The Bucs will be making a trek to Munich, Germany this Sunday to face the Seattle Seahawks, but their goal remains the same: being consistent while containing the opposing team’s playmakers.

Perhaps the most surprising playmaker for the Seahawks is their quarterback, Geno Smith. Coming into this season, many pegged them to be hovering around the bottom of the standings with either Smith or Drew Lock at the helm. Instead, Smith has taken charge and guided them not just to a 6-3 record but with elite play to back it up.

So far through nine games, he has completed a league-high 73.1% of his passes for 2,199 yards, 15 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and a 107.2 passer rating with efficient metrics. Besides the numbers, he also has a fire under him after spending years on benches as a backup quarterback that many wrote off. The first two of those years were spent under Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, his head coach while with the New York Jets in 2015-2016.

Bowles Comments On His Former QB

Bowles commented on Smith’s development since that time in his Wednesday press conference.

“It’s a credit to his hard work,” Bowles said of Smith. “You’ve got to grow up in this league a little bit – everybody gets that chance. When I had him, he was a lot younger – he was a very good quarterback then. The maturity, as a backup, kind of sets in when you become an older quarterback. He runs the offense well, he knows what to do, he’s comfortable in the system and [with] the guys around him. He’s doing a [heck] of a job right now, so my hat is off to him.”

But the game plan this week isn’t just about containing Smith on offense. It also means limiting rookie sensation Kenneth Walker III on the ground and receivers D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett through the air. Walker has emerged in the past four weeks as their featured back, averaging 106 yards and 1.5 touchdowns a game.

Bucs Safety Mike Edwards: ‘We Got to Limit Those Guys’

Bucs safety Mike Edwards spoke on the challenges the defense faces in limiting their offense this week. “He’s having a great year, [he’s] one of the most improved players in the league,” Edwards said of Smith. “He’s an athletic quarterback as well, so we gotta keep him in the pocket and start forcing them to not have as many explosive plays and just limit the receivers, they got some good playmakers at receiver and in the backfield, so we got to limit those guys.”

Bucs Ss Antoine Winfield Jr. and Mike Edwards – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Speaking further on ‘those guys,’ Edwards mentioned that “D.K. [Metcalf] is a big, strong guy, but he’s fast as well. Tyler Lockett is a smaller guy, but he’s good in his route-running, getting out of breaks, and a deep-ball guy, a lot of over routes. Kenneth Walker, he’s a rookie running back; he runs hard. We just gotta stop them, tackle very well, not let balls go over our heads, just play sound football, and I think we’ll be good.”

While Pete Carroll is the man in charge on the sidelines for the Seahawks, Edwards also brought up an interesting note about their offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron. Waldron came over to Seattle after spending three seasons with the Rams as their passing game coordinator.

“Their coach came from the Rams, so they got a little bit of the Rams playbook in there,” Edwards said. They got some playmakers like the Rams do, they got a good running back as well, so we just got to limit them. Not let them get outside, not let them get that many explosive plays.”

Bucs Secondary Bouncing Back From Injury

The Bucs did well for the most part in limiting explosive plays last week against the Rams, a long 69-yard touchdown to Cooper Kupp aside. A big part of holding Matthew Stafford under 50% completion percentage was due to cornerbacks Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting returning from injury. Both being able to come back from injury and respond as well as they did impressed both Edwards and fellow cornerback Jamel Dean.

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Sean did a good job coming in, he was playing mostly corner coming into this year and [we] put him in nickel this past week,” Edwards said. “I feel like he handled it very well making plays, sticking his nose in there, got some good tackles. Corners are playing very well, they’ve been battling injuries here and there, but when they’re out there, they’re playing very good football.”

Added Dean:

“They’ve been playing pretty well. I’ve been proud of them, even though they’ve been battling injuries, to just come off an injury and step right into a tough game like the Rams, and then play like the way they did, what more can you ask?”

There is not much more you can ask for from the Bucs’ defense in stopping teams from keeping points off the board. The focus will continue to be getting the offense to put points on it, as they have only averaged 18 per game this season. Having a game in Germany on an international stage followed by a bye week of rest and rejuvenation can indeed be just what both sides of the ball need to take their play to another level.