After sluggish starts in the first two preseason games, the Bucs came out on fire and went on to dominate the Cleveland Browns winning 30-13. The passing game was the focus as Jameis Winston threw for 259 yards and had two touchdown passes in the first half. His last touchdown pass was a 34-yard pass to Mike Evans that made the score 27-3, Evans was superb collecting 5 receptions for 115 yards. Vincent Jackson also put up good numbers as he had 4 catches for 78 yards including a 31-yard catch. Not to be outdone was Adam Humphries who had 39 yards on two catches and also had a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown. Humphries, who was named the third option during training camp, was not even touched on the run and this is the first punt return for a touchdown since 2009 for the Bucs.
This win for Tampa was significant as they played practically perfect in some areas getting several long plays in the passing game and scoring easily against the Browns racking up 27 points with six minutes left in the first half. Roberto Aguayo was perfect kicking 6 for 6 including a long 48-yard field goal to start the scoring for Tampa. The Bucs have two of the biggest receivers on offense with Jackson and Evans and this showed on Friday night as they had their way with the Browns cornerbacks using their physicality to their advantage to get big plays all game long. Then with Humphries, they have a small, quick receiver to get open in the middle of the field. This game is what Buccaneer fans have wanted to see this preseason with the offense moving seamlessly down the field and dominating from the opening kickoff. Hopefully, when the season begins in Atlanta we will see this same dominance as the Falcons only managed 6 points in what is the most important preseason game of the year for all teams.
