Steve Young Gets a Win for Bucs in First Start

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have found a new leader--Steve Young.

Young, ineffective for three quarters of his NFL debut Sunday, took charge in the latter stages, engineering a 10-point rally to force an overtime period the Bucs used to beat the Detroit Lions, 19-16, Sunday.

Donald Igwebuike’s fourth field goal of the game, a 24-yarder with 2:29 left in the extra period, provided the winning points.

Igwebuike’s game-winning kick completed an 11-play, 56-yard drive Young started at his own 38 after a Detroit punt with 9:38 to go.

The Tampa Bay kicker also made field goals of 33, 48 and 36 yards, the latter with one minute left in regulation to cap the 10-point rally that enabled the Bucs to overcome a 16-6 deficit.

Said Young: “It always feels good to win. Like I told everyone, that’s the bottom line. What I’m proudest of is that I didn’t have any fumbled snaps, no delay of game penalties, no mistakes.”

The victory improved Tampa Bay’s record to 2-10, while the Lions are 6-6 after losing their sixth straight on the road. They are 5-0 at home, but have lost all their road games since since a season-opening victory over Atlanta.

Young, playing for the first time since leaving the United States Football League to join the Bucs on Sept. 10, completed 16 of 27 passes for 166 yards.

“There’s a lot of little things that need to be worked on but it was really exciting out there,” he said.

“This is just one game. The goal is to be consistent and to be consistently good. A good quarterback shows that over 10 years. And while I’ll be proud of this, I don’t want to play one game on a high and then come out flat the next week.”

The 24-year-old quarterback, who replaced Steve DeBerg after 10 weeks as his understudy, kept the Detroit defense off balance with his running ability early in the game, but was less effective in the second half until directing a late touchdown drive. James Wilder, who led the Bucs with 96 yards rushing in 27 carries, scored from the six to make it 16-13 with 3:38 to play.

Young, starting the game-tying drive from the Lions’ 38 after Mike Prior’s 19-yard return, used a 23-yard completion to Kevin House to set up Igwebuike’s 36-yard field goal.

Young is the 13th quarterback to start a game in Tampa Bay’s 10-year history and the first to win his opener. He rushed for 60 yards in 10 carries to become--would you believe--the Bucs’ second-leading rusher for the season behind Wilder.