Bucs defense practices what it's preached and 2 other nuggets from the preseason win vs. the Titans that bode well for 2025

The majority of Buccaneers starters didn't play against the Titans, so it was good to see the depth guys step up. Now, it's their turn once they get on the field for whatever allotted time they receive against the Pittsburgh Steelers or Buffalo Bills.

Riley Dixon looks like a big upgrade from last year's punting debacle

Yep, talking about punters during the preseason is about as sexy as its gets. I mean, who doesn't want to talk about the non-starter who has the best shot at not touching the ball during the entire game?

All jokes aside, Dixon looked really good against the Titans. Not only did he average 49.0 yards per punt, but he averaged a net of 42.0 yards. The net yardage would've tied for the sixth-best average among the Top-20 punters with the most attempts in 2024. As a whole Bucs punters averaged a paltry 37.3 net yards per punt in 2024, which represented the second-worst average.

Dixon blasted punts of 57 and 53 yards before hitting a 37-yarder than pinned the Titans at their own 7. The 57-yarder landed in the end zone, resulting in a touchback. If he would've put a little less "oomf" on it, his night would've been even better.

The Buccaneers went through Jake Camarda, Trenton Gill, and then Jack Browning last year and neither of them worked out. So far, it looks like Dixon is the solution to this problem, but we'll wait until the end of the preseason before we chisel that in stone or anything of that ilk.

Bucs' ground game shines during a time of year where you don't want to reveal your cards

The Bucs are bringing over the same offense for the first time since the 2021-2022 seasons, yet there will be plenty of wrinkles under new OC Josh Grizzard, including more vertical passing attacks downfield.

And while the Buccaneers would love to get some quality game reps in to help iron out any potential kinks, the team also knows it can't show too much of its hand during the preseason. Especially since it plays the Bills both in Game 3 and later on the in the regular season.

Therefore, the Bucs' need last year's ground game to pick up where it left off. And boy, it sure did on Saturday night.

In total, Bucs running backs carried the ball 38 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns - good for a robust 4.47 yards per carry. Second-year back Owen Wright, whom the team recently added to help mitigate injuries at the position, stole the show with 87 yards and a tuddy on 18 carries. He did most of his damage in the second half when the Buccaneers were trying to put the game away and that's exactly what you want to see: The ground attack close out a game where the Bucs are leading big.

"I was especially pleased in the second half when they know you’re going to run it and
you can still run it," said Bowles. "That says a lot about those guys grinding in there. ‘Carbs’ (Kevin Carberry) and [Brian] Picucci did a very good job getting those guys prepared in the
second half. We ran it a little bit in the first half, but when they know you’re going to run
the ball and you can still run the ball, that’s a sign of toughness.”

Sean Tucker was the only back to average less than 4.7 yards per carry and that's not a slight, at all, as he handled several short-yardage situations. Everyone talks about the Bucs' passing attack and for good reason, but it looks like the running game is picking up right where it left off and it should only help the offense hit the ground running (pun totally intended) by Week 1.