The Bucs will be facing rookie Quinn Ewers making just his second career start when they host the Bucs in week 18. Ewers had some highs and lows in his first start last week against the Bengals. Over 31 drop backs and 30 attempts he was fairly accurate, completing 67% of his passes for 260 yards while averaging 8.7 yards per attempt. But Ewers also turned the ball over twice via interception, as Miami lost 45-21 to fall to 6-9 on the season. What can the Bucs expect as they face the young signal caller? Where can they attack and what should the be on the lookout for?
Quinn Ewers on First Down
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel did a good job of giving Ewers digestible options on first down against Cincinnati. Over 11 first down drop backs, Ewers worked off of play action four times, with another run-pass option and a screen play added in. Those plays helped to slow the defense down, reduce the amount of information he had to process and simplify his reads to just one or two.
Ewers went 6-10 for 85 yards and an interception in those situations. The pick and most of the incompletions came later in the game when the game script had to adjust away from play action.
Unless Tampa Bay can separate on the scoreboard expect for Miami to pound the play action button throughout the game. With the motions and run actions that the Dolphins deploy to create voids in the middle of the field, Todd Bowles is going to have to find answers that help change the picture and get extra defenders into the middle void.
— Josh Queipo (@JoshQueipo_NFL) December 25, 2025
The Bucs can fill these voids with safety robbers and inverting cover-2. This would have Tykee Smith and Antoine Winfield Jr. jumping into the middle of the field off the snap and put at least one defender in the passing window even if Tampa Bay’s linebackers are drawn in on the play fake.
One of the weaknesses of cover-2 is the honey hole in between the flat defender and the deep safety – or corner in this inverted version. Bucs fans will remember this well from the team’s week 15 loss to the Falcons when Kirk Cousins found the void between Kindle Vildor and Antoine Winfield Jr. Quinn Ewers doesn’t have Cousins’ arm, and the Bucs should challenge him to try and make those hole-shot throws. If he beats them on it, so be it, but more likely he will be late to get the ball there, giving the Bucs a chance to pick the pass off.
Defending Ewers on Third Down
Ewers struggles to trust himself and the passing concept on third down. On four of his seven third down attempts he double clutched his throw delaying the timing of the play. The Bucs would be wise to not blitz Ewers. He has been more successful against the blitz dating back to his days in college than when defenses rush four or less.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers – Photo by: USA Today
Ewers thrives on finding a quick rhythm option with a quick release. The Bucs are more likely to be successful on third down by closing windows with extra assets in coverage and forcing Ewers to work through progressions and delay his release. Todd Bowles’ M.O. has typically been to blitz and try to beat the throw. I think he should invert this tendency. The Dolphins have multiple weak links in guards Jonah Savaiinaea and Cole Strange on their offensive line that the Bucs should be able to take advantage of even without using extra assets.
Bowles loves to mug up his linebackers and force offensive lines and quarterbacks to sort through whether they are coming or going. Dropping the backers while looping an edge into the center of the line should put enough pressure on the Miami guards to force bad decisions from Ewers and give the Bucs a turnover or two.
— Josh Queipo (@JoshQueipo_NFL) December 26, 2025
The worry here is if the Bucs have the athleticism at linebacker to drop fast enough to clog lanes and delay Ewers’ process. They could help with this by running a few drop-eight coverages to reduce the amount of space each player has to account for. It will also require secondary players to drive down into intermediate windows.
Dime Looks
The lack of athleticism in the Bucs’ linebacking corps is well-documented at this point. The Dolphins have an incredible amount of team speed, even with receiver Tyreek Hill on the shelf. Running back De’Von Achane is one of the fastest players in the NFL and he’s fourth among all running backs in targets this season with 82. If Tampa Bay’s gameplan involves SirVocea Dennis or Lavonte David as the primary defender on Achane, bad things are likely to happen.
Despite a tough season, Christian Izien on the field in favor of either linebacker increases the Bucs’ chances of success on third down, whether that be him playing safety and dropping Tykee Smith in the box, or putting Izien underneath to take low zones that Achane is likely to frequent.
A loss this week could end Tampa Bay’s season, so Bowles needs to put together a one-off gam eplan for the ages to keep the season alive. I believe these ideas should be incorporated into that strategy to stem the team’s three-game losing streak.
Josh Queipo joined the Pewter Report team in 2022, specializing in salary cap analysis and film study. In addition to his official role with the website and podcast, he has an unofficial role as the Pewter Report team’s beaming light of positivity and jokes. A staunch proponent of the forward pass, he is a father to two amazing children and loves sushi, brisket, steak and bacon, though the order changes depending on the day. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 2008 with a degree in finance.
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