4 winners (and 2 losers) from Bucs upset win over Vikings

Let's take a look at who stood out in the Bucs upset win in Week 1.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Minnesota Vikings | David Berding/GettyImages
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Winner: Christian Izien, S

One of the major storylines of the offseason was the youth movement that swept through the roster during training camp. The Bucs brought almost two dozen rookies to camp, with a huge chunk of those guys being undrafted rookies looking to prove themselves.

Christian Izien stood out almost instantly and he really never looked back. When he arrived with the team back in May, Antoine Winfield Jr. endorsed him by saying the rookie reminded him of himself, and from there Izien blazed through the offseason with a performance that earned him the starting nickel corner role on the 53-man roster.

The Bucs trusting Izien so quickly was something that paid off right away in Week 1. Izien seemed to be in all the right places during the defense's hot start on Sunday afternoon and he had one of the biggest plays of the game late in the second quarter.

With the game tied and the Vikings knocking on the door to take a halftime lead, Izien literally ripped the ball out of K.J. Osbourne's hands at the goal line for the defense's third turnover of the half.

It also kept Minnesota out of the endzone and seven crucial points off the scoreboard. In a game the Bucs ended up winning 20-17, that touchdown Izien stole could have ended up winning the game for the Vikings.

Instead, he made the kind of high-impact play undrafted rookies typically don't, proving that the Bucs might have landed an absolute steal at a position of need.

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