Lost in the angst about the Bucs’ abysmal offensive performance against the Saints was the outstanding play of the defense. Yes, Taysom Hill and the Saints offense are a bottom tier unit. But the Bucs dominated New Orleans, holding th Saints to 212 total yards and nine points. Thirty-three of those yards came on a fluky under-thrown post pattern, too. Despite rushing 31 times, the Saints managed just 61 yards on the ground.

But the most impressive part of watching the Bucs defense in Week 16 was the dominance of rookie Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. He is really coming into his own, with five pressures on 12 pass rushes on Sunday night alone. The Bucs’ first-rounder finished with four tackles, a sack and two tackles-for-loss.

All game long, Tryon-Shoyinka’s athleticism allowed the Bucs to keep Taysom Hill in the pocket, forcing throwaways and incompletions. He gives Tampa Bay incredible versatility with its games up front, because he covers so much ground so fast.

Watch the play above. Tryon-Shoyinka starts in the strongside B gap and loops around to the weakside C gap on a stunt. He covers ground across 5 gaps in literally three seconds. In the future with more experience, this is a sack for JTS.

Tryon-Shoyinka’s sack of Taysom Hill might have been the most impressive hustle sack I’ve seen in awhile. The ground he covers on the play is jaw-dropping. He literally does Jason Pierre-Paul’s job for him.

What’s crazy about Tryon-Shoyinka is that he isn’t just a rookie with great athleticism making hustle plays. He has actual pass rush skills and he uses them every game. This is why his limited usage is so maddening. He is a pro-ready player in so many ways. One of the most passed-on defenses in the league could use more of this on the field!

Sold the speed rush, then hit the left tackle with a club-swim to get back inside. Only an incredibly alert play by the left guard saved a big-time sack.

Later in the game, Tryon-Shoyinka barely missed a strip-sack of Hill. He used the long arm to keep the tackle off his frame, then cross-chopped to turn the corner. He is inches away from a double-digit sack season as a part-time rookie.

Tryon-Shoyinka now has 32 pressures and four sacks on 241 pass rush opportunities, per PFF. He’d have double that sack number if he wrapped up a little better. Meanwhile, Pierre-Paul has just 24 pressures and three sacks despite 147 more pass rush opportunities. Pierre-Paul hasn’t had a sack since Week 7 against the Bears. On Sunday against the Saints, Pierre-Paul hit a season low with zero pressures.

What’s crazy is that there is nothing to use in Pierre-Paul’s defense. Tryon-Shoyinka has grown by leaps and bounds as a run defender, blowing up two plays on Sunday night. Meanwhile, Pierre-Paul is being knocked off the ball by tight ends weekly. The older pass rusher has always been heralded for his hustle and intensity, yet it’s Tryon-Shoyinka making Devin White look relaxed in games. The Washington product makes a crazy hustle play almost every game.

And yet, there was Pierre-Paul, playing 36 snaps to Tryon-Shoyinka’s 26 on Sunday night. He was totally ineffective again and didn’t even register a single pressure, while Tryon-Shoyinka did all of the aforementioned and more. This has been a trend since the beginning of the season, and it needs to be recognized by the Bucs coaches.

Pierre-Paul’s performance is deteriorating, not improving. The veteran edge rusher is playing through injury, but it isn’t pretty to watch. And it’s not helping the team – it’s to the point where playing JPP is hurting the team on some plays. Also, it’s keeping one of the defense’s best assets on the bench. That makes it even worse.

This madness has been going on all season. But now, with the offense hurting, the defense needs to dominate the next three games. They’ll have an easier time doing that if Tryon-Shoyinka is on the field more, and Pierre-Paul is on the bench more often.