Tampa Bay Buccaneers Make Key Improvements Across the Board in Preseason Week 2

It may be just the preseason, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still accomplished something they failed to all season last year: They won a home game.

After struggling last week in a 26-16 road loss to the Minnesota Vikings with many of the same issues that plagued them throughout the 2014 season, the Bucs showed significant improvement in Monday's 25-11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bucs saw weaknesses on both sides of the ball last week, from their rookie starting quarterback trying to shake off the nerves of his first NFL game to a work-in-progress offensive line and a nonexistent pass rush. But all three of those phases saw a big jump in this week’s victory.

After stumbling through the first few series against the Vikings, Tampa Bay came out firing on all cylinders in its preseason home opener. Rookie quarterback Jameis Winston marched the Bucs offense down the field on an 80-yard touchdown drive to start the game, capping it off with his second rushing touchdown in as many games.

In last week’s loss, Winston looked shaky and uncomfortable in the early going, adjusting to his first live game action against an NFL opponent. But the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft flipped the script this week, looking calm and collected as he moved the offense down the field with impressive throws, quality decision-making and effective pocket awareness.

Winston completed eight of his 13 passes for 90 yards on the night, leaving the game in the second quarter after a defender rolled under his ankle during a sack.

Winston’s accuracy was all over the place last week, but he was a model of precision, for the most part, against the Bengals on Monday night, hitting receivers with crisp intermediate throws and fitting multiple passes into tight spaces.

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The rookie wasn’t without his faults—he struggled with rushing throws when faced with A-gap pressure—but he showed marked improvement over last week’s performance, which is all anyone can ask of a rookie quarterback expected to start from Day 1.

The offensive line had an up-and-down performance in Monday’s win, but there were some bright spots for Tampa Bay’s weakest unit.

The Bucs started four offensive linemen who have never made a regular-season NFL start, and they did a decent job of protecting Winston and opening up holes for Doug Martin in the running game on the first few possessions.

Rookie Donovan Smith started at left tackle and took a step forward from last week’s effort with a decent showing against some quality Bengals pass-rushers, while Jeremiah Warren played at center in place of the injured Evan Smith (groin).

The unit had some ugly moments as well—unsurprisingly among them, another errant snap from Garrett Gilkey at center—but Monday night’s performance was a step in the right direction for a struggling unit that is already without its best member in right tackle Demar Dotson (knee).

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

The Tampa 2 defense is predicated on getting consistent pressure with the front four and creating takeaways, two things the Bucs failed to do much of in 2014. They did force three turnovers in last week’s game, but none came from the starting unit—and the lack of a pass rush was apparent yet again.

This week was a different story for the starters, as they bagged three sacks and three takeaways before halftime, including a pick-six from veteran cornerback Alterraun Verner. Safety Bradley McDougald had an impressive interception and return deep into Bengals territory, while cornerback Mike Jenkins forced a fumble into the hands of linebacker Bruce Carter.

To get after the quarterback, the Bucs effectively executed multiple blitz packages, with defensive ends Larry English and George Johnson each bagging a sack, while Johnson also shared one with All-Pro defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.

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By the end of the night, the Bucs had dominated a playoff team in nearly every imaginable way. Tampa Bay racked up 356 yards of offense to Cincinnati’s 152 and 25 first downs to the Bengals’ 13. The Bucs possessed the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game and didn’t turn the ball over once.

The Bucs still need to improve on plenty of areas, especially in the penalty department, where they racked up 153 yards on 14 infractions. But this game was full of forward motion across many areas that did not see it in last week’s loss, giving Bucs fans plenty of reasons to hope the team can bounce back from last year’s dismal 2-14 record.

It’s only one preseason game, but it’s the first time the Bucs have lit the cannons at Raymond James Stadium with a home victory in over a year—and there’s reason to cheer for the Pewter Pirates and their fans for the moment.

All stats courtesy of NFL.com.

Luke Easterling is a Featured Columnist covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NFL Draft for Bleacher Report. He is also a Senior NFL Draft Analyst for Draft Breakdown. Follow him on Twitter @Luke Easterling.