For a front office that dropped more than $200 million on its offseason defensive overhaul and for a head coach who ran game-closing four-minute drills incessantly this training camp, the Bengals' 33-27 Opening Day win over the Buccaneers Sunday looked like a postcard drawn up especially for the 66,625 fans who descended on Paycor Stadium.

The new faces were at the heart of four forced fumbles and the ensuing recoveries while quarterback Joe Burrow’s offense drained the final 3:19 to leave Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield benched when Burrow lowered his head on a 3^rd-and-one sneak that killed the clock with a minute left.

"We've done that exact drill many times in training camp. There are times we got in four-minute mode or three-minute mode against our defense and got heavy and ran the ball, and then we were punting with 2:30 left," said a beaming Zac Taylor of this endless four-minute summer.  "We came out with more of an aggressive mindset."

Big plays galore. Wide receiver Dohnte Meyers made a man miss for 18 yards on the first snap of the last drive of his debut. So did running back Samaje Perine on the next snap for 14 yards.

Then a few plays after wide receiver Tee Higgins extended and dove to snag a hellacious second-and-10 Joe-Arrow for 18 yards, (hello Chiefs in 2022), running back Chase Brown alertly stayed in-bounds on a five-yard run.

"Credit to our guys for understanding how we wanted to run the clock there, while still getting maximum yardage." Taylor said. "We had a second-and-10 after they made a stop and we were able to draw them offsides and get a free five. If you don't do that and you run the ball on second-and-10, you might be in a third-and-eight, and you're running the ball and kicking a field goal. Situationally, our guys did some things we worked on for a long time. They managed it really well … As you can see, I'm really proud. We've talked about these situations a million times, and these guys nailed it."

It was just the kind of game the Bengals let slip away during the last two years. But not Sunday.

"When I talk about maturity," left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said, "that's what I'm talking about."

Take A Bow, Defense

The Bengals won the kind of game that you have to win when the stat sheet is not always kind. The Bucs didn't punt, they virtually generated the same yards per play as the Bengals, and they held Bengals All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to two catches for 12 yards.

"Doesn't matter," said safety Bryan Cook to his mates as he walked into the locker room. "Just need a win. We found a way to win. That's all that matters. We found a way."

Cook, the most coveted safety on the free-agent market, and edge Boye Mafe, their highest-paid free agent, both forced a fumble and recovered one. And both made their presence felt in the two richest moments of the game.

With Mayfield wriggling out of a sack and whirling inside the Bengals 5 in a game the Bengals led 14-3 early in the second quarter, linebacker Barrett Carter stripped Mayfield and Cook fell on it in the end zone.

With 10:41 left in the game and the Bengals leading, 30-20, Mafe stripped-sacked Mayfield at the Bucs 44 to set up Evan McPherson’s fourth field goal and the killer from 32 yards with 5:23 left.

Mafe, who won the Super Bowl last year with that wave of Seattle's defensive line, saw Sunday that Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery was quite serious in the spring.

"We've got guys we can roll with, and we're going to roll with them," Mafe said. "That's why we're fresh in the fourth quarter. We're not putting 70-30 (ratio) on a guy."

Montgomery emptied his bench all day in the 85-degree sauna (tied for the fourth hottest Paycor game) and it paid off after Mayfield couldn't get the ball snapped on time and was looking at first-and-15. Suddenly Mafe was looking at the back of Mayfield's No. 6 in the back of the pocket and leaped forward.

"A blindside hit. He doesn't have the time to throw it away," Mafe said. "It's situational ball. (First-and-15). Have to get off the rock."

Mayfield noticed what the Bengals had done up front the last few months.
"They upgraded the personnel a lot. They were winning on some twists and just consistent, relentless effort," Mayfield said. "It's holding on to the ball too long, but those guys were running around the edge. It's relentless effort and bringing in guys with high motors, and obviously talented guys."

Knight Moves

Another huge defensive play. This one with the Bengals down, 3-0, and the offense coming after a three-and-out, the Bucs faced a third-and-nine at their 33. Carter was draped around Mayfield's waist and edge Myles Murphy knocked the ball out on the left sideline, where linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., nearly stumbled when he picked it up and gathered it before taking off on a 27-yard fumble return touchdown.

Neither Knight nor Carter, the beleaguered rookies from a year ago, wanted to get into any redemption talk.

"We're not out here for that," Knight said. "We're out here for our faith and the team."

After Knight cashed in the Bengals' first Opening Day defensive touchdown since safety Clayton Fejedelem  in 2018 in Indianapolis, he talked about the turnover circuits the defensive coaches put them through before every practice.

"If a lot of people are around, you have to get on top of it," Knight said. "If nobody's around, you have to scoop and score, and that leads to game-changing plays like that. It's hard to pick it up and run with it, but our coaches make a point of drilling it every day for opportunities like that, so when it comes you don't flinch.

"Somebody swiped my leg so I'm thinking 'Please don't go down right here.' Like they say, a lesser athlete would have fallen."

Dexter Dominates

After his first sack as a Bengal, Jonathan Allen said don't bother looking at the stat sheet to see defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II’s line.

"It doesn't tell you how he impacts the game," said Allen, who worked a game with Lawrence to get the drive-ending sack.

Lawrence had one quarterback hit on the stat sheet but a lot of great lines after his Bengals debut. He said he wasn't too happy that tight end Mike Gesicki beat him to the Sexy Dexy sack dance after his touchdown catch gave the Bengals a 14-3 lead, but Lawrence gave him a seven out of 10.

Actually, Lawrence did it first because that's what he did when he was announced as the last defensive starter.

"I thought that's what would happen. I asked my wife what I should do," Lawrence said. "I really couldn't hear at that point. I was kind of zoned in. I was looking at how far I had to run to the team."

And as much as the crowd loved him as he beckoned them to cheer before key snaps, he loved them.

"I loved the crowd, the energy today. It helped," Lawrence said.

The Great Gesicki

With five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown, Gesicki had his biggest game since his six catches for 86 yards in Buffalo last Dec. 7. It was the first time he led the Bengals in receiving since a 2024 game he went for 100 yards against the Raiders.

"A lot of zone," Gesicki said. "That's what happens when teams don't want to play Ja'Marr and Tee man."

Like that two-yard touchdown from Burrow on third-and-one that gave them a 14-3 lead.

"It was either they covered me or Tee," Gesicki said. "They went to Tee."

Gsicki gobbled up 52 yards on three catches in a two-minute drill at the half that yielded a McPherson chip-shot field goal and 24-10 halftime lead. Burrow also converted a big third down to him in the second half.

"Mike is going to find space. I know Mike is going to find space," Burrow said. "We must've been on the same page. We had to go down and get points and it was a two-possession game at that point. So, you know we responded. Would've loved to get a touchdown there, but we got points and made it tough on them."

Slants and Screens

Here's Burrow's insight on that final closing drive:

"They're playing man, they're trying to stop the run. They know the situation. So we know the situation too. And we have to go and make plays with man coverage. That's what we did. Tee, Samaje, Dohnte. Big time plays. Chase (Brown) being smart and staying inbounds on a good run. That's how you win football games." …

Yes, Higgins agreed that 18-yard catch just before the two-minute warning on second-and-10 felt like the third-down catch that fended off the Chiefs late in the 2022 Bengals win in Paycor.

He bounced back Sunday from having a 33-yard catch overturned when it was ruled he dropped it. He thought it should have been ruled a fumble.

The short memory helped, but so did a long one.

"Those are plays I make. Those are plays I make. Unfortunately, the one they said I did drop, I thought I caught it," Higgins said. "I don't know the rules. I guess I didn't hold it. I was able to get another chance right there at the end and I was able to complete it.

"There was one play earlier in the game where I went back to the sidelines and said, 'I should have dove for that one.' I had another chance and said, 'I'm not missing this opportunity.'" …