1999 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

Infobox NFL_season
team = Tampa Bay Buccaneers
year = 1999
record = 11-5
division_place = 1st NFC Central
coach = Tony Dungy
stadium = Raymond James Stadium
playoffs = L NFC championship game against St. Louis RamsThe 1999 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season began with the team trying to improve on an 8-8 season. Rookie Shaun King played at quarterback for most of the season. They won there first NFC Central Division title 18 years. In the NFC championship game they lost after a Ricky Proehl touchdown and a controversial replay reversal of a catch by Bert Emanuel.

1999 Roster

Game summaries

Week 1: New York Giants (lost 13-17)

Week 2: at Philadelphia Eagles (won 19-5)

Week 3: Denver Broncos (won 13-10)

Week 4: at Minnesota Vikings (lost 14-21)

Week 5: at Green Bay Packers (lost 23-26)

Week 6: Open date

Week 7: Chicago Bears (won 6-3)

Week 8: at Detroit Lions (lost 3-20)

Week 9: at New Orleans Saints (won 31-16)

Week 10: Kansas City Chiefs (won 17-10)

Week 11: Atlanta Falcons (won 19-10)

Week 12: at Seattle Seahawks (won 16-3)

Week 13: Minnesota Vikings(won 24-17)

Week 14: Detroit Lions (won 23-16)

Week 15: at Oakland Raiders (lost 0-45)

Week 16: Green Bay Packers (won 29-10)

Week 17: at Chicago Bears (won 20-6)

NFC Divisional playoffs: Washington Redskins (won 14-13)

Linescore Amfootball
Road=Redskins
R1=0
R2=3
R3=10
R4=0
RT=13
Home=Buccaneers
H1=0
H2=0
H3=7
H4=7
HT=14

"at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida"

*Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
*Game weather: convert|68|°F|°C, clear
*TV announcers (FOX): Dick Stockton (play-by-play) and Matt Millen (color commentator)
*Referee: Dick Hantak
*Game attendance: 65,835

The Buccaneers forced two key turnovers in the second half to rally from a 13-0 deficit, while their defense held Washington to just 157 yards, with only 32 in the second half.

After a scoreless first quarter, a 35-yard punt from Mark Royals gave the Redskins great field position on the Tampa Bay 43-yard line. Brad Johnson started out the drive with a 19-yard completion to Albert Connell, and then a 12-yard run by Stephen Davis set up a 28-yard field goal from Brett Conway with 5:37 remaining in the second quarter. Then in the second half, Brian Mitchell returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, a playoff record. Later in the third quarter, Darrell Green intercepted a pass from Buccaneers quarterback Shaun King and returned it 12 yards to the Buccaneers 36-yard line, setting up Conway's second field goal to take a 13-0 lead. But after a Bucs punt, Tampa Bay safety John Lynch intercepted a pass from Johnson on the Tampa Bay 27-yard line. Aided by a 31-yard pass interference penalty on Leomont Evans, the Buccaneers subsequently drove 73 yards in 6 plays and scored on Mike Alstott's 2-yard touchdown run. Then in the fourth quarter, defensive tackle Steve White forced a fumble from Brad Johnson while sacking him and Warren Sapp recovered the ball on the Redskins 32-yard line. King then went to work, completing a 17-yard pass to Bert Emanuel and a 13-yard pass to Warrick Dunn. On fourth down and 1, Alstott's 5-yard run moved the ball to the Washtingon 3-yard line, and King eventually finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to John Davis.

The Redskins had a chance to win the game with a 52-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds of the game, but the snap from center Dan Turk to Brad Johnson, the holder, was off and the Bucs won. Contrary to popular belief, the snap was not to Matt Turk, the team's punter, and also his brother. This was Dan Turk's last game in the NFL, as he died later that year due to cancer. Meanwhile, King became the first rookie to lead his team to a playoff win since Pat Haden in 1976.

*Scoring
**WAS - field goal Conway 28 WAS 3-0
**WAS - Mitchell 100 kickoff return WAS 10-0
**WAS - field goal Conway 48 WAS 13-0
**TB - Alstott 2 run (Gramatica kick) WAS 13-7
**TB - Davis 1 pass from King (Gramatica kick) TB 14-13

NFC Championship game: at St. Louis Rams (lost 6-11)

Linescore Amfootball
Road=Buccaneers
R1=3
R2=0
R3=3
R4=0
RT=6
Home=Rams
H1=3
H2=2
H3=0
H4=6
HT=11

"at Trans World Dome, St. Louis, Missouri"

*Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
*Game weather: Played indoors, domed stadium
*TV announcers (FOX): Pat Summerall (play-by-play) and John Madden (color commentator)
*Referee: Bill Carollo
*Game attendance: 66,396

The Rams and Buccaneers would slug it out for most of the game, with the Buccaneers defense holding the Rams highly-potent offense in check. Tampa Bay, weak on offense, would only muster two field goals, and gave up a costly safety in the second quarter when a bad snap from center went over the head of rookie quarterback Shaun King and out of the endzone. Despite this, the Buccaneers nursed an unusual 6-5 lead into the 4th Quarter. The Rams broke open a defense dominated game when Kurt Warner threw a touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl with 4:44 left in the game. The Buccaneers would mount a drive on their final possession, however a controversial replay overturned what appeared to be a reception by Buccaneers wide receiver Bert Emanuel, and the Buccaneers never recovered.

On the first play of the game, Bucs defensive end Steve White intercepted a screen pass from Warner on the Rams 20-yard line, setting up a 25-yard field goal from Martin Gramatica. But that was all they could manage in the first quarter. On one possession, they moved the ball to the St. Louis 23-yard line, but then King was sacked and fumbled. Tampa Bay recovered the ball, but lost 12 yards and were pushed out of field goal range. Then with 11 seconds left in the period, King threw a pass from the St. Louis 41-yard line that went right into the surprised arms of defensive back Todd Lyght. The Rams didn't do much better. After Gramatica's field goal, they drove 74 yards in 16 plays before a fumbled handoff from Warner to Marshall Faulk on third down forced them to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins. Then on their next drive, Wilkins missed a field goal attempt from 44 yards.

In the second quarter, a high snap from Bucs center Tony Mayberry went over King's head and into the end zone. King managed to knock the ball out of the end zone to prevent a touchdown, but it gave the Rams a safety and a 5-3 lead. This would be the score by halftime, despite the Rams 159-75 advantage over the Buccaneers in total yards.

Just as in the first half, Tampa Bay scored a field goal on their opening drive on the third quarter, set up by a 32-yard reception by Jacquez Green and a 15-yard facemask penalty on Taje Allen. Meanwhile, Warner was intercepted three times by the Buccaneers defense, including a costly interception to Hardy Nickerson on the Tampa Bay 3-yard line. But late in the fourth quarter, Rams defensive back Dre' Bly intercepted a pass from King at the Buccaneers 49-yard line. A few plays later, Warner threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Proehl with 4:44 left, taking an 11-6 lead after the two point conversion failed. But despite being sacked twice, King responded by leading the Bucs to the St. Louis 22-yard line. With 47 seconds left in the game, his potential 11-yard completion to Bert Emanuel was controversially overturned by a replay challenge (the play led the NFL to adopt the "Bert Emanuel rule" after the season). Then King threw two consecutive incompletions, turning the ball over on downs.

Proehl was the sole offensive star of the game, finishing with 6 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

*Scoring
**TB - field goal Gramatica 25 TB 3-0
**STL - field goal Wilkins 24 Tie 3-3
**STL - Safety, Tampa Bay snap went out of end zone STL 5-3
**TB - field goal Gramatica 25 TB 6-5
**STL - Proehl 30 pass from Warner (Two-point conversion failed) STL 11-6

References

* [http://www.buccaneers.com Buccaners.com]
* [http://www.bucpower.com BUCPOWER]