Tampa Bay’s second division title in three years still established that they were a legitimate player in the NFC Central. They made the playoffs again in 1982. And while a long period of losing was ahead for this franchise, it wouldn’t be under the watch of John McKay or Doug Williams.
It was 1976 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into existence and their first three years were less than stellar. The Bucs went 0-14 their first year, 2-12 in ’77 and then up to 5-11 in 1978 when the schedule expanded to sixteen games. Steady improvement, but no indicator of what the 1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were about to do, which is make a run to the first division title in franchise history.
The issue of Tampa Bay playing in the cold was a prominent issue at the time. Not only is this a topic for conversation any time a warm weather team goes north, but the Bucs own recent history had seen consecutive playoff losses in Philly. What’s more, they had just won for the first time in franchise history when the weather was below 32 degrees—and that was against the 4-12 Chicago Bears.