Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4 Observations from Week 1 loss to 49ers
The defense had quite the day
Ignore the 31-17 final score. Two of those scores were off pick-sixes by the San Francisco defense and the first field goal by Robbie Gould was a gimme due to a short field. Other than the 39-yard touchdown pass from Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to receiver Richie James Jr. and a couple penalties, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ unit had an excellent game.
They kept the Buccaneers in the game right to the very end. Safety Jordan Whitehead led the team with eight combined tackles (seven solo), while inside linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White had seven and six combined tackles each.
Edge rusher Shaq Barrett had his first sack in red and pewter and cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III had the Bucs’ first touchdown of the year after returning a Garoppolo pass 15 yards for the score. Defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh also made his presence felt, racking up four tackles and a tackle for loss.
The thing the defense needs to improve on the most is getting home with their pressure. There were quite a few times where they hurried Garoppolo but couldn’t quite get home. However, that should change in time. All in all, a very good debut for Bowles and his unit.
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Despite the rough decisions by Winston, eight penalties and other miscues, there were definitely bright spots in the loss to San Francisco. Now with a short week coming up, Arians and his staff need to right the ship in a hurry. The team has struggled in Carolina the past few seasons, and they cannot afford to drop this game to a divisional opponent.
We shall see come Thursday night if the team can learn from the mistakes that led to their 0-1 start.