The Chiefs threatened to blow the Bucs off the field in the third quarter but were unable to deliver the death blow and almost found themselves run out of Tampa Stadium. Mike Livingston passed for two third-period touchdowns to go with a pair of first-half fieldgoals by Jan Stenerud to give Kansas City, six point favourites, a commanding 20-0 lead entering the fourth quarter. But veteran Steve Spurrier, held to only 34 yards passing at that point, passed for two scores and set up a third as the winless Bucs tried to pull the game out. But the worst-ranked Chief defense stiffened and forced a safety in the closing minutes when tackle Mike Current fell on a Spurrier fumble in his own endzone. John McKay's take on the game:" It is the turning point. For the bad. And that's the best thing I can say."

STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 71 Young LDE 78 Rudolph LG 72 Fest DT 76 Pear C 51 Ryczek DT 63 Selmon RG 79 Wilson RDE 66 Toomay RT 74 Current LLB 30 Gunn TE 82 Pagac MLB 52 Reese WR 85 Owens RLB 54 Wood WR 89 McKay LCB 25 Jordan FB 35 DuBose SS 33 Cotney RB 32 Carter FS 28 Stone QB 11 Spurrier RCB 46 Reese PLAYED 4 Green, 19 Johnson, 22 McNeill, 27 Davis, 53 Ball, 55 Hunt, 56 Cooper, 61 Selmon, 64 Robinson, 67 Alward, 70 Young, 77 Little, 80 Novak, 84 Douglas, 88 Smith DID NOT PLAY 5 Hanratty, 18 Dickinson, 40 Washington, 43 Williams, 58 Peterson, 86 Moore INACTIVES 26 Davis, 44 Moore

SCORING KC 9:13-1Q Stenerud FG42 KC 12:11-2Q Stenerud FG32 KC 13:22-3Q Masters 2 pass from Livingston (Stenerud kick) KC 8:11-3Q White 2 pass from Livingston (Stenerud kick) TB 10:55-4Q McKay 8 pass from Spurrier (kick failed) KC 8:06-4Q Lane 2 run (kick failed) TB 5:14-4Q Johnson 1 run (kick failed) TB 2:16-4Q Novak 30 pass from Spurrier (Green kick) KC 0:43-4Q Safety - Current recovered fumble in endzone

GAME REPORTS Ron Martz of the St.Petersburg Times - how he saw the game Hubert Mizell of the St.Petersburg Times - his game column Bob Lenoir of the St.Petersburg Times - how he saw the game Click here for the gamebook and the play-by-play

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: DuBose 4-12, McNeill 2-8, Carter 10-6, E.Johnson 4-4, Owens 1- (-16). CHIEFS: Reamon 18-60, Lane 14-52, Marshall 1-11, Harrison 2-7, Podolak 3-6, McNeil 1-1, Livingston 4-(-1). PASSING BUCS: Spurrier 36-20-212-0-2. CHIEFS: Livingston 30-17-183-2-2. RECEIVING BUCS: Johnson 8-85, McNeill 3-7, McKay 2-46, Carter 2-24, Novak 1-30, Owens 1-11, Ryczek 1-6, Pagac 1-5, DuBose 1-(-2). CHIEFS: Lane 4-47, Reamon 4-33, White 3-42, Masters 3-32, Brunson 1-14, Harrison 1-12, Podolak 1-3. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Cotney 1-25, Jordan 1-0. CHIEFS: none. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Johnson 2-52, McNeil 1-33, Carter 1-11. CHIEFS: Harrison 2-56, Williams 1-19, Adams 1-0. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Reece 2-3. CHIEFS: Brunson 1-48. SACKS BUCS: none. CHIEFS: Lohmeyer 2-19, Estes 1-4, Team 1-7.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS Video footage from the expansion season is limited to occasional clips from the NFL Films season highlight film as NBC who broadcast all 14 games that season, destroyed the master tapes some years later leaving none of the games available in the way other games from Buc history are. However I have been able to obtain the coverage from NFL Films’ Review of the Week in which the Bucs were featured, sometimes though not in the most flattering of highlights. The left video are the selected Buccaneer clips. The right video is the one from the Review of the Week.