Tampa Bay marched on an 18-play, 80-yard opening drive that took 9:25 off the clock to score on Bell's 4-yard touchdown run. Philadelphia responded with a drive into scoring range, but their drive ended ugly. First they attempted a fake 47-yard field goal, but they failed to snap the ball before the play clock ran out. Then Tony Franklin's 52-yard field goal was no good. Tampa Bay took the ball back and drove to a 10–0 lead on Neil O'Donohue's 40-yard field goal. Then on the Eagles next drive, running back Wilbert Montgomery lost a fumble that nose tackle Randy Crowder recovered on the Philadelphia 5-yard line. Three plays later, Bell scored on a 1-yard fourth down run, increasing the Bucs lead to 17–0 with 5:12 left in the half. Later on, Eagles linebacker Jerry Robinson intercepted a pass from Doug Williams and returned it 37 yards to set up Ron Jaworski's 11-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Smith, making the score 17–7 by halftime.