# 1989 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

The 1989 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 14th season in the National Football League the 14th playing their home games at Tampa Stadium and the third under head coach Ray Perkins. The team matched on a 5–11 season in 1988, in which finished winning two of their last three games including an upset of the 1988 AFC East Champion Buffalo Bills, a win that was not only Tampa Bay's high point of the season, but turned out to be hugely impactful on the AFC playoff picture, as Buffalo's loss combined with an overtime win by the Cincinnati Bengals over Washington in the season finale meant that the Bengals clinched the home-field advantage that would have otherwise gone to the Bills; Cincinnati ended up winning a close AFC title game at home against Buffalo and got to Super Bowl XXIII. The season started with a road win against the improved Green Bay Packers, and game two brought the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers and Joe Montana to Tampa Stadium. With Joe trying to direct a 4th quarter comeback, cornerback Ricky Reynolds dropped what would have been a game ending interception on second down in the end zone. On third down, Montana rolled out and ran untouched into the endzone for a winning TD that left a rare sellout crowd stunned and silent in defeat. The Bucs extended their record to 3–2 by beating the hated Chicago Bears finally in Tampa Stadium, holding off the Bears to a 42–35 victory. It was an impressive win, but then the Bucs lost to the Detroit Lions in the last minute and entered into an overall five-game losing-streak tailspin. Tampa Bay would sweep Chicago to end the streak (an achievement which was diluted by the Bears having their worst season in several years) but ended with a disappointing 5–11 record. James Wilder Sr.’s final season was highlighted by a 100-yard receiving game in week 9. Many fans felt the Bucs were far better than the final record suggested, and offseason acquisitions would help the Bucs win the next year.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

| Pick | Round | Player | Position | School |
| 4 | 1 | Broderick Thomas | Outside Linebacker | Nebraska |
| 33 | 2 | Danny Peebles | Wide Receiver | N.C. State |
| 90 | 4 | Anthony Florence | Defensive Back | Bethune-Cookman |
| 117 | 5 | Jamie Lawson | Running Back | Nicholls State |
| 146 | 6 | Chris Mohr | Punter | Alabama |
| 154 | 6 | Derrick Little | Linebacker | South Carolina |
| 200 | 8 | Carl Bax | Guard | Missouri |
| 230 | 9 | Patrick Egu | Running Back | Nevada |
| 257 | 10 | Ty Granger | Tackle | Clemson |
| 284 | 11 | Rod Mounts | Guard | Texas A&M |
| 290 | 11 | Willie Griffin | Defensive End | Nebraska |
| 302 | 11 | Herb Duncan | Wide Receiver | Northern Arizona |
| 329 | 12 | Ulysess Turner | Defensive Back | Virginia Union |

## Regular season
### Schedule

Regular season :
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Game site | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | September 10 | at Green Bay Packers | W 23–21 | Lambeau Field | 55,650 | 1–0 |
| 2 | September 17 | San Francisco 49ers | L 20–16 | Tampa Stadium | 64,087 | 1–1 |
| 3 | September 24 | New Orleans Saints | W 20–10 | Tampa Stadium | 44,053 | 2–1 |
| 4 | October 1 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–3 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 54,817 | 2–2 |
| 5 | October 8 | Chicago Bears | W 42–35 | Tampa Stadium | 72,077 | 3–2 |
| 6 | October 15 | Detroit Lions | L 17–16 | Tampa Stadium | 46,225 | 3–3 |
| 7 | October 22 | at Washington Redskins | L 32–28 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | 52,862 | 3–4 |
| 8 | October 29 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 56–23 | Riverfront Stadium | 57,225 | 3–5 |
| 9 | November 5 | Cleveland Browns | L 42–31 | Tampa Stadium | 69,162 | 3–6 |
| 10 | November 12 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–10 | Tampa Stadium | 56,271 | 3–7 |
| 11 | November 19 | at Chicago Bears | W 32–31 | Soldier Field | 63,826 | 4–7 |
| 12 | November 26 | at Phoenix Cardinals | W 14–13 | Sun Devil Stadium | 33,297 | 5–7 |
| 13 | December 3 | Green Bay Packers | L 17–16 | Tampa Stadium | 58,120 | 5–8 |
| 14 | December 10 | at Houston Oilers | L 20–17 | Astrodome | 54,532 | 5–9 |
| 15 | December 17 | at Detroit Lions | L 33–7 | Pontiac Silverdome | 40,362 | 5–10 |
| 16 | December 24 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 31–22 | Tampa Stadium | 29,690 | 5–11 |
Notes:
    Division opponents in bold text

### Season summary
#### Week 1: at Green Bay Packers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Packers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: September 10, 1989
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Overcast, 60 °F (16 °C)
* TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz and Pat Haden
Game information :
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
Top passers
TAM – Vinny Testaverde – 22/27, 205 yards, 1 TD
GB – Don Majkowski – 21/32, 313 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Top rushers
TAM – William Howard – 17 rushes, 67 yards
GB – Brent Fullwood – 8 rushes, 54 yards
Top receivers
TAM – Mark Carrier – 6 receptions, 73 yards
GB – Keith Woodside – 6 receptions, 49 yards :

#### Week 9: vs. Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 7 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 42 |
| Buccaneers | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida
* Date: November 5, 1989
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Overcast, 85 °F (29 °C)
* TV announcers (NBC): Tom Hammond and Joe Namath
Game information :
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
Top passers
TAM – Vinny Testaverde – 27/50, 370 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT
CLE – Bernie Kosar – 18/22, 164 yards, 3 TD
Top rushers
TAM – James Wilder – 6 rushes, 23 yards
CLE – Eric Metcalf – 17 rushes, 87 yards, 1 TD
Top receivers
TAM – James Wilder – 8 receptions, 107 yards, 2 TD
CLE – Eric Metcalf – 7 receptions, 52 yards, 1 TD :

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Minnesota Vikings$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 362 | 356 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 5–3 | 10–4 | 362 | 275 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 312 | 364 | W5 |
| Chicago Bears | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–6 | 4–8 | 358 | 377 | L6 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3–5 | 5–7 | 320 | 419 | L4 |