It took the Tampa Bay Bucs about eight games last season before their defense was clicking.

They call it midseason form for a reason. In their home opener win against Chicago, the Bucs D looked more like playoff form.

“It started last year after the bye week, our communication spiked way high. It just shot through the roof,” defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. “Just being on the same page with the man next to you changes everything. Coach preached this offseason about our eyes, where are our eyes at? Keep your eyes on your keys, and we've done that. Stopping the run has been a big emphasis on us, so we focused on that. And then when you stop the run and take the ball away, your chances of winning go pretty high.

“We just have to keep focusing on those things and hopefully we can keep some success going."

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings

Sunday, 1 p.m.

TV: Fox

Tampa Bay will see if they can replicate that dominating performance without one of its defensive stars, linebacker Kwon Alexander, who is out with hamstring injury. Minnesota counters with a key injury of its own. Starting quarterback Sam Bradford has been ruled out with a knee injury.

One player the Bucs defense will have to worry about is former Florida State running back Dalvin Cook.

“He’s a really good player,” head coach Dirk Koetter said. “He can run with power. He can run with speed. He can catch the ball out of the backfield and he has demonstrated all of that in the first two weeks of the season.

“[He’s a] really good football player.”

While the defense starred in Week 2, the offense had its moments.

"Obviously, we've got to do better in the red zone, have got to score touchdowns,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “That was obvious. We had some shots down the field we didn't hit. Same conversation we had last week, so that's a work in progress, obviously. But I still believe that bad football loses before good football wins. And so, what did we do? We did a great job initially of not turning it over and giving ourselves a chance. Certainly we don't want to turn the ball over.

“We've got to find a way to score touchdowns in the red zone and obviously we've got to hit some of the throws that we had down the field."

The Bucs praised quarterback Jameis Winston’s performance, but also said there’s room for improvement, something he agrees with.

“I never get comfortable. I think it’s just [that] I have a little more experience,” Winston said. “Like I said, my main thing is to get better every year. Last year Game One vs. Atlanta, I got better. It was better than my first game my first year. This year – no turnovers, so it was good. Again, just getting better every single day now.

“Fortunately, that’s behind us and now we’ve got Minnesota this week. We’ve got to get better for this week.”