5 worst moments in history of the Buccaneers franchise

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SAN DIEGO – JANUARY 03: Head Coach Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts stands on the field during the AFC Wild Card Game against the San Diego Chargers on January 3, 2009 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

4. 2003 Monday Night Football Disaster

The ’03 Buccaneers could definitely serve as poster children for “Super Bowl hangover.”

Shortly after beating down the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, reports began to surface about a strained relationship between head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Rich McKay, with McKay leaving the Bucs in December 2003 for the rival Atlanta Falcons. Regardless, the Buccaneers were entering the new season as reigning champs.

In November, the Bucs deactivated star wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who had also bumped heads with Gruden, for the final six games and traded him to the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason. In between all of the drama was one of the worst collapses in NFL history. Week one was just the beginning for the Buccaneers as the Indianapolis Colts came to town.

With former coach Tony Dungy making his return to Tampa as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, the Bucs led 35-14 with four minutes remaining. Instead of a Bucs victory, what followed were touchdowns by Peyton Manning to James Mungro, Marvin Harrison and Ricky Williams (the other one) to tie the score at 35 and send the game to overtime. The Colts went on to prevail 38-35 as the Buccaneers never got a chance to see the football in their offense’s hand.

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