | Kent State | 16 | 15 |
| Joe Campbell | 79 | DE | 6-6 | 250 | 26 | Maryland | 7 | 0 |
| Bill Capece | 3 | K | 5-7 | 170 | 22 | Florida State | 13 | 0 |
| Gerald Carter | 87 | WR | 6-1 | 188 | 24 | Tyler JC; Texas A&M | 16 | 0 |
| Billy Cesare | 44 | S | 5-11 | 190 | 26 | Memphis; Miami (Florida) | 16 | 0 |
| Neal Colzie | 20 | SS | 6-2 | 196 | 28 | Ohio State | 16 | 16 |
| Gary Davis | 28 | RB | 5-10 | 200 | 27 | Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) | 7 | 0 |
| Tony Davis | 27 | RB | 5-11 | 210 | 28 | Nebraska | 16 | 0 |
| Jeff Delaney | 24 | S | 6-0 | 195 | 25 | Pittsburgh | 2 | 0 |
| Jerry Eckwood | 43 | TB | 6-0 | 198 | 27 | Arkansas | 16 | 12 |
| Chuck Fusina | 14 | QB | 6-1 | 197 | 24 | Penn State | 4 | 0 |
| Jimmie Giles | 88 | TE | 6-3 | 242 | 27 | Alcorn State | 16 | 16 |
| Hugh Green | 53 | ROLB | 6-2 | 226 | 22 | Pittsburgh | 16 | 16 |
| Charley Hannah | 73 | ROT | 6-6 | 265 | 26 | Alabama | 15 | 12 |
| Andy Hawkins | 59 | LOLB | 6-2 | 225 | 23 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 16 | 12 |
| John Holt | 21 | RCB-LCB | 5-11 | 180 | 22 | West Texas A&M | 16 | 6 |
| Kevin House | 89 | WR | 6-1 | 185 | 24 | Southern Illinois | 16 | 16 |
| Scott Hutchinson | 70 | DE | 6-4 | 243 | 25 | Florida | 16 | 0 |
| Cecil Johnson | 56 | LILB | 6-2 | 230 | 26 | Pittsburgh | 16 | 16 |
| Gordon Jones | 84 | WR | 6-0 | 190 | 24 | Pittsburgh | 13 | 4 |
| Bill Kollar | 77 | LDE | 6-4 | 256 | 29 | Montana State | 12 | 12 |
| Jim Leonard | 62 | ROG-C | 6-3 | 260 | 24 | Santa Clara | 16 | 3 |
| Dave Lewis | 57 | LOLB | 6-4 | 245 | 27 | San Diego CC; Southern California | 13 | 4 |
| Dave Logan | 76 | NT | 6-2 | 250 | 25 | Pittsburgh | 16 | 16 |
| Aaron Mitchell | 45 | S | 6-1 | 196 | 25 | Morris Brown; Canyons JC; Nevada-Las Vegas | 13 | 0 |
| Dana Nafziger | 51 | LB | 6-1 | 221 | 28 | Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) | 16 | 0 |
| Jim Obradovich | 86 | TE | 6-2 | 225 | 28 | El Camino JC; Southern California | 16 | 3 |
| James Owens | 26 | TB | 5-11 | 188 | 26 | UCLA | 16 | 1 |
| Dave Reavis | 75 | LOT | 6-4 | 260 | 31 | Arkansas | 12 | 5 |
| Greg Roberts | 61 | ROG | 6-3 | 262 | 25 | Oklahoma | 16 | 14 |
| Gene Sanders | 74 | ROT-LOT | 6-3 | 285 | 25 | Texas A&M | 16 | 14 |
| Lee Roy Selmon | 63 | RDE | 6-3 | 256 | 27 | Oklahoma | 14 | 13 |
| Laval Short | 64 | NT | 6-3 | 250 | 23 | Colorado | 4 | 0 |
| Ray Snell | 72 | LOG-LOT | 6-4 | 265 | 23 | Wisconsin | 16 | 12 |
| Dave Stalls | 65 | LDE-RDE | 6-4 | 245 | 26 | Northern Colorado | 16 | 7 |
| Larry Swider | 9 | P | 6-2 | 195 | 26 | Pittsburgh | 13 | 0 |
| Norris Thomas | 41 | LCB | 5-11 | 175 | 27 | Southern Mississippi | 16 | 15 |
| Mike Washington | 40 | RCB-FS | 6-3 | 190 | 28 | Alabama | 14 | 12 |
| Brad White | 90 | NT-DE | 6-2 | 250 | 23 | Tennessee | 16 | 0 |
| James Wilder | 32 | FB | 6-3 | 225 | 23 | Northeastern Oklahoma A&M JC; Missouri | 16 | 16 |
| Doug Williams | 12 | QB | 6-4 | 220 | 26 | Grambling State | 16 | 16 |
| Steve Wilson | 50 | C | 6-4 | 266 | 27 | Georgia | 15 | 15 |
| Richard Wood | 54 | RILB | 6-2 | 230 | 28 | Southern California | 16 | 16 |
| George Yarno | 68 | LOG-ROG | 6-2 | 267 | 24 | Washington State | 16 | 5 |
| Garo Yepremian | 1 | K | 5-8 | 172 | 37 | none | 3 | 0 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 7 | Hugh Green | LB | Pittsburgh |
| 2 | 34 | James Wilder | RB | Missouri |
| 4 | 89 | John Holt | DB | West Texas A&M |
| 8 | 199 | Denver Johnson | T | Tulsa |
| 9 | 228 | Mike Ford | QB | Southern Methodist |
| 10 | 254 | Ken McCune | DE | Texas |
| 11 | 283 | Johnny Ray Smith | DB | Lamar |
| 12 | 310 | Brad White | DT | Tennessee |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 54 | 82 | 58 | 121 | 315 |
| Opponents Totals | 66 | 70 | 47 | 85 | 268 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 27:33 | 269 | 95 | 159 | 15 | 63/195 32.3% | / % | 89 | 779 |
| Opponents Totals | 32:27 | 320 | 123 | 174 | 23 | 93/238 39.1% | / % | 79 | 650 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Capece | 0 | 30 | 32 | 93.8 | 15 | 24 | 62.5 | 0 | 75 |
| Kevin House | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | ||
| Jimmie Giles | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| James Wilder | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Doug Williams | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| James Owens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Theo Bell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Cedric Brown | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Jerry Eckwood | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Garo Yepremian | 0 | 6 | 6 | 100.0 | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Neal Colzie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Gordon Jones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Dave Logan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jim Obradovich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Mike Washington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 38 | 36 | 38 | 94.7 | 17 | 28 | 60.7 | 0 | 315 |
| Opponents Totals | 27 | 27 | 27 | 100.0 | 25 | 33 | 75.8 | 2 | 268 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Capece | 15 | 24 | 62.5 | 1 | 51 | 0/0 | 5/7 | 3/5 | 5/10 | 2/2 |
| Garo Yepremian | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 1 | 44 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1/3 | 0/0 |
| Team Totals | 17 | 28 | 60.7 | 2 | 51 | 0/0 | 5/7 | 4/6 | 6/13 | 2/2 |
| Opponents Totals | 25 | 33 | 75.8 | 0/0 | 6/6 | 7/9 | 9/13 | 3/5 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Eckwood | 172 | 651 | 3.8 | 59 | 2 |
| James Owens | 91 | 406 | 4.5 | 35t | 3 |
| James Wilder | 107 | 370 | 3.5 | 23t | 4 |
| Doug Williams | 48 | 209 | 4.4 | 29 | 4 |
| Ricky Bell | 30 | 80 | 2.7 | 8 | 0 |
| Kevin House | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 8 | 0 |
| Theo Bell | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Tony Davis | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 3 | 0 |
| Chuck Fusina | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Tom Blanchard | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Swider | 1 | -9 | -9.0 | -9 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 458 | 1731 | 3.8 | 59 | 13 |
| Opponents Totals | 551 | 2172 | 3.9 | 34 | 16 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Williams | 471 | 238 | 50.5 | 219 | 3563 | 7.6 | 15.0 | 84t | 19 | 4.0 | 14 | 3.0 | 18 | 135 | 3428 | 76.8 |
| Chuck Fusina | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2t | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 118.8 |
| Kevin House | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Jerry Eckwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | |||||||
| Team Totals | 473 | 239 | 50.5 | 220 | 3565 | 7.5 | 14.9 | 84t | 20 | 4.2 | 14 | 3.0 | 19 | 136 | 3429 | 77.4 |
| Opponents Totals | 541 | 317 | 58.6 | 192 | 3297 | 6.1 | 10.4 | 59 | 10 | 1.8 | 32 | 5.9 | 23 | 157 | 3140 | 57.8 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin House | 56 | 1176 | 21.0 | 84t | 9 | ||||
| James Wilder | 48 | 507 | 10.6 | 38 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Jimmie Giles | 45 | 786 | 17.5 | 81t | 6 | 0 | |||
| Jerry Eckwood | 24 | 213 | 8.9 | 33 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Theo Bell | 21 | 318 | 15.1 | 58t | 2 | ||||
| Gordon Jones | 20 | 276 | 13.8 | 44 | 1 | 0 | |||
| James Owens | 12 | 145 | 12.1 | 35 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Ricky Bell | 8 | 92 | 11.5 | 22 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Jim Obradovich | 4 | 42 | 10.5 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gerald Carter | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 239 | 3565 | 14.9 | 84t | 20 | ||||
| Opponents Totals | 317 | 3297 | 10.4 | 59 | 10 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedric Brown | 9 | 215 | 23.9 | 81t | 2 |
| Mike Washington | 6 | 156 | 26.0 | 34 | 1 |
| Neal Colzie | 6 | 110 | 18.3 | 82t | 1 |
| Cecil Johnson | 5 | 84 | 16.8 | 36 | 0 |
| Hugh Green | 2 | 56 | 28.0 | 50 | 0 |
| Dave Lewis | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 10 | 0 |
| John Holt | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Scot Brantley | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 32 | 648 | 20.3 | 82t | 4 |
| Opponents Totals | 14 | 179 | 12.8 | 39 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Swider | 58 | 2476 | 42.7 | 62 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 409 | 1987 | 33.1 |
| Tom Blanchard | 22 | 899 | 40.9 | 58 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 259 | 600 | 27.3 |
| Team Totals | 82 | 3375 | 41.2 | 62 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 668 | 2587 | 31.6 |
| Opponents Totals | 73 | 3006 | 41.2 | 57 | 0 | 14 | 18 | 244 | 2482 | 34.0 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theo Bell | 27 | 0 | 132 | 4.9 | 13 | 0 |
| John Holt | 9 | 3 | 100 | 11.1 | 56 | 0 |
| Neal Colzie | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 38 | 3 | 244 | 6.4 | 56 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 52 | 6 | 668 | 12.8 | 88t | 1 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Owens | 24 | 0 | 473 | 19.7 | 34 | 0 |
| John Holt | 11 | 0 | 274 | 24.9 | 40 | 0 |
| Gary Davis | 5 | 0 | 81 | 16.2 | 21 | 0 |
| Tony Davis | 3 | 0 | 51 | 17.0 | 21 | 0 |
| James Wilder | 1 | 0 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Jim Obradovich | 1 | 0 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Scot Brantley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 46 | 0 | 912 | 19.8 | 40 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 64 | 1332 | 20.8 | 43 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Roy Selmon | 7.0 | |
| Dave Logan | 5.0 | |
| Bill Kollar | 2.0 | |
| Hugh Green | 2.0 | |
| Andy Hawkins | 2.0 | |
| Dave Stalls | 1.0 | |
| Scott Hutchinson | 1.0 | |
| Cecil Johnson | 1.0 | |
| Richard Wood | 1.0 | |
| Neal Colzie | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 23.0 | 157.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 19.0 | 136.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky Bell | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Theo Bell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Blanchard | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cedric Brown | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Neal Colzie | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gary Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jerry Eckwood | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hugh Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Andy Hawkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| John Holt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kevin House | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cecil Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bill Kollar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Leonard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 | 0 | |
| Dave Lewis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Logan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 1 |
| Dana Nafziger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| James Owens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dave Stalls | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Norris Thomas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Mike Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| James Wilder | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Doug Williams | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -31 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 27 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 24 | -8 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 32 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 0 |
| Player Deaths |
| NFL Boxscores |
| NFL Game Officials |
| NFL Training Camps |
| NFL Roster Limits |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Super Bowl Scores |
| Privacy Policy |
| ©2006-2025 Pro Football Archives. All Rights Reserved. |
| Last Updated: October 12, 2025 |