It wasn’t the perfect start to a season for the defending champion Tampa Bay Bucs, dropping the preseason opener at home to the Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 19-14. The Bucs committed three turnovers in the game, including two critical interceptions by third-string quarterback Ryan Griffin in Tampa Bay territory that led to 10 points in the third quarter.

Winning the coin toss the Bucs elected to receive the ball to open the game. Rookie Jaelon Darden would get the first crack at returning, bringing it to the 18 for a total of 12 yards. However, a penalty on Kevin Minter would bring the Bucs back to the nine-yard line. Pinned deep in their own territory, Tom Brady and the offense didn’t exactly light it up.

On the first play of the game the Bucs came out in 12-personnel and ran it for one-yard with Leonard Fournette.  Following yet another run with Fournette, this time for two-yards, Brady connected with Giovani Bernard on a third-down pass to keep the drive alive. A drop by Antonio Brown, no gain by Ronald Jones and a sack by the Bengals defense and that was it. Brady and the starting offense were done for the night.

After a punt, it was time for the starting defense to get their chance and they didn’t disappoint. Allowing only 7 yards on the ground and 31 through the air Lavonte David ended the drive by forcing and recovering a fumble. With Brady done for the night Blaine Gabbert led the offense on a 15 play 79-yard scoring drive. O.J. Howard got the drive started and kept series going with a 15 -yard reception on third down, then it was Ke’Shawn Vaughn time.

The following three plays went to Vaughn including a 7- yard reception to give the Bucs the first down. After an 11-yard catch by Tyler Johnson, Vaughn got the call again with a seven-yard rush. Bernard came in to grab his second first down reception of the night before seeing Darden make his first catch as a Buc for six yards. A big third down conversion of 18-yards by Tanner Hudson set up a 2-yard run by Ke’Shawn Vaughn to give the Bucs the lead.

Bleeding into the second quarter, the ensuing drive would not end well for the Bengals as they turned the ball over again with another fumble. This time caused by Antonio Hamilton with rookie linebacker K.J. Britt there to scoop it up for the Bucs. After a 12 play 46-yard drive. the Bucs turned the ball over themselves on downs after Griffin was sacked. Hudson had another solid drive including an 11-yard gain for a first down utilizing a spin move to get the extra yardage.

That is when things started to go downhill for the Bucs. Two-plays into the Bengals possession safety Javon Hagan would intercept Brandon Allen only to fumble the ball back to the Bengals. They would end their possession with a touchdown just before halftime. 7-6 Bengals at the half.

Forcing a three and out on the Bengals first possession after halftime, back-to-back interceptions by Ryan Griffin would lead to two field goals and a 13-6 lead for Cincinnati. A quick 3 and out for the Bucs and a 12-play drive for the Bengals saw them kick another field goal to take the lead to ten points at 16-6.

After an 8-play drive leading into the fourth quarter that ended in a punt for the Bucs, linebacker Joe Jones attempted a comeback bid with an interception return for a touchdown. Kyle Trask would find tight end Codey McElroy on the two-point conversion attempt to make it a 16-14 contest.

The Bucs couldn’t get anything momentum rolling though on ensuing drives and would fall to the Bengals 19-14 in their first preseason tilt after a late field goal.

The Buccaneers next host the Tennessee Titans at Raymond James Stadium, Saturday, August 28. The team will have joint practices Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the game.