Those Jerseys sure looked nice, didn’t they? The Bucs were finally able to play an actual football game for the first time in about 8 months. This week was a Bengals experiemtn that ended, ultimately, in failure. Now, a reminder that this was a preseason game and a game that did not count. The Bucs dropped this game to the Bengals by a score of 23-12 but there are a ton of positives and lessons to gain from this. Now that we have that out of the way lets see what I thought about the game.
That Starting Offense is gonna be scary good
The Main focus of the offseason was getting weapons for QB Jameis Winston. The team went out and signed Desean Jackson and drafted OJ Howard as well. Life was surely easier for Mr. Winston on Friday night. Winston looked calm, cool, and collected as he lead the Bucs on a 94-yard opening drive that resulted in a field goal. Winston hit Mike Evans and Cameron Brate for a couple of nice completions. It is surely nice to see so many weapons for the defense to be worried about all on the field at the same time. Going to be a fun year with this offense.
Vern the Ball Hawk!
Bucs 2nd year corner Vernon Hargreaves showed flashes at times during his rookie season but sometimes looked scared to make the play that needed to be made. Hargreaves made being more aggressive in year two a priority of his and he showed us a little of what he has been working on in this game. He picked off an Andy Dalton pass that would have been a Touchdown had Hargreaves not made a wonderful play. Everything about the play was perfect, the back pedals, the quickness, the pursuit of the ball and being able to make a great catch and keep his feet in bounds. Let’s hope we see more of this from Vernon when the Bucs start playing actual football games.
Roberto is on his last leg
When the Bucs drafted FSU great Roberto Aguayo in the second round it left many people shocked. It left, even more people shocked when he had one of the worst rookie seasons a kicker has ever had in 2016. The team brought in veteran Nick Folk to compete with him and oh boy it has not worked out in Aguayo’s favor. Aguayo went out and kicked one that clunked off the upright and was no good. Nick Folk then got an opportunity at a field goal and he made it. Aguayo then got an opportunity to kick a 47 yarder and he missed it wide right. Aguayo now has to almost be perfect these next couple of games or hope that Nick Folk misses some easy ones. Either way, things are not looking up for the FSU product.
Final Thoughts
Look, the preseason will not determine what the Bucs will do this season. Just because the Bucs lost does not mean they will go 4-12. Instead, the preseason is a learning experience and one that will help the Bucs. The tackling needs to get better, the depth on this team has to improve. The only one who may have cost themselves a job in this game was Roberto Aguayo and even he will get a chance. The Bucs are back at it next week in Jacksonville, the only thing that matters in these games is that the players learn from their mistakes and stay relatively healthy. Thanks for reading and GO BUCS!
Evan Wanish
16 year old with aspirations of becoming a writer or contributor to some form of media. I have been a Bucs fan my whole life and have followed the team's every move. My goal is to develop as a writer as this is what I would like to do as a career when I get older. I hope to become one of the best writers here, at the end of the day the WTB team is one family and we are glad to have you visiting the website. I hope that everyone enjoys the content myself and the rest of our great writers are able to put out. I would also like to thank Derek 'Old School' Fournier for giving me the platform and helping me in taking the first step to writing and covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. GO BUCS!
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