The Cleveland Browns came in to Tampa Bay and foiled the Buccaneers dress rehearsal on Saturday night. Though there were a plethora of starters out for the game, those who did participant had their highs and lows. These were our low lights from the loss.

Pass Rush

This was a trend that we started to notice in the first two preseason games, but now that it’s been three in a row, it’s time to mention it.

There was basically zero pass rush from the Buccaneers first team players in the first half. Browns rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer had far too much time to complete his passes and converted on a high percentage of third down plays because of it. Robert Ayers and Noah Spence in particular were no-shows, for the most part. Clinton McDonald was disruptive at times, but one man can’t do it all.

As a whole, that part of the Bucs defense needs work – and fast.

Kendell Beckwith

Rookie linebacker Kendell Beckwith has been put right in the frying pan to start his rookie year. At first he was named the starter at SAM linebacker when Devante Bond went down, and then he was moved to the starting MIKE linebacker with Kwon Alexander nursing an injury.

He had a couple nice plays in the Jacksonville game, and even though he did get his arm in there to force a fumble, Beckwith got pushed around a bit at the line of scrimmage. He was bulldozed on one play by Isaiah Crowell, and missed a tackle on another. Rookie learning curve, which is fine, but for a starter, it was a bit disappointing in terms of consistency.

Donovan Smith

The match up most wanted to see going into this game was left tackle Donovan Smith versus defensive end Myles Garrett.

Garrett got the better of Smith, for the most part. Garrett almost took Winston’s head off on one play, and got in Smith’s head a little with a false start penalty. Taking on Garrett is no easy task, but Smith struggled to do so, regardless.

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick ended his night 7-for-11 for 55 yards, which was OK. However, if you saw the game between the stats, it wasn’t pretty.

Fitzpatrick has been a total liability at quarterback, to this point. He’s a risk taker that seems to be on the bad side more than good (which can be expected at his age). He may have the experience, but on some decisions, he doesn’t show it. We thought this team brought him in as a guy who *could* win a game or two if called upon. But, at this point, we’re not so sure.