Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preseason Week 1 Victory

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played their first preseason game on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. The Bucs didn’t play most of their starters, but the ones that did get onto the field showed training camp has positively impacted the team. The Buccaneers won the game against the Bengals 17-14, but the Bucs’ run game was rather impressive. Yes, the Bengals didn’t play some of their staters either, but seeing new offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s hard work from training camp working was a plus, even without Bucs’ starting running back Rachaad White.

On defense, the Bucs had some positive situations. Cincinnati started its top-tier offense with its star quarterback, Joe Burrow. The Bucs’ second-string defense gave up two scores in the game. However, Coach Todd Bowles of the Buccaneers liked how the defense reacted when its backs were up against the wall and with a few players standing out. Let me break it down for you.

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Buccaneers Defense Showing Promise

I’ll start with defense because, as we all know, defense wins championships. Stop a team from scoring. The job is half done, right? Joe Burrow and the Bengals showed no mercy on the opening drive, moving the pigskin 73 yards. It ended with a ten-yard pass to wide receiver Tee Higgins in the endzone. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did give up 252 yards in passing but only allowed 36 yards in rushing. One of the top defensive performers on Saturday for the Bucs was inside linebacker J.J. Russell. He had seven tackles with a pass deflection, and safety Keenan Isaac grabbed a pick in the first half.

The impact player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was safety Kaevon Merriweather, who got some praise from Coach Todd Bowles after the game. Coach Bowels was happy with the defense; according to Brianna Dix, Bowles had this to say,

“I thought they both did a good job, Merriweather flew around, he kind of fit in the run game where needed. He was active, J.J. was exactly the same, he tackled well in space, he took his drops, and he commanded the unit, which is what I wanted to see.”

Bucs Ground & Pound

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a good mix of the pass and run. Yes, I did say run. Buccaneers rookie running back Bucky Irving had 6 carries for 28 yards with a touchdown in the 1st quarter. The coaching staff have liked what Irving has been doing during training camp and have hopes of utilizing him during the season. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White and Irving together, it might be a good one-two punch for the Bucs in the run game. Coach Liam Coen, the offensive coordinator for the Bucs, has zone packages for the run game that they have been working on during training camp.

Some of that work was shown on Saturday, Sean Tucker running back for the Buccaneers had 10 carries for 68 yards. D.J. William chipped in with 29 yards on ten carries, but Ramon Jefferson had the other rushing touchdown for the Bucs. With less than a minute, Jefferson rushed for 3 yards after an eight-play 69-yard drive late in the 4th. The Bucs we down 10-14 before the score, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3rd string quarterback John Wolford drove the drive at the end of the game. Wolford threw for 131 yards on 12-18 passing.

The next game for the Tama Bay Buccaneers is next Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. According to the Bucs team website, Coach Bowles is looking to use the third preseason game against the Miami Dolphins to work out kinks with all the starters of the team. The game against the Jaguars gives second and third-string players another chance to show what they can do for the team. Hopefully, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will continue to improve their new schemes in the run game.

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This article was written by J Muscle