It’s time for PewterReport.com’s 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game. Tampa Bay lost its first preseason game to the Jaguars in Jacksonville, 20-7. The Bucs struggled mightily on third down on both sides of the ball, but there were some encouraging signs from the team’s ground game and the pass rush, which exploded for five sacks, led by second-year outside linebacker Jose Ramirez.

2 BIG STATEMENTS

STATEMENT 1. Jose Ramirez, Bucs OLBs Impress In Loss

After not recording a single sack in last week’s 17-14 preseason win at Cincinnati, Tampa Bay unleashed a sack attack against Jacksonville quarterbacks Mac Jones and C.J. Beathard in a 20-7 loss on Saturday night. Reserve outside linebacker Jose Ramirez was the ringleader with three sacks against the Jaguars, but he wasn’t a one-man gang.

Bucs OLB Jose Ramirez – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Backup outside linebacker Markees Watts and reserve defensive tackle Lwal Uguak also picked up their first sacks of the preseason. If Bucs head coach Todd Bowles was looking for improvement from a week ago, it was certainly the pressure and sack production from his young edge rushers.

“That’s the one thing that showed up on defense,” Bowles said. “Obviously, there were a lot of missed tackles in the run game. Not pleased with that. Not pleased with third down, but we got five sacks. Doesn’t count in the loss, but the young guys made some progress.”

Ramirez got things started for Tampa Bay with a pair of sacks in the first quarter. Also notable on his first quarterback capture was the fact that he beat the other outside linebacker second-round pick Chris Braswell to the sack by half a second. Had Ramirez not dropped Jones for a 10-yard loss it would’ve been Braswell who would have sacked him with a strong bull rush. That was encouraging to see.

Ramirez got another sack in the second quarter on a good pressure that forced Jones to trip and then the second-year pass rusher touched him down for a 9-yard loss. At that point, Ramirez became the first Bucs defender to record at least two sacks in a preseason game since Rakeem Nunez-Roches had two sacks against Cleveland on August 23, 2019.

Watts got into the sack game in the third quarter with a powerful bull rush against left tackle Javon Foster, knocking him to the ground and then dropping Beathard for an 8-yard loss.

On the next drive, Uguak sacked Beathard for a gain of 9 yards. Ramirez then picked up Tampa Bay’s fifth and final sack of the night. He got an assist from Watts, who had another powerful bull rush right into Beathard and flushed him out of the pocket. Ramirez beat Watts and a blitzing Vi Jones, who missed an earlier sack opportunity, to the quarterback for a 17-yard loss.

Ramirez had the kind of game that helps players make 53-man rosters. Last year’s sixth-round pick had a great game against the Bengals last week, drawing a pair of holding penalties. After the game, Bowles spoke about his development after Ramirez spent the 2023 season on the practice squad.

“We knew he [Ramirez] was a pass rusher,” Bowles said. “His thing was learning the defense and playing the runs so he can learn every down. We have to watch the film from that aspect. He came back in shape. He came back lean. He gets off the ball. He uses his hands well, and he understands how to get to the quarterback. It’s the other aspect of his game that he has to bring along with that.”

STATEMENT 2. Cody Thompson Coming On Strong At Wide Receiver

After recording 390 yards of total offense in last week’s win against the Bengals the Bucs totaled just 207 yards, but wide receiver Cody Thompson turned out to be the primary weapon in the loss at Jacksonville. Thompson led the Bucs with five catches for 66 yards, including a 21-yard reception that was tied for the longest play of the night for Tampa Bay.

Thompson also caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Trask on third down for the Bucs’ only points of the game. The newcomer at wide receiver also had a 12-yard end around for a first down in the first quarter and drew a pass interference call to pick up a first down late in the game.

“He’s really one of the guys we wanted to see tonight,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “He got a lot of time. He got a lot of plays. He made a lot of plays. I’ve got to look at the totality of it, but he showed up. The lights weren’t too big for him. He knows assignment football. He understands the game, and he catches in traffic.”

Bucs WR Cody Thompson – Photo by: USA Today

With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and Trey Palmer figuring to be locks to make the 53-man roster, the Bucs may keep six receivers, so there is quite the battle for the final two spots between Thompson, Kameron Johnson, Rakim Jarrett, Ryan Miller and Sterling Shepard.

Johnson and Shepard have missed the first two preseason games with rib injuries, although Johnson returned to practice this week in a non-contact jersey. Jarrett also missed the Jaguars preseason game after playing last week against the Bengals

At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Thompson gives the Bucs another bigger receiver, and he also plays on special teams. At 28, Thompson is one of the older receivers on the team as he entered the league in 2019 out of Toledo and spent time on several practice squads, including Kansas City and Cincinnati in 2019, and in Seattle from 2019-23. He’s played in just 12 games in his six years in the NFL and has just one catch for 10 yards in his career.

Thompson had three catches for 26 yards last week at Cincinnati, and with another big game on Friday night against Miami he could just make the team.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: What The Heck Happened On Third Down?

Bucs CB Josh Hayes – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs struggled mightily on both sides of the ball on third down in Jacksonville. Tampa Bay was a terrible 2-of-11 (18.2%) on third down on offense and an embarrassing 9-of-17 (52.9%) on third down defensively.

The Bucs offense could not sustain drives and the defense couldn’t get off the field whether it was third-and-short or even third-and-long. The Jaguars started the game 3-of-4 on third down, including conversions of third-and-15, third-and-9, third-and-17 and a third-and-10 that led to a Jacksonville field goal right before halftime to give the home team a 10-7 lead.

Tampa Bay’s young secondary was guilty of several busted coverages and the defensive line didn’t maintain gap integrity and allowed quarterbacks Mac Jones and C.J. Beathard to have runs of six and eight yards up the middle to escape pressure. Bucs linebacker Vi Jones came free inside on a blitz and went too high and missed a gimme sack against Jones, who ducked under him and escaped for a gain between the tackles.

“With the young guys, there’s going to be work to do,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “There are things that they have to talk to each other. They’re making calls, but they’re not making them to each other. One guy is doing one thing. The other guy is doing another. They have to get on the same page. Have to keep working at that with them.”

Bucs QB John Wolford – Photo by: USA Today

Bucs co-defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers called the defensive plays in practice during the week and in Saturday night’s loss – not Bowles. Perhaps the fact that he is Tampa Bay’s defensive line coach had something to do with the secondary getting torched in practice and during the game.

On offense, quarterback Kyle Trask was 12-of-19 for just 108 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while third-stringer John Wolford was just 7-of-14 for only 52 yards and was sacked twice. He got drilled in the ribs late in the fourth quarter and had to leave the game, forcing Trask to come back in for the final minutes of the contest.

Wolford, who may not play in the preseason finale against Miami due to his injury, has regressed and will be the third-string QB this year – likely on the practice squad. He does not deserve a roster spot with his below-average play in training camp and the preseason. Trask has already done enough to win the backup job.

QUESTION 2: Why Did Elijah Klein Start At Right Tackle?

Bucs OL Elijah Klein – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

With starting tackles Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke held out and swing tackle Justin Skule not playing due to injury, rookie guard Elijah Klein got the surprise start at right tackle while Brandon Walton, who is primarily a backup right tackle, started at left tackle. Klein had not practiced a single snap at right tackle prior to getting the start on Saturday night.

The coaches informed Klein, a sixth-round pick, that he would not only have to play some right tackle due to a lack of available bodies but also start, as Tampa Bay was also without Luke Haggard, a practice squad lineman last year who could play guard and tackle.

“It was a lot of fun,” Klein said after the game. “Those were my first snaps at tackle since I’ve been here. I was approached [on Friday night] during our walk-thru and when we learned that the guy we expected to play wasn’t going to go they said, ‘Buckle up and get ready to go.’ I liked it. Obviously a couple of blips I would like to erase, and a couple of plays I would like to get back, but overall it was a positive experience.”

Klein spent a good deal of time with Skule going over the plays at right tackle on Friday night, getting a crash course on his new position.

“Justin Skule – shout out to him,” Klein said. “I spent a couple of hours with him going over every possibility. He’s such a smart guy and has such a cool way of looking at the plays and making you understand. I got in the playbook with him and figured out all the details.”

After the game, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles heaped some praise on the rookie offensive lineman.

“That’s tough,” Bowles said. “You know, we put him in some tough spots that he hadn’t played in a while. Late in the game especially. That makes it tough on the quarterback when you are trying to move like that, but he is gritty. He’s tough. He’ll play anywhere. That’s says a lot about his character.”

The more a backup player can do to show his versatility the more valuable he becomes. An early season-ending torn ACL to Sua Opeta likely allowed Klein to make the team during his rookie year, but his performance at both guard and tackle in the preseason has only solidified his roster spot.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1: Bucs Running Game Is Going To Thrive This Year

Bucs RB Sean Tucker – Photo by: USA Today

Tampa Bay fans may look at the 76 rushing yards against Jacksonville and see quite the regression in the team’s ground game from last week’s 136-yard performance at Cincinnati. But the Bucs only had 16 carries due to the struggles on third down on both sides of the ball. That led to a healthy 4.8 yards per carry, which was actually an increase over last week’s 4.3-yard average.

The Bucs’ run game was efficient for a second straight week, and that was a welcome sight to see. Liam Coen’s blocking scheme and play-calling have been impressive in both the training camp practices and in the preseason games.

Sean Tucker led the way again with 32 yards on four carries (8.0 avg.) and ripped off a 21-yard run on a cutback. He now has 100 yards on 14 carries and an impressive 7.1-yard average. Bucky Irving had another impressive game with 26 yards on six carries (4.3 avg.) versus the Jaguars after averaging 4.7 yards per carry against the Bengals.

PREDICTION 2: Tykee Smith Will Win The Starting Nickelback Job

Bucs rookie defensive back Tykee Smith is locking up the starting slot defender role in Todd Bowles’ defense. His heady play and knack for making plays in practice and in games is giving him the edge over veteran newcomer Tavierre Thomas, who had a hot start to camp with three interceptions but has cooled off since. Thomas had a couple of busts in coverage in Jacksonville that didn’t help his cause.

One of the things that Smith does well in addition to coverage, is blitz from the slot. He nearly had a sack of Mac Jones in the first half on a blitz, chasing the QB down for a 1-yard gain.