The Buccaneers routed a Giants team that came in having won 5 of their past 6 games. Giants quarterback Phil Simms was sacked 5 times for 75 yards, intercepted twice, and gave up two fumbles. One Cecil Johnson-caused fumble was picked up by Dave Lewis and returned 39 yards for a touchdown. Both sides denied running up the score during either of the season's matchups, though the Tampa players were said to have approached this game as a grudge match. The game was mostly devoid of the trash-talking that had characterized the previous meeting, the Giants having little room for words. The Giants' 3 points was the lowest score allowed by the Buccaneers, and the Buccaneers had their second-highest point total with 31. The Buccaneers used a two-tight end set, providing additional blocking that helped spring Ricky Bell for 152 yards in three quarters of play. Bell spent the fourth quarter holding an ice pack "...to keep Ricky from getting a swollen head", joked coach McKay. The win left the Buccaneers with an NFC-best 9–3 record, ahead of McKay's 9-7 goal and the team's 5-11 record in 1978. The "Times" speculated that a 13-3 record was "plausible", because three of the four remaining games were at home and the fourth was against the weak 49ers.