Game Summary
The Oakland defense set the tone, but it was the Tampa Bay defense that sang the tune in the Buccaneers' 48-21 victory. An early Oakland interception set up a field goal that gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead, but the Buccaneers scored the next 34 points.
Tampa Bay set records by intercepting five of Rich Gannon's passes and returning three of them for touchdowns. Even more important, the Bucs' defenders held the NFL's top-ranked offense to just 62 yards and three first downs in the first half as Tampa Bay jumped to a 20-3 lead before the usual overlong Super Bowl halftime show began.
With the score still close at 13-3, Tampa Bay went on a 10-play, 77-yard drive that ended in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brad Johnson to Keenan McCardell with less than a minute to play in the half.
Then, on their first possession of the second half, the Bucs chewed up almost eight minutes on an 89-yard march that also ended with a TD pass to McCardell, this one of 11 yards.
Only 43 seconds later, Dwight Smith intercepted a Gannon pass at the Oakland 44 and ran it in for a touchdown that put Tampa Bay ahead, 34-3, with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Raiders didn't quit and the Bucs seemed to relax at that point. Oakland scored three touchdowns in less than 12 minutes, on passes of 39 and 48 yards and a 13-yard return of a blocked punt. However, all three two-point conversion tries failed and the Raiders still needed two touchdowns to win with just over six minutes to play.
Any Oakland hopes for a miracle comeback died when Derrick Brooks returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown with 1:27 left, and Smith put the final nail in the coffin with a 50-yard interception return with only two seconds remaining.