As my esteemed colleague Scott Reynolds recently asserted, the Bucs starters are ready for Week 1. Their brief, but impressive showing against the Miami Dolphins was a glimpse into the readiness level head coach Todd Bowles and his staff have the team operating at.

Yes, the Bucs were playing mostly backups. But you can account for that in your expectation levels. If you have starters facing backups the starters had better dominate. So, did the Bucs starters dominate on defense? Since it was just three reps, I thought we could break it down play-by-play.

In the absence of EPA/play data for the preseason I will use a more anecdotal model of defining success for each play. Each down should have a minimum level of expectation related to the distance needed to get a new first down or a touchdown. These are my benchmarks.

First Down – 50% of yards needed for new first or touchdown

Second Down – 75% of yards needed

Third/Fourth Down – 100%

Obviously with this being a feature on the defense you are looking for the drive success rate to be lower, not higher.

Bucs Defense Play One – First-and-10 – MIA 25

Quick thread of the Bucs 1st Defensive drive against MIA

Play One: pic.twitter.com/KLuT20Bmue

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) August 29, 2024

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

Miami starts its drive off with a successful tunnel screen on first down. The play works because they catch the Bucs in a six-man rush running Cover 3 behind it. Inside linebacker K.J. Britt is quick to react, but it goes downhill for him after that. His athletic limitations show in where he and the receiver meet vs. their initial positions.

Running some back-of-the-napkin geometry and I’ve got the Miami receiver Malik Washington covering 40% more ground than Britt from the time of the catch to the time they meet. Then you have to consider that he just overruns the play. Tavierre Thomas also leaves a little to be desired here as he was close to Washington and had a chance at a tackle for a loss.

Positives here really go to outside linebacker Anthony Nelson for shedding his block and running down Washington from behind. This play is the epitome of the “live by the sword, die by the sword” when it comes to Todd Bowles and blitzing.

Yards Needed For “Success” – five. Yards gained – seven.

Drive Success Rate: 100%

Bucs Defense Play Two – Second-and-3 – MIA 32

Play Two: pic.twitter.com/zFzt5P4ir8

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) August 29, 2024

Bucs OLB Chris Braswell and DT Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A quick aside. Very little of this analysis will include the secondary. The Dolphins ran a tunnel screen and two run plays up the middle. Not too much a secondary can do in those situations. So, the mystery that is the 2025 version of Zyon McCollum will continue to the regular season.

Back to the play.

Miami runs duo with doubles on both Vita Vea and Logan Hall. Both Bucs defenders work the doubles well. Vea holding the point of attack and occupying both offensive lineman and preventing either from climbing to the second level. He keeps K.J. Britt clean to continue to work to the ball.

Hall has an equally impressive rep by splitting his double team, cutting of the backside cut and helping make the tackle. McCollum seals the edge to prevent a bounce to the outside and Chris Braswell does a good job of recovering from having his legs taken out from under him to help finish the play.

On the backside of the play, you will also notice Calijah Kancey with the physical hip toss for fun.

Yards Needed For “Success” – three. Yards gained – two.

Drive Success Rate: 50%

Bucs Defense Play Three – Third-and-1 – MIA 34

Play Three: pic.twitter.com/Ci580pJ7ba

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) August 29, 2024

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

This is where a Todd Bowles defense often comes to life. It is just difficult to run against a Tampa Bay front. All three defensive linemen have impressive reps.

Calijah Kancey wins on a push-pull and Logan Hall torques the right tackle into the ground. But it is Vita Vea who draws your eyes in as he bodies center Jack Driscoll straight back five yards and into the ground. Vea’s win was so quick and violent that running back Jeff Wilson trips over Driscoll’s feet and begins to go to the ground. K.J. Britt is able to quickly shed the climbing left guard to help at the end of the play.

Beyond the stellar play of the line this play was doomed from concept. Miami loses the numbers game as linebacker Vi Jones triggers downfield quickly to cap the front side of the play. Wilson has nowhere to go.

My guess is that if Vea doesn’t blow up the center as quickly as he does and slow the play in the backfield Miami was hoping that Wilson could engage Jones before Jones gets to the line of scrimmage and effectively use the tight end and Chris Braswell as a screen to try and make Jones wrong. But the decisiveness of Jones’ commitment helps destroy the play and end the drive.

Yards Needed For “Success” – one. Yards gained – -1.

Drive Success Rate: 33%

Bucs ILB K.J. Britt and DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

What is there to glean from three plays against backups? Not a lot. But what you wanted to see was dominance.

That’s exactly what the interior of the line provided.

Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey, and even Logan Hall looked like they were playing against a division (or two) below their normal competition. Vea and Kancey showed what you would expect. Hall probably a bit more, which is encouraging.

K.J. Britt didn’t answer any of the questions one would have of him entering this season as a full-time starter. Anthony Nelson continued to show he is a smart, high-effort player who does little things that go under-appreciated (probably more by me than anyone else). No one else really stood out, good or bad, from expectations on this drive.