Instant Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Drop Preseason Opener to Cincinnati

Despite forcing four turnovers, the Bucs came up short 19-14 to the Bengals in the first game of the NFL preseason.

There's a reason why it's called the preseason. 

Seven total turnovers were forced between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cincinnati Bengals during Saturday night's preseason opener as Cincinnati escaped Raymond James Stadium with a five-point win.

Without their regular starting quarterback Joe Burrow, who was a healthy scratch, the Bengals kicked four successful field goals en route to a 19-14 win over the Bucs to start the preseason.

Turnovers weren't the only issue as both teams racked up 16 penalties for 118 yards.

Bucs quarterback Tom Brady only saw the field for the opening drive of the game, a drive which resulted in him getting sacked by Bengals rookie defensive end Joseph Ossai. In the one drive, Brady went 1-for-2 completing one pass to new Tampa Bay running back Giovani Bernard, who caught the pass and converted 3rd and 8 picking up nine yards. 

The very next play Brady looked to go deep down the field to wide receiver Antonio Brown, but the pass fell incomplete. Brady was then sacked two plays later and the Bucs were forced to punt on the first drive of the preseason.

The Bucs weren't without the ball for long. As the Bengals drove down the field, it appeared as though the team would score on their opening drive. Lavonte David, however, had other plans. On second down at the Tampa Bay 19-yard line, David forced and recovered a Samaji Perine fumble.

Back on offense, backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert took the field once Brady's night was over with. Gabbert was efficient on the drive completing 6-of-11 passes for 64 yards including an 18-yard pass to tight end Tanner Hudson which set up Tampa Bay at the Bengals' two-yard line. Two plays later, running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn punched the ball up the middle for the touchdown.

On the 15-play, 79-yard drive, Gabbert completed three different passes of ten yards or more and the Bucs led 6-0 with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter. Tampa Bay made it seem as though the team was going for two points but at the last moment switched to kick the extra point.

Although the kick from Ryan Succop was good, the refs ruled it no good because the extra point was taken from a shorter distance than allowed. Nonetheless, the team held an early lead as the first quarter of the first preseason game came to a close.

To open the second quarter, Tampa Bay continued to show why its defense is one of the strongest forcing a second fumble of the first half. Bucs rookie linebacker K.J. Britt recovered a fumble forced by cornerback Ross Cockrell.

Ryan Griffin was the third quarterback to play for the Bucs in the preseason opener. Griffin completed a pass to rookie speedster Jaelon Darden for 13 yards to pick up the first down. A few plays later, the Bucs offense stuck on the field for 4th and short, but Griffin came up short as the Bengals forced a turnover on downs midway through the second quarter.

In a strange sequence of events, Bucs cornerback Javon Hagan picked off Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen to force the third turnover, but Bengals wide receiver Michael Thomas forced a fumble and recovered the ball for Cincinnati. The interception-turned fumble kept the Bengals offense on the field late in the second quarter.

After the recovered fumble, the Bengals marched down the field and took the lead before halftime thanks in part to multiple penalties by Tampa Bay. Rooke linebacker Joe Tryon appeared to record his first sack, but he was called for roughing the passer. Then Jamel Dean was flagged for defensive pass interference. The Bengals led 7-6 at the half as Chris Evans scored from two yards out.

In the second half, both teams used a number of second, third, and fourth-stringers as the starters for both squads got the rest of the night off, as is common in the preseason.

Cincinnati came up with an interception of its own, and actually held onto the turnover, as Trayvon Henderson picked off Griffin, who forced a pass into a tight window looking for Tyler Johnson early in the third quarter.

The Bengals converted the turnover into points on the scoreboard as former Florida Gators kicker Evan McPherson nailed a 40-yard field goal extending Cincinnatti's lead to 10-6 over the Bucs with 9:18 left in the third quarter.

Griffin threw a second interception in the third quarter on the next drive in a similar play from the first turnover. Griffin was looking for Jaydon Mickens but a tipped pass ended up in the hands of Bengals safety Kavon Frazier. Like the first interception, Cincinnati scored another field goal this time off the leg of Austin Seibert. The 24-yard kick gave the Bengals a 13-6 lead midway through the third quarter.

Rookie quarterback Kyle Trask made his Bucs debut entering the game at the 7:10 mark of the third quarter but missed on a deep pass intended for Travis Jonsen. On third down, Trask was hit and the pass was incomplete. 

Cincinnati took over on offense and scored a third field goal before the third quarter was finished. The Bengals took up over six minutes on a 12-play, 48-yard drive that resulted in a 31-yard field goal by McPherson. Entering the fourth quarter, the Bengals led by 10 points, 16-6 over Tampa Bay.

Early in the fourth quarter, Bucs linebacker Joseph Jones picked off Bengals quarterback Kyle Shurmur jumping a receiver and scoring a touchdown. On the two-point conversion, Trask connected with tight end Codey McElroy bringing Tampa Bay within two, 16-14, with 11:10 remaining in the game.

Tampa Bay was unable to score the rest of the night as Cincinnati tacked on three more points late in the game after milking the clock. Seibert made his second field goal for the Bengals, a 38-yard kick with 21 seconds left extending the lead to five.

Despite coming back within single digits of the Bengals, the Bucs dropped the preseason opener to Cincinnati in a game that was plagued by turnovers.

Tampa Bay will host the Tennessee Titans next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in hopes of finding themselves on the right side of the scoreboard in their second preseason matchup.