By Robert Mills
ORLANDO, FL – Well, that was a result nobody expected. The Buccaneers looked outmatched and outmanned early on in a 34 to 3 blowout loss to the titans. This now sets the Bucs at 0-2 for preseason and, worse yet, 0-2 at home. I guess we should all tell ourselves, for now, this is still preseason, and making the assumption more starters would play this game was a false statement. Tom Brady did not make an appearance, Joe Tryon got more playtime, and the only O-Lineman to play for the Bucs that will even see playing time in the regular season was Alex Cappa. Let’s break down this game a bit and what we should see moving forward.
Backups reigned supreme yet again in this game, unfortunately not in a perfect way. We got to see fewer projected starters for the regular season in this game and more 3rd strings and potential cut players. This includes players like CB Dee Delaney, CB Chris Wilcox, and RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who could be said are “fighting for a spot” to remain from being on the cut list come time for the regular season. Dee Delaney specifically had a rather rough outing missing some key tackles, though that was just one tick in a long list of issues the Buccaneers had this game. Shawn Vaughn also struggled greatly, averaging 2 yards per carry on nine attempts for 18 yards overall. The silver lining to the backup struggles was getting to see a lot more Kyle Trask. I was pleased to say I was wrong about how they planned to use him for preseason, and he had an okay outing again for this game (13/26, 131 yards, two ints, one fumble). The stats don’t tell the whole story as both of his interceptions were off-tipped passes, and a brilliant pass to the tight end late in the 3rd quarter resulted in a fumble and returned for a TD for the Titans.
Finding the silver linings in this game would be getting to see more TE O.J Howard (24 yards, three rec.) as he is still limited coming back from his back injury that occurred back in early August. Good to see him coming back as he played an essential role in the 2020 super bowl run. And once again, LB Joe Tryon will be talked about in this game. He was able to take 22 snaps for this game, and one of those snaps, he put some impressive moves on the OLB Dillon Radunz of the Titans and sack Matt Barkley in the dying seconds of the first half pushed titans out of field goal range. However, that was a short-lived celebration as the Titans made the 58-yard field goal.
It’s safe to say nobody wants to remember this game. We will see how the Buccaneers plan to creatively use their backups and 3rd stringers for their 3rd and final preseason game against the Texans Saturday at 7 pm in Houston. I want to predict more starters will play, but I was wrong last week, and it’s hard to say what they plan to do.
The Sports Insanity Network 