TAMPA, Fla. -- Gerald McCoy knows better than to draw any conclusions from preseason success.The Tampa Bay Buccaneers led the NFL with 16 sacks -- one more than the Denver Broncos, however the four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle isnt ready to declare the team has fixed its pass rush.Its only preseason, it doesnt count until Sunday, McCoy said looking ahead to the Bucs regular-season opener against NFC South rival Atlanta.Yes, its a positive and we can build off that. Weve shown that we can get there, but ... everything changes when it counts, he added. Game plans, matchups, tempo all that stuff changes. So, its a positive we can build off of, but it doesnt matter until Sunday.Bolstering an inconsistent pass rush and improving a porous secondary were the teams top priorities during the offseason. The Bucs finished with 38 sacks last season, when opposing quarterbacks completed 70 percent of their passes and threw for 31 touchdowns.General manager Jason Licht signed defensive end Robert Ayers Jr., four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes and linebacker Daryl Smith in free agency, then used the clubs first two picks in the draft to select cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and pass rusher Noah Spence.Another key move was Coach Dirk Koetters decision to hire former Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith as defensive coordinator.Players have embraced what they describe as a multi-faceted, aggressive scheme that produced encouraging results during the preseason. Thirteen different players had at least half a sack, with reserve Jacquies Smith leading the way with four.McCoy, who led the Bucs with 8+ sacks last season, is confident the team is capable of replicating the success in the regular season.Ayers had 9+ sacks for the New York Giants in 2015, and Spence is a second-round draft pick out of Eastern Kentucky who likely would have been a first-rounder if not for off-the-field issues he had early in his college career at Ohio State.William Gholston is the other starting end, backed up by Jacquies Smith, a third-year pro who entered the league as an undrafted free agent and had 13+ sacks for the Bucs over the past two seasons.Now we can actually game-plan people, single out some guys, find some good matchups, McCoy said. In preseason, youre kind of just going, beating the guy in front of you. Its still going to have to be that, but we can game-plan guys, the quarterback protections, those kinds of things.Koetter also likes what hes seen, adding the team is developing the type of depth necessary to have a consistent rush, beginning Sunday against the Falcons Matt Ryan.I also think our defensive staff, led by Mike, is doing a really good job of moving those guys around, the coach said.Theyre really playing offense with defensive players. Thats what offenses do, they move guys into different positions to try and get them on matchups, and our defense is doing the same thing with the pass rush right now.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Boston Celtics Store . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Boston Celtics Gear . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. https://www.cheapceltics.com/ . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Wholesale Celtics Jerseys . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Boston Celtics Shirts . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. NEW YORK -- In a story Aug. 13 about NBCs coverage of the Olympics, The Associated Press, relying on information provided by a publicist, reported erroneously that the online subscription content service Fullscreen made a 10-episode sports docuseries, Keeping Score, on the U.S. womens soccer team. The series is only six episodes.A corrected version of the story is below:A memorable daytime soccer game for NBCThe U.S. womens soccer teams unexpected loss made for some memorable moments for NBCBy DAVID BAUDERAP Television WriterNEW YORK -- The non-stop nature of soccer helped and hindered NBCs Arlo White and Kate Markgraf in their coverage of the U.S. womens team, which lost to Sweden on penalty kicks Friday and was bounced from the Olympics.The USA are distraught, White said, describing the aftermath of Lisa Dahlkvists deciding penalty.He expertly built the tension throughout the broadcast and reflected the significance of the three-time defending Olympic champions and defending World Cup winners heading home without a medal. White and Markgraf caught a bit of soccer gamesmanship before the last penalty kick, when U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo changed gloves to make Dahlkvist wait a little while and think about her shot.There were two huge moments right before the penalty kicks when the Americans and then the Swedes had goals disallowed on what appeared to be questionable offside calls.Asked to take a stand on Lotta Schelins disallowed goal for Sweden, Markgraf hedged. The refs call appeared wrong, she said, but I do need to take another look at the play.She never got that chance. The soccer clock keeps ticking. When the extra time period ended shortly thereafter, NBC switched to a round of commercials and the controversial calls were not re-examined. Contrast that to an American football game, when theres enough downtime after a close call to see about a dozen replays.One other thing: The soccer teams loss -- and Solos subsequent sour grapes remark that the Swedish team was a bunch of cowards -- was the biggest Olympics story on Friday, at least from an American perspective. It deserved more than a minutes recap on NBC just before midnight.POLAROID MOMENT: Superb prep work by NBC was on display shortly after Joseph Schooling of Singapore upset Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly. The network flashed a picture of a 13-year-old Schooling meeting Phelps, his hero, in 2008 -- amusing even a gracious Phelps. Phelps took a backseat to the other American swimmers on Thursday. Katie Ledecky cruised in the 800-meter freestyle, Maya Dirado stretched just far enough to win the 200-meter backstrokke and, at the ripe old age of 35, Anthony Ervin won gold in the 50-meter freestyle, repeating his victory from the 2000 Olympics.dddddddddddd In the intervening years, Ervin admitted to drifting. He was on my couch for awhile, said NBC analyst Rowdy Gaines.WATER-LOGGED: Yes, it appears some NBC viewers wont be sorry to see the Olympic pool shut down. NBC Olympic slogan: every four years the worlds greatest athletes gather to witness a 7-day swim meet, tweeted Allen Tyger, who describes himself as a college minister from Missouri.QUOTE: Team USA played like it was a Thursday night in Milwaukee in February. Totally uninspired. -NBC basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla, describing the teams tight 94-91 victory over Serbia.Milwaukee, are you listening?MAN-BUN IS BACK: It was almost sadistic, NBC flashing yet another picture of Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszus histrionic husband, this team after she won silver behind Dirado. Were they trying to prove some kind of point after being criticized earlier in the games for giving Shane Tusup too much credit for Hosszus victories? Another question: Has he changed his shirt since arriving in Rio?BAD TIMING: The online subscription content service Fullscreen launched in April and made one of its big projects a six-episode sports docuseries, Keeping Score, showing the backstage life of the U.S. womens soccer team, partially from the perspective of Hope Solo. Oops. Only two episodes had been made available before the teams quarterfinal loss, capped by Solos bad sportsmanship. Whos going to be interested now? You watched the game and know the outcome, said Ashley Kaplan, Fullscreens head of content production. But you have no idea what happened in the hotel room afterwards.JONESIN: Saturday Night Lives Lisa Jones has made it to Rio de Janeiro. She was spotted at the Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross beach volleyball match.RATINGS: NBCs Thursday prime time, which featured gold-medal performances from American gymnast Simone Biles, swimmer Simone Manuel and, of course, Phelps, reached 31.2 million, the Nielsen company said. That was the second highest viewership of the Rio de Janeiro Games so far, and ticked up to 33 million when online streaming and NBCSNs prime-time telecast are added in. NBC still hasnt topped its record-setting London Games from 2012, however, which had 36.8 million for the corresponding night.---Follow David Bauder at twitter.com/dbauder. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder ' ' '