I'm a faithful Bucs fan for 18 years now & I remember that team back in 2002 that won their first ever Super Bowl. I'm optimistic that the Bucs will win another Super Bowl.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers became a franchise in 1976 and didn't win a single game going 0-14 that season. They would carry a 12 game losing streak in the 1977 season where they would have a combined 0-26 record. Tampa Bay epitomized horrible, they were laughingstocks for many years, and went through losing seasons after losing seasons. The Bucs were victims to teams with winning records and teams with sub .500 records.The Bucs didn't make the playoffs until the late 90's when Tony Dungy was their head coach. The Bucs made the playoffs in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 but had problems winning games under 40 degrees in temperature.
In 1999, the Tampa Bay Bucs (11-5) became the 2nd seed and getting a first round bye. The Bucs would host a Divisional playoff game against the 3rd seeded Washington Redskins (10-6). The game was dominated by defense and neither team did anything offensively in the first half. The Redskins led the Bucs 3-0 at halftime. In the start of the second half the Bucs kicked the football to Brian Mitchell and he ran on a kickoff return 100 yards for a TD for a 10-0 Redskins lead. The Redskins would score again to make it 13-0 with a field goal. Rookie Quarterback Shaun King led a rally when he handed the football off to Mike Alstott, who ran for a TD and when Shaun King fumbled and teammate running back Warrick Dunn ran for a big first down that help set up Shaun King's game winning TD pass to Johnny Davis as the Bucs rallied to beat the Redskins 14-13 to go on to face the top seeded St. Louis Rams (13-3) in a NFC Championship Game. The Bucs went on to lose that game 11-6. Although, the Bucs didn't win against the Rams and almost went to the Super Bowl, Tony Dungy was given a contract extension.
In 2000, the 6th seeded Tampa Bay Bucs (10-6) made the playoffs as a Wildcard team and played the 3rd seeded Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) in Veterans Stadium where the Eagles humiliated the Bucs 21-3.
In 2000, the 6th seeded Tampa Bay Bucs (10-6) made the playoffs as a Wildcard team and played the 3rd seeded Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) in Veterans Stadium where the Eagles humiliated the Bucs 21-3.
In 2001, the 6th seeded Tampa Bay Bucs (9-7) played the 3rd seeded Philadelphia Eagles (11-5) in Veterans Stadium and the Eagles humiliated them even worse 31-9. After those 2 embarrassing playoff losses the Bucs decided to make a coaching change and fired Tony Dungy as head coach.
It all happened when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got their 1st round bye and got the 2nd seed after winning the tie breaker defeating the Green Bay Packers to go (12-4). They would host a Divisional playoff game in Raymond James Stadium against the 4th seeded San Francisco 49ers (12-4) who came off a come from behind victory against the New York Giants thanks to Jeff Garcia and company. The Bucs D harassed Jeff Garcia by forcing 3 turnovers. The Bucs controlled the game scoring at will on excellent running by Mike Alstott who ran for 2 TD's and Brad Johnson threw 2 TD passes; 1 to Joe Jurevicious and 1 to Rickey Dudley. The 49ers never got on track as the Bucs D sacked Jeff Garcia 4 1/2 times and held them to 2 field goals. The Bucs were impressive in their 31-6 routing of the 49ers.
It was January 19, 2003 and the top seeded Philadelphia Eagles (12-4) hosted the NFC Championship Game against the 2nd seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a cold 27 degree weather in Veterans Stadium. The Vet is a hostile environment for any team that come to Philly to play the Eagles. This would be the last game played at the Vet since the Eagles would be moving to their new home Lincoln Financial Field. The Bucs and Eagles met 2 times in the NFC Wildcard playoffs and both times the Eagles have dominated the Bucs. The Bucs were hoping that things would change under their new coach Jon Gruden.
The game started off with the Eagles winning the coin toss and the Bucs kicking to Brian Mitchell. The Eagles appeared like they were going to dominate when Brian Mitchell had a big run to give the Eagles excellent field position. Duce Staley ran through the Bucs D for a TD to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. The Eagles D held the Bucs to a field goal to make it a 7-3 lead. The Bucs never really panicked. Brad Johnson took advantage of the mismatches by throwing a short screen pass to Joe Jurevicious and he had a big run that helped set up Mike Alstott's TD run for a 10-7 Bucs lead. The Eagles tied the game up at 10 all with a field goal. The Bucs took the lead when Brad Johnson threw a TD pass to Keyshawn Johnson for a 17-10 Bucs halftime lead.
The second half was when the Bucs D dominated. They harassed Donovan McNabb with Ronde Barber and Simeon Rice coming with hard blitzes and tackles and that forced 3 fumbles, 1 by Simeon Rice and 2 by Ronde Barber where the Bucs took advantage of it and made it a 20-10 lead on the Eagles. The Eagles despite that had a chance of a comeback when Donovan McNabb brought them back and had a chance to score when it was 1st and goal at the Bucs 10 yard line. Donovan McNabb threw a costly interception that Ronde Barber ran back 95 yards for a touchdown. That iced the game for the Bucs and most importantly the Bucs finally beat the Eagles. The Bucs sent the Eagles their second loss in the NFC Championship Game with a 27-10 win and they were able to do it in a hostile environment to go on to their 1st time ever trip to the Super Bowl.
It had been 27 years since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reached their first Super Bowl. They were a horrible team since they became a franchise in 1976. During that span they went to 2 Wildcard playoffs, 1 Divisional playoff Game, and 1 NFC Championship Game. It was January 26, 2003 and the Bucs top ranked Defense would face the Oakland Raiders (11-5) top ranked Offense. It was the Bucs first time that they had ever went to a Super Bowl under new coach Jon Gruden. The Raiders would go on to their fifth Super Bowl already have 3 rings under their new coach Bill Callahan. Jon Gruden would have a chance to face his former team. This is how Jon Gruden became the Bucs new head coach. Tony Dungy was fired as head coach of the Bucs when they got humiliated in the 2 Wildcard playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Bucs were looking for a new head coach.
Meanwhile, Jon Gruden and his friend Bruce Allen were going through problems with the Raiders owner Al Davis. Al Davis meddled every time Jon Gruden would try to make decisions that was best for the team. Bruce Allen saw how Al Davis would give Jon Gruden all of those short term contracts and how he pretty much looked over his shoulder to see what he was doing. On draft day with the advice of Bruce Allen, Jon Gruden asked Al Davis for a long term deal because he felt that he should get a contract extension. Al Davis had other plans. Al Davis decided to trade Jon Gruden to the Tampa Bay Bucs for 4 draft picks and 8 million dollars in cash and Bruce Allen came over from Oakland to Tampa Bay. This would prove to be one of the biggest mistakes Al Davis would make. Raiders fans have yet to remember any of the Super Bowl days because meddling owner Al Davis called all of the shots.
Super Bowl 37 took place in San Diego, CA where the Oakland Raiders were the home team and had home field advantage. The Bucs early turnover by Brad Johnson allowed the Raiders to take an early 3-0 lead on the Bucs on Charles Woodson's interception. The Bucs decided to go with their short screen pass play when Brad Johnson threw a screen to Joe Jurevicious and he had a big run and then Michael Pittman ran for a big gain and the Bucs tied the game at 3 all. The Bucs D was dominate, they forced a turnover on Dexter Jackson's interception of Rich Gannon's pass and made it a 6-3 lead. Then the Bucs quickly forced another turnover when Dexter Jackson intercepted Rich Gannon's pass again. It was 2nd and goal at the Raiders 5 yard line and Mike Alstott ran in for a TD to make it a 13-3 Bucs lead. The Raiders couldn't get anything going offensively because the Bucs stifling D harassed Rich Gannon. The Bucs took a 20-3 lead at halftime when Brad Johnson threw a TD pass to Keenon McCardell.
In the second half, the Bucs would continue to dominate when Brad Johnson threw a TD pass to Keenon McCardell to stretch the Bucs lead to 27-3. The Bucs would score again to make it 34-3 over the Raiders when Dwight Smith intercepted Rich Gannon's pass. Somehow the Raiders would make a game of it despite being down so big. When Rich Gannon threw a TD pass to Jerry Porter that looked like an incomplete pass because he didn't have control of the football; the ref decided that the call will stand and that it was a catch to cut the Bucs lead to 34-9. The Bucs would then go 3 and out on their possession and was forced to punt. Tom Tupa had his punt blocked and the Raiders would score on excellent special teams play to cut the Bucs lead to 34-15. The Raiders would score again when Rich Gannon threw a TD pass to Jerry Rice to cut the Bucs lead to 34-21. The Bucs never panicked. The Bucs D came up big all night forcing turnovers. Derrick Brooks made a big interception to make it 41-21 and Dwight Smith's interception iced the game for the Bucs. The Bucs routed the Raiders 48-21 to take home the Super Bowl trophy. Dexter Jackson was the Bucs Super Bowl MVP and Jon Gruden was the youngest coach at age 39 to win a Super Bowl.
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