Biggest Takeaways from Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Week 8 Win

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers bounced back from a deflating Week 7 loss with a 23-20 overtime victory against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, giving them more wins already this year than they had in 2014.

Four turnovers helped the Bucs get a huge road win against a division opponent, giving the Bucs a 2-1 record against NFC South foes and restoring some positive momentum and morale to a locker room in desperate need of both after their late-game collapse the week before.

The Bucs showed plenty of bright spots in Sunday's win, but there's still room for improvement in many areas, particularly on defense.

Let's take a look at what we learned about the Bucs this week.

Bucs Have Found Missing Piece in Alexander

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Last year—the team's first under head coach Lovie Smith—the Bucs were missing a central piece from their Tampa 2-based defense: a playmaker at middle linebacker with freakish athletic ability and instincts to match.

It appears they may have found that player in rookie Kwon Alexander.

Playing with a heavy heart on Sunday following the death of his teenage brother just days before, Alexander set the tone for Tampa Bay's big win with 11 total tackles and two takeaways, with a third being called back due to a penalty.

Fellow rookie Jameis Winston spoke after the game about how much respect he and the rest of the team have for their teammate, per ESPN.com:

"

When you're doing something for a purpose, family is a strong thing. When something happens to your family and you're a true man and you go out and represent for your family like that, that just says a lot. Everybody in that locker room has tremendous respect for the man that he is. For him to be a rookie is even more amazing. That's my brother.

"

Alexander showed truckloads of passion and emotion on Sunday, and the team clearly rallied around him. Not only did he show incredible mental toughness to perform at such a high level under such emotional circumstances, he proved he's got exactly what the Bucs need in their defensive quarterback.

Secondary Still Needs Plenty of Work

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Tampa Bay's defense came up with big plays when they needed them on Sunday, but they still left much to be desired in between, particularly when it came to defending the pass.

The Bucs gave up nearly 500 yards of total offense to the Falcons, with almost 400 of those yards coming through the air. Even with the return of top cover man Johnthan Banks from injury last week, the Bucs have given up 300 or more passing yards in three straight games now, even though they still managed to win two of them.

Quick slants have been particularly difficult for the Bucs to stop so far this season, as they've allowed opposing offenses to pick them apart with one of the easiest throws possible. They won't get bailed out by a deluge of turnovers every week, so they'd better figure out their issues soon if they want to remain competitive throughout the second half of the season.

Winston's Slow but Steady Improvement Continues

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Another week, another small step forward in the progression of rookie quarterback Jameis Winston.

He wasn't perfect on Sunday, but this year's top overall draft pick again put the Bucs in position to win the game, making clutch plays and avoiding costly mistakes. Since throwing four interceptions in a Week 4 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Winston hasn't turned the ball over a single time, while accounting for five touchdowns—one rushing—over that stretch.

Winston still has room for improvement, struggling at times with accuracy and decision-making again this week, but it's clear the arrow continues to point up on a weekly basis for the young signal-caller.

Consistency Still Elusive for Pass Rush

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The Bucs are getting sporadic success from their front four, but Sunday's performance was just another example of their inconsistent nature so far this season.

Coming away with only one sack was a big reason why the Bucs allowed nearly 400 passing yards to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan this week, as they failed to collapse the pocket regularly and allowed him to pick apart the secondary.

The Bucs rank near the middle of the league with 17 sacks on the year, but 10 of them came in their first two wins of the season, leaving just seven spread out over their other five games.

Recent practice-squad promotion Howard Jones had the team's only sack on Sunday, forcing a fumble on the play that was recovered by Atlanta. They did come up with a big play on the most important play of the game—pressuring Ryan into an errant throw on fourth down that sealed the overtime win—but they need to get after the quarterback more regularly if they want to have sustained success on defense moving forward.

Barth Proving Bucs Should Never Have Let Him Go

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Oh, what could have been.

With kicking woes costing the Bucs a potential 17 points over a two-week stretch early in the season, it's hard not to imagine what Tampa Bay's record could be had they kept veteran Connor Barth instead of handing the job to inexperienced newcomer Kyle Brindza.

Since he returned to the team prior to their Week 5 home win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Barth has been a perfect 9-of-9 on field goals and 8-of-8 on extra points. He's also handling the kickoff duties successfully, having landed two-thirds of his attempts in the end zone for touchbacks.

It's painful to look back at those early-season struggles, but moving forward, Bucs fans should just be grateful they appear to have their kicking situation locked down by a reliable, consistent veteran.