Bengals Hand Buccaneers First Week 1 Loss Under Bowles

Tampa Bay couldn’t overcome four lost fumbles as the Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) downed the Buccaneers (0-2) 33-27 on Sunday in Todd Bowles’ first Week 1 loss since becoming the head coach.

The Bengals scored 24 points off turnovers, including three straight touchdowns after the Bucs had three consecutive drives end with fumbles early in the first half. 

After Chase McLaughlin opened the scoring with a 34-yard field goal on Tampa Bay’s opening drive to take a 3-0 lead, the Bengals’ revamped defense took over the game. On the Buccaneers’ next possession, on third-and-9, defensive end Myles Murphy sacked quarterback Baker Mayfield from behind forcing the fumble. Linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. scooped up the fumble and took it 27 yards for the touchdown and a 7-3 lead for the Bengals with 5:22 left in the first quarter.

Facing a third-and-14 on their very next possession, Mayfield found running back Bucky Irving for a 7-yard pass, but safety Bryan Cook punched the ball out as defensive end Boye Mafe recovered the ball at the Tampa Bay 33-yard-line with 5:22 left in the first. Seven plays later quarterback Joe Burrow hit tight end Mike Gesicki for a 2-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-3 with 1:48 left in the first.

The Buccaneers opened the second quarter by driving down to the Bengals’ 12. On first-and-5, Mayfield found a hole in the middle of the defense and scrambled toward the end zone, but linebacker Barrett Carter caught Mayfield from behind forcing another fumble and ended up recovering the ball in the end zone for a touchback. Burrow then led the Bengals 80 yards in 12 plays, capped by a 5-yard touchdown run by running back Chase Brown, to take a 21-3 lead with 5:32 left in the first half.

The Buccaneers broke their fumble streak on the next drive as Irving scored on a 10-yard run with 1:49 left in the first half to cut the lead to 21-10. Cincinnati’s Evan McPherson kicked a 20-yard field goal at the end of the first half to make it 24-10.

The Bucs and Bengals traded 50-plus-yard field goals to open the second half, but it was Tampa Bay’s turn to get in on the turnovers as rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter intercepted a Burrow pass on third-and-5 and rumbled 38 yards for a touchdown with 2:16 left in the third quarter to cut the score to 27-20.

McPherson added another 58-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter to increase the Bengals’ lead back to 10, 30-20 with 14:04 left. On the Buccaneers’ ensuing drive Mafe strip-sacked Mayfield on first-and-15 with defensive tackle TJ Slaton Jr. recovering the fumble at the Tampa Bay 44-yard-line with 10:31 left.

The Buccaneers held the Bengals to a 32-yard field goal by McPhersonwith 5:19 left in the game after the fumble to extend the lead to 33-20.

Mayfield kept the Buccaneers’ hopes alive with an 8-yard touchdown run with 3:19 left, but Tampa Bay wouldn’t get another chance as Cincinnati picked up three first downs to run out the clock.

The Bengals outgained the Bucs 351-282 in total yards of offense and converted 8-of-14 on third down. Burrow was 25-of-35 passing for 254 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Mayfield finished the day 23-of-38 passing for 216 yards. It was the first game since Week 8 of last season Mayfield had not thrown a touchdown pass in a game.

The Buccaneers will open their home schedule next week when they welcome the Cleveland Browns (0-1) to Raymond James Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 20.