Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Am I crazy, or did the Bucs wake up one day and decide that the solution to their problems was Dungyball?

ANSWER: As someone who started covering the Bucs in 1995 and was here for every minute of Dungyball under Tony Dungy from 1996-2001, I loved the reference. As head coach Todd Bowles said after the game, the rain and downpour conditions dictated that both teams were going to run the ball in Tampa Bay’s 16-0 win over Atlanta. It’s just that the Bucs did a much better job of running it – and stopping the run – than the Falcons did.

I credit offensive coordinator Zac Robinson for leaning into the running game with an obscene amount of run calls. They’ve been working and he’s stuck with it without any deviation the last two weeks. Sometimes offensive coordinators start to get cute and stray away from what is working to get to play-action passes and other different things on offense.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

We actually see that a lot at the college and pro level where those offensive play-callers don’t like to see the same plays called over and over. At lower levels of football like Pop Warner and high school, the mantra “run it until they stop it” is embraced more often. I credit Robinson for “running it until they stop it” against both the Panthers and the Falcons – although neither defense really could.

The Bucs are doing what’s effective right now, which is playing bully ball in the trenches and winning the line of scrimmage. Tampa Bay’s offensive line has found its groove and is kicking ass running the ball. And just like those Dungy days, the Bucs defense is stopping the run, rushing the passer effectively and taking the ball away quite often. It’s working – for now.

QUESTION: Baker Mayfield dropped that pass in Ted Hurst’s hands and the Falcons defender made a great play knocking it out. So I don’t agree with some saying Mayfield can’t pass, but does Zac Robinson really go heavy run until teams prove they can stop the run? I can’t see an unbalanced attack working like this for long.

ANSWER: The answer to your question is yes, keep running it until defenses prove that they can stop it. Again, I credit Zac Robinson for not overthinking this. Robinson has come under fire for the Bucs’ shortcomings in the passing game from me and others – and rightfully so. We’ve seen too many screen passes that went nowhere and routes run by receivers that wind up with only ridiculous 2- and 3-yard gains.

My hope is that behind the scenes, Robinson has re-evaluated the passing game and retooled it since Baker Mayfield last had to throw the ball, which was all the way back in Week 3 against the Vikings. After three games with a rookie undrafted free agent quarterback in Jalon Daniels and two games where Mayfield returned from his thumb injury but rarely had to throw the ball, I hope Robinson has scrapped what wasn’t working and incorporated more vertical elements to the passing game.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I’d love see a Bucs passing game 2.0 take off in Chicago or in Detroit and hit those defenses with some unexpected play-action or deep shots. Robinson and Mayfield could create the element of surprise because Tampa Bay’s passing game has been incredibly limited for the past five weeks with Daniels under center followed by Mayfield’s return to action without having to throw it in Carolina or versus Atlanta.

There will be some games where the running game just isn’t able to be as effective or there could be some games where Tampa Bay falls behind and has to throw to ball to come back. Mayfield has certainly done it before and he was paid $55 million for a reason – and that’s not just to turn around and hand the ball off 50 times per game.

QUESTION: I wish there was a scenario where we could demote Todd Bowles to defensive coordinator and get a new head coach. Also, what a wacky game.

ANSWER: Todd Bowles the defensive play-caller has been really good this year, especially over the last four games of the season – three of which have been Buccaneers wins. Of course, having more talent to work with has been huge, and credit Jason Licht and his personnel staff for hitting free agency aggressively and signing inside linebacker Alex Anazalone, defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, outside linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad and adding safety Ifeatu Melifonwu – all have played big roles in the success of the defense.

And the Bucs have hit on their defensive draft picks this year, too. Josiah Trotter is a stud inside linebacker, Keionte Scott has been a real find at nickelback in the slot and outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. is starting to really come on now. Credit Bowles for also making some necessary moves to the coaching staff. Cornerbacks coach Rashad Johnson and safeties coach Tim Atkins have worked wonders with the secondary.

Bucs ILBs Alex Anzalone and Josiah Trotter and CB Jacob Parrish and Falcons RB Bijan Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

As good as the defense has played, the Bucs are still 3-5 for some valid reasons. Bowles’ Bucs have lost two fourth-quarter leads to Cleveland and Pittsburgh – otherwise this team would be 5-3 right now. Bowles the head coach needs to level up like Bowles the defensive play-caller has, so I get the sentiment about your question. This defense is starting to show signs of being as good as the 2020 or 2021 Buccaneers when Bowles was the defensive coordinator.

In fact, heading into Week 9, Tampa Bay’s defense is in the top 10 in all four of the major defensive statistical categories – scoring defense, total yards, run defense and pass defense. The Bucs ranked 21st in pass defense in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Plus, Tampa Bay has 12 interceptions through eight games with nine left on the year. The most a Bowles defense has had in Tampa Bay was 17 in 2021.

The franchise record for interceptions is 31, which was set during in 2002 during the Super Bowl XXXVII season when Mike Tomlin was the defensive backs coach and Hall of Famers Rondé Barber and John Lynch patrolled the secondary. Bowles’ defense is on pace to record 29 this year, which would be the second most in Bucs history.

QUESTION: Bucs’ 13 personnel is the new NFL META. O-line and tight ends were moving people vs. the Falcons.

ANSWER: If you mean M.E.T.A. as in “most effective tactic available,” then yes, the Bucs’ 13 personnel grouping, which consists of three tight ends and only one wide receiver is getting used more and more. The big reason why has been the development of rookie tight end Bauer Sharp, who did an outstanding job of blocking in Sunday’s win against the Falcons. Sharp was used as an in-line blocker as well as a lead blocking fullback in the backfield and wound up being the highest-graded tight end according to Pro Football Focus.

“He’s coming along,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “He’s one of our best athletes at that position. Obviously, he can catch the ball and run routes, but he’s really getting the run game down. He’s really a willing, physical blocker, putting his face in there. He’s getting the scheme down, so he’s seeing more time.”

Bucs TE Bauer Sharp – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Sharp only has one catch this year, which was a 21-yard gain off play-action against Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. The Bucs traded up into the sixth round to select him for his tenacity as a blocker and his special teams prowess. But he is also a good receiver and that is a part of his game that Tampa Bay hasn’t yet tapped into.

Cade Otton and Payne Durham are doing a very good job of blocking, too. Durham is in a contract year and is not a lock to return next year. He’s a one-dimensional tight end as a blocker, but Sharp brings the ability to do more because he’s the fastest among the tight ends and just as versatile as Otton is.

Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is calling for more 13 personnel because Otton and Sharp can both run routes and be weapons in the passing game along with the other receiver Tampa Bay trots out in the lineup. Sharp has a very bright future in Tampa Bay – not just in years to come, but later this year too given how quickly he has picked up the offense and earned more playing time with some real powerhouse blocks.