CINCINNATI — Three consecutive first-half fumbles that all turned into Cincinnati Bengals touchdowns buried the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 33-27 loss at Paycor Stadium, snapping a five-game season-opening win streak dating to 2021.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 216 yards on 23-of-28 passing and ran for a touchdown, but four lost fumbles — three in succession during the first half — handed the Bengals 17 points and a deficit Tampa Bay never erased. Bucky Irving added 93 yards from scrimmage and a score, but the turnovers overwhelmed an offense that never punted all game.
“Obviously, you can’t turn the ball over,” Head Coach Todd Bowles said. “We had four turnovers and we lose by one touchdown. It wasn’t just that. We had some penalties and false starts there. Defensively, I’d be interested to know how many tackles we missed. We missed some chip-shot tackles to get the ball back at the end and give our offense a chance. The sad part is that we didn’t punt; it was either a turnover or points. We can’t turn it over. Against a team like that that has very good players and closes well, we didn’t help ourselves.”
The collapse began when Cincinnati linebacker Demetrius Knight stripped Mayfield on a sack and returned the fumble 27 yards for a touchdown. Irving lost the ball three plays into the next drive, setting up Joe Burrow’s two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Gesicki. Mayfield then fumbled at the end of a scramble near the goal line, with Barrett Carter recovering in the end zone for a touchback. The Bengals turned that into an 80-yard drive capped by Chase Brown’s five-yard touchdown run.
“This one falls on me,” Mayfield said. “I think they had 17 points alone off my turnovers and it turns out to be a one-score game, six points. Offensively, it’s frustrating when you do something like that, when you’re moving the ball down the field. If we get that fixed, I get that fixed, make some corrections, we’ll be alright.”
Tampa Bay clawed within seven points in the third quarter on a 51-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal and a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown by rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter, who finished with a team-leading 10 tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. But Evan McPherson’s 58-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter pushed the lead back to 10, and a fourth Mayfield fumble near midfield led to another McPherson field goal. It marked the first time the Buccaneers lost four or more fumbles since a game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 18, 2014. They have not won a game in which they lost three or more fumbles since 2008.
“It was a good play on his part,” Bowles said of Trotter’s pick-six. “That’s a play he blew in practice. He learned from it and made the play from there. He made some good plays for us in the run. There’s obviously some things he’s still got to learn and get better at, but you can tell he’s a gamer. He made that play to help us get back in the game. It energized us for sure and made it a one-score game.”
Burrow completed 25 of 35 passes for 254 yards, one touchdown and one interception, facing just six hits behind a line that limited Tampa Bay to a single sack. Cincinnati gained 351 yards to 282 for the Buccaneers. Mayfield was sacked four times and acknowledged the pressure from Cincinnati’s revamped defensive front. “It’s just the internal time clock,” Mayfield said. “If that clock’s going off in your head, keeping two hands on the ball in the pocket is a big emphasis. I thought I checked the ball down decently today, but at a certain point in the game, still ball security is the most important thing.”
Starting cornerback Jacob Parrish left with a back injury in the first half. Fellow 2025 draftee Benjamin Morrison stepped in and recorded four tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass defensed, including a stop that prevented a fourth-quarter touchdown. Cornerback Zyon McCollum added nine tackles, a tackle for loss and two passes defensed. “I thought he battled, he did some good things,” Bowles said of Morrison. “He got in there and he was composed. I thought for the most part he covered well.”
The Buccaneers did not lose ground in the NFC South, as Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans all dropped their season openers as well. Irving averaged 5.6 yards per carry on eight rushes for 45 yards and tied a career high with seven catches for 48 yards. Tampa Bay hosts its next game at Raymond James Stadium in Week 2.