The Bucs gave up 31 points to the Eagles. That looks like a lot and therefore gives one, at first blush, a negative feeling about their defense.

But look closer.

I said LOOK CLOSER.

Seven points came on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Another seven came from a short porch Philadelphia inherited after a Bucky Irving fumble. Outside of those two touchdowns, Tampa Bay's defense allowed just 17 points on 10 drives (not including the game's final drive where the Eagles were kneeling out to close the game).

In the second half of the Eagles game the defense allowed just 3.7 plays and just 2.0 yards per drive! And on a per-play basis the Bucs were allowing 0.5 yards per snap over that time period. That's elite play in a situation that required no less than that for the team to get back in the game.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Expanding to the season as a whole the defense has now allowed just 77 points over 42 drives. That's 1.83 points per drive. That's a 12% improvement over last year and would have them ranked in the top 10 based on how teams finished in 2024. Of those 42 drives, 40% have gone for 10 yards or less. They have allowed a score on just 35.7% of drives. That's equivalent to how the Texans' defense performed last year. This defense is very good and looks like it may only be getting better.

Bucs' Pass Rush

Todd Bowles is always going to be near the top of the NFL leaderboards in blitz rate. His pass rush plans are part of what made him the bright defensive mind that ascended the coaching ranks years ago. And those blitz plans have looked even better this year.

It was those blitzes that helped them keep C.J. Stroud and Tyron Taylor under constant assault in Weeks 2 and 3. Per Next Gen Stats Stroud was under pressure and 37% of the time and Taylor was under duress on 57% of his drop backs.

Against Jalen Hurts the blitzes didn't work in the first half. But in the second half the Bucs' four-man pass rush arrived in force. And with Vita Vea leading the way that front only blitzed Hurts once on 11 dropbacks in the second half but still pressured him into going 0-for-8 while Vea dropped him twice for sacks.

Coming into this game Haason Reddick and Yaya Diaby had combined for one of the highest pressure rates of any edge duo in the NFL and as rookie defensive Elijah Roberts has started to emerge. They have a shot to finally have the four-man pass rush necessary to help the team get deep into the playoffs. Add in the special blitzing abilities of the Bucs defensive backfield and the future outlook of the pass rush is still bright despite some frustrating moments.

Bucs OLB Haason Reddick – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Diaby has continued where he left off last season with an improvement that bodes well for his long-term outlook. In addition to his bull rush and inside counter he's now adding more bend to win on the outside shoulder of tackles. His get-off has improved from a middling 0.91 seconds in 2024 to an elite 0.73 seconds this year. He got his first sack of the season in Week 3 and more should come in future weeks.

Reddick has been a constant worry for opposing defenses. His get-off has been almost as quick at 0.74 seconds. He's been averaging four pressures per game to go with his lone sack on the season. For his career Reddick has converted 21% of his pressures into sacks. This year that number is just 5%, but that's a small sample size. Over time that should normalize.

Vea has been leading the interior and setting up so much of what Bowles has been doing structurally in terms of pass rush paths that the rest of the team takes to the quarterback. This is on top of the dominance he supplies in the middle as a run defender. Vea's mere presence, combined with the fast fill from the safeties and the aggressive and physical play from the corners on the edge allow the Bucs to win in the run game with less assets.

Bucs' Secondary

The Bucs are six deep in their defensive backfield and all six are playing at an incredibly high level. Antoine Winfield Jr., Zyon McCollum, Tykee Smith, Jamel Dean, Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison are playing at another level right now. Through three weeks, and a Week 4 Thursday Night Football Game, here is where the Bucs rank when defending passes of 10+ air yards.

• Yards per game – 1st (54.0)
• Yards per play – 3rd (6.23)
• Expected points added (EPA) per play – 7th (-0.11)

Head coach Todd Bowles has shown a complete trust in his defensive backfield and it has led to plenty of success. The contributions of each player has been critical to the success of the unit.

Philadelphia's A.J. Brown is regularly discussed as one of the 2-3 best receivers in the league. The Bucs held him to two catches for seven yards on nine targets. This isn't a one off in terms of the Bucs shutting down their opponent's top receiving option, either.

Atlanta's Drake London, Houston's Nico Collins, New York's Garrett Williams and Brown is a who's who of some of the best young receivers in the game right now. As a collective, they average a 65% catch rate, 13.98 yards per reception, 9.07 yards per target and a touchdown every 19 targets.

Against the Bucs this season that same group has a 52% catch rate, 8.61 yards per reception, 4.50 yards per target and a touchdown every 22 targets. Tampa Bay is shutting out opposing teams' top options, forcing quarterbacks to go deeper into their progressions to win through the air.

Dean, McCollum and Morrison have been playing as well as any cornerback group in the NFL this season. With an increased trust from their head coach, the three have been playing more on the line than previous iterations of Bowles' defense, and a lot more man coverage in general. This has allowed them to contest more catches at the catch point.

CB Jamel Dean

Jamel Dean has been playing some of the best ball of his career, forcing multiple incompletions to go with his pick-six in Week 3. Dean has always played some of his best ball in man coverage, and with the Bucs' increased man usage, he has thrived limiting opposing quarterbacks to a 23.8 passer rating when targeting him according to Pro Football Focus.

Bucs NCB Jacob Parrish and CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

CB Zyon McCollum

Zyon McCollum has been more hit and miss this season, but just had his best game of the year against the Eagles. He was locked up against Brown for multiple reps and didn't allow the talented receiver to do any damage. He has played well defending out-breaking routes and pinching comebacks, curls and digs.

McCollum is playing physical at the line of scrimmage and he's supporting in run defense and as a tackler at an elite level. The most improved aspect of McCollum, and the entire secondary's play has been communication.

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum and Eagles WR AJ Brown – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Terrific pass off by Jamel and Zyon to kill the rub. pic.twitter.com/oPNBVjgay9

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 17, 2025

Even on some of the catches he has allowed, McCollum has been right on top of the route. The Nico Collins touchdown in Week 2 couldn't have been defended any better with McCollum in phase and his head turned to the ball at the catch point.

Where he can improve is how he defends short in-breakers. McCollum's yds per coverage rep is more than double when defending drags/slants than it is against all other routes combined. When he's working from an off-alignment McCollum breaks on routes with less conviction leading to a slower reaction.

Still, McCollum's coverage is still winning on most reps. Per Next Gen Stats his average separation is down from 2.9 yards last year to 2.3 this year. And where he struggled to effectively press when asked to work in press-man last year, leading to him giving up some deep plays after losing at the line, this year he is much more consistent at delivering a strike and getting into the route. This has undoubtedly led to the improvements in that separation metric.

S Antoine Winfield Jr.

Tell your friends. Antoine Winfield Jr. is back to the peak of his powers. This may come as a surprise, as the stat sheet doesn't look the same as it did in 2023 when he he had one of the greatest turnover seasons for a safety in recent memory. But when you look at his total impact plays – total pressures + defensive stops + forced fumbles + interceptions + passes defensed – as a percentage of total snaps played, his 5.2% rate this year is not far off the 7.4% he was running in his All-Pro season.

And a lot of what Winfield is doing at a high level is so important to the defense but doesn't necessarily show up in the box score.

The unseen impact of a healthy Antoine Winfield Jr.#Bucs show single-high pre-snap indicating C3 due to the depth of the corners. Post snap they spin to a rotated C2. Taylor recognizes it and tries to get to the field side hole shot. Kills the throw bc of AWJ's closing speed. pic.twitter.com/PaA7YaqOS3

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 23, 2025

Winfield is amplifying his instincts with an incredible trigger, playing the run with authority and rushing the passer like a demon. In short, he's back to being peak Winfield.

S Tykee Smith

Tykee Smith was one of the bigger mysteries entering the season. He hadn't played much safety in his college or pro career. And based on his limited snaps in the preseason I was one of many openly worrying about whether he would be able to transition easily. Well, he has – and then some. Smith's best contributions have come working downhill filling the run and rushing the passer. Against the Eagles he had to pass breakups as he pressured Hurts.

Coming into the Philadelphia matchup he had one of the lowest average depth of tackle marks among all safeties in the NFL (5.3).

Elijah Roberts (#95) with the step down that prevents Bergeron from picking up Tykee on the frontside. pic.twitter.com/v4M7Vua2s9

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 15, 2025

You can see how quickly Smith is able to trigger downfield. Because of this the Bucs can commit less defenders into the box because they know he and Antoine Winfield Jr. rcan get into it post-snap with conviction and authority. He led the Bucs defense with nine combined tackles against the Eagles as he helped shut down Saquon Barkley, helping hold him to just 43 yards on 19 carries. Todd Bowles has called him the most instinctual player he has ever coached and Smith is proving that assertion plausible with his play this season.

NCB Jacob Parrish

In an age when offenses are increasingly pushing their best receivers into the slot, Jacob Parrish has held up against those elite receivers mentioned above plus Philadelphia's DeVonta Smith and Atlanta's Darnell Mooney and Kyle Pitts. Next Gen Stats had Parrish allowing just 66 yards and a passer rating of 81.3 over 88 coverage reps across the first three games of the season.

Parrish has played aggressive and physically destroying anything on the perimeter and shoring up the seams the Bucs struggled to defend last year. I detailed his incredible play earlier this season here.

Bucs NCB Jacob Parrish – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

CB Benjamin Morrison

Benjamin Morrison has slowly been integrated into this fantastic secondary, playing a few drives in Jamel Dean's place in each of the past three games. Each time he steps on the field the level of play remains the same. And against the Eagles it showed even more. Morrison has allowed only 14 yards on 42 coverage reps this season. His catch rate allowed is less than 50% and he has a QB rating allowed of just 50.3.

He's sticky in coverage, blanketing curls and comebacks. In deep zones, Morrison is patient and rarely bites on subtle fake stems, waiting for the final break before clicking onto it. He uses that same click and close to rally to the flats. Morrison gave A.J. Brown fits on Sunday, contesting several catches and preventing Brown from getting anything going.

B Mo! pic.twitter.com/B7BKJOIRGW

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 29, 2025

Bucs LB Lavonte David and CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: USA Today

The pieces are in place for the defense to be special. Todd Bowles has catered to this influx in talent, and the early results are promising. They haven't put together a full four quarters and the sack numbers haven't met the pressures … yet. Bowles will have to continue to organize the front and back ends around a limited linebacking corps that he has to deploy in a strategic manner.

But this team just went toe-to-toe against the Super Bowl champs and largely shut down the Eagles offense. With each week they have met the challenges presented to them.

Things will get tougher in the weeks to come. San Francisco's Kyle Shanahan and Los Angeles' Sean McVay have historically given Bowles fits. And the Lions and the Bills are up in a few weeks as well. Those will be the toughest tests. But to this point, the Bucs are showing they have the ingredients to be an incredibly improved defense.