The Bucs are leaving Minnesota with a share of the NFC South lead after winning their season opener 20-17 in dramatic fashion. They’re doing so despite some schematic deficiencies in Sunday’s game. While enough went right for Tampa Bay to get the win, it’s not as if there weren’t some letdowns. Let’s get into the most disappointing from this Week 1 win:

TE Ko Kieft

Kieft was targeted three times on the first two drives of the game and had a total of… zero catches. The first was on a short hitch over the middle that he should have easily corralled. The second was on a third-down play that would have given the Bucs a new set of downs. The third was on a wide-open seam route. Quarterback Baker Mayfield’s pass was a little high and led him a bit too far, but it’s a catch that an NFL pass-catcher has to make.

S Ryan Neal

Neal was constantly picked on in coverage and looked to be out of position on several plays that led to big gains for the Vikings. Neal is new to the Bucs secondary. The team has high hopes that he can mesh well with the rest of a very good group to form one of the best single units in the NFL. His first attempt to live up to those expectations was not the inaugural performance he or the team was looking for.

Bucs Offensive Line

The Bucs knew they would have to deal with a crazy amount of pressure. That’s the M.O. of Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. And Flores did not disappoint. Using his ‘Bengal’ front, Flores brought pressure early and often and the Bucs offensive line rarely was able to rise to the challenge.

At one point, the confusion caused by the Vikings exotic front resulted in a protection call that allowed a defensive back to rush right by Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs on his way home to Mayfield completely unblocked.

Right tackle Luke Goedeke had an especially tough day, allowing Vikings pass rusher Danielle Hunter to have a field day with seven tackles, two tackles for loss, a pass defensed, a quarterback hit and a sack. Hunter had Goedeke in a blender on several occasions, leading the Bucs to have to move away from their play-action passing attack to more of a shotgun, quick game strategy.

The line also struggled to open up holes for their running backs. Rachaad White, Sean Tucker and Chase Edmonds combined to only gain 62 yards on 24 carries, a paltry 2.6 yards per carry. The Bucs’ first attempt at turning over a new running-focused offensive attack started with a resounding thud.

Schematic Decision Making

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs offense gained just 34 yards over its first six possessions. This was in part due to some questionable decision-making by offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Drawing up multiple plays that left Kieft as the targeted receiver may have been due to Canales over-thinking his gameplan a bit too much early. At one point, Kieft had out-targeted receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin combined.

On top of that, Canales kept calling naked boots that left Mayfield turning around into a defender in his face as the combination of Flores’ blitzes and backside defenders staying home on the play-action left the Bucs signal-caller making some fancy plays with quick decision-making up on the fly.

But credit to Canales in adjusting late in the first half and keeping ahead of the curve in the second half by moving to more of a shotgun-based offense with a lot of quick game calls. The result was 17 points over the next five drives, plus a game-sealing drive to send the Bucs home victorious.

On the other side of the ball, head coach Todd Bowles’ defense started fast and strong with multiple pressures, a key sack and two forced fumbles over Minnesota’s first four drives. This was in large part due to some creative blitz calls that had safety Antoine Winfield Jr.  physically living in Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins’ head.

But around the second quarter, Bowles let up on the blitz calls and Cousins and the Viking offense started to really feast. Cousins ended the day with 344 yards passing as he and All-World receiver Justin Jefferson carved up the Bucs’ soft zones over and over. If not for an impressive goal-line interception by rookie nickelback Christian Izien, the Bucs may have very well lost this game.