1981 NFL GOTW - Week 15 (SD vs TB)

[Applause] just two years ago Tampa stadium housed the NFC Central Division champion Buccaneers it was footballs cinderella story Tampa Bay went from worst to first in one season the 1981 Bucs are hoping history can repeat itself a disappointing 510 and one last year the Bucs have emerged as division leaders this season with this in mind you'll forgive John Mackay for feeling a bit of deja vu all McKay's Bucs have to do to clinch the title is win one of their remaining two games [Music] offensive hopes rest on the shoulders of Doug Williams Williams strong play as spark Tampa's three-game winning streak last week against the Falcons he became only the fourth man in the history of the game to throw for 10,000 yards in his first four seasons [Music] in 1981 Williams and tight end Jimmy Giles have combined to help give the Bucks one of the most explosive passing attacks in the NFC Giles and Kevin house are two of the conference's finest deep receivers but when it comes to explosive offense nearly everyone takes a backseat to Don Coryell San Diego Chargers the Chargers are at it again this season leading the league in points scored and total offense the man who makes it all work is Dan Fouts for the third consecutive season Fouts is thrown for over 4,000 yards no other quarterback in football history has done that while the Chargers offense reigns as the NFL's best with Fouts throwing to as many as eight different receivers it is their defense that is their Achilles heel despite their offensive firepower San Diego is only eight and six and fighting for their lives in the playoff hunt a weak defense has been the cause of many of the Chargers problems in 1981 San Diego must win if they want to have any chance of making the playoffs while the Bucks with a victory can wrap up their second division title in three years it's a game with major playoff implications as both teams tune up for what they hope will be a trip to the NFL's postseason party so come on sing along as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the San Diego Chargers in the NFL game of the week [Music] San Diego boasts the NFL's top receiving tight end the number 80 Kellen Winslow Winslow is so good that he can line up at wide receiver and be equally as effective that's just what the Bucs were supposed to think with Winslow wide right outs found another tight end Erik severs number 85 for the game's first touchdown [Music] another look at the score shows that Seavers faced one-on-one coverage against linebacker Andy Hawkins number 59 severs simply beat Hawkins over the middle and the Chargers led 7 to nothing midway through the first quarter not known as it comes from behind team the Bucks have done much to change that the past few weeks Doug Williams appears to be developing the necessary consistency that all top quarterbacks must have although only in the first period Williams in the Bucs didn't waste much time in tying the score [Music] a few running plays didn't get much yardage against the Chargers powerful front four but it was only a matter of time before Williams went to work against San Diego's defensive weakness the secondary the Chargers have the worst defense against the pass in pro football and Williams big play talents took advantage of this glaring deficiency [Music] number 83 pio bells catchin carry not of account at seven and it appeared that the two teams were going to spend the afternoon trying to outscore one another football experts will tell you that it's not a good idea to try to match the Chargers touchdown for touchdown but the Bucks on the threshold of a division title were not interested in such prognostications anyway Tampa has one of the best defenses in the league particularly against the pass defensive coordinator Tom bass felt that the Bucks defense could stop the Chargers high-powered offense for a while basses troops proved him right [Music] but it's tough to keep San Diego's offense down for long stretches outs began to find a range with short to medium distance passes his main target was 13-year veteran Charlie joiner number 18 you you you using mostly jointer but throwing in a completion to West Chandler number 89 bounce engineer to drive that took the Chargers to the Tampa Bay eight yard line [Music] Joyner caught five passes on this one possession alone good for 70 yards as he continually found the open spaces in the Bucs secondary coverage from Tampa's eight yard line Fouts crossed the Bucs up handing off to John cappelletti number 25 instead of throwing the result was a San Diego touchdown cappelletti helping to fill in for an injured Chuck Muncie received excellent blocking on his scoring run linebacker Richard wood number 54 tried to fill the gap but ran into traffic as cappelletti scooted by for the touchdown [Music] midway through the second quarter San Diego led 14 to 7 and things were not looking up for the Bucs they're proud defense had just been shaken by a 12-play 90 yard drive and their offense had stalled three consecutive times the Bucks were having trouble converting third down situations giving putter Larry sweeter more work than he probably wanted [Applause] Weider's fine cutting and strong overall special teams play for San Diego to begin their offensive series deep in their own territory but it didn't seem to matter the Chargers and Fouts were shifting into high gear and that was bad news for Tampa [Music] bounce made sure to give west chandler equal billing with joiner so on this drive the san diego quarterback went to number 89 chandler did not disappoint his intense concentration and guaranteed grip sparked another charger marched down the field from the Bucs 15-yard line pouts looked to the endzone [Music] [Applause] [Music] what Faust saw was a great catch but not by one of his receivers number 34 Cedric Brown intercepted Faust poorly thrown ball with less than one minute remaining in the half to stop San Diego from taking a two touchdown lead at intermission [Applause] [Music] the interception was Browns seventh of the season of his other six he returned to four touchdowns while the remaining four led directly to Tampa scores this time Brown prevented a touchdown you [Music] Brown's diving catch gave the bucks one last opportunity before the first half ended while they didn't put any more points on the board they did get an inspirational effort from tight end Jimmy Giles number 88 [Music] the clock ran out with San Diego leading 14 to 7 as has been the case all year the Chargers could not take advantage of a golden opportunity tight games are no stranger to San Diego not surprisingly it would get even tighter in the second half [Music] [Applause] the faithful Tampa Bay fans were bedecked in their Buccaneer best in hopes of crowning a division champion but at the half a locals trail the visiting Chargers by a touchdown San Diego's defense had suffered only one lapse in the first 30 minutes and if they could keep playing well they would earn a much-needed win taffet's shown only moderate success with a forward pass so in the second half the Bucks turned to number 26 James Owens to try to solve the charger defense [Music] Owen started slowly but finished with a flourish paving the way for a 49 yard field goal attempt by kicker Bill capice capice cleared the goalpost with a little despair and Tampa Bay had trimmed the charger lead to 14 to 10 when the buk defense held San Diego on its next series the dynamic duo of Doug Williams and Theo Belle returned to continue their first-half heroics one thing the San Diego defense can still do however is get to the quarterback [Music] number ninety John Woodcock and at this Tampa March and then with Charlie Joyner as a decoy charger rookie speedster James Brooks number 21 was free to put his considerable talents to work on a San Diego Drive [Music] books played on the same offered bar city that produced Buffalo's joke cribs and Atlanta's William Andrews and Brooks is well on his way to becoming as solid a pro player as they are but young Brooks still does make occasional mistakes and this one stopped the Chargers late in the third quarter Tampa Bay Safety Cedric Brown at his second takeaway of the afternoon as the Bucs regained offensive possession they also continued their strategy of getting the ball to James Owens as often as possible [Music] Owens like the Chargers Brooks is young and loaded with ability but he too is sometimes prone to error and his fumble denied Tampa Bay a golden opportunity for its first lead of the day outs and the Chargers were quick to take advantage stringing together a series of quick passes to Joyner Chandler and Dwight scales along with some hard running from fullback John cappelletti [Music] with short yardage aids Chuck Muncie out with injuries others were tapped for touchdown chores and this time James Brooks did the honors [Music] Brooke score only his second rushing touchdown of the season gave the Chargers their biggest lead of the game with only 11 and a half minutes to play Tampa Bay's dreams of wrapping up the NFC Central crown at home were fading so quarterback Doug Williams and receiver Kevin house number 89 decided to do something about it [Music] the 33-yard pass play worked because Williams froze the Chargers with a play-action fake then threw a perfect strike to house just over the extended reach of cornerback Willie Buchanan number 28 [Music] [Music] on the very next play Tampa Bay got even better results [Music] pull back James Wilder number 32 ran coach McKay's famed USC student body right playin score to make it 21 to 60 but the numbers remained unchanged when Tampa special teams failed to put across the extra point this mistake did not seem drastic at the time but it would loom large later in the day a small error from Tampa specially units had been committed and it would eventually cost the Buccaneers the ball game [Music] after the Bucs cut the charger lead to only five the Tampa defense became especially rude to their guests from the West [Music] [Applause] [Music] number 57 linebacker David Lewis and the defense force Dan Fouts into a very uncharacteristic interception in just two plays the fired up Buccaneers had shut down then stolen the ball away from pro football's mightiest offense Tampa Bay turned the ball over to Doug Williams and company inside the charger 25 and the Bucks knew just what to do with it give it to James Wilder [Music] within a 27 second spam the Bucks had taken a page out of the Chargers book exploding for two quick scores while gaining their first lead of the contest putty of time still remained but now the players and their orange covered followers we're feeling a whole lot better about such matters as clinching division titles and when San Diego turned the ball over again on the very next series hopes in Florida were downright gleeful but then charger defenders Glenn Edwards number 27 and Woodrow low number 51 made the crucial play of the game instead of it being Buccaneer ball deep in San Diego territory it was now Chargers possession with five and a half minutes left the Bucs were unable to get the score that might have doomed the Chargers so now they exhorted the defense to stop what is statistically the most productive offense in the history of professional football nobody ever said that job would be easy and it wasn't you pouts engineered one of the finest drives of his career a textbook 16 play March that ate up nearly five minutes on the clock every offensive weapon in the san diego attack was utilized as the chargers painstakingly moved against the tough Buccaneer defense [Music] finally on 4th and 3 at the Buccaneer 11 the Chargers were ready to call on kicker Ralph Anushka for one of the most important placements he would ever attempt hanging in the balance was Tampa Bay's division title and San Diego's playoff hopes for 1981 [Music] with burner shkas kick the Chargers reclaimed the lead with a difference being the Bucks missed extra point but it wasn't time for ticker tape parades just yet Tampa Bay had one more chance and Doug Williams went for it all when only seconds remained once more the Chargers hero was Glenn Edwards the wily 11-year veteran 34 year old Edwards sealed up the win with the interception left before the season and re-sign when the Chargers secondary was in trouble Edwards has come along just when the San Diego Chargers need him most with the conclusion of Edwards run back the clock expired and the Chargers had a hard-fought 24 to 23 victory in no less than seven San Diego games this year the outcome has not been decided until the final minutes the Chargers have lived on the razor's edge and this time they want or dis harden Tampa Bay the tough loss means they must win on the road against the hot Detroit club next week if they are to clinch the central title it won't be a simple task as for the Chargers they must be Oakland and got some help from other teams if they are to return to the playoffs for a third consecutive season if they can get the kind of helping ham that Glenn Edwards provided in Tampa Bay then just maybe that famed lightning bolt will be crackling come January for their fans who love seeing that charger football in the air everywhere all the time well that would suit them just fine [Music]

Channel: tagryn

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Rating: 4.7894735 out of 5

Keywords: NFL 1981 Chargers Buccaneers GOTW

Id: 1SgKO0mB0RU

Length: 21min 40sec (1300 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 29 2020