The Bucs are 6-2 heading into their midseason bye week. Good enough to be among the top teams in the NFL, but not as good as they should be. Tampa Bay feels like they gave one away to an inferior Saints team in Week 8, and didn’t play as well as they should have against Los Angeles in Week 3. Speaking on Bucs Total Access, head coach Bruce Arians graded the team’s performance in the season’s first half.

“I would think as a team it’s a ‘B’,” Arians said. “We got beat at the Rams. We didn’t play very well out there. This one [against the Saints] we beat ourselves pretty badly. Defensively it’s so cyclical right now — week to week. Like you said, [against] the Bears, no penalties, this week [lots of penalties]. It’s an inconsistent football team right now. And once we find our consistent level, I like where we’ll be.”

Statistically, the Bucs are the league’s second-ranked offense and top-ranked passing attack by per game yardage. Tampa Bay is also second in scoring, at 32.5 points per game. Their defense is moving in the right direction, up to 14th in points allowed per game. Despite injuries, the Bucs pass defense has risen from dead last to 19th in the NFL over the past month. Tampa Bay’s run defense is still the NFL’s best in yards allowed per game, at just 78. After the bye, the team could get several key defenders back from injury.

The Bucs face one passing offense currently ranked in the top 10 over their final nine games of the season. Just two teams on their remaining schedule have winning records – the Bills and the Saints.

You can listen to the tremendous entirety of Bucs Total Access with Casey Phillips right here.