CINCINNATI — When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cut a previously comfortable Bengals’ lead to a single score and tension mixed with the orange filling Paycor Stadium on Sunday, Dexter Lawrence repeatedly offered one message to his new teammates.“This is why we’re here,” Lawrence said.Not only was Lawrence’s analysis spot-on, but it also proved prophetic. The arrival of a cadre of veteran playmakers tossed into the mix in Cincinnati was here and, consequently, the reason the Bengals won.Top Plays from Buccaneers @ BengalsNearly every new player thrown into the mix ended up with a big play to his name. From Jonathan Allen to Bryan Cook to Boye Mafe to Cashius Howell to Lawrence, everybody had a hand in it — usually one ripping at Baker Mayfield’s grip on the football.“Every time the score kept getting closer and closer, situations kept getting more intense,” Lawrence said. “This is why we are here, to make these plays and show up.”Technically, there were 52 defensive plays for the Bengals, but “these plays” mostly amounted to four forced fumbles that changed the course of the Bengals’ 33-27 win and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.A closer look at all four illustrated the vision the Bengals had in mind this offseason.“You felt their presence — all of them — today,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “Those four turnovers are a gut punch to an offense when you are out there.”Third-and-9, Bucs’ 33, 6:29 first quarterMayfield dropped back and immediately felt the pressure. That came in the form of both Lawrence pushing the pocket to muddy Mayfield’s ability to step up and Mafe screaming around the edge, having blown past right tackle Luke Goedeke.Mayfield narrowly escaped Mafe’s grasp, and that sent him into a sprint to the sideline, where Barrett Carter did a great job pursuing the scramble. Then, Myles Murphy looped around the back of the play and finished off Mayfield to blow the ball loose.“Linebacker got a hold of him, and I swung for the ball,” Murphy said.The ball flew out directly in front of Demetrius Knight Jr., who scooped and scored.“I popped up and I saw the ball come out,” Carter said. “He had it and I didn’t even run. I knew he was going to the crib. I knew he was going to take it back. I’m glad my brother was able to make that play. That’s a big momentum play for our team.”Demetrius Knight Jr. scoops up a fumble and runs it back for a touchdown against the Buccaneers. (Cara Owsley / Imagn Images)Knight crossed into the end zone with the first touchdown of the season and offered an energetic celebration.“I got in there, did my signature and threw a little extra in there,” Knight said.Knight enjoys the highlight-reel dance, but the pressure and chaos created in the initial part of the play deserve so much of the credit. That goes directly back to Mafe’s initial quick win and Murphy’s relentless pursuit, a strain he started to master during his surge in the second half of last season.“Those guys were running around the edge,” Mayfield said. “It’s relentless effort and bringing in guys with high motors and obviously talented guys.”Mayfield might have been reading Duke Tobin’s clippings, but the relentless motor the quarterback felt out there was exactly what the de facto general manager wanted to add to the group he had already compiled.Last year, the Bengals scored one defensive touchdown all season. It took one quarter for the new defense to match the mark.Third-and-14, Bucs’ 25, 5:38 first quarterBefore this play even began, merely being in a third-and-14 situation came because second-round pick Cashius Howell blew up the first pass around the edge, drew a holding call and allowed Kris Jenkins to finish off the sack to put Tampa Bay behind the sticks.Mayfield checked down to Bucky Irving, sprinting into oncoming traffic, looking for a way to get the first down. What happened next was the arrival of the Bryan Cook calling card.Cincinnati viewed the move from safety Geno Stone, one of the worst tacklers in the NFL, to Cook, one of the best, as one of the most impactful change to the defense’s entire attitude.Cook came flying into the play from deep safety and put his helmet directly on the ball and Irving’s hand, forcing it to pop out.Nobody can say with 100 percent certainty that Stone would never make that play, but I’d be comfortable landing at 99.9.Throw in Cook’s emotional return to his hometown team on a day he was introduced as “Cincinnati’s own” by the PA announcer, and it was a swift reminder of the importance of his arrival.“I was about to tear up during the national anthem as I came back to where I grew up,” said Cook, who was elected a captain. “But yeah, playing here in College Hill across from Aiken High, but now I am a Bengal. It’s a beautiful feeling. I wanted to put a show on for the fans and help my team win games.”First-and-5, Bengals’ 12, 12:15 second quarterAnother Mayfield fumble, another play with Carter in the middle of the action. This time, the initial burst of chaos came courtesy of Lawrence. The standout nose tackle walked right guard Cody Mauch into Mayfield’s lap, even reaching over and grabbing a piece of his shoulder pads in the process. Mayfield got away, but he was scrambling frantically to find a way out of there.That’s an ideal example of Lawrence’s impact. It won’t show up as much on the stat sheet, but it went a long way to sowing the seeds of chaos.That left him running free with a thought of the end zone and a one-on-one with Carter.You remember Carter, last year’s fourth-round pick whose reputation for missed tackles earned him one of the lowest PFF grades among all linebackers last season. He believed he would be better and make that extra step with his comfort this year. In this moment, when he made the tackle, popping the ball out in the process, he started to prove it.Being able to make plays when a quarterback is out of rhythm and in an uncomfortable position is meant to be part of what helps him excel. He certainly viewed Sunday that way.“Playing behind those guys, it’s truly an honor,” Carter said. There’s not a defensive line I’d rather play behind; there isn’t a line I would rather go to war with every single game, and I love those guys like they’re my brothers.”Cook spotted the loose ball and quickly beat Chris Godwin to recover it in the end zone.Three drives in a row ended in a fumble. All three turned into Cincinnati touchdowns and a 21-3 lead.First-and-15, Bucs’ 46, 10:41 fourth quarterWith the Bengals up 30-20, Mayfield and the Bucs weren’t dead yet. They felt the injection of momentum after Josiah Trotter’s pick-six and it looked possible to pull off a comeback as they neared midfield.Mayfield dropped back and Mafe drew a one-on-one against All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs. Mafe got blocked behind Mayfield, but broke free as Mayfield patted the ball, looking for somebody open downfield.From there, it was a clear shot for a player who took heat for only managing two sacks to go with his 44 pressures last year. He got his first big one in Cincinnati and instantly dislodged the ball from Mayfield, with TJ Slaton recovering.“It’s a mentality thing,” Mafe said. “I knew what the situation was … I’m looking around, they got to throw the ball. From that point, I sold out. Once I saw him patting the ball on our defense, I had to take my shot.”Last year, the Bengals recovered eight fumbles. Sunday, they snagged four. This marked only the third time in franchise history that they had four sacks and four fumble recoveries in a game.This was the vision. These players impacting plays caused a domino effect of the desired chaos.“We knew the guys we had and we knew the guys we were bringing in,” Murphy said. “So this is exactly the vision we had going into the season. It came to fruition in the first game, and the thing is, we have to continue to build on top of that as the weeks go on.”That’s where an interesting undercurrent emerged in the postgame. While excitement over these plays and the playmakers who made them kept the vibes high — as did Joe Burrow purposely switching to Bob Marley for the postgame mood music — there was a real recognition that they still had a long way to go.After all, the Bucs didn’t punt all day. You can’t always count on fumble luck, if even much of that luck was bludgeoned into reality.Cornerback DJ Turner watched as his job got exponentially easier thanks to the extra pressure created up front, but admitted it was far from the type of effort they know this group could put together. Turnovers covered up the warts, in many ways.“This should be what a bad day looks like,” Turner said.