Rueben Bain Jr., Bucs’ other defensive additions, fall flat in debut
· Yahoo Sports
When expectations weren’t swallowing Rueben Bain Jr. in his NFL debut Sunday in Cincinnati, Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims was.
Visit somethingsdifferent.biz for more information.
The first-round pick from Miami played 41 of the Bucs’ 64 snaps on defense in Sunday’s 33-27 loss.
But the outside linebacker failed to record a single pressure on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and finished with only one tackle.
All offseason, the Bucs focused on improving a defense that recorded only 37 sacks in 2025, the fewest since Todd Bowles arrived as their defensive coordinator in 2019.
In addition to Bain, they used a second-round pick on Missouri inside linebacker Josiah Trotter. They utilized free agency to add veterans such as inside linebackers Alex Anzalone and Christian Rozeboom, edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad and defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson.
Sure, the Bucs offense consistently put the defense in bad position by losing four fumbles Sunday, including three by quarterback Baker Mayfield.
But two of the biggest problems the Bucs had attempted to fix — an anemic pass rush and poor coverage of running backs and tight ends — popped up again. Like Bain, outside linebacker Yaya Diaby was held to no pressures and one tackle.
“We can play better,” coach Todd Bowles said Monday. “I don’t think they were the sharpest. I thought Yaya played hard. I thought Bain played (hard). ... He probably took a step back in terms of the mental aspect of it, but that comes with working together with everybody else in the pass-rush game as well, and we’ve got to do a better job up front at that.”
Watching Bain was particularly frustrating. He stuck mostly to an outside pass-rush move that Mims handled easily.
The Bucs cornerbacks were able to lock down Bengals receivers Ja’Marr Chase (2 catches, 12 yards) and Tee Higgins (3 catches, 59 yards), but tight end Mike Gesicki ran free over the middle. He finished with five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Anzalone, 31, was signed by the Bucs specifically to limit the gaping hole in coverage over the middle of the field. But on Sunday, he got lost in some of the zone coverage schemes.
“His man coverage was fine,” Bowles said. “I think he had two plays in zone coverages where he didn’t drop the right way. He missed a couple of tackles that we’d like to have back. Obviously, you don’t want that part of it, and he was rusty the first game, but I know he’ll bounce back in this one.
“He played hard and played fast. He played winning football for us.”
The Bucs defense also failed to line up correctly in some critical situations.
Specifically, near the end of the first half, Burrow caught the Bucs with no players covering the center or either guard position. He changed the play to a quarterback draw and ran 12 yards for a first down to set up a field goal.
Bowles acknowledged there was an obvious mistake in alignment. “The middle is never vacant in our defense,” he said.
There were some bright spots. Trotter became the first player in NFL history to record a sack and return an interception for a touchdown in his first game.
Bowles said second-year cornerback Benjamin Morrison played well in place of Jacob Parrish, who left in the second quarter with a back strain. X-rays and an MRI were negative, the coach said.
“(Morrison) prepared well,” Bowles said. “He practiced like that all week. When he got in the game, he didn’t miss a beat. He tackled well. He covered well. I thought he did a heck of a job.”
Still, in Week 1, the changes made to the Bucs defense didn’t pay off.
• • •
Sign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.