The Buccaneers entered Sunday with a painfully simple defensive assignment: do not let Deshaun Watson look like a capable quarterback. They failed.
Considering Watson’s recent struggles, that should not have been an unreasonable expectation. Instead, Tampa Bay’s defense helped produce one of his most efficient performances since his final season with Houston.
Tampa Bay Made Watson Look Comfortable
Watson entered the matchup after another disappointing performance against Jacksonville. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a 97.7 passer rating.
That performance was hardly spectacular, but it represented an improvement from much of what Watson has produced recently. Against Tampa Bay, however, the veteran quarterback took another significant step forward.
Watson completed 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He also avoided interceptions and finished with a 121.9 passer rating.
According to Next Gen Stats, Watson posted the highest EPA per dropback of his Browns career. It was also his highest mark since Week 12 of the 2020 season with Houston.
That is an especially ugly statistic for a Buccaneers defense that desperately needed to make life difficult for him.
The Defense Helped Watson Find His Rhythm
Watson did not create all of that production by himself. Tampa Bay’s defensive execution repeatedly gave Cleveland opportunities to keep the offense moving.
The Buccaneers left significant openings in coverage throughout the game. When Cleveland’s receivers found those openings, Tampa Bay frequently struggled to finish the play.
Missed tackles became another major issue. The Browns repeatedly turned completions into additional yardage, allowing Watson to build confidence as the game progressed.
That cannot happen against a quarterback Tampa Bay needed to contain.
The defense eventually allowed Watson to settle into a rhythm. Once that happened, the Buccaneers struggled to regain control.
Bowles Admitted the Defense Failed
Todd Bowles had few answers for the defensive performance afterward. He specifically pointed toward missed tackles as one of the biggest problems.
“Too many missed tackles in the second half defensively,” he stated postgame. “Nobody’s coming to save us. We’ve got to fix ourselves, and we’ve got to fix it in a hurry.”
Bowles also discussed the team’s mindset during the game and the importance of understanding how to close out victories.
“Just talking about how we’re getting down the field and going to score and how we have to defend. You have to go through the scenarios of winning a ball game and leaving time on the clock. It didn’t come to that, but that was the message going out.”
The problem was that Tampa Bay’s defense never consistently executed that message. Cleveland continued finding ways to move the football when the Buccaneers needed stops.
Watson Took Advantage After Halftime
Bowles also acknowledged that Watson became increasingly effective as the game progressed.
“Deshaun Watson just kind of caught fire in the second half. High completion percentage, a couple of touchdowns. We had our hands on them [the Browns’ receivers]. We couldn’t bring them down. And we had two guys collide and miss [receiver Denzel] Boston, and he ran for a touchdown. So, we’ve got to tackle better.”
That sequence perfectly summarized the defensive problems Tampa Bay experienced. The Buccaneers were sometimes in position, but being in position means very little without proper execution.
Bowles also pointed toward Watson’s mobility and the challenges he created outside the pocket.
“We just faced a mobile quarterback, and he was elusive stepping up in the pocket and moving some things. I thought we had a better pass rush than we had last week. Still some things to work on, but, you know, we’ve got to get going.”
The pass rush may have shown improvement, but the overall defensive performance still fell well short of what Tampa Bay needed.
The Bigger Problem Is Familiar
The Buccaneers are now 0-2 after losing to Cleveland. That result carries even more weight because of how last season unfolded.
Tampa Bay started 2025 at 6-2 before collapsing to an 8-9 finish. The team missed the playoffs, and that late-season collapse remained one of the biggest questions surrounding Bowles throughout the offseason.
Sunday did nothing to quiet those concerns.
Instead, the Buccaneers allowed a quarterback they desperately needed to contain to produce one of his most efficient performances in years. The missed tackles, coverage problems and defensive breakdowns made an already disappointing loss even more frustrating.
Tampa Bay has plenty of time left to correct those problems. However, the defense cannot continue giving opponents easy opportunities while expecting different results.
At 0-2, the Buccaneers already need answers. Sunday’s performance against Watson only made the need for those answers more urgent.
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