The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened their 2024 preseason with a thrilling 17-14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Saturday night, with rookie RB Ramon Jefferson scoring the game-winning points on a three-yard plunge with less than a minute left in regulation. Jefferson's score capped a very encouraging night for a Buccaneers rushing attack that is under great scrutiny this season.

There were more points scored in the final four minutes of the game than the first 56, as Bengals rookie WR Jermaine Burton gave the home team a 14-10 lead with 3:33 left on a 37-yard touchdown pass from third-string QB Logan Woodside. After John Wolford led the Bucs on a successful 69-yard two-minute drill to take the lead, the Bucs had to hold on one last time as Burton caught another 38-yard pass to put the Bengals back in scoring range. Rookie outside linebacker Jay Person stopped the scrambling Woodside three yards shy of the sticks on fourth-and-10.

"I thought they responded well," said Head Coach Todd Bowles. "We go through this in practice every day, we can't give up the big play. There's a lot of good stuff we did on tape, a lot of good things, and there's a lot of things we need to correct. We got our first game under our belt, a lot of guys played for the first time. For the most part it wasn't sloppy. A few things we need to clean up, but we made progress.

Rookie RB Bucky Irving ran for his first NFL touchdown as part of a revitalized Tampa Bay rushing attack, which is a major point of emphasis for new Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen after the Buccaneers finished last in that category the past two seasons.

"It was encouraging to get going," said Bowles. "We were moving the ball pretty good after the first series. We got into a little bit of a flow, a little run, a little pass. That was encouraging."

The Buccaneers ran for 136 yards and averaged 4.3 per carry on the night, with second-year back Sean Tucker leading the way with 68 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Kyle Trask, getting the start in place of Baker Mayfield, played the entire first half and directed the Buccaneers' first touchdown drive on their second possession.

"It was good to be out there and get some live reps and get a good rhythm down," said Trask. "There were definitely some things to learn off of. There's always going to be some things that aren't clicking, especially the first game out there, but we had some great running moments. We'll put that under our belt going forward but I felt really good overall.

"It's nice when we call a play and you want it against a certain coverage and we got the coverage we wanted, and it's nice when we can execute it. That's the kind of the whole philosophy of this offense, is we want to run the right plays against the right defense, going to the line with multiple plays in our pocket. I was really proud of the guys for who we executed and communicated all night."

Fourteen different players caught a pass for the Buccaneers in the game, with camp standouts Payne Durham and Jalen McMillan each turning in a pair of key catches in the first half.

"Tight end is definitely a tough position in this league and he worked really, really hard this offseason and has been having a great training camp," said Trask of Durham, the second-year tight end. "I'm not surprised to see him go out there and make a few plays and I know he's going to build off of it going forward. [McMillan] is a certified baller for sure. You see that all over his college tape. He's had a great training camp and he's going to continue to make plays for us going forward, for sure.

Playing almost exclusively with reserves, Buccaneers gave up a first-drive touchdown to Joe Burrow and the Bengals' starting offense but allowed only 215 yards the rest of the way. LB J.J. Russell led the way with seven tackles and a pass defensed, and first-year CB Keenan Isaac produced the Bucs' only takeaway of the night with a second-quarter interception. Safety Kaevon Merriweather started the game and made two big plays in the early going, with a breakup of a long pass in the end zone and a tackle for loss on the opening drive.

The two teams played to a 7-7 halftime tie. The Buccaneers rested all but four of their listed starters – LB K.J. Britt on defense and interior linemen Cody Mauch, Robert Hainsey and Ben Bredeson on offense – while the Bengals opened the game with most of their starters on the field on both sides of the ball. Burrow and the home team's starting offense put together a 73-yard touchdown drive to open the game but then were quickly replaced by reserves. Similarly, the Bengals' starting defense played just one series, a Buccaneers three-and-out.

The Buccaneers scored on their first drive against the Bengals' reserves, as Trask was four for five for 68 yards on a touchdown drive that ended in Irving's five-yard cutback run. Tampa Bay's defense allowed just 46 total yards on the Bengals' other five possessions of the first half. Trask finished the game with 144 yards and one interception on 12-of-20 passing before being replaced by John Wolford in the second half.

Wolford immediately drove the Bucs on a 53-yard field goal drive highlighted by RB Sean Tucker's 26-yard cut-back run down to the Bengals' 18. K Chase McLaughlin gave the Bucs their first lead of the night with a 35-yard field goal. Wolford finished the game and completed 12 of 18 passes for 131 yards.

The Bengals came out with their starting offensive unit and drove down the field for a game-opening touchdown. Merriweather broke up a deep ball to Tee Higgins in the end zone but Burrow found WR Andre Iosivas for a 23-yard gain to the Bucs' 19 on the next play. Merriweather also had a two-yard tackle for loss against RB Chase Brown to make it third-and-12 moments later, and it became third-and-17 after a false start. A pass-interference flag on second-year CB Josh Hayes on a pass that was clearly headed out of bounds made it first-and-goal at the nine, and Burrow hit Higgins for a 10-yard score two plays later.

The Bucs' first drive didn't go as well. Trask commanded a unit of mostly reserves – only the interior offensive linemen were listed starter – while Cincinnati brought out its starting defense. All three plays went to rookie Irving, who started with a nice four-yard run up the middle but gained no yards on a second-down catch and couldn't haul in a high outlet pass on third-and-six, leading to a punt.

The Bengals pulled Burrow and their offensive starters for the second drive, with QB Jake Browning coming in to direct the proceedings. That possession ended in a three-and-out, with Russell getting the third-down stop on WR Shedrick Jackson after a short catch over the middle. WR Trey Palmer fair caught the ensuing punt at the Bucs' 23.

Trask started the Bucs' second drive with a rollout 24-yard strike to WR Ryan Miller, and two plays later found McMillan cutting across the middle for 19 more to the Bengals' 31. On third-and-six from the 27, Trask hit second-year WR Trey Palmer on a crossing route, giving the receiver room to run for a gain of 21 to the six. Two plays later, Irving took a handoff heading right then cut back to the left and plunged into the end zone for a five-yard, game-tying touchdown.

Cincinnati started its next drive at its own 26 after a tackle on the kickoff return by rookie LB Kalen DeLoach. Two short completions by Browning made it fourth-and-one as the first quarter came to an end. After the two teams switched sides, the Bengals elected to punt with Palmer returning the kick 10 yards to the Bucs' 25.

Trask converted a third-and-three with a six-yard strike to rookie TE Devin Culp in between two defenders, and Irving bounced off several tacklers on the next snap to get eight more to the Bucs' 46. A botched QB-C exchange helped set up a third-and-12 moments later and when Trask tried to hit Miller down the right numbers for a big gain it was intercepted at the Cincinnati 33 by CB Josh Newton.

The Bucs' second-unit defense got a third straight three-and-out, with Russell making a stop at the line of scrimmage on first down and rookie S Tykee Smith stopping TE Tanner Hudson with a hard hit on third down just after Hudson caught the ball. Trask and the Bucs' offense got the ball back at their own 14.

Tucker got some action on the ensuing drive and ripped off gains of nine and six yards on his first two carries to move the chains. Three plays later, on third-and-four, Trask heaved a pass over incoming pressure and WR Rakim Jarrett tracked it down, diving for a gain of 28 to the Bengals' 37. A holding penalty erased most of another strong run by Tucker that would have moved the sticks again, and the officials threw a pass for unnecessary roughness but elected to pick it up, making it third-and-13. The Bucs ran Tucker one more time then brought in K Chase McLaughlin to try a 51-yard field goal. McLaughlin, who is 24 of 29 in the regular season from 50 and beyond, bounced it off the right upright.

The Bengals inherited the ball at the Bucs' 41 after the miss and Browning immediately tried to go deep to WR Kwame Lassiter. However, Isaac matched him step for step and hauled in the pass for an interception at the Bucs' 15 with a little less than three minutes left in the first half. A six-yard run by Tucker and consecutive catches by TE Payne Durham added up to 27 more to the Bucs' 48, bringing on the two-minute warning. The drive immediately stalled after the break, with two attempts to Culp falling incomplete and Trask absorbing a sack on third down back at the Bucs' 38.

The Bengals had 94 seconds to work with when they started up at their own 26 after the Bucs' punt, and Browning completed two quick passes to get it to the 43. Hudson moved the chains on a third-and-four with a seven-yard catch that got the ball to midfield. Cincinnati then faced a fourth-and-seven at the 47 with the clock stopped at 13 seconds left and went for it. Hudson caught a pass falling to the turf at the 40 and the Bengals used their last timeout with five seconds to go, giving Evan McPherson a chance to try a 58-yard field goal. McPherson pushed it wide right and the teams went into halftime tied at 7-7.

With Wolford now under center, the Bucs got the ball at their 30 after a touchback and Tucker got a total of six yards on a run and a catch. Wolford then converted the third down with a 12-yard completion to Miller. After his next two carries gained a total of eight yards, Tucker got it again on third-and-two and found a wide lane to run through up the middle, breaking into the second level for a gain of 26 down to the Bengals' 18. A sack put the Bucs into a third-and-12 moments later and a carry by rookie RB D.J. Williams got just three, setting McLaughlin up for a 35-yard field goal try. McLaughlin nailed it to give the Bucs' their first lead of the night.

A holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff forced Cincinnati to start at their own 16, and another holding penalty moments later erased a long third-down conversion, making it third-and-16 at the 10. The Bengals ended up punting out of their own end zone and the Bucs got the ball back at their own 43 at the midway point of the third quarter.

The drive went backward at the start, with DT Travis Bell sacking Wolford for a loss of six on the first play. The Bucs couldn't recover and ended up punting it back three plays later. The ball bounced into the end zone for a touchback. Tampa Bay's defense countered with another three-and-out of its own and got the ball again at their own 27.

The first three plays resulted in a fourth-and-one at the 36 and the Bucs elected to go for it, surely wanting some practice in the situation for the regular season. As it turned out, they didn't have to run a play as Bell jumped into the neutral zone, gifting the Bucs five yards and a first down. Two Williams runs made it third-and-one right on the 50-yard line as the third quarter came to an end. After the easiest possible switching of sides, Williams got the handoff headed up the gut but was hit by several Bengals before he even got to the line of scrimmage. The Bucs once again lined up to go for it on fourth-and-one, and this time they did it on their own with a play-action rollout pass to TE Ko Kieft that gained 11. Another rollout pass, this one to the left, saw Wolford hit WR Cody Thompson on the run for a gain of 12 to the Bengals' 30. The rollout spree continued on the next snap as Wolford faked a handoff, spun right and connected with WR Raleigh Webb for 11 more to the 11. After another rollout that turned into a scramble, the Bucs faced third-and-two at the three and Wolford's pass to WR Tanner Knue in the end zone fell incomplete. The Bucs went for it on fourth-and-goal but Wolford's pass was broken up.

That gave the ball back to Cincinnati inside its five with 11 minutes to play, with a false start moving the ball back to the two. Logan Woodside came in at quarterback and gave the Bengals some breathing room with a quick pass out left to rookie WR Jermaine Burton at the eight. A play-action rollout pass to Tanner McLachlan freed the tight end into open space and he rumbled for 24 yards. The Bucs got Cincinnati into a third-and-one moments later and Woodside's pass to Lassiter was too tall, leading to a punt that bounced into the end zone.

The Bucs got one first down after the touchback on a run and catch by Williams that totaled 11 yards. However, WR Cephus Johnson stumbled and fell on a vertical third-down route and Wolford's pass fell incomplete, leading to another punt. Cincinnati got the ball back at their 32 with six minutes to play.

Another holding penalty forced by a Ramirez rush backed the Bengals up 10 yards, but Woodside's pass to RB Elijah Collins was good for 21 yards out to the Bucs' 45. Two plays later, Burton ran an out-and-up and got behind the defense, catching a 37-yard touchdown pass to give Cincinnati the 14-10 lead.

The Bucs responded with the game-winning drive, keyed by a pair of catches by Knue for a total of 29 yards and Jefferson's scramble for 18 yards on a short pass down to the 15. The Bucs were saved on an unsuccessful fourth-down play by a pass-interference call, setting up Jefferson's touchdown on the next play.