John Romano: Were these the first wobbly steps in a new era of Buccaneers glory?

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 7, 2025

Published in Football

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ATLANTA — Nobody is sending tape of this game to the Hall of Fame.

Not unless there is an exhibit for screwball comedies. Or a lecture on perils to avoid.

Tampa Bay’s offense could not run the ball. The defense could not get the Atlanta Falcons off the field. The Bucs kept running afoul of the referee, and Chase McLaughlin missed two kicks in the same game for the first time in nearly four years.

A masterpiece, it was not.

But here’s the thing:

Good teams win games when they play well. Great teams win games when they don’t.

The Bucs beat the Falcons 23-20 in the season opener on Sunday, and that shouldn’t be a surprise considering every known football expert in the Northern hemisphere expects Tampa Bay to finish atop the NFC South.

But it’s how the Bucs won that’s interesting.

They overcame a horrible start. They overcame devastating penalties and questionable video reviews. They overcame a last-minute renovation of the offensive line and a go-ahead drive by the Falcons in the fourth quarter that lasted 18 plays, 91 yards and probably shortened Todd Bowles’ life by several years.

“That was crazy,” said safety Antoine Winfield Jr. “But we did our best.”

So what does it all mean?

Obviously, it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions. In some ways, it’s like a Rorschach test. Ten people could have watched that game and come up with 10 different interpretations of how Tampa Bay’s 2025 season will eventually play out.

To me, the takeaway is the Bucs could have rolled over. They had a half-dozen legitimate excuses they could have fallen back on.

And, instead, they stuck it out.

Think about the offensive line. In the last 10 days or so, they devised a secret plan to replace injured All-Pro Tristan Wirfs at left tackle. Backup Charlie Heck hadn’t been terribly impressive during training camp, so the Bucs revamped 60% of the line. Graham Barton went from center to left tackle. Ben Bredeson went from left guard to center. Michael Jordan went from the practice squad to the starting lineup at left guard.

Maybe they struggled to run the ball and Baker Mayfield faced a lot of pressure, but the Bucs gave up only one sack and did not have a turnover.

“That’s the life of an NFL offensive lineman. You’ve got to be ready for anything,” Bredeson said. “I thought we played hard and we played together, and that’s all you can really ask for.”

Think about the out-of-nowhere hit Winfield delivered. There was 16 seconds remaining and the Falcons had first down on the Tampa Bay 26. Cornerback Jamel Dean slipped around the 17-yard line and receiver Casey Washington ran past him. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. put the ball in Washington’s hands and the end zone was a few steps away. That’s when Winfield came racing across the field and separated Washington from the ball with a magnificent hit.

“That’s just Winfield,” said linebacker Lavonte David. “He plays safety from sideline to sideline. He was playing over top of the receiver and he was there to make the play.”

Think about the forgotten play of Haason Reddick. Signed to a one-year deal after a disaster of a season with the Jets, Reddick was supposed to be the missing link on a Bucs defensive line that had trouble generating an outside pass rush in 2024.

He did not have a monster game in his Tampa Bay debut, but he did show up at a critical moment. The Falcons had a third and 4 deep in Bucs territory near the end of the third quarter. It was the 10th play of another lengthy drive when Reddick busted through the middle of the line and dropped Penix for Tampa Bay’s only sack.

The Falcons ended up having to settle for a field goal, which may have been the difference in the game.

“We’ve got some things to work on, the flow of the game definitely showed that,” Reddick said. “But the most important thing is that we were able to come out with a win. That’s one, let’s go, baby.”

Maybe the Bucs got lucky. If Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo hits a 44-yard field goal in the final seconds, the game would have gone to overtime.

On the other hand, the Bucs lost a lot of games just like this last season. They fell on the final play against the Falcons, Chiefs, 49ers and Commanders. They were a handful of plays away from winning a couple of other games.

The Bucs were good enough to win another division title but they weren’t a great team.

Is this the first sign of a new beginning?

If it was, hold on to your seat.

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