1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
Head coach	Sam Wyche
Owner	Hugh Culverhouse
Home field	Tampa Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd in NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify
AP All-Pros	LT Paul Gruber (2nd team)
Team MVP	RB Reggie Cobb

The 1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season began with the team trying to improve on a 3–13 season. 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.

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.

Special teams suffered too, especially from kickers like 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 Arizona Cardinals.

Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 1992 Buccaneers had the worst special teams squad of the year, and fourth-worst all time (later having been recalibrated to 7th-worst all-time): "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."

NFL Draft

Pick	Round	Player	Position	School
44	Round 2	Courtney Hawkins	Wide Receiver	Michigan State
59	Round 3	Mark Wheeler	Defensive Tackle	Texas A&M
79	Round 3	Tyji Armstrong	Tight End	Mississippi
86	Round 4	Craig Erickson	Quarterback	Miami
118	Round 5	Rogerick Green	Defensive Back	Kansas State
132	Round 5	Santana Dotson	Defensive End	Baylor
148	Round 6	James Malone	Linebacker	UCLA
184	Round 7	Ken Swilling	Defensive Back	Georgia Tech
200	Round 8	Anthony McDowell	Running Back	Texas Tech
222	Round 8	Mike Pawlawski	Quarterback	California
254	Round 10	Elijah Alexander	Linebacker	Kansas State
284	Round 11	Mazio Royster	Running Back	USC
311	Round 12	Klaus Wilmsmeyer	Punter	Louisville

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 Owner – Hugh Culverhouse President – Gay Culverhouse Vice President of Football Administration – Rich McKay Director of Player Personnel – Jerry Angelo Director of College Scouting – Tim Ruskell Head Coaches Head Coach/Director of Football Operations – Sam Wyche Offensive Coaches Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running Backs – Willie Peete Wide Receivers – Harold Jackson Offensive Line – Bob Wylie			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Floyd Peters Defensive Line – Eddie Khayat Linebackers – Maxie Baughan Defensive Backs – Steve Shafer Defensive Assistant – Jeff FitzGerald Special Teams Coaches Special Teams/Tight Ends – George Stewart Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Ray Oliver Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Dennis Green

Regular season

Schedule

Regular season
Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Kickoff	Game site	TV	Attendance	Record
1	September 6, 1992	Phoenix Cardinals	W 23–7	4:00	Tampa Stadium	CBS	41,315	1–0
2	September 13, 1992	Green Bay Packers	W 31–3	1:00	Tampa Stadium	CBS	50,051	2–0
3	September 20, 1992	at Minnesota Vikings	L 26–20	1:00	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	CBS	48,113	2–1
4	September 27, 1992	at Detroit Lions	W 27–23	1:00	Pontiac Silverdome	CBS	51,374	3–1
5	October 4, 1992	Indianapolis Colts	L 24–14	1:00	Tampa Stadium	NBC	56,585	3–2
6	Bye
7	October 18, 1992	at Chicago Bears	L 31–14	1:00	Soldier Field	CBS	61,412	3–3
8	October 25, 1992	Detroit Lions	L 38–7	1:00	Tampa Stadium	CBS	53,995	3–4
9	November 1, 1992	at New Orleans Saints	L 23–21	1:00	Louisiana Superdome	CBS	68,591	3–5
10	November 8, 1992	Minnesota Vikings	L 35–7	1:00	Tampa Stadium	CBS	49,095	3–6
11	November 15, 1992	Chicago Bears	W 20–17	4:00	Tampa Stadium	CBS	69,102	4–6
12	November 22, 1992	at San Diego Chargers	L 29–14	4:00	Jack Murphy Stadium	CBS	43,197	4–7
13	November 29, 1992	at Green Bay Packers	L 19–14	1:00	Milwaukee County Stadium	CBS	52,347	4–8
14	December 6, 1992	Los Angeles Rams	L 31–27	1:00	Tampa Stadium	CBS	38,387	4–9
15	December 13, 1992	Atlanta Falcons	L 35–7	1:00	Tampa Stadium	CBS	39,056	4–10
16	December 19, 1992	at San Francisco 49ers	L 21–14	4:00	Candlestick Park	CBS	60,519	4–11
17	December 27, 1992	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 7–3	5:00	Sun Devil Stadium	CBS	29,645	5–11

Notes:

^a All times in North American Eastern Time. (UTC–4 and UTC–5 during Standard Time)

Standings

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