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After having been awarded a franchise back in 1974, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had their first official NFL season two years later in 1976. Since that year, there have been plenty of stars and superstars come through their roster.
Their lone Super Bowl victory occurred as the conclusion to their 2002 season over the Oakland Raiders in pretty handily fashion, 48-21. Bucs head coach at the time, Jon Gruden, led his team to the no. 2 seed that season and into the playoffs with a 12-4 record.
But there have also been some below-average moments in their franchise history as well – and that is what this list is about. Here are some of the most heartbreaking moments in Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ history.
Starting off winless in the franchise’s first 26 games
Closer to 30 if the preseason is counted, but the Buccaneers struggled mightily in their entrance into the NFL, failing to win any of the 14 games in their first season. They did not end up recording a victory until Week 13 of the 1977 season against the New Orleans Saints, 33-14.
This 30-point outburst marked only the third time all year they had put up double-digit point totals, and it was the most points they put up that entire year. They actually ended the year with a two-game winning streak, as they defeated the then-St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 17-7 to end up with a 2-12 record on the year.
The team managed to make their first postseason appearance in 1979 on the backs of a 10-6 season, ultimately being blanked at home, 9-0.
Being unable to get over the Rams in the postseason – twice
That NFC Conference Championship game in 1980 was a bout between the Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams. And while the score finished 9-0 in favor of the Rams, this loss was very tough to swallow.
The team’s defense was able to hold the Rams in check for the vast majority of the contest, only allowing three field goals from Rams’ kicker Frank Corral, who knocked through kicks of 19, 21, and 23 yards. The fact that the Rams were knocking on the doorstep of busting into the end zone, yet the Bucs’ defense was able to hold serve, should have been enough to give their offense some motivation to carry their end of the bargain, but they instead put up a goose egg all game.
Tampa Bay was held to a lousy 177 total yards, 92 on the ground and 96 through the air, on their way to a tough loss. The disappointing trio of Mike Rae, Doug Williams, and Jerry Eckwood combined for a passing line of 5 completions out of 27 attempts, or an 18.5 completion percentage.
In turn, the Rams ran all over the Tampa Bay defense, racking up 218 rushing yards between Cullen Bryant, Wendell Tyler, and Lawrence McCutchen. This would have been the team’s first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, and it would have came in their fourth year, which was also the same year they had made the postseason for the first time.
20 years later, in 2000, the Bucs and the Rams faced off in the NFC Championship game yet again, and the results were exactly the same, except for a slight difference in score.
One touchdown was scored through all four quarters of the game, as Rams’ QB Kurt Warner connected with wide receiver Ricky Proehl on what resulted in the game-winning score for the Rams with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
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Up to that point, both teams had gone back and forth with each other, trading field goals and swapping the lead back and forth before the Rams kept it for good.
For the Bucs, they put up a lousy six points in their defeat, which is a lot better than their goose egg game 20 years prior, but kicker Martin Gramatica, who is still the franchise leader in career scoring, was the lone bright spot that day in the dome in St. Louis.
Two head-coach heavyweights faced off that game, as the Rams’ head coach was Dick Vermeil, while the Bucs had Tony Dungy at the helm for them. And while Dungy eventually got his SB ring with the Indianapolis Colts later on in his coaching career, the Bucs were right on the doorstep of making that final climb and just could not do it under Dungy.
Tony Dungy comes back to haunt the Buccaneers
After the Buccaneers successfully beat the Raiders for their lone SB title to date in 2002, their 2003 season was one that was for sure not one for the record books. Putting up a 7-9 record for the year after the SB actually can be looked at as a good thing, compared to all of the issues going on internally.
Gruden and then-GM Rich McKay had a strained relationship, which culminated in McKay leaving for the divisional rival-Atlanta Falcons in December of 2003, and that was what essentially ended their season, on low of a note as it began.
Week One saw the Bucs and Colts face off, as the Colts and Dungy came down to Tampa to open the season.
Leading 35-14 with only four minutes left in the game, the Bucs looked to have wrapped up an early-season onslaught and started their year 1-0, but Peyton Manning and Dungy had other thoughts. In that four-minute span, the Colts never allowed the Bucs to get the ball back, continuously scoring to the point where they ended up coming back and winning that game, 38-35, in overtime.
That was the first domino to fall, as star receiver Keyshawn Johnson was then deactivated for the final six games of the year after having not been on the same page with Gruden, and he was then traded to the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason. A month later, McKay jumped ship and went across divisional lines to help the Falcons in their front office.
The Buccaneers had a rough start to their franchise, and things got quite rocky as they progressed on, even after they recorded their lone Super Bowl title, to date.
