Detroit had to punt on their opening drive of the third quarter, and John Jett's 31-yard kick gave Tampa Bay great field position on their own 47-yard line. Five plays later, Bucs fullback Mike Alstott scored on a 31-yard touchdown run (the longest run in franchise playoff history) to make the score 20-0. Detroit responded with their best drive of the day, moving the ball 73 yards to the Tampa Bay 8-yard line. But it ended with no points when Mitchell threw an incomplete pass on fourth down and 3.