Week 1 Most Impressive: Bucs at Cowboys

The Bucs played stifling defense in Dallas on Sunday Night Football, and that led to an opening day 19-3 win. Tampa Bay’s defense registered four sacks and defensive back Antoine Winfield, Jr. came up with a big interception in the first half. The Bucs leaned on the running game and Leonard Fournette delivered with over 100 yards on the ground. Kicker Ryan Succop accounted for most of Tampa Bay’s points with four field goals on the night as the Bucs kicked off the Todd Bowles era 1-0.

Here were the Most Impressive players from the Bucs’ victory over the Cowboys on Sunday night:

RB Leonard Fournette

Fournette had a pair of 17-yard runs to post his first 100-yard rushing game of the season. Running behind a triple tight end set of Cam Brate, Cade Otton and Ko Kieft, Fournette’s first 17-yard run was a thing of beauty. Fournette had 60 yards rushing in the first half and topped the century mark in the third quarter. The Bucs wanted to lean on their ground game against the Cowboys in part to aid a brand new interior along the offensive line. Fournette finished with 127 yards rushing on 21 carries (6.0 avg.) and two catches for 10 yards.

WR Mike Evans

Evans began the game with a 20-yard catch, followed by a 19-yarder in the first half. In the second half, Evans had catches of 10 and 17 yards in the third quarter before catching a one-handed 5-yard touchdown against Cowboys Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs. That score, which came on a beautiful fade pass from Tom Brady, put the Bucs up 19-3. Evans finished with five catches for 71 yards and a TD.

K Ryan Succop

Ryan Succop connected on his first field goal of the year – a 44-yarder to tie the game at 3-3. He then made his second field goal in the first quarter, a 38-yarder, to give Tampa Bay an early 6-3 lead. But Succop missed his third attempt, a 36-yarder. The veteran kicker bounced back with a 29-yarder and a 47-yarder to give the Bucs a 12-3 lead at halftime. Succop’s extra point following Mike Evans’ touchdown in the third quarter gave the Bucs a 19-3 lead.

DB Antoine Winfield, Jr.

Bucs S Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Shaq Barrett both got great pressure on Dak Prescott, who forced a throw to CeeDee Lamb. Winfield stepped in front of Lamb and Carlton Davis to pick off the pass at the Dallas 38 and return it 15 yards to the Dallas 23. The Pro Bowl defensive back finished with six tackles, a pass breakup and his big interception.

ILB Devin White

White made his presence felt in the second half with his first sack of the season. It came on an A-gap blitz on third-an-6 to get the Cowboys off the field. Safety Mike Edwards came free in the other A gap to force Dak Prescott to step up into the pocket where White was waiting. White beat Tony Pollard on the blitz to get Tampa Bay’s first sack of the night. Then the Pro Bowler lit Pollard up again late in the fourth quarter for a sack of backup QB Cooper Rush. White led the Bucs with eight tackles, two tackles for loss, two QB hits and nearly had a pick-six.

ILB Lavonte David

David started the game hot with three early tackles in the first quarter in addition to a pass breakup that nearly resulted in an interception for the Bucs. He added three more stops in the second half to finish with six, which was tied for second on the team with Winfield.

WR Julio Jones

Bucs WR Julio Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Jones had an impressive debut for the Bucs with three catches for 69 yards. His 48-yarder in the first half was the longest offensive play of the game and showed that the 33-year receiver still has some wheels. Jones was also active in the running game with a pair of end-arounds totaling 17 yards.

WR Chris Godwin

Godwin started the game and had a 24-yard catch-and-run on his first catch of the season. But after two more catches for a total of 11 yards, Godwin departed at the end of the first half with a hamstring injury.

Bucs Coverage Units

After a shaky preseason, Tampa Bay’s special teams coverage units were stellar in Dallas. The Bucs recorded five special teams with K.J. Britt and rookie tight end Cade Otton each having two apiece. Backup safety Keanu Neal had the other stop. Tampa Bay held Dallas return specialist KaVontae Turpin to one punt return for three yards, and an average of 19.3 yards on three kick returns. Turpin’s longest return was just 22 yards.

P Jake Camarda

Camarda’s first NFL punt went 63 yards for a touchback. He actually attempted that first punt three times. Camarda’s first punt was so high it hit the scoreboard hanging over the field at AT&T Stadium. Then his second punt traveled 45 yards, but there was a 5-yard roughing the kicker penalty. That forced yet another punt, which Camarda smashed into the end zone. The rookie punter finished with three punts, averaging 50.7 yards with a 43-yard net. His last two punts were downed inside the 20.

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