Ronald Jones ran for 75 yards./STEVEN MUNCIE
5 Thoughts
1. The Bucs' defense is better. That's the good news. It wasn't just that they held the 49ers' offense to 17 points, they challenged more passes in a day than the Bucs did all last season. Let's count the hands of everyone who missed Brent Grimes. Okay, that's Miko. Anyone else?
2. The Bucs receivers, as hyped as they are, didn't get enough separation Sunday. If it's going to be one of the best units in the league, it needs to play better.
3. I might have been wrong about Ronald Jones. Dirk Koetter might have been, too.
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4. The Bucs will lose as long as they give away possessions and yardage with interceptions and penalties. Doesn't that sound basic?
5. I said six wins. I'm adjusting that to five.
Bruce Arians started his Bucs' career at 0-1./STEVEN MUNCIE
5 Comments
(From Bruce Arians day-after Press Conference)
(On Jameis Winston): "The turnovers — after looking at the film, the biggest problem with the touchdown from the interception was Peyton (Barber) was about three yards too deep on his route. Last night, I thought he was fine, but he was too deep. The ball was thrown perfectly. Mike (Evans) missed his hot (read). Jameis executed the play perfectly and the other two guys let him down. But the one for the screen — that’s just got to be a throwaway — but that other one was not on the quarterback. The other two were not on the quarterback — we dropped one right in our hands — so we’ve got to eliminate those type of plays if we’re going to beat anybody."
(On the receivers): "We can do a better job of running routes, especially all our deep stuff. They did a good job of covering the deep stuff and we can do a better job of running routes, for sure."
(On Ronald Jones): "I don’t know if it could’ve gotten any hotter unless he [would have] run through the last one and scored a couple times, but he was very decisive and there were a lot of holes for him to be decisive in. He was running through arm tackles and that’s exactly what I expected out of him."
(On Winston's third interception): "Yeah, that’s the hardest one to swallow, and I think it was the hardest one for him. Every game is a learning experience. Obviously, there was some plays in there (where he was) not quite knowing the offense well enough yet, to second, third and fourth guys. That goal line play is one that they busted coverage and it was like ‘I didn’t expect him to be open of all people,’ and you’ve got to hit him right now. We could’ve done a better job as [coaches] with the back side of that play to get that safety out of there, so it’s not all on the quarterback — there’s a lot of it that’s on the coaching too, and that’s me because I designed the damn play.”
(On the offensive line): "We’re a tight end to tight end, inside running team, so yeah, Ryan did a heck of a job. Ali (Marpet) had a heck of a ball game. Donovan (Smith) had a heck of a game in the run game also."
William Gholston and the defensive line was okay./STEVEN MUNCIE
5 More Comments
(From Todd Bowles' Press Conference)
(On what stood out for him): “The biggest thing was the effort — we had 11 guys getting to the ball. We made some mistakes, but they covered it up by the effort they showed and that was the biggest thing.”
(On rookie Devin White's performance): “He is a tough guy. Obviously, we had a bug going around last week, but he came back from it. He performed well and that’s all you can ask of him. It says a lot about the character of the guy.”
(On the pass rush): “The ball was coming out quick a lot. They were committed to running the football. Sometimes you have to cover guys and take care of certain things — obviously with [George] Kittle and some of the other guys, not to get beat or fooled by anything. I’m satisfied with the pass rush with the ball coming out as quick as it was.”
(On Vernon Hargreaves): “You like to see them make plays as a whole. We’ve got to get more turnovers because we didn’t win the ballgame. So, we’ve got to get more turnovers and we’ve got to cut down on the penalties. But, Vernon has been healthy all camp and he has had a good training camp and it has carried over into the game.”
(On stopping Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey): “Major – he creates a lot of problems. He had about 200 total yards yesterday (himself) in 343 yards of offense. Again, not just running the ball but catching the ball, as well. He is a great route runner, he has great hands (and) he is probably one of the best all-around backs in the game right now. I don’t think you can stop him with one guy — sometimes not even with two, and he’s not the only guy they have. They are very talented across the board. We’ve just got to play disciplined football.”
Vita Vea helped plug up the middle./STEVEN MUNCIE
5 Interesting Takes
"Vita Vea didn’t offer much as a pass-rusher, but he was a monster in the run game. He dominated the line of scrimmage and was a constant disruptor in the backfield. William Gholston also earned strong marks in run defense alongside Vea."
-- Pro Football Focus
"Vernon Hargreaves III and MJ Stewart both had better games than the score might indicate. Hargreaves had a quality pick-six early in the contest, and Stewart limited mistakes in coverage while standing out in run defense."
-- Pro Football Focus
"Guard Ali Marpet was one of the bigger bright spots in what was an overall ugly performance for the Bucs’ offense. Marpet was fantastic in pass protection and made a handful of impact blocks in the run game."
-- Pro Football Focus
"Second-year USC product Ronald Jones easily had the best game of his young NFL career running behind Marpet & Co. He forced multiple missed tackles on his way to a 13-carry, 75-yard performance."
-- Pro Football Focus
"Rookie off-ball linebacker Devin White had an unspectacular debut. He made little impact in run defense and gave up a handful of plays in coverage."
-- Pro Football Focus
Vernon Hargreaves III after scoring a touchdown./STEVEN MUNCIE
Game Balls
Offense: Let's give it to Jones, who gained almost twice as many yards as he did ub all of last year. He gained 75 yards despite being stuffed a few times.
Defense: Vernon Hargreaves hasn't had a great Bucs' career. But he scored the team's first touchdown when he jumped a pass by Jimmy Garappolo.
Special teams: T.J. Logan had three kickoff returns for 60 yards. It wasn't great for a quiet unit.
Ndamukong Suh stuffs the run./STEVEN MUNCIE
Grades
Quarterback: Let's agree that not all of the interceptions were the fault of Jamies Winston, but he wasn't good. His rating was 45.4, and he waited too late to throw on the two-point conversion. Grade: F.
Running back: I certainly didn't think Ronald Jones would get 75 yards this month. Maybe there is something there. Grade: B.
Offensive line: The run-blocking was better than the pass protection, and there were too darned many penalties. Grade: C+.
Defensive line: It wasn't a great performance. Grade: C.
Linebackers: Lavonte David had seven tackles and Devin White had six. Grade: B.
Secondary: Jimmy Garappolo had one of his lowest rated games, and the Bucs scored a touchdown. Not bad. Grade: A.
Kicking: Bradley Pinion averaged only 21 yards a punt, and Matt Gay didn't have a challenging kick. Grade: D.
Dare Ogunbowale had four catches./STEVEN MUNCIE
5 Unsung Heroes
1. Jerome Whitehead had eight tackles.
2. Dare Ogunbawale caught four passes.
3. Shaq Barrett had the Bucs' only sack.
4. Devin White had six tackles.
5. M.J. Stewart had five tackles.
Cameron Brate had two touchdowns called back./STEVEN MUNCIE
6 Other Forgettable Openers
1976 John McKay 0-20 Houston
1985 Leeman Bennett 28-38 Chicago
1996 Tony Dungy 3-34 Green Bay
2002 Jon Gruden 20-26 New Orleans
2008 Raheem Morris 21-34 Dallas
2014 Lovie Smith 14-20 Carolina
Jameis Winston gets tackled./STEVEN MUNCIE
All-Time Bucs Passing Leaders
1. Jameis Winston, 2014-Pres. 14,821
2. Vinny Testaverde, 1987-92 14,820
3. Josh Freeman, 2009-13 13.534
4. Trent Dilfer, 1994-99 12,969
5. Doug Williams, 1978-82 12,648
Mike Evans had just two catches./STEVEN MUNCIE
5 Sub-50 Games for Winston
2016 Arizona 39.2
2016 Denver 40.1
2019 San Francisco 45.4
2018 New York Giants 47.7
2017 Carolina 49.2
Jameis Winston hopes to rebound against Carolina./STEVEN MUNCIE
Winston's Most Interceptions, Game
2015 Carolina 4
2018 Arizona 4
2018 Cincinnati 4
2016 Dallas 3
2017 Minnesota 3
2018 New Orleans 3
2019 San Fransisco 3
Whitehead (left) and Davis III celebrate after stopping 49ers./STEVEN MUNCIE
5 Random Stats
32. James Winston Quarterback Rating
10. Ronald Jones Rushing
12. Shaq Barrett Sacks
51. O.J. Howard Receptions
28. Bradley Pinion Punting
Fans don't seem to mss McCoy/TIM WIRT
5 Ex-Bucs
1. DeSean Jackson ... Had eight catches for 154 yards and two scores.
2. Ryan Fitzpatrick ... Completed 14 of 39 passes for 185 yards.
3. Gerald McCoy ... Had one tackle for Carolina
4. Kwon Alexander ... Had three tackles for San Francisco before being ejected.
5. Vinny Curry ... Had one tackle for the Eagles.
O.J. Howard had four catches./STEVEN MUNCIE
Looking Ahead
Best Panthers
1. Julius Peppers
2. Steve Smith
3. Luke Kuechly
4. Greg Olson
5. Cam Newton
Bucs have to deal with Cam Newton twice./STEVE MUNCIE
Favorite Panthers
1. Sam Mills
2. Kevin Greene
3. Jake Delhomme
4. Cam Newton
5. Christian McCaffrey
Chris Godwin celebrates a touchdown./STEVEN MUNCIE
Famous Panther Fans
1. Ric Flair
2. Brooklyn Decker
3. Sean Combs
4. Steph Curry
5. Will Smith
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