Week 1 – Atlanta: Most impressive and disappointing

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went out on Sunday in Atlanta in a Georgia Dome that was booming! The Buccaneers did what they had to do to come out with a win. Tampa Bay beat their division rival, the Atlanta Falcons 31-24. The game today showed a new and improved defense led by former Falcons HC Mike Smith. It also showed an offense that was aggressive and kept throwing the ball down the field. However, in every loss there is a positive and in every win there is a negative. Let’s take a look at both.

Impressive:

1. JAMEIS WINSTON: Buccaneers 2nd year quarterback Jameis Winston went into this game prepared after an offseason where he lost a lot of weight. After the first quarter Bucs fans were praying to God that Jameis was not in the middle of the dreaded sophomore slump. Winston did not look good in the first quarter. He was not very accurate and had an interception where he and Vincent Jackson just weren’t on the same page. After that something changed. Winston went on to throw 4 TD’s and help lead the buccaneers to victory. His stat line read: 23/33, 281 yards, 4 TD’s, 1 INT.
2. MIKE EVANS: 3rd year WR Mike Evans was on his game today. Drops were a big part of the Mike Evans story of last season. He cost Tampa a game last year against the Giants (which I was at) where he dropped 9 balls. 9! However, in this game it was a different story. Mike Evans had a couple of nice catches including one beauty for a TD. His stat line read: 5 Rec, 99 yards, 1 TD
3. Roberto Aguayo: Well one of my bold predictions was correct! Bucs rookie kicker Roberto Aguayo was PERFECT in his rookie debut. His stat line read a perfect 5/5 (1 FG,4 XP’s)
4. Gerald McCoy:  I was extremely impressed with the Bucs defensive captain’s performance (did anybody else see that gold “c”) Gerald McCoy acted like he was the team’s best defender as he stepped up and batted down the pass from Matt Ryan on 4th down which ended the game. His stat line read: 3 Tackles, 1 sack
5. KWON ALEXANDER: Kwon Alexander easily had the best game of his life the last time he played the Falcons in Atlanta. This time was no different. Kwon Alexander was Tampa’s best defender today. His stat line read: A whopping 17 total tackles and 1 sack.

Disappointing:

1. Brent Grimes: Some may not agree with this one but I felt Brent Grimes did not look great by any means. Grimes is a gambler. Gamblers win some and Gamblers lose some. I just felt Grimes lost more than he won today.
2. BUCS SAFETIES: I believe that for the Buccaneers safety is the biggest need on the team. It proved it today. I was just overall not impressed with the safeties play.

So that’s it. Not many negatives and that is a good thing. Tampa Bay is now in sole possession of the NFC south lead. Let’s go out and get a W against Arizona next weekend. GO BUCS!