NFC EAST NFC CENTRAL NFC WEST Dallas 12-2 Minnesota 9-5 LA Rams 10-4 Washington 9-5 Chicago 9-5 Atlanta 7-7 St.Louis 7-7 Detroit 6-8 San Francisco 5-9 Philadelphia 5-9 Green Bay 4-10 New Orleans 3-11 NY Giants 5-9 Tampa Bay 2-12 AFC EAST AFC CENTRAL AFC WEST Baltimore 10-4 Pittsburgh 9-5 Denver 12-2 Miami 10-4 Cincinnati 8-6 Oakland 11-3 New England 9-5 Houston 8-6 San Diego 7-7 NY Jets 3-11 Cleveland 6-8 Seattle 5-9 Buffalo 3-11 Kansas City 2-12 DIVISIONAL ROUND Dallas 37 Chicago 7 Minnesota 14 L.A.Rams 7 Denver 34 Pittsburgh 21 Oakland 37 Baltimore 31 CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES Dallas 23 Minnesota 6 Denver 20 Oakland 17 SUPER BOWL XII at the New Orleans Super Dome Dallas 27 Denver 10

And the losing went on and on and on. It was 26 games before the Bucs would finally break into the win column for the first time in franchise history, a 33-14 triumph in New Orleans repeated the following week for the long-awaited first home win. But this was the team that only scored 17 points in a seven week stretch negating some good work done by a young and increasingly talented defense. Jokes were being made weekly around the NFL and on the Johnny Carson Show about the winless Buccaneers and Saints’ QB Archie Manning even commented that losing to them “would be a disgrace”. But it happened and both New Orleans and St.Louis coaches would wind up losing their jobs from the fallout of their defeats. For Tampa fans, the monkey was finally off their backs and they could concentrate on becoming a successful NFL team at last.