It’s time for Scott Reynolds’ 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game.

Tampa Bay moved to 2-0 in the preseason following a 17-14 win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh. The starters – minus Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and Lavonte David – played in the first quarter with Teddy Bridgewater getting the start at QB and throwing two touchdowns. The Bucs defense came up with three interceptions for the second week in a row, including a late fourth quarter pick by linebacker Antonio Grier Jr. that set the team up in field goal position for the victory.

2 BIG STATEMENTS

STATEMENT 1. Bucs Offense, Defense, Special Teams Make Big Plays To Beat Steelers

Tampa Bay roared out to an early 14-0 lead over Pittsburgh in the first quarter behind a flurry of big plays in the Bucs’ 17-14 win over the Steelers in the second preseason game of the year. On offense, new quarterback Teddy Bridgewater got the start for Tampa Bay and threw two highlight reel-worthy touchdown passes with pinpoint accuracy in the red zone to running back Bucky Irving and Emeka Egbuka.

Defensively, the Bucs starting defense shut down the Steelers ground game and cornerback Zyon McCollum recorded his first interception of the preseason – one of three on the night for Tampa Bay’s defense. Pittsburgh’s offense would convert just 2-of-12 (16.7%) on third down against Tampa Bay and the starters set the tone early.

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum and OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo by: USA Today

On special teams, rookie Tez Johnson had an electric 34-yard punt return in the first quarter in his NFL debut, but then muffed a punt that led to a Pittsburgh touchdown. It was a rookie mistake, but that’s what the preseason is for – to teach those lessons in games that don’t count. New punter Riley Dixon averaged over 50 yards per punt with two downed inside the 20-yard line, while kicker Chase McLaughlin remained perfect in the preseason and kicked the 42-yard game-winner.

Talk about complementary football.

This was a dream night for Todd Bowles with each unit holding up its end of the bargain early in racing out to a two-touchdown lead with the starters in the game.

I certainly didn’t have Irving playing flanker and catching a fade pass for a touchdown down the sidelines on my bingo card on Saturday night. Nor did I have new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard calling three consecutive plays with an empty backfield out of 11 personnel – beginning with Irving’s touchdown catch.

It wasn’t a perfect showing by the Bucs by any means in Pittsburgh, and the film will show plenty of work that needs to be done in the weeks ahead in practice.

The play by the offensive line – from the starters to the third-string – was a bit concerning. Not so much in pass protection, but in its inability to open up holes in the run game. The Bucs ran for just 41 yards on 24 carries and averaged a dismal 1.7 yards per carry. That was a far cry from last week’s production on the ground against Tennessee. The only bright spot was rookie Josh Williams, who ran five times for 21 yards (4.2 avg.) and caught a 13-yard pass.

Bucs RB Josh Williams – Photo by: USA Today

The only blemishes early on defense were two blown coverages by cornerback Jamel Dean. Yet the third-string defense got sloppy when it came to tackling late in the game and allowed a few breakout runs. After rushing for just 24 yards on the ground at halftime, Pittsburgh wound up running for 130 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries (5.0 avg.).

Otherwise, a good game called by outside linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote, who played linebacker for the Steelers for 11 years. He certainly enjoyed this win more than others as Tampa Bay’s defense allowed just 14 points, totaled four sacks, three interceptions, including a key pick by linebacker Antonio Grier Jr. in the fourth quarter that led to the win.

I liked the fact that the Bucs showed a killer instinct late on defense to get this win. And getting McLaughlin some preseason work with a walk-off field goal for the win was nice to see.

STATEMENT 2. Teddy Bridgewater Enters The Backup QB Competition In Pittsburgh

Despite only being in Tampa Bay for 12 days and truly practicing for three days, new quarterback Teddy Bridgewater got the start on Saturday night in Pittsburgh and officially entered the backup QB competition. Bridgewater was 6-of-11 for 85 yards and two touchdowns, producing a QB rating of 119.3 in one quarter of action.

That’s what an experienced QB looks like, folks.

Entering his 11th season in the NFL, Bridgewater has thrown for over 15,000 yards with 75 touchdowns and 47 interceptions, and has an overall record of 33-32 as a starter. Outside of a couple of high throws, one that unfortunately got Jalen McMillan injured, Bridgewater looked poised in the pocket and showed tremendous touch on touchdown passes to Bucky Irving and Emeka Egbuka, the team’s first-round pick.

Bucs QB Teddy Bridgewater – Photo by: USA Today

After the game, Bridgewater admitted that he’s only thrown one pass to Egbuka in practice.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said that Bridgewater starting against the Steelers was in no way a demotion for backup quarterback Kyle Trask, who completed 3-of-10 passes for 19 yards with the second-string offense in the second quarter before giving way to rookie Connor Bazelak in the second half.

I feel bad for Trask, who has now had to endure spotty pass protection from the second-string offensive line and throw to backup receivers, tight ends and running backs for five preseasons now. Not once has he enjoyed life in a pocket surrounded by starting offensive linemen. And it was only last week where Trask looked quite good throwing to Egbuka and McMillan. On Saturday night in Pittsburgh he didn’t have that luxury – and it showed.

I still believe that Trask will be the No. 2 quarterback to start the season and that Bridgewater will start on the practice squad. If Bridgewater is on the 53-man roster for Week 1 his 2025 salary will be fully guaranteed and the Bucs want to avoid that.

But after that, who knows? If Bridgewater lights it up against Buffalo next week operating behind the backup O-line and throwing to backup receivers – Bowles will sit his starters against the Bills – and if Trask were to struggle again then all bets are off.

The good news is that Bridgewater showed he could step in, operate the offense and make plays. He gives Tampa Bay another option to turn to other than Trask if something bad were to happen to Baker Mayfield. A veteran option, actually.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1. How Concerned Should The Bucs Be With Their OLB Depth?

They should be pretty concerned. Tampa Bay’s starting outside linebackers should be fine. Haason Reddick and Yaya Diaby have both had good camps and should cause some problems for opposing offenses while book-ending defensive tackles Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey.

But after that? Yikes.

Veteran Anthony Nelson didn’t play on Saturday night after missing practice during the week. Second-year outside linebacker Chris Braswell showed some signs of life after a disastrous game last week versus Tennessee. He used a slick ghost step – a new move he’s been developing over the summer – to record his first preseason sack, but Braswell also gave up contain a few times on other rushes.

Bucs OLB Markees Watts – Photo by: USA Today

The same thing happened to Diaby, who is not a finished product yet. Both Diaby and Braswell saw a sliver of daylight inside a few times, got greedy and started to rush inside and lost contain. That’s something that outside linebackers coach Larry Foote will have to drill home to them in the coming weeks.

There will be a drop off in pass rush ability from the starters – Reddick and Diaby – to the backups – Braswell and Nelson. The Bucs hoped to avoid that, which is why they drafted outside linebacker David Walker in the fourth round. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: the unfortunate loss of Walker to a season-ending ACL injury is huge.

Reserves Markees Watts, Jose Ramirez and Warren Peeples Jr. haven’t shown much. They’ve looked like practice squaders rather than edge rushers worthy of roster spots. Don’t be surprised if general manager Jason Licht looks elsewhere for some help at outside linebacker. Braswell is actually an OLB4 and Nelson would be an ideal OLB5. This team is missing a true OLB3 behind Reddick and Diaby – and that guy is not on the roster right now.

QUESTION 2. Does Shilo Sanders Make The Roster With J.J. Roberts’ Season-Ending Injury?

No. Shilo Sanders still has some work to do in practice and in the final preseason game to make the 53-man roster. Tampa Bay’s star rookie defensive back J.J. Roberts is out for the year with an unfortunate knee injury he suffered in the joint practice with Pittsburgh on Thursday. And while that helped Sanders’ chances of making the team from a math standpoint, his game in Pittsburgh proved to be somewhat lackluster and uneventful.

Sanders is essentially battling Kaevon Merriweather and Rashad Wisdom for the fourth and final safety spot on the roster behind starters Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith, in addition to top reserve Christian Izien. Merriweather is entering his third season in Tampa Bay and has veteran experience playing in Todd Bowles’ defense, while Wisdom was on the Bucs practice squad all last year and is far more versatile.

From a production standpoint, Sanders was in on a few tackles, but Merriweather was tied for the team lead with four stops and played well. Wisdom had a pair of stops and a pass breakup playing both safety and nickelback in Pittsburgh, while Sanders missed a tackle and didn’t make any splash plays.

Bucs S Shilo Sanders and Steelers WR Roc Taylor – Photo by: USA Today

Sanders looks like a practice squad safety right now and really needs to show up with a big play or two against Buffalo in the preseason finale in order to make his case for inclusion in the 53-man roster. This is how my projected depth chart in the Bucs secondary shakes out right now.

CB1 Zyon McCollum
CB2 Jamel Dean
CB3 Jacob Parrish
CB4 Kindle Vildor
CB5 Benjamin Morrison

S1 Antoine Winfield Jr.
S2 Tykee Smith
S3 Christian Izien
S4 Kaevon Merriweather

That’s nine defensive backs. Tampa Bay will likely keep at least 10, and probably another cornerback – either injured veteran Bryce Hall, rookie newcomer JayVian Farr, who played well in his Bucs debut, or rookie Roman Parodie, who missed Saturday night’s game with an injury, but had a pick-six versus the Titans last week. The Bucs have a pair of oft-injured cornerbacks in Jamel Dean and Benjamin Morrison, who has been out for two weeks with hamstring injury, so they’ll need to shore up depth at cornerback.

The guess here is that Wisdom or Farr might make the team. Farr can play both outside cornerback and nickelback, which is where he played a bunch in Pittsburgh, and Wisdom can play both safety spots as well as nickelback in a pinch.

Roberts was the backup nickelback and is out for the year, while Christian Izien suffered an oblique injury versus Pittsburgh in the first half and did not return. Tampa Bay could use another versatile defender, and Sanders is only a safety. That lack of versatility – and a lack of splash plays – will hinder his chances of making the team and likely land him on the practice squad.

“I know they played a lot, and I’m not finished going through the tape yet,” Bowles said. “Merriweather probably has got the most experience. He was here last year and he played the last half of the season. He knows both safety positions. Wisdom, being on the practice squad last year, he actually played nickel in the second half because we were down all the corners. He did a heck of a job playing nickel, strong safety and free safety from a knowledgeable standpoint.

“Shilo is very aggressive, very young and very hungry. He can make plays in the box, and we know he can run down and give us 100% on special teams. So this last week is going to be very important for those guys to show up.”

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

STATEMENT 1. The Bucs Will Keep Five Inside Linebackers

It kind of looks that way, doesn’t it? Both undrafted free agent inside linebackers Nick Jackson and John Bullock have shined in the first two preseason games. Jackson collected his second sack of the preseason on a pursuit play in Pittsburgh, while Bullock came screaming in to drop Steelers QB Skylar Thompson for a 12-yard loss on a blitz.

Bucs ILB John Bullock – Photo by: USA Today

Both young linebackers have proven to be good tacklers and each has a penchant for making plays. It was Bullock’s tipped pass on a blitz last week versus Tennessee that led to Jackson’s one-handed interception at the line of scrimmage. With Tampa Bay having three linebackers age 30 and older in Lavonte David (35), Deion Jones (30) and Anthony Walker Jr. (30), the Bucs could use some young ‘backers to throw in the hopper for the future.

And even Antonio Grier Jr., who spent last year on the practice squad, showed up with a key, fourth quarter interception that helped the Bucs win the game. Todd Bowles wasn’t kidding when he said during the mandatory mini-camp that inside linebacker might be the deepest position on defense. With SirVocea Dennis, David, Walker and Jones as locks to make the team, the play of Jackson and Bullock will likely force the Bucs to keep five inside linebackers with the other one joining Grier on the practice squad.

STATEMENT 2. Tampa Bay Only Keeps Four Outside Linebackers

I mentioned earlier that the Bucs have to be concerned about their depth at outside linebacker behind Haason Reddick and Yaya Diaby. With Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson being the second-string unit, the Bucs typically keep a fifth outside linebacker to help bolster the team’s pass rush.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

But that may not be the case this year. While undrafted free agent Warren Peeples has two sacks, which is tied for the team lead, his sack tonight was a pursuit sack for zero yards. He didn’t really collapse the pocket or win clean off the edge. And at 230 pounds, Peeples gets pushed around quite easily in the run game. He’s a designated pass rusher only, and really needs to add about 10-15 pounds of size – mostly in his lower body – to hold up against the run and be better at setting the edge.

Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez have been disappointments in their third season and neither has done much to warrant a roster spot. If I’m Todd Bowles and Jason Licht I keep four outside linebackers because no one deserves to be the fifth outside ‘backer on this team, and then keep Peeples and maybe Watts on the practice squad because of their speed and ability to help on special teams.

“I was happy with the play of Braswell from the outside last night,” Bowles said. “I think the quarterback, especially Skylar [Thompson] – he’s a very good athlete and we got out-athleted. And the other times we could have done a better job with contain. The other three – they have to grow mentally. They’ve got to grow mentally and they have to put it together. When they do it mentally, they don’t do it physically. And when they do it physically, they don’t do it mentally. So you’ve got to put the whole package together. I’ll be eager to see what they do next week.”