As the Buccaneers get ready to open against the Bengals, Zyon McCollum isn’t easing into Week 1. He’s putting the challenge right on the table - and backing it with a prediction that will not be lost on Cincinnati.
McCollum, one of the corners Tampa Bay is counting on to steady a shaky pass defense, said the ball is going to come his way and his teammates are ready for it. Facing Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins is about as tough a first assignment as a secondary can get, but McCollum sounded eager for the matchup rather than intimidated by it.
“You’re going to have opportunities. Guaranteed opportunities.
I mean, they want to get their season started off right. They want to get in rhythm early, and so the ball is guaranteed to go in the air, and ball in the air belongs to us.
That’s the mentality that we have. That’s what we’re going into the game thinking, and we know we’re going to get tested early and so it’s an incredible opportunity for us.
There will be no better feeling than when we take away three, four interceptions,” McCollum said.
He went even further, saying Joe Burrow is going to throw 3 or 4 interceptions in Sunday’s season opener. That’s a huge statement to make against one of the league’s top quarterbacks and a receiver group that has a case as the NFL’s best.
The confidence is striking because Tampa Bay’s pass defense was a mess last season, finishing 27th. McCollum was part of that uneven effort, and the Bucs need more from him this year if he’s going to play like a true CB1.
That’s why Sunday matters so much for Tampa Bay’s cornerback room. It enters the season as the team’s biggest question mark, and if McCollum and the rest of the group can handle the heat against Cincinnati’s dangerous passing attack, it would be an immediate step in the right direction.
For now, McCollum has done the talking. The Bengals have likely heard every word. Now comes the part where he has to back it up.
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What made the night sting even more was the way Cincinnatis revamped defense kept coming. The Bengals mixed consistent pressure with a defensive touchdown from linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., turning Tampa Bays mistakes into quick momentum swings and forcing the Bucs to spend the rest of the game chasing points. For a team that wants to contend, the bigger concern after Week 1 is not simply the result, but whether this kind of sloppiness is a one-night mess or a warning sign. [Read more 🡒]
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For a team that entered the year hoping to build on its strengths, the sloppiness was hard to ignore. Cincinnati did its part, too, with Evan McPherson drilling long field goals that kept pressure on Tampa Bay, but the bigger issue for the Bucs was self-inflicted. They had enough good moments to show the pieces are there, yet the opener also made clear that protecting the ball is going to decide whether those pieces add up to something more. [Read more 🡒]