# 1993 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

The 1993 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 18th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Buccaneers wore the initial Mr. C on the right side of the sleeve ends of the jerseys in honor of their owner Hugh Culverhouse who was battling cancer who then died after the 1993 season.
1993 was mostly seen as a rebuilding year for coach Sam Wyche who moved on without Vinny Testaverde and went with young quarterback Craig Erickson, another University of Miami alumnus who won a national championship as their quarterback. He had a solid 3,054 passing yards. The Buccaneers lost five of their first six games on the way to a 5–11 season.
The 1993 Buccaneers have the distinction of being the only team in NFL history to have played eleven games against teams that would go on to make the playoffs; the Buccaneers were 3–8 in these games.
In his first season with the team, Hardy Nickerson set an NFL record with 214 tackles.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

Prior to the season they drafted John Lynch who would become one of the most popular players of all time in Tampa.
| Pick | Round | Player | Position | School |
| 6 | Round 1 | Eric Curry | Defensive End | Alabama |
| 34 | Round 2 | Demetrius DuBose | Linebacker | Notre Dame |
| 60 | Round 3 | Lamar Thomas | Wide Receiver | Miami |
| 82 | Round 3 | John Lynch | Defensive Back | Stanford |
| 91 | Round 4 | Rudy Harris | Running Back | Clemson |
| 104 | Round 4 | Horace Copeland | Wide Receiver | Miami |
| 145 | Round 6 | Chidi Ahanotu | Defensive Tackle | California |
| 176 | Round 7 | Tyree Davis | Wide Receiver | Central Arkansas |
| 220 | Round 8 | Darrick Branch | Wide Receiver | Hawaii |
| 224 | Round 8 | Daron Alcorn | Kicker | Akron |
Daron Alcorn was the last player selected in the draft, commonly referred to as "Mr. Irrelevant".

## Regular season
### Schedule

Regular season :
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Game site | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | September 5 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 27–3 | Tampa Stadium | 63,378* | 0–1 |
| 2 | September 12 | at New York Giants | L 23–7 | Giants Stadium | 75,891 | 0–2 |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | September 26 | at Chicago Bears | L 47–17 | Soldier Field | 58,329 | 0–3 |
| 5 | October 3 | Detroit Lions | W 27–10 | Tampa Stadium | 40,794* | 1–3 |
| 6 | October 10 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 15–0 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 54,215 | 1–4 |
| 7 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 8 | October 24 | Green Bay Packers | L 37–14 | Tampa Stadium | 47,354* | 1–5 |
| 9 | October 31 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 31–24 | Georgia Dome | 50,647 | 2–5 |
| 10 | November 7 | at Detroit Lions | L 23–0 | Pontiac Silverdome | 65,295 | 2–6 |
| 11 | November 14 | San Francisco 49ers | L 45–21 | Tampa Stadium | 43,835* | 2–7 |
| 12 | November 21 | Minnesota Vikings | W 23–10 | Tampa Stadium | 40,848* | 3–7 |
| 13 | November 28 | at Green Bay Packers | L 13–10 | Lambeau Field | 56,995 | 3–8 |
| 14 | December 5 | Washington Redskins | L 23–17 | Tampa Stadium | 49,035* | 3–9 |
| 15 | December 12 | Chicago Bears | W 13–10 | Tampa Stadium | 56,667* | 4–9 |
| 16 | December 19 | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 27–20 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 40,532 | 4–10 |
| 17 | December 26 | at Denver Broncos | W 17–10 | Mile High Stadium | 73,434 | 5–10 |
| 18 | January 2 | San Diego Chargers | L 32–17 | Tampa Stadium | 35,587* | 5–11 |
| Notes: Division opponents are in bold text |||||||
| * = blacked out locally |||||||

## Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ Detroit Lions | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 298 | 292 | W2 |
| $^{(5)}$ Minnesota Vikings | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 277 | 290 | W3 |
| $^{(6)}$ Green Bay Packers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 340 | 282 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 234 | 230 | L4 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 237 | 376 | L1 |