A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday during the Bucs’ regular season. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough question. This week’s prompt: What did we learn about the Bucs from their 20-17 win in Week 1?

Scott Reynolds: This Bucs Team Is A Work In Progress

Bucs WR Trey Palmer – Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

As the old saying goes, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” A good finish beats a good start any day. I’ve seen plenty of good starts fall apart in Tampa Bay from Sam Wyche’s “5-dash-2” start in 1995 (which wound up being 7-dash-9, his last season in Tampa Bay) to Jon Gruden’s 9-3 start in 2007 before he was fired for finishing 9-7 to Raheem Morris’ 4-2 start in 2011 ended in a 4-12 finish and his firing, too.

So before we get too hyped about the Bucs’ 1-0 start to the 2023 season, thanks to a 20-17 win versus the Vikings, I’ll remind you that the Todd Bowles era began with a 2-0 start and road wins at Dallas and New Orleans last year before winding up 8-9 at the end of the season.

The Bucs’ start in Minnesota was ugly. Not a single first down on offense until late in the second quarter. Justin Jefferson torched the secondary with seven catches for 138 yards in the first half alone. But Tampa Bay won the second half. Todd Bowles and the defense made the adjustments necessary to hold Jefferson to just two catches for 12 yards in the second half.

Dave Canales and Baker Mayfield made the second-half adjustments to move the sticks and convert 50 percent of third downs in the second half to outscore the Vikings, 10-7, in the final two quarters. Bad start, better finish. Progress.

With so many young players and new faces, this Bucs team is a work in progress all over the board. The retooled pass rush is a work in progress. The revamped offensive line is a work in progress. The running game is a work in progress. The timing between Mayfield and his receivers is a work in progress. Canales’ play-calling is a work in progress.

The key is to keep progressing each game – in-game – as the season goes along, and winning along the way. That’s what happened in Minnesota. The Bucs progressed and improved as the game went on and finished strong. Let’s see if that continues in Week 2 against a beatable Bears team in the home opener.

Matt Matera: The Bucs Defense Can Hang With Anyone

Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs defense is going to have to bring this team across the finish line early on this season. We saw the struggles that Tampa Bay’s offense experienced, but through it all, it was the defense that kept the Bucs in the game to eventually win it. The goal for Tampa Bay’s defense is 17 points or less per game. They accomplished that goal in Week 1.

Furthermore, the Bucs did this against the best wide receiver in the league – Justin Jefferson. If you’re a fantasy football fan you’d be happy that Jefferson nine catches for 150 yards. But a closer look shows that Tampa Bay was tremendous in limiting him in the second half to just two catches for 12 yards.

More importantly, the Bucs kept him out of the end zone. Todd Bowles’ unit went toe-to-toe with a premiere player and came out on top. Tampa Bay will face other great offenses this year, including the Eagles, Bills and 49ers. I’m confident that the Bucs will hold their own defensively.

If Devin White continues to play like a man that wants to be paid, the Bucs can go a long way. It was immediately noticeable how important the play of White and inside linebacker Lavonte David is to Tampa Bay’s defense. It was also obvious why Antoine Winfield Jr. is going to get a contract extension with his strip-sack.

All across the board at every position the Bucs have players that the team feels good about, plus some exceptional ones as well. Sure, there are a couple of questions about the interior defensive line after Vita Vea, and how far the outside linebackers can take this defense, but as a unit, they’re at worst a Top 10 group. The Bucs also have a goal of 30 turnovers this season. By recording three in their first game, they’re way ahead of schedule.

Bailey Adams: This Bucs Team Isn’t Built For Tanking

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

If you’ve been paying attention all offseason, you already knew the Bucs aren’t tanking. But if for some reason you still believed going into Week 1 that the Bucs were in “tank mode” to line themselves up for Caleb Williams or Drake Maye, let Sunday’s 20-17 road win over the Vikings serve as evidence that, actually, the opposite is true.

Tampa Bay believes it can win enough games to contend for a third straight NFC South title and a fourth consecutive playoff appearance. On Sunday afternoon, we saw why the team feels that way.

The start wasn’t pretty, but the Bucs did what they needed to do to go into a tough environment and emerge with a victory. Even when things weren’t going well early for the offense, we saw why this team isn’t built to lose the 14 or 15 games needed to earn the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft: the defense.

Vita Vea was wrecking shop up front, Todd Bowles was sending blitzes at Kirk Cousins left and right, and the unit as a whole was making plays and getting stops. The Tampa Bay defense kept things afloat long enough for the offense to pull it together and start scoring some points. And that was against a very good Minnesota offense.

This is more or less going to be the formula for Bowles’ team in 2023. Lean on the defense, up the efficiency on offense, and reap the benefits. Doing that may very well help the Bucs get where they want to be by January. The offense will need some time to gel and come together, but the defense looks plenty capable of affording Dave Canales and his unit that needed time.

Besides, a roster featuring Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Tristan Wirfs, Vita Vea, Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David, Devin White, Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean and Antoine Winfield Jr. isn’t designed to tank. Add in Baker Mayfield, who is perhaps getting his last chance to prove he is a franchise quarterback, and you have a team with a strong desire to win and uphold the standard it set from 2020-2022. Sunday was a prime example of that, just in case anyone needed it.

Josh Queipo: Bucs Offensive Line Is Better Than Most Think

One of the biggest concerns headed into the 2023 season for the Bucs was the play of their offensive line. The original plan called for a new starter at every position across the line this year.

Tristan Wirfs would move from right tackle to left, while 2022 second-round pick Luke Goedeke would attempt to move back to his original position of right tackle after a failed attempt to play left guard last year. Veteran Matt Feiler was brought in to shore up the left guard spot, while rookie Cody Mauch was drafted to occupy the other guard spot.

Center Ryan Jensen was projected to return from a devastating knee injury and replace Robert Hainsey, who filled in admirably last year. Before the season started that plan was already being changed as Jensen hit injured reserve when his knee did not come around, and Hainsey was once again elevated to starter.

Many have stated this version of the offensive line would be one of the worst in the NFL. But in Week 1 this group held up well against a professional Minnesota defensive front. The offensive line kept quarterback Baker Mayfield clean on over 76% of his drop backs despite Minnesota blitzing 55% of the time.

Mayfield is noted by PFF as being pressured just nine times. That’s good for the seventh-fewest pressured quarterback in Week 1. Goedeke held up well against Pro-Bowler Danielle Hunter. Mauch had a solid debut. And Wirfs and Feiler held down the left side well. If they can keep this up both the ceiling and the floor for this offense just got higher.

Adam Slivon: Baker Mayfield Can Help Bucs Win Some Games

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

What we can learn and take away from watching the Bucs’ Week 1 win over the Vikings is that not only can they win, but they can do so with quarterback Baker Mayfield under center this season. He looked antsy and nervous on his feet for the first 28 minutes, not setting his feet on throws and looking like he was worried about making a mistake with the football. But although it was not the start both he and the offense were hoping for, it was encouraging to see him settle in and lead a scoring drive to close out the first half.

Mayfield’s gutsy and tough play in the fourth quarter was truly the difference-maker, and his energy and leadership were infectious on the rest of the new-look offense. Without him turning the corner, Tampa Bay does not come away with the win Sunday afternoon. He proved that he can be a positive factor in dictating the outcomes of games, and that is the biggest takeaway from the opening contest.

Being able to start 1-0 against a team that went 13-4 and made the playoffs last season speaks volumes about the heart and will of a team looking to prove many wrong. It is only up from here as the offense starts to gel and build on the foundation they have started to set with so many new pieces in the picture. If the run game can start to show just as much promise as the passing attack, it would help support Mayfield even more and create less of a reliance on his arm like they were forced to do in Tom Brady’s last season.

But the Bucs will only sail as far as Baker Mayfield takes them, and backed by a defense that held Minnesota in check, they showed that they can still be a surprise team in the NFC South and NFC as a whole.