Each week following every Bucs game, Pewter Report will take a close look at the snap count distribution for Tampa Bay on offense and defense. We’ll assess what we can learn from who played the most and least in the game.

Let’s get a closer look at the Bucs players who received the highest and lowest number of snaps in yet another loss for this team, falling 23-20 to the Panthers after a late Baker Mayfield interception. Tampa Bay also lost its spot at the top of the NFC South division because of it.

Bucs Offense

For whatever reason, the Bucs decided to put their emphasis on constantly running the football despite the fact that they have all of their top four receivers for the second week in a row. And this is coming off a 10-day window from the Thursday night game, so there was more rest and recovery time for everybody.

Yes, Mike Evans played more, going all the way up to 66% of the offensive snaps, and Jalen McMillan saw more snaps too at 53%. But Chris Godwin Jr. and Emeka Egbuka each had their snaps go down, and Godwin’s was by a large margin. He was nearly in for every snap last Thursday, playing at 96% compared to 64% on Sunday.

Egbuka’s decrease wasn’t as drastic as the rookie went from 64% to 56%, but he also had just two targets and one catch in the game, which didn’t come until there was just over six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Funny enough, the 40-yard catch that Egbuka had was the most receiving yards in the game by any Tampa Bay receiver. It just shows how little the Bucs threw the ball against the Panthers.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka – Photo by IMAGN Images – Jim Dedmon

We saw the return of starting tight end Cade Otton in this game, and probably explains some of the drop in numbers at receiver. Otton played 94% of the snaps, so it was around his typical playing numbers. Its hard to figure out why they play him so much, though. He’s a solid blocker, but not exceptional at it, and is a non-factor in the passing game. Two catches for 15 yards isn’t going to cut it, but that’s what he gave to to the offense on Sunday.

Its evident that offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was given a directive to run the ball early and often. Bowles wanted to win the time of possession, and likely just keep his poor playing defense off the field. Tampa Bay won the time of possession, but 20 points wasn’t enough and it felt like the offense left points on the field.

With a heavy dose of the running, the Bucs relied a lot on Bucky Irving. He was okay, running 19 times for 71 yards and playing 62% of the snaps. Rachaad White was next at running back with 32% of the snaps and Sean Tucker had just 8%, but he scored a rushing touchdown for the team.

It would be nice if Tampa Bay’s coaching staff can stop of this charade of saying they are going with “the hot hand” in the running game, because it couldn’t be further from the truth. Irving averaged 3.7 yards per attempt. He wasn’t a detriment to the team by any means, but Rachaad White’s first run of the game went for 39 yards and he only got four more attempts after that for a total of five. White has been the better back the last two games, and yet gets barely involved.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: IMAGN – Bob Donnan

Tucker has proved as well to be a guy that needs a couple of attempts before he truly gets going. Tampa Bay decides to only use him in the red zone where everything is more condensed. If it wasn’t for the touchdown Tucker would’ve had a forgettable game with four rushing attempts for just three yards.

There’s no question that Bucky Irving is a special talent. But he’s also a small running back that takes a lot of hits and missed significant time this season. They’ve immediately run him into the ground in the four games he’s been back and he has yet to average four yards per carry in any game since his return. The Bucs have enough talent in the backfield where he doesn’t have to shoulder everything for the group, but that’s how Tampa Bay apparently wants it.

Bucs Defense

Having rookie corner Benjamin Morrison was pretty much the biggest difference in personnel that we saw from the Bucs’ defensive lineup as far as consistently playing. But we knew he was going to be in with Zyon McCollum going on injured reserve. Morrison, Lavonte David, Jamel Dean, Antoine Winfield Jr. and a returning Tykee Smith all played every snap. Also a returning SirVocea Dennis was right there at 98%, just missing one play.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Bob Donnan

I was curious to see how much outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul was going to play in his first game in over two season as they elevated him from the practice squad. He was in for 22% and 12 snaps. Tampa Bay kept him in mostly third down roles where he could just rush the passer. Although Todd Bowles comically did have him drop in coverage on one snap.

It was more telling, though, that despite JPP being out for two years, they relied on him just as much as they did with second-year player Chris Braswell. And that was even after Anthony Nelson exited the game early with a knee injury. Braswell played just one more snap than Pierre-Paul. It shows the Bucs don’t have any trust in him. Don’t be surprised if he’s not on this roster next season despite the fact that he’s a second-round pick from two seasons ago.

Bucs DT Vita Vea and Panthers QB Bryce Young – Photo by: IMAGN – Bob Donnan

The defensive tackle positions were relatively on pace for how they typically play. Vita Vea tied the second-highest percentage of snaps that he’s played this year at 81%. Tampa Bay continues to mess around with the usage of Logan Hall and Elijah Roberts with Hall playing more in this game at 61%. The team elevated Adam Gotsis from the practice squad for the third and final time this year. He played 30% and was in the game probably more than anyone expected.