TAMPA (SNN-TV) – In week two of the preseason, in their match-up with the Titans, Tampa finally looked to find themselves in the win column. But, unfortunately, Tennessee won going away, 34-3.
In a game played almost exclusively by reserves and with limited playbooks, neither team got much going on offense during the night. The Titans pulled away with three takeaways, all of them on deflected passes, one of which was ruled a fumble return for a touchdown. The game included just 445 combined yards of offense between the two teams. Meaning, the Buccaneers didn’t have much to celebrate on offense, racking up just 238 total yards and averaging 3.9 yards per play. Tampa also fumbled the ball six times, losing it once. The offense also converted only two of 14 third-down opportunities and recorded 17 total rushing yards. But Saturday’s affair is in the past, and head coach Bruce Arians is solely focused on moving forward normally. “(We’re) just doing a normal game week prep, just so all the T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted, so that we know everybody’s on the same page with what we do every single day.”
Tampa Bay’s reserve defenders fared well despite the lopsided final score. The Buccaneers allowed only 238 total yards of offense and two of 13 third-down attempts. Third-year defensive lineman Patrick O’Connor had a strong outing with three tackles, two of which were for loss to go along with a sack. O’Connor was one of the night’s big winners in terms of the upcoming roster cuts. “These games are so important for me…to show how versatile I can be.”
Tampa has one more shot at a preseason victory this Saturday, on the road, against the Houston Texans.