It was not pretty. When asked about the play of the offensive line after last nights game against the Cleveland Browns Arians said “They got their ass kicked. One on one. Plain and simple.”
Arians made that evaluation after watching the starting offensive line and the highest paid offensive line in the NFL give up five sacks in the first half.
Overall, the Bucs offensive line allowed the quarterback to be sacked eight times.
After viewing the film today, Arians tempered his comments a bit and said that “Donovan played really well. Ali played solid. Jensen played solid. Cap had a couple, got beat on a twist, got beat on a spin move. Dot got beat once.”
Under duress all night, Jameis Winston was 9/19 for 88 yards in his final tuneup before the opener on September 8th.
It is quite obvious that this Bucs offensive line still needs some work to find their rhythm and get ready for the regular season.
The running game struggled against the front seven of the Browns as Peyton Barber had just three yards on three carries, and Ronald Jones had eight yards on four carries.
Against the Browns backups, Andre Ellington had 21 yards on six carries, and Dare Ogunbowale had 22 yards on seven carries.
Matt Gay missed his first field goal of the preseason as he missed a 37 yard field goal in the first quarter, but redeemed himself in the 4th quarter with a game winning 21 yarder as the Bucs beat the Browns 13-12.
The defense kept the Bucs in the game in the first half. Time after time the Browns started in excellent field position and the Bucs defense stepped up to hold the Browns to field goals.
The defensive backs played very well. Jordan Whitehead had an outstanding game as he had an interception to stop the Browns drive as time ran out in the first half. Whitehead also had a nice pass breakup earlier in the half.
The Browns did not play Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry their two starting wide receivers, but it was very encouraging to see the overall play of the secondary as they held Browns quarterback Baker mayfield to 10/26 passing for 72 yards.
Defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez Roches had two sacks and three tackles last night and played and has done enough to earn a roster spot as he has had a very good camp.
Tanner Hudson continuesto make a good case for a spot as the third tight end on the roster has he had four catches for 49 yards.
Backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert suffered a separated shoulder on the first drive in the third quarter. There is no timetable for his return but the injury is not expected to be long term.
The Bucs signed Vincent Testaverde the son of 1987 Buccaneer first round pick Vinny Testaverde for some depth at the position. The Bucs had planned to play Gabbert and Ryan Griffin in the final pre-season game against with Dallas, but with the Gabbert injury, the Bucs needed to sign a quarterback for the final pre-season game.
Safety Justin Evans has been taken off the PUP list and will begin practicing with the Bucs on Sunday. Evans has been hampered by a toe injury all off season and will practice for the first time since last fall.
The Buccaneers will wrap up the pre-season Thursday night in Dallas against the Cowboys.
