The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-1 after a 33-27 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and while there’s plenty of bad to talk about from Sunday’s game, there are also some bright spots worth highlighting.

From Buccaneers rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter’s historic debut to Baker Mayfield’s fumble-plagued afternoon, let’s go ahead and break it all down.

Winners

LB Josiah Trotter

The brightest spot from the entire game was rookie second-round pick linebacker Josiah Trotter out of Missouri. Trotter was absolutely sensational: 10 total tackles, a sack, a pick-6, two tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, and a pass deflection. He even had a special teams tackle on a kick return. The dude was not only everywhere – he made NFL history, as well.

Per ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Trotter is the first NFL rookie to ever record a pick-six and a sack in his debut since sacks became an official stat in 1982.

At one point, the Buccaneers communications department also noted that Trotter had tied Buccaneers legend Derrick Brooks and former third-round pick Mason Foster for the most tackles in a rookie debut at seven before surpassing that mark.

Trotter was the antithesis to Alex Anzalone in this game, and it was a relief to see No. 45 flying around and making plays in responsible fashion. The arrow is only pointing up. If Tampa Bay can get even 70% of this kind of performance from Trotter on a weekly basis, that second level is going to be in pretty good shape. Even with the concerns surrounding Anzalone.

WR Emeka Egbuka

Emeka Egbuka finished with five receptions for a team-leading 63 yards, 3 first downs, and a respectable 1.97 yards per route run per PFF. All of those stats came on 6 targets, and the one target he didn’t haul in was underthrown by Baker Mayfield. If Mayfield puts that early first-quarter deep ball on point, Egbuka goes over 100 yards.

He showed a lot of craftiness with his routes and caught the ball every time it was thrown accurately. The Buccaneers need Egbuka to step up and be that No. 1 receiver this year, and so far he’s looking like he’s going to be that guy.

RB Bucky Irving

Irving finished with 15 total touches for 93 yards and a touchdown, adding a team-leading 7 receptions. He looked like his old self from 2024: shifty, making cuts on a dime, breaking tackles. Yes, the fumble was bad and there was no reason he should have been fighting for those extra yards on a play where he wasn’t going to get the first down anyway.

But overall, Irving looked spry, and that’s great news for a Buccaneers rushing attack that needs him to create something out of nothing when the offensive line struggles.

CB Benjamin Morrison/Buccaneers secondary

When you hold Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to a combined 5 receptions for 71 yards on 10 targets, that’s a successful day. Benjamin Morrison finished with four tackles, one tackle for loss, and a pass breakup. Yes, he allowed a big catch and run to Higgins, but corners give up big plays from time to time. Derek Stingley does it. Sauce Gardner does it. It happens.

The secondary as a whole, with contributions from Zyon McCollum and Jacob Parrish before Parrish’s injury, subverted a lot of the doubts surrounding the group. That’s encouraging heading into Week 2.

Losers

QB Baker Mayfield

Three fumbles are what defined Mayfield’s day and what landed him on this list.

He was trying way too hard on all three plays and the fumble at the goal line simply cannot happen. Mayfield talked after the game about ball security, keeping it high and tight, and he acknowledged the mistakes. He even admitted he could have thrown it at Bucky Irving’s feet on the final sack or launched it downfield to avoid intentional grounding.

This was one of the Buccaneers’ biggest concerns during contract negotiations: Mayfield using his body too much and trying to play superhero when the game situation doesn’t call for it. There’s a difference between fighting for extra yards when you’re down in the fourth quarter and doing it in the first half when the risk far outweighs the reward. Mayfield has to compartmentalize, read the game moment, and realize he doesn’t have to be Superman on every play.

LB Alex Anzalone

If this is what Tampa Bay is going to see from Anzalone on a weekly basis, the Buccaneers’ second level is in trouble, even with Trotter’s promise.

Anzalone looked like he was running on an ice rink, slipping probably six or seven times while trying to make plays. He missed roughly 3 tackles right off the bat. And there’s a strong chance he was responsible for Mike Gesicki’s touchdown catch. Todd Bowles said after the game they were in zone coverage and somebody should have been there. When reviewing the play, it’s easy to make a case that Anzalone is the guy who missed the assignment.

For the player wearing the green dot on arguably the most important position in Bowles’ defense, busted coverages and missed tackles cannot happen. He’s a veteran. He knows what he needs to fix. But you cannot be impressed with anything Anzalone did on Sunday.

Buccaneers’ pass rush

The Buccaneers’ four-man pass rush was nonexistent. Bowles tried it for the first half and it didn’t work, so he moved to more blitzes in the second half. That didn’t work, either. Joe Burrow was pressured only 8 times on 37 dropbacks, which comes out to a 21.6% pressure rate. He was only sacked once. That’s not going to cut it against a top quarterback or even mid-range quarterbacks.

Rueben Bain Jr. recorded zero pressures on 24 pass rush snaps per PFF. Calijah Kancey led the way with four pressures, and Al-Quadin Muhammad came in second with two. After those two, nobody recorded more than one pressure.

For a defensive line and outside linebacker group everyone expected to be deep and productive, this was a letdown against a Bengals offensive line that still isn’t a top-10 unit.

Buccaneers offensive line

The Buccaneers’ offensive line allowed four sacks, and Mayfield was pressured on 38.9% of his dropbacks per NextGenStats. Tristan Wirfs talked about the disappointment after the game, saying they’ve got to step it up. Wirfs himself had a couple of penalties, including false starts.

The run game showed some pop when Tampa Bay could actually commit to it, but the game script forced the Bucs away from the ground attack after falling behind 21-3. Irving and Kenneth Gainwell combined for roughly 13 carries on the day. That’s not enough, but obviously the game flow factored into that more than anything.

On the interior, Cody Mauch struggled with Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence on most snaps. This group is supposed to be a top-3 to top-5 unit when healthy, and it looked nothing like that on Sunday.

Mayfield said it himself: this offense is only going to go as far as the offensive line can take them. It all starts with getting that fixed in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns.

Final Word

Overall, it was a rough debut for the Buccaneers, but there are areas to build on. Not everything was bad and I’m sure the game is totally different if even just half of the turnovers are cancelled out.

The Buccaneers have a great opportunity to bounce back and respond against the Browns at home this weekend. We’ll see if they do just that or if we see more of the same from Week 1.