The Tampa Bay Buccaneers battled the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon, resulting in a brutal 33-27 loss for the Buccaneers. Throughout the game, the Buccaneers struggled on both sides of the ball, which ultimately led to the team starting 0-1.

With all that said, here are five takeaways from the Buccaneers' loss against the Bengals on Sunday afternoon.

Throughout the game, the Buccaneers offense struggled to get going, mainly because they had three turnovers, which also put them in a 21-3 hole at one point in the first half

Quarterback Baker Mayfield was responsible for three of the fumbles which costed Tampa Bay opportunities to score points. Additionally running back Bucky Irving fumbled once.

Heading into Week 2, the Buccaneers must find a way to protect the ball significantly better, otherwise they could be in deep trouble against the top defenses they will face throughout the season.

On the defensive side of the ball, Tampa Bay must find a way to get the quarterback a lot better than they did against the Bengals as they sacked quarterback Joe Burrow just one time.

While the Buccaneers did hit Burrow a total of six times, the defense must find a way to convert those hits into more sacks so they generate the negative plays and force the drives to stall.

If Tampa Bay can get more sacks moving forward they should be in a much better spot to have better success as a pass defense overall.

During Sunday's season opener, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka had a solid performance as he tallied five receptions for 63 yards on six targets and was one of Mayfield's top options in the passing game.

With Mike Evans now out of the picture after leaving in free agency, Tampa Bay needed someone to step up as the clear WR1, and in Week 1, Egbuka appears to be one of the top candidates as he aims to build on what was a solid rookie season.

As the Buccaneers head into next week, if Egbuka has another game as one of the top targets for Mayfield, he may be in contention to become the new WR1 in Tampa Bay.

Another key takeaway from the defense was the fact that they struggled to hold down Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki who had a great performance.

For the game, Gesicki totaled five receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown on seven targets which clearly shows that Tampa Bay has to be better against tight ends moving forward if they want to play better defensively.

As the Buccaneers head into next week, it will be critical for them to figure how to stop opposing tight ends, otherwise, the Cleveland Browns may take advantage in Week 2.

The fifth and final takeaway comes for the offensive line as this unit must find a way to play much better and protect Mayfield more consistently than they did in Week 1.

In the season opener, Mayfield was sacked a total of four times and was hit a total of six times which is something that makes it very hard to win when playing on the road to start the season.

Heading into Week 2, the Buccaneers must protect their quarterback much better, especially if they want to get back on track and even their record at 1-1.