1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

The 1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's seventeenth season in the National Football League (NFL). It was the first season of Sam Wyche's four-year spell as the Buccaneers' head coach. Wyche said before the season that he believed he could turn Vinny Testaverde into a great player.

1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
OwnerHugh Culverhouse
Head coachSam Wyche
Home fieldTampa Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place3rd in NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
AP All-ProsLT Paul Gruber (2nd team)
Team MVPRB Reggie Cobb

Tampa Bay had lop-sided wins in the first two weeks, and looked like they would prove good the coach's words. They started the season 3–1 but then lost ten of the next eleven, starting with a ten-point loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Tampa's closest loss of the year was a four-point Week Thirteen loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Tampa Bay had a first half 27–3 lead, but the Rams scored 28 unanswered points to steal the win. Coincidentally, there would be a playoff game in 2022 where the Buccaneers trailed the Los Angeles Rams, 27–3, and tied the game up with 24 unanswered points, only to lose, 30–27.

Special teams suffered too, especially from kickers such as Ken Willis making only eight of fourteen field goals. Reggie Cobb became only the third player in the team's history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and Santana Dotson made the All-Rookie team. The Bucs finished the season the way they started it, with a win over the Phoenix Cardinals.

Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 1992 Buccaneers had the worst special teams squad of the year, and fourth-worst all time[lower-alpha 1] (later having been recalibrated to seventh-worst all-time):[1] "Tampa Bay actually got a solid year from punter Dan Stryzinski, but the return men were poor, the kickers were horrific, and the kick coverage was putrid. Ken Willis and Eddie Murray combined to go 12-for-22 on field goals, and they couldn't stop kicking the ball out of bounds. Willis kicked the first nine games of the season and hit it out of bounds five times. [...] Murray took over for the final seven games and didn't have a single touchback, while hitting it out of bounds three more times. He averaged only 55.5 yards per kickoff. The Bucs weren't the only other team with a single-digit touchback total, but at least the others – New England, Green Bay, and the New York Giants – had the excuse of playing in cold weather."[2]

NFL Draft
Pick Round Player Position School
44 Round 2 Courtney HawkinsWide ReceiverMichigan State
59 Round 3 Mark WheelerDefensive TackleTexas A&M
79 Round 3 Tyji ArmstrongTight EndOle Miss
86 Round 4 Craig EricksonQuarterbackMiami (FL)
118 Round 5 Rogerick GreenDefensive BackKansas State
132 Round 5 Santana DotsonDefensive EndBaylor
148 Round 6 James MaloneLinebackerUCLA
184 Round 7 Ken SwillingDefensive BackGeorgia Tech
200 Round 8 Anthony McDowellRunning BackTexas Tech
222 Round 8 Mike PawlawskiQuarterbackCalifornia
254 Round 10 Elijah AlexanderLinebackerKansas State
284 Round 11 Mazio RoysterRunning BackUSC
311 Round 12 Klaus WilmsmeyerPunterLouisville

The Buccaneers' first-round pick had previously been traded to the Indianapolis Colts in return for quarterback Chris Chandler, and was eventually used to select Quentin Coryatt.

Personnel

Staff
1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Head coach/director of football operations – Sam Wyche

Offensive coaches

  

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams/tight ends – George Stewart

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Ray Oliver
  • Strength and conditioning assistant – Dennis Green

[3]

Roster
1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 47 active, 10 inactive, 2 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule
Regular season
Week Date Opponent Result Game site Record Attendance
1 September 6 Phoenix Cardinals W 23–7Tampa Stadium1–041,315
2 September 13 Green Bay Packers W 31–3Tampa Stadium2–050,051
3 September 20 at Minnesota Vikings L 26–20Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome2–148,113
4 September 27 at Detroit Lions W 27–23Pontiac Silverdome3–151,374
5 October 4 Indianapolis Colts L 24–14Tampa Stadium3–256,585
6 Bye
7 October 18 at Chicago Bears L 31–14Soldier Field3–361,412
8 October 25 Detroit Lions L 38–7Tampa Stadium3–453,995
9 November 1 at New Orleans Saints L 23–21Louisiana Superdome3–568,591
10 November 8 Minnesota Vikings L 35–7Tampa Stadium3–649,095
11 November 15 Chicago Bears W 20–17Tampa Stadium4–669,102
12 November 22 at San Diego Chargers L 29–14Jack Murphy Stadium4–743,197
13 November 29 at Green Bay Packers L 19–14Milwaukee County Stadium4–852,347
14 December 6 Los Angeles Rams L 31–27Tampa Stadium4–938,387
15 December 13 Atlanta Falcons L 35–7Tampa Stadium4–1039,056
16 December 19 at San Francisco 49ers L 21–14Candlestick Park4–1160,519
17 December 27 at Phoenix Cardinals W 7–3Sun Devil Stadium5–1129,645
Notes: Division opponents in bold text

Standings
NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(3) Minnesota Vikings 11 5 0 .688 7–1 8–4 374 249 W2
Green Bay Packers 9 7 0 .563 4–4 6–6 276 296 L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 11 0 .313 3–5 5–9 267 365 W1
Chicago Bears 5 11 0 .313 3–5 4–8 295 361 L2
Detroit Lions 5 11 0 .313 3–5 3–9 273 332 L1

Notes
  1. through 2011

References
  1. "DVOA 7.0: Worst Teams Ever". Football Outsiders. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020.
  2. "1992 DVOA Ratings and Commentary". Football Outsiders. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023.
  3. 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Media Guide. pp. 44–46. Archived from the original on March 15, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
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