Today in 1978 - Atlanta Falcons vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

September 24, 1978 – Today in 1978, the Atlanta Falcons went to the Sombrero at Tampa Stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Week 4 contest.

Atlanta got on the board first with a safety on a blocked Dave Green punt.  Tampa Bay answered on a blocked Fred Steinfort field goal return for a touchdown by Mike Washington.  At the end of the first quarter, The Bucs led 7-2.  The scored remained the same through halftime.

In the third quarter, the Falcons scored on a 5 yard touchdown pass from Steve Bartkowski to Alfred Jackson.  At the end of the quarter, the Falcons led 9-7.

The Buccaneers had the last word in the fourth quarter.  Doug Williams threw a 15 yard touchdown pass to Doug Obradovich and the Tampa Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons 14-9.

The numbers show that it was a defensive struggle.  Steve Bartkowski passed 12-24 for 84 yards, a touchdown and threw three interceptions.  The only player in the game who posted decent numbers was Atlanta running back Haskel Stanback.  He ran 23 times for 112 yards.  He also had a catch for 13 yards.  Doug Williams threw 6-23 for 74 yards and a touchdown for the Buccaneers.  He ran 4 times for -8 yards.  Curtis Jordan, Dewey Selmon, and Mike Washington each had an interception for the Bucs.

Tampa Bay improved to 2-2 for the season and Atlanta fell to 1-3.  The Bucs finished the season at 5-11.  The Falcons finished at 9-7 and made the playoffs as a wild card.

Notables

• There were 2 Hall of Fame players or coaches in this game, both with Tampa Bay: Lee Roy Selmon and offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs.
• Falcon backup quarterback June Jones went on to coach the team from 1994-96.  He replaced his secondary coach from the 1978 season, Jerry Glanville, who was the head coach for the team from 1990-93.

Other scores on this day for teams facing each other this week…

1944 – Green Bay Packers 42 – Chicago Bears 28

1955 – Philadelphia Eagles 27 – New York Giants 17

1967 – Boston Patriots 23 – Buffalo Bills 0

1967 – Green Bay 13 – Chicago 10

1972 – Minnesota Vikings 34 – Detroit Lions 10

1989 – San Diego Chargers 21 – Kansas City Chiefs 6

1989 – Washington Redskins 30 – Dallas Cowboys 7

Game stats and other data can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at Atlanta Falcons vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers - September 24, 1978.