The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Tennessee Titans, 42-14, Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, beginning the 2015 season at 0-1. Here are some of the more notable statistics and milestones from Sunday's game:
While the Buccaneers were not pleased with many aspects of their season-opening loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, they did see tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, widely-regarded as a breakout candidate in 2015, get his second NFL season off to a good start. Seferian-Jenkins caught five passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns, leading all players in the game in all three categories.
Seferian-Jenkins was the first Tampa Bay tight end to score twice in a single game in five seasons, as it was last accomplished by Kellen Winslow against Seattle on December 26, 2010. Seferian-Jenkins 110 yards were also the most by a Buc TE since Winslow had 132 at Green Bay on December 12, 2010. And to complete the Seferian-Jenkins/Winslow trifecta, the former's 41-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter was the longest by a Buc tight end since the latter also had a 41-yard score at Washington on December 12, 2010.
Seferian-Jenkins is not the first Buccaneer tight end to catch two touchdown passes on opening day, however, Alex Smith did the same thing in his first NFL game, scoring twice at Minnesota on September 11, 2005. Ring of Honor member Jimmie Giles holds the team record for players at all positions with four touchdown catches in one game, a feat he accomplished in a wild shootout in Miami on October 20, 1984. Still, Sunday's performance by Seferian-Jenkins marks just the 12th time a Tampa Bay tight end has caught multiple touchdown passes in a single game. Here's the list:
Player |
Date |
Opp. |
Rec. |
Yards |
TDs |
Jimmie Giles |
10/20/1985 |
MIA |
7 |
116 |
4 |
Austin Seferian-Jenkins |
9/13/2015 |
TEN |
5 |
110 |
2 |
Kellen Winslow |
12/26/2010 |
SEA |
7 |
98 |
2 |
Kellen Winslow |
10/11/2009 |
PHI |
9 |
102 |
2 |
Jerramy Stevens |
12/23/2007 |
SF |
4 |
73 |
2 |
Alex Smith |
10/7/2007 |
IND |
2 |
6 |
2 |
Alex Smith |
9/11/2005 |
MIN |
4 |
34 |
2 |
Todd Yoder |
10/12/2003 |
WAS |
4 |
28 |
2 |
Jimmie Giles |
11/3/1985 |
NYG |
3 |
56 |
2 |
Jerry Bell |
12/16/1984 |
NYJ |
3 |
47 |
2 |
Jimmie Giles |
1/2/1983 |
CHI |
3 |
75 |
2 |
Jimmie Giles |
9/7/1980 |
CIN |
3 |
62 |
2 |
Jenkins is the first Buccaneer at any position to catch two touchdown passes in a Week One game since Smith's debut in 2005. It is only the fifth time a Tampa Bay player has hauled in a pair of scoring passes on opening day. In addition to Seferian-Jenkins and Smith, that feat was accomplished by WR Gerald Carter (vs. Atlanta, 9/13/87), Giles (at Cincinnati, 9/7/80) and WR Joe Jurevicius (at Philadelphia, 9/8/03).
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DT Gerald McCoy recorded one of the Buccaneers' two sacks of QB Marcus Mariota on Sunday. It was McCoy's first sack of the season, obviously, but it also gave him 7.5 QB takedowns in his last nine games played. McCoy missed the last two games of the 2014 season due to injury, robbing him of a chance to hit double digits in sacks for the first time. McCoy finished with 8.5 in 2014 after recording 9.5 sacks in 2013.
Even though he's still chasing that elusive 10th sack in a season, McCoy is rapidly moving up the team's career chart in that category. His sack on Sunday was the 28th of his career, moving him into a tie with Ronde Barber for seventh place. He needs five more sacks to catch Brad Culpepper in the sixth spot, and he could conceivably move as high as 10th before the 2015 campaign is over. Here are the top 10 sack producers in Buccaneer annals:
*Player, Seasons * |
Sacks |
|
78.5 |
|
77.0 |
|
69.5 |
|
39.0 |
|
34.5 |
|
33.0 |
7t. Ronde Barber, 1997-2012 |
28.0 |
7t. Gerald McCoy, 2010-Present |
28.0 |
|
26.5 |
|
26.0 |
While Barber's presence as a cornerback sticks out on that list (and is an impressive part of his Hall of Fame-worthy resume), the other notable thing about the Bucs' top 10 is how many of them are or were defensive tackles. While Selmon and Rice played end, Sapp, Logan, Culpepper and McCoy were all defensive tackles exclusively while Ahanotu played both positions during his career.
McCoy recorded five sacks en route to his first of three consecutive Pro Bowls in 2012. Since the start of that season, he has more sacks than any other defensive tackle in the NFL. Here is the star-studded top five on that list:
Player, Team |
*2012-15 Sacks * |
1. Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay |
24.0 |
|
23.0 |
|
22.5* |
|
22.0 |
|
21.0 |
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Lavonte David, McCoy's running mate at the heart of the Bucs' defense, also pulled off one of his signature defensive moves when he forced a fumble by running back Terrance West in the fourth quarter. The loose ball was recovered by DT Henry Melton.
David had four forced fumbles last season, which means he now has five of them across the 2014 and 2015 campaigns. That's tied for the most in the NFL in that span with the totals posted by Kansas City LB Justin Houston, Washington LB Ryan Kerrigan and St. Louis DE Robert Quinn. Quinn is, obviously, primarily a pass-rusher as a 4-3 defensive end, while Houston and Kerrigan are both outside linebackers in a 3-4, which means they also invade the backfield frequently.
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WR Vincent Jackson played in and started his 49th consecutive game as a Buccaneer on Sunday; he has not missed a game or a start since signing a five-year contract with the team as an unrestricted free agent during the 2012 offseason. Jackson has the longest active streak of both games played and starts of any player on the Bucs' current roster. Guard Logan Mankins is second in both categories, with 37 each.
Jackson carried over a streak of games and starts from his time with the San Diego Chargers, so his overall runs in both categories stand at 69. That's the longest active streak of games started for any receiver in the NFL. It's also the second-longest streak of starts by a wide receiver in the Buccaneers' four-decade history. The only wideout to start more games in a row for Tampa Bay was Kevin House, who opened the last 80 games of his Buccaneers career from 1981-86.
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Unsurprisingly, the first game of the season was a day of firsts in a number of other ways, as well. For instance, defensive end George Johnson recorded the first start of his NFL career when he opened the game at left defensive end.
Six rookies also saw their first NFL regular-season action: LB Kwon Alexander, K Kyle Brindza, WR Adam Humphries, G Ali Marpet, T Donovan Smith, QB Jameis Winston. First-year punter Jacob Schum also made his regular-season debut, recording excellent gross (47.0) and net (43.5) averages on four punts.
Alexander, Marpet, Smith and Winston were all in for the first play for their side, Alexander on defense and the other three on offense. That marked the first time in franchise history that four members of the same draft class started their rookie-season openers together.