In Vinny Testaverde's second season as the Bucs' starting quarterback, the former first-overall draft pick improved his touchdown-interception ratio (20-22) significantly and found an explosive weapon in third-year wide receiver Mark Carrier. Carrier was the lone Buccaneer to make the Pro Bowl after setting a long-standing team record with 1,422 receiving yards on 86 catches, scoring nine touchdowns. The Buccaneers won three of their first five games but once again suffered a long losing streak in the middle of the season and ended up with a 5-11 record identical to the year before. The Buccaneers lost five games by four points or fewer but still allowed 419 points overall, the second-most in the NFL. The 1989 season did include a rare two-game sweep of the Chicago Bears in a pair of very high-scoring contests.
