Buccaneers Super Bowl History

In the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the award for the team that has come the furthest. One of the last expansion teams in the league, the Bucs, as they are affectionately known, did not get their first win until almost the final week of their second season in the league and were the league's whipping boys for years after. On January 26, 2003, those demons were finally put to rest as the Bucs won Super Bowl XXXVII by defeating the Oakland Raiders in a convincing display, 48-21.

1st Quarter

Tampa Bay won the coin toss and elected to receive. During this first drive, Bucs quarterback Brad Johnson threw a pass that was intercepted by Charles Woodson of the Raiders and returned to the Bucs' 36 yard line. Oakland could not manage a touchdown and settled for a Sebastian Janikowski field goal. On the Bucs' subsequent drive, they too could not manage a touchdown and Bucs kicker Martin Gramatica tied the score with a field goal. Both teams' defenses held firm for the remainder of the first quarter. On Oakland's final drive of the quarter, a Gannon pass was intercepted by the Bucs' Dexter Jackson. Score: Oakland 3, Tampa Bay 3.

2nd Quarter

Continuing their drive off of the interception, the Bucs made it to the Oakland 25 yard line before they were again forced to rely on Gramatica. His kick was good for a 6-3 Tampa Bay lead. On Oakland's next drive, Gannon was again intercepted and the Bucs' Jackson was again the spoiler. Three drives after the Raiders lost the ball, the Bucs fullback Mike Alstott scored the first touchdown of the game. The Bucs' defense was beginning to strengthen and on the Raiders' next drive they were again stopped. The Bucs responded by driving from their own 25 for a touchdown via a Johnson pass to wide receiver Keenan McCardell. Both Gramatica extra points were good. Oakland ran out of time mid-drive to end the quarter. Score: Tampa Bay 20, Oakland 3.

3rd Quarter

The Bucs continued dominating the Raiders as they had in the second quarter. On Tampa Bay's first drive of the 3rd quarter, the Bucs marched from their own 11, completing the drive in 7:52 with a second touchdown reception by McCardell. Gramatica's kick was good. On the very next drive, Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon threw his third interception of the night. Defensive back Dwight Smith ran the ball back for a touchdown for a 34-3 lead. On the next drive, Oakland scored a touchdown on a 39 yard pass from Gannon to receiver Jerry Porter. Porter was ruled out of bounds by officials, but the replays showed he was in bounds and the touchdown was ruled good. A two point conversion attempt failed. Score: Tampa Bay 34, Oakland 9.

4th Quarter

The Raider defense finally stood their ground, blocked a Tom Tupa punt, and Eric Johnson ran the ball back for a touchdown. A second attempt at a two-point conversion again failed. The Bucs responded on the next set of downs by driving deep into Oakland territory, only to have Tupa fumble the snap on a field goal attempt. On the ensuing drive, Gannon hit Jerry Rice with a 48 yard pass for a touchdown. Another two point conversion was attempted and failed to make the score 34-21. The Bucs then ran out some of the clock, and when Oakland finally got the ball Gannon threw his fourth interception, this time to Derrick Brooks, who ran the ball back for a touchdown. Gramatica again was accurate and the score was now 41-21. Finally, with the game all but over, Gannon threw his fifth interception, a Super Bowl record, to Dwight Smith.
Final score: Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21.

Jon Gruden

The big story before this game was the Bucs' coach, Jon Gruden. Gruden had been the coach of Oakland through the 2001 season. After a secretive and costly deal, the owners of Tampa Bay secured Gruden as their new coach following the release of coach Tony Dungy. Gruden was happy to be heading to Tampa Bay as he felt constrained by Raiders owner Al Davis. When the two teams met in the Super Bowl, Gruden had a distinct advantage. Gruden had worked with the Raider organization since the late 1990s and knew the team's offense well. In training for the Super Bowl, Gruden himself played the role of Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon and showed his defensive players what to watch for specifically. In the end, this proved pivotal as the Tampa Bay defense closed down Gannon on most every occasion.

Notable Stats

Besides the five interceptions, the most noticeable stats were Oakland's 19 total net rushing yards to Tampa Bay's 150, the Raiders' 11 first downs to the Bucs 24, and Oakland's quarterback being sacked five times while Johnson was not sacked once. Wide receiver Jerry Rice became the first receiver to score a touchdown in four different Super Bowls.