Sunday, 4 a.m.
If it meant anything, it didn’t mean much. But the Tampa Bay Bucs will say this about their first preseason game of the year.
Winning beats losing.
True, most of the players who will do most of the playing sat out Saturday night’s 17-14 preseason victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. None of the plays are going to make the season highlight film. Still, as preseason openers go, there were clues that are going to make Bucs’ fans happy.
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— Comebacks are good. Third-team quarterback John Wolford led the Bucs 69 yards for the winning score with 55 seconds to play. Ramon Jefferson scored from the 3 for the winning score, just after the Bengals’ Lance Robinson was called for pass interference on a fourth-and-12 incompletion.
— Defensive stands are good. After a long completion gave the Bengals first down at the Bucs’ 24 with 41 seconds to play, the Bucs held Cincinnati short of a firsy down.
— Rookies are promising. Graham Barton saw plenty of action at center. Running back Bucky Irving averaged 4.7 yards a carry. Receiver Jalen McMillan caught two passes for 33 yards. Defensive back Tykee Smith had five tackles. In other words, there were pretty good stops forward.
— Depth is good. Backup quarterback Kyle Trask looked poised. He hit 12 of 20 passes and led the Bucs on a touchdown drive. He did throw an interception.
— Steps forwards. The team rushed for 136 yards. In the last couple of years, that would have been a cause for dancing.
Again, it’s the preseason. Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and the guys watched. But the Bengals are a good team. After Joe Burrow led his team to an early touchdown, the Bengals didn’t do much.
The Bucs now travel to Jacksonville for a 7:30 p.m. game on Saturday night.