Looking back on the Bucs’ victory over Carolina

Winston was solid for the Bucs./STEVEN MUNCIE

5 Thoughts

1. Jameis Winston threw 25 times Thursday night. That's a good number, because it means the Bucs are trying to run the ball. Counting four Winston scrambles, they ran it 31 times against the Panthers, meaning Winston didn't have to carry the load all by himself. Yippee.

2. The Bucs still miss Jason Pierre-Paul. But they miss him a lot less with Shaq Barrett.

3. I might have been wrong about Vernon Hargreaves.

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4. Just asking, but has anyone missed Brent Grimes lately? I didn't think so.

5. Whatever happened to Gerald McCoy? Was he the guy underneath Ali Marpet?

Arians won his first game as a Buc./JEFFREY S. KING

5 Comments

(From Bruce Arian's Friday press conference)

(On looking back at the victory): “Obviously, watching the film, I was very pleased with how hard we played. There’s this old saying that whoever plays harder the longest will win games – I think that was true in that one. Was it perfect? By no means, but we made enough plays to win the ball game. Game balls – Chris Godwin got one. Obviously, you saw his stats, but he blocked as good as any wide receiver I’ve ever seen in a game, blocking linebackers, defensive ends, safeties — he was a huge part of our running game. Peyton Barber, who I thought ran extremely well. He had the hot hand, we stuck with him and RoJo (Ronald Jones II) stung his toe on that really good run he had, but it was Peyton’s night. Vernon (Hargreaves III) for the game-saving tackle after I screwed up the double timeouts."

(On linebacker Devin White and his injured knee): "So far, it looks like a grade-one, medial MCL [sprain], so it’ll be day-to-day. As strong as he is, I don’t know how much time he’ll miss.”

(On Todd Bowles work with the defense): "I watched him do it in Arizona. We knew we had talent, we knew we had speed here and he’s just an amazing teacher. If you ever had the privilege of being on the headset, he’s calling out the plays before they’re run and telling guys, ‘They’re coming.’ Sometimes, we still don’t stop them, but he’s telling them what’s happening. He’s very sharp."

(On if he thought Shaq Barrett would make such an impact so fast): "Yeah, we were hoping. When we evaluated him, whenever he was in, he flashed. He’s a slippery pass rusher but he’s also got power, so yeah, I think we were hoping that he would give us that and he’s delivered — and he got a game ball, "

(On linebacker Kevin Minter)" "He's the ultimate pro. Playing special teams — and even after he played every single snap on defense [he said], 'I'm not coming off special teams. I'm still staying out here.' Deone Bucannon's the same guy; he did it for Lavonte [David] when Lavonte was down. That inside linebacker depth – Jack [Cichy] came in and made a nice play in that goal-line stuff — it's a good room, a really good room."

McCaffrey struggled for yards.CARMEN MANDATO

5 of the Best Takes

"Newton threw for more than 300 yards, but it did little to camouflage a night in which he was far removed from the superman who once led the Panthers with his arm and legs. His passes were errant, his feet were never a factor and when the game was on the line, he was lined up wide.

"On this humid and dismal Thursday evening in Charlotte, Newton completed 25 of 51 passes for 333 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions (though he had one negated by a penalty) and a lost fumble. It was the first time since the final game of 2017 in which he completed less than 50 percent of his passes. He was also sacked three times."

-- Grant Gordon, NFL.com

Jameis Winston made quite a few impressive throws with pressure bearing down on him and made very few mental mistakes. He did have a few inaccurate passes, with one of those being an underthrow that would have been an interception if Luke Kuechly didn’t drop the errant pass.

-- Pro Football Focus

"For much of the third quarter, Barrett spun, chopped and minced Newton. Barrett’s three sacks — all in the first seven minutes after halftime — set the tone for a 20-14 Bucs victory that leaves the Panthers reeling at 0-2.

-- Rick Bonnell, Charlotte Observer

"If the opening loss was unfortunate, Thursday was inexcusable, a short-week loss to what was supposed to be the worst team in the division. Supposed to be — past tense. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the poker table, you are the sucker. The same is true in the NFC South.The Panthers can’t win with Newton playing like this and they certainly can’t win without him. He may not be right, but this is as healthy as he’s ever going to get.

Maybe that’s why Rivera keeps insisting Newton is fine. The alternative is too grim to contemplate."

-- Luke DeCock, Charlotte Observer

"Here’s the thing: I actually liked the Carolina Panthers’ final play call.

"It’s easy to rip it because it didn’t work as Carolina failed to score on its final drive Thursday night in its 20-14 loss to Tampa Bay – the Panthers’ ninth defeat in their last 10 games.

"But after what we saw in the first week, wouldn’t you take a very healthy Christian McCaffrey in space against a defensive back? With only a half-yard to gain on fourth down?"

-- Scott Fowler

Hargreaves was huge for the Bucs./CARMON MANDATO

Game Balls

Offense: Yes, Jameis Winston was good. But he has had a rating over 100 18 previous times in his career. The guy who kept sticking out was Chris Godwin, who caught eight balls for 121 yards.

Godwin was the Bucs' go-to receiver./JEFFREY S. KING

Grades

Vea helped to control the middle of the line./STEVEN MUNCIE

5 Unsung Heroes

Dungy got off to a slow start with the Bucs./JEFFREY S. KING

Longest Waits to First Win

Gruden started 1-1 the year he won the Super B0wl/JEFFREY S. KING

Best Finishes to 1-1 Starts

Barrett leads the NFL in sacks./TIM WIRT

5 Famous Shacks

Peyton Barber tries to find daylight./TIM WIRT

5 Random Stats

Gay has been good for the Bucs./TIM WIRT

5 Good Newcomers

 

Winston has had good games, too./STEVEN MUNCIE

10 Highest Grading Bucs'Quarterbacks

As a pick, Aguayo was wide left./TRAVIS PENDERGRASS

The Terrible Twos

David was a solid pick for Bucs./TRAVIS PENDERGRASS

5 Good No. 2s