The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicked off their 2024 preseason slate with a 17-14 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Saturday evening. In a back-and-forth battle, first-year running back Ramon Jefferson capped off the win with a three-yard rushing plow up the middle with less than a minute in regulation. The Bucs responded to the Bengals in a thrilling final four minutes, in which John Wolford engineered a successful two-minute drill to put Tampa Bay in the win column.
"I thought they responded well," described 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."
Offensive Balance
The Buccaneers ran for 136 yards and averaged 4.3 per carry on the night, with second-year back Sean Tucker spearheading the unit with 68 yards on 10 carries. Tucker helped set the tone with the longest run of the day. On a split zone run, with the offensive line zone blocking in one direction, Tucker came across the formation and picked up 26 yards following a lethal cut. Rookie Bucky Irving finished with 28 rushing yards on six carries and a touchdown. Late in the first quarter, Irving capped off an eight-play, 77-yard drive with a five-yard rush up the middle.
"I think the biggest thing is they're getting downhill," said Bowles. "Nobody is dancing back there like they were in the past. They understand where the holes are a little better and they've gotten a year to mature – at least Sean does, Bucky is a natural runner like that. They're recognizing the holes and they're doing a good job in practice of seeing where it has to be and they're exploding through it."
Quarterback Kyle Trask, who got the initial start in place of starter Baker Mayfield, played the entire first half and led the Buccaneers' first touchdown drive on their second possession. Tampa Bay scored on their first drive against the Bengals' reserves, as Trask went five-of-seven for 68 yards on a touchdown drive that culminated in Irving's five-yard cutback dash. John Wolford immediately drove the Bucs on a 53-yard field goal drive that was highlighted by Tucker's 26-yard run down to the Bengals' 18. Chase McLaughlin gave the Bucs their first lead of the night with a 35-yard field goal and Wolford concluded the matchup completing 12 of 18 attempts for 131 yards.
Defensive Outlook
The Buccaneers gave up a first-drive touchdown to Joe Burrow and the Bengals' first-team offense but only surrendered 215 yards throughout the remainder of the game. Tampa Bay's defense allowed just 46 total yards on the Bengals' other five possessions of the first half. Inside linebacker J.J. Russell led the unit with seven tackles and a pass defensed, and cornerback Keenan Isaac produced the Bucs' lone takeaway of the game with a second-quarter interception. Safety Kaevon Merriweather started the game and made two significant splash plays in the early frame, with a breakup of a deep lob in the end zone and a timely tackle for loss on the opening drive. Both garnered praise from Bowles on Sunday morning via zoom.
"I thought they both did a good job," noted Bowles. "Merriweather flew around. He kind of fit in the run game where [he was] needed. He was active. J.J. was exactly the same – he tackled well in space, he took his drops, and he commanded the unit, which is what I wanted to see."
