TAMPA — Going into Friday’s preseason game against the Miami Dolphins, Bucs head coach Brucs Arians said the main thing he wanted to see his team do was play a cleaner game, especially after Tampa Bay committed 14 penalties for 112 yards in its preseason opener in Pittsburgh. Four of those penalties extended Steelers’ drives.
The Bucs committed six penalties for 51 yards through three quarters on Friday, but that didn’t tell how costly those flags were.
Three ill-timed defensive penalties — including two in the first half — negated key defensive stops. And the Bucs’ biggest offensive gain of the night — a screen pass running back Dare Ogunbowale took for 45 yards early in the third quarter — came back because of a holding call.