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Bucs, Seahawks in Expansion Match-up
Barring the unforgiveable thought of a tie, one of the NFL’s two expansion
teams will pick up its first victory today as the Tampa Bay Bucs host the Seattle Seahawks.
1976 is the first time two expansion teams in the NFL came into the league the same season. Tampa Bay is playing each team from the American Football Conference, while the Seahawks are going against the members of the National Football Conference. The roles switch next season, with the expansion teams again playing each other for the 14th game on the slate.
“As for this game, I think the importance is overplayed. I’ve said all along the team that comes into the game the healthiest will have best opportunity to win,” says Coach John McKay. “Neither one of us have the kind of depth to afford injuries.”
“I will try to make the players see the game in the proper perspective,” continues McKay. “Our whole goal is that we’ll be a very respectable team in three years and we can’t lose sight of that.”
The Bucs fell victim to the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday, losing 2 1-0. Tampa Bay played without the services of two defensive starters, Lee Roy Selmon and Calvin Peterson, both out for a couple weeks with knee injuries.
The Bucs went with a more conventional defensive front against Cincinnati more out of necessity than desire. The ends were Council Rudolph and Pat Toomay, while the tackles were Dewey Selmon and Dave Pear. The Bucs had been using a three-man front, but went with four down linemen, because of the injury situation.
The Seahawks have been a club which has been able to score, but has had some trouble stopping the opponents from scoring more. Free agent quarterback Jim Zorn, 6-2, 200 from Cal Poly at Pomona, has done an excellent job. The left-hander was waived by Dallas just two days before the season opener in 1975.
Thus far, young Zorn has hit on 82 of 173 passes for 1,025 yards, five TDs and eight interceptions. He is also the leading rusher for the Seahawks.
Seattle’s five losses have been to St. Louis (30-24); Washington (3 1-7); San Francisco (37-21) Dallas (28-13) and Green Bay (27-20).
Of the original 39 players obtained via the veteran allocation, just 17 remain active with the Bucs now. There remain eight draft choices on the active roster.
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