The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent the offseason talking themselves into Rueben Bain Jr. as the answer to one of their biggest problems. He looked every bit the part in camp, then kept flashing in joint practices and preseason games, enough to make it seem like Jason Licht had found a quick fix for the team’s pass-rushing issues with the 2026 NFL Draft.
That optimism took a hit in Week 1.
Against the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2026 NFL regular season opener, Bain Jr. barely showed up on the stat sheet. He finished with one tackle and no sacks or pressures in Tampa Bay’s 33-27 loss at PayCor Stadium. For a player who had been drawing the loudest buzz on the roster all summer, it was a quiet debut.
It’s not as if rookies are supposed to walk into the league and immediately take over. Most pass rushers need time, and plenty of them don’t truly hit until closer to Year 3. Bain Jr. is also making a slight position change to fit Todd Bowles’s scheme, which only adds to the difficulty.
The Bengals’ offensive line has been one of the league’s worst for years, but it still kept Bain Jr. in check. Tampa Bay’s pass rush didn’t look any less thin than it did a season ago, and Bain Jr. wasn’t able to change that on this night.
He wasn’t among the top five reasons the Buccaneers lost, but he also didn’t do anything to help them pull it out. Joe Burrow did enough to get the Bengals the win, while Tampa Bay left Week 1 still searching for answers up front.
In Other News...
Buccaneers' Cade Otton Decision Already Looks Tougher To Defend
Cade Ottons first game after landing his three-year, $30 million extension did not give the Buccaneers much reason to feel better about the investment. In Tampa Bays Week 1 loss, the tight end managed three catches for 30 yards and also had a notable drop, a rough opening act for a player expected to be a steady part of the offense.
The contrast only looks sharper when stacked against Isaiah Likely, whose own three-year, $40 million deal with the Giants was followed by a much louder debut. Likely turned in eight receptions for 78 yards and two touchdowns, and he also drew a better run-blocking grade than Otton in 2025 from Pro Football Focus, making Tampa Bays decision at the position look more complicated than it did just a week ago. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers May Have Found The Better Answer At Offensive Coordinator
Mike McDaniel was the name most closely tied to the Buccaneers offensive coordinator opening before he took the Los Angeles Chargers job, and opening week offered an early way to compare the two directions. Tampa Bays offense under Zac Robinson looked efficient both through the air and on the ground, even with turnovers muddying the final picture, while the Bucs still came away looking like a unit with structure and rhythm.
McDaniel, meanwhile, inherited a Chargers offense that struggled to get much going against the Arizona Cardinals. One week is hardly a full verdict on any coordinator decision, but for the Buccaneers, the first glimpse under Robinson made the choice look at least as defensible as the one that got away. In a league where offensive identity can take shape quickly, Tampa Bays start suggested it may have landed on the cleaner fit. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Already Face One Big NFC South Question After Escaping Week 1
The Buccaneers got out of Week 1 with a win over the Bengals, but it came with enough sloppiness to keep the coaching staff busy. Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving both turned the ball over multiple times, and Tampa Bay still had to sweat its way through a game that should have provided a cleaner opening statement. Even so, the Bucs avoided the kind of early setback that can linger in a division race, especially with the rest of the NFC South stumbling right alongside them.
Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta also opened with losses, leaving the division logjammed at 0-1 and turning the next few weeks into a quick test of who can settle down first. For Tampa Bay, the bigger issue is not simply the win column, but whether those turnover problems were a one-week hiccup or the first sign of a tougher stretch ahead. The schedule is about to start sorting out the division, and the Bucs are already carrying a question every contender wants answered before September gets too far along. [Read more 🡒]