N.F.L. 1997 WILD CARD WEEKEND N.F.C.
N.F.C. WILDCARD GAME #2
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
N.F.C. EAST
V. S.
DETROIT LIOMS
N.F.C. NORTH
NFC: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20, Detroit Lions 10[edit]
Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
Lions 0 0 3 7 10
Buccaneers 3 10 7 0 20
at Houlihan's Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), partly cloudy
Game attendance: 73,361
Referee: Mike Carey
TV announcers (Fox):… More Pat Summerall (play-by-play) and John Madden (color commentator)
[show]Game information
The Buccaneers won their first playoff game since 1979, in what turned out to be their final game at Houlihan's Stadium. Tampa Bay built a 20–0 lead midway through the third quarter. Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell completed only 10 of 25 passes for 78 yards, and running back Barry Sanders, who rushed for over 2,000 yards during the season, had 18 carries for just 65 yards.
Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer's 23-yard completion to Karl Williams on third down and 1 set up the first score of the game, Michael Husted's 22-yard field goal with 5:25 left in the first quarter. The Lions received a huge scoring opportunity when Williams fumbled a punt at the end of the next drive. Lions linebacker Matt Russell got to the ball first, but instead of falling on the ball, he tried to pick it up and run with it. Instead of grabbing the ball, he accidentally batted it out of bounds, allowing the Bucs to keep possession on the Lions 11-yard line. Taking full advantage of their second chance, Tampa Bay subsequently drove 89 yards in 17 plays, taking 8:50 off the clock and converting three third downs, one from a 12-men on the field penalty against Detroit. Dilfer finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Horace Copeland that put the team up 10-0. Later on, Buccaneers cornerback Anthony Parker intercepted a pass from Mitchell and returned it 19 yards to the Lions 20-yard line, setting up Husted's 43-yard field goal that gave the team a 13-0 lead at the end of the half. Tampa Bay had a chance to increase their lead even more before halftime with a drive to the Lions 43, but Ron Rice intercepted a pass from Dilfer on the last play of the second quarter.
Detroit had to punt on their opening drive of the third quarter, and John Jett's 31-yard kick gave Tampa Bay great field position on their own 47-yard line. Five plays later, Bucs fullback Mike Alstott scored on a 31-yard touchdown run (the longest run in franchise playoff history) to make the score 20-0. Detroit responded with their best drive of the day, moving the ball 73 yards to the Tampa Bay 8-yard line. But it ended with no points when Mitchell threw an incomplete pass on fourth down and 3. Less