Winners and Losers for Week 1: Buccaneers vs 49ers

The first game of the 2019 season was a very disappointing start for the Buccaneers. Week 1 for the Bucs and 49ers started off ugly with many penalties, turnovers, and fumbles. However, the 49ers were able to come up with more turnovers that led them to victory over the Bucs for their first win of the season. There were some positives for the Bucs but unfortunately they weren’t enough to get them the win.

Winners

RB Ronald Jones II

Jones surprised many with his performance against the 49ers with 75 yards rushing on 13 carries an average of 5.8 yards per run. This may not seem like a “major” performance for a running back, but he was a key part of the offense in the second half. The Bucs were struggling to get anything going with passing and rushing in the first half. After giving Jones more carries the offense started to get rolling and he seemed like a completely different player from last year. He had more rushing yards this game than his entire rookie season which shows how big of a turnaround and confidence booster that this game was for him.

CB Vernon Hargreaves III

Hargreaves had a great game in his first time playing under Todd Bowles defense. He came up with a huge interception returned for a touchdown in the second quarter to put the Bucs on the board. He had a solid game overall and showed that he is more comfortable in the new defense. I think Hargreaves will continue this performance throughout this season because he is another player like Jones that has shown improvement in the new coaching changes.

LB Lavonte David

Lavonte David is one of the most reliable players on the Bucs defense and he continued to show that this game. It seemed like he was everywhere on the field and had a total of seven tackles. David also had one tackle for loss and showed up in many crucial plays for the defense. The Bucs will continue to rely on him to have performances like this and be a key contributor for the defense.

Losers

QB Jameis Winston

It was a rough day for Winston throwing three interceptions in his first game of 2019. The first one wasn’t completely his fault because it was deflected off O.J Howard’s hands but the following two were poor and ended up being very costly. Both of his last two interceptions resulted in returns for touchdowns and were huge momentum shifts. The most crucial one was when the Bucs were down by 6 with about two minutes left in the game and had an opportunity to go down the field to win the game. The first play of the drive was a screen that was discovered quickly by the defense but Winston still decided to throw it and the pick six ended up sealing the game for the 49ers.

RT Demar Dotson

Dotson didn’t have a bad game overall, but he had two holding penalties in the same drive that were costly for the Bucs. The first one was a perfectly designed screen play to Cameron Brate that nullified the touchdown. The second one was another touchdown pass to Brate that was called back as well — which was the play before O.J. Howard fumbled the ball and the Bucs ended up not getting any points.

CB Carlton Davis

Carlton Davis is another player that didn’t have a bad game overall but had two costly penalties like Dotson. His first penalty was a holding call and came on a 4th and 1 during the second quarter when Jordan Whitehead sacked Jimmy Garoppolo in the backfield. Instead of the Bucs getting a turnover on downs, it extended the 49ers drive and led them to a field goal. The other major penalty was pass interference on a 3rd and 10 during the third quarter that extended another drive. This penalty ended up being another costly one because the 49ers were able to score a touchdown.