The Associated Press called the game a "humiliating" loss against "13-time loser San Francisco", and Lewis described it as "choking". When reporters described the team as "Chokeneers" and a laughingstock, McKay denounced them and Lewis in what the news agency described an "obscenity-filled tirade", stating that "the word choke is terribly degrading. He ought to shut up ... and see how he played", and "People who use those ... terms are no better than snakes". The loss dropped the Buccaneers into a first-place tie with the Chicago Bears in the NFC Central, to which the "Times" said that the Buccaneers were "now in the process of presenting" the division championship.