The first game of the season is in the books. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 27-33 to the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s a game that leaves a lot of blame to go around.
With that said, there was some good in this game too. There is no shame in losing to the Bengals and it certainly isn’t a death sentence to the season. Here are my Buccaneers week one takeaways.
Bad Baker
Baker Mayfield did not give the Bucs a realistic chance to win this game. When you fumble in your own territory and the defense returns it for a touchdown and then fumble into the end zone as your offense is knocking on the door, that’s a 14 point swing. And then there was the third fumble that set the Bengals up in Bucs territory.
There were things that Mayfield did that I liked in this game. I actually thought he threw the ball well with accuracy. However, you can’t hold on to the ball as long as he did in this game and be as careless with the ball as he was.
If there is one person to blame for this loss then it is easily Mayfield.
The Defense Was Good Enough To Win
I thought the defense was alright in this game. They held Joe Burrow to just over 250 passing yards and starting running back Chase Brown to 3.5 yards per carry. There are things they need to improve on, but overall it was a decent start.
I was especially impressed with the cornerbacks. I thought both Zyon McCollum and Benjamin Morrison (who came in early due to a Jacob Parrish injury) played really well. Holding Ja’Marr Chase to just 12 yards in this game was a fantastic effort.
Of course, the start on defense was rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter. He led the team in tackles, sacks, tackles for loss and had an interception that he returned for a touchdown. Couldn’t ask for a better start from the future heart of the defense.
Zac Robinson: A Mixed Bag
I come away from this game with mixed feelings of Robinson’s debut as offensive coordinator. I thought it was too passive early with too many screens and passes behind the line of scrimmage, which allowed the defense to key in on this. The Bucs have the weapons to challenge defenses at all levels and they need to do more of that moving forward.
However, I really liked what I saw from the running game. Bucky Irving averaged 5.6 yards per carry and looked like the best version of himself. This was my biggest question about how Ribinson would translate from Atlanta and I walk away feeling more confident than I did a few days ago.
Take A Breath On Bain
There was so much hype around Rueben Bain coming into this game and I absolutely understand why. So seeing him be a non factor in week one was a real disappointment. But that shouldn’t change any optimism around him.
Adarius Mims is one of the best right tackles in the NFL, particularly as a pass blocker. He has so much length and mobility, he is a difficult matchup for anybody. If there were concerns about Bain’s arm length then they were going to be exposed against a player like Mims with extremely long arms.
This was the probably the worst matchup Bain will see all year. I don’t want to write it off and say it’s all downhill from here, but that’s essentially how I feel. I’m still very confident that this rookie will be a star.
But I will say, the rest of the defensive line did leave something to be desired.
Offensive Line Was Fine
I’ve seen some chatter on the Bucs offensive line struggling yesterday. And while there were times that this is true, I didn’t walk away feeling like the line cost the Bucs this game. In fact, I thought they were largely line.
There were times when there was miscommunication about passing off defenders and who was supposed to pick them up which led to pressure and sacks. However, the bigger problems revolved around the quarterback holding on to the ball too long. I walk away with no real concerns about the offensive line.
Buyers Remorse On Anzalone?
It was a rough debut for new Buccaneers linebacker Alex Anzalone. He spent a lot of time on the ground and really never felt like he was where he needed to be. The new captain was easily the weak link on defense yesterday.
Despite this, I’m staying patient with Anzalone. He has a track record of being a good player, particularly in coverage. I won’t let a one game sample size sway my opinion on him.
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