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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

What You Need to Know About the Bucs Preseason Opponents

The NFL announced the preseason schedule for all 32 teams on Tuesday and the Buccaneers are slated to face off against the Steelers, Dolphins, Browns and Cowboys prior to the beginning of the 2019 regular season.

Schedule-Release-Preseason-Final

Week 1 @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Aug. 9

-The last time these two teams tangled was Week Three of last season when the Buccaneers hosted the Steelers on Monday Night Football. It was a close game featuring a second-half comeback by the Bucs that fell just shy of the victory, the game ending with a 30-27 final score. It was the Bucs' first loss of the season.

-This will be just the second time the Bucs and Steelers will meet in the preseason. The last time was in Tony Dungy's first year as head coach in 1996. Dungy had also been a coach with the Steelers prior to his position with the Bucs, just like current head coach Bruce Arians (thanks to Scott Smith for that little tidbit).

-It means Arians will make his Bucs' head coaching debut at Heinz Field, where he was the offensive coordinator of the Steelers from 2007-2011 and the wide receivers' coach before that.

Week 2 vs. Miami Dolphins

Aug. 15-19

-The Buccaneers will hold joint practices with the Miami Dolphins here at AdventHealth Training Center in the week leading up to it the game.

-This will mark the second consecutive year the Buccaneers will play the Dolphins in the preseason and the 32nd time in the last 44 seasons. Last year the Bucs won on the road in Miami during Week One.

-The Bucs will see a familiar face in quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick who is now on the roster for the Dolphins. Fitzpatrick was the Bucs' backup quarterback for the past two seasons and will presumably be competing for the starting job in Miami for 2019.

Week 3 vs. Cleveland Browns

Aug. 22-25

-Perhaps no one has been more active this offseason than the Cleveland Browns. Not only do they have a new coaching staff, but they now boast a receiver corps that added Odell Beckham Jr. from the Giants in a blockbuster trade.

-The matchup will mean a reunion for the Bucs' offensive players with former offensive coordinator Todd Monken now in the same role in Cleveland directing that group of receivers.

-This will be the fourth time in five seasons that the two teams will meet in the preseason. The only year they didn't was this past season in 2018. The Browns instead came to town in Week Seven of the regular season and suffered an overtime loss at the hands of the Buccaneers and Chandler Catanzaro's 59-yard field goal, a Bucs Raymond James Stadium record.

Week 4 @ Dallas Cowboys

Aug. 29-30

-This will be the first time the Buccaneers and Cowboys will meet in the preseason.

-The last time the teams met in the regular season was this past year in Week 16. The Buccaneers lost another close game on the road, 27-20. It was the second time in three years the Buccaneers and Cowboys had played in Dallas.

View the top photos from the four teams the Buccaneers will face in the 2019 preseason.

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