How About That Bucs Defense?

Tampa Bay’s defense was very opportunistic on Sunday with five sacks and four turnovers, but it was also far too leaky against a Panthers passing attack that probably shouldn’t have been that productive. Here are a couple of the key issues I found on the Panthers biggest plays of the game.

At halftime, Teddy Bridgewater had thrown for just 89 yards while being sacked three times and committing two turnovers. The Bucs defense had him flummoxed, and even with a few minutess remaining in the third quarter Bridgewater was still just over 100 yards passing in the game. Then things started to unravel a bit in coverage.

The Next Step For Murphy-Bunting

For much of the game the Bucs took a zone-heavy approach, very similar to the Raiders defensive scheme in Week 1 against Carolina. Bridgewater had put the ball in harm’s way a few times in that contest, and Tampa Bay seemed content to give up some easy ones in the passing game to wait for that one play when the Panthers QB let loose an ill-advised throw.

It was ironic then, that one of the first big passing plays of the game for Carolina came against press man coverage by outside cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.

The Bucs’ second-year cornerback blankets the fade route by D.J. Moore, staying ahead of the receiver the whole way down the sideline to force a back-shoulder throw. This is terrific placement and recognition by Bridgewater, who hasn’t exactly made a living on this type of throw, hitting Moore right between the numbers on what is typically one of the hardest routes for a defensive back to contest at the catch point.

Having said that, this is an easier back shoulder throw for a defender to make a play on than most back shoulder throws, as Bridgewater simply doesn’t have much gas on the throw. Because the ball takes so long to arrive, Moore turns early and is waiting for the pass to get home, giving Murphy-Bunting a window of opportunity to read the receiver’s adjustment, get his head around and play the ball. He fails to do so, and the result is a 30-yard completion.

Murphy-Bunting is a good young corner with a bright future, and he’s played far more good than bad this season already. But if he wants to take his game to the next level, finding and making more plays on the ball is a critical step.

Not Again!

A week after getting burned on a game-changing 46-yard pass play from Drew Brees to Jared Cook, the Bucs made the same mistake in essentially the same coverage in Week 2.

Tampa Bay is in Cover 2, with Devin White acting as the middle of the field runner against any in-breaking vertical pattern, giving the defense a Tampa 2 look. Murphy-Bunting is sinking if No. 1 to the field goes vertical, but eyes on the flat for any routes developing in front of him. Carlton Davis III, acting as the field safety on this play, is responsible for picking up any vertical threats to his side of the field.

Except, Davis doesn’t do that. Off the snap, he opens his hips to the middle of the field, rather than widening toward the sideline off the hash like the field safety should do in a Cover 2 defense. Davis’ footwork is all over the place, probably because he’s never played safety before, but he’s not anywhere close to Anderson when the receiver reels in the 39-yard pass from Bridgewater.

Now, why is Davis at safety here, while Jordan Whitehead plays outside cornerback on the boundary side of the field? I’m really not sure. And while the blown coverage responsibility is certainly on Davis, why isn’t Murphy-Bunting playing with more outside leverage to re-route Anderson inside off the snap, rather than letting the receiver release down the sideline? That outside release makes the route much tougher to defend, even for a safety with good technique and recognition.

That’s the second week in a row Bucs cornerbacks in a Cover 2 alignment have failed to force receivers into an inside release, and the second week in a row the safety to that same side completely blew the coverage. Todd Bowles needs to get this one figured out with his secondary. Cover 2 responsibilities are not complicated, but the Bucs have surrendered big plays in back-to-back weeks on similar plays by not executing properly.

Sweet Redemption

Yes, Tampa Bay may not have learned from all of its Week 1 mistakes, but the team learned from a crucial one in the first half, which allowed for a game-changing play in the second half.

In the first half, the Panthers are in 12 personnel (one RB, two TEs, two WRs) running a slot cross concept to the field. The idea is that the slot receiver’s intermediate-deep crossing pattern will open up space in the middle of the field for the outside receiver to run a dig without having to worry about the single-high safety coming downhill on the throwing window.

The Panthers’ plan works to perfection. Winfield takes the first threat to cross his face on the over route, and Moore gets a one-on-one with Davis for the dig route. Notice Moore’s short motion to a split outside the numbers just before the snap. That’s to give him more space to run away from man coverage out of his break on the dig.

Moore doesn’t even need that space however, as Davis opens far too early to the sideline, anticipating a vertical route. If he was reading his keys, he’d note that Moore doesn’t do a great job of really selling a vertical pattern at full speed, and that would tip Davis off to stay a little more square to the receiver for a potential in-breaking route.

Davis overreacts however, and is forced to speed turn just to get back in trailing position on the dig route and a post-catch tackle. Not a great-looking rep for the third year cornerback, but later in the game, he got his revenge.

Before you even watch the play, note the formation. Same personnel grouping, two tight ends to the boundary, two receivers to the field and the same short motion by Moore to extend his split before the snap. Flashing lights. Alarms. Sirens.

Davis already has an idea what might be coming, and this time he stays square to the receiver as Moore pushes vertically. As soon as Moore throttles down to break toward the middle of the field, Davis is all over him, jumping the route for an interception that ended the Panthers’ comeback hopes in the fourth quarter.

“The interception was a play that they ran earlier on in the game,” Davis said to the media after the game on Sunday. “I actually got beat on it over the middle, and when they did the same motion and it was the same formation, I just kind of knew it was coming, I thought it would come and I made a play.”

That’s an outstanding break by Davis to erupt out of his pedal, arrive at the catch point with perfect timing and then make a tremendous catch when the ball ended up being thrown behind the receiver. But it’s also important to note that Davis wasn’t the only Bucs defensive back to solve the Panthers’ slot cross concept.

Watch Winfield bypass the slot receiver’s crossing route as soon as the receiver breaks inside, instead looking to jump the dig route. He knows what is coming because he saw it in the first half. Davis beats him there, but it’s an awesome sign to see the rookie free safety processing the NFL game at that speed already. Crazy advanced stuff from a kid playing in just his second NFL game without the benefit of any preseason contests.

So the Bucs secondary is definitely still learning, growing and improving, but becoming more opportunistic and dangerous by the day. Let’s hope we can continue to say that about the rest of the team as the season goes on.

Defensive Notes

Bucs DE Will Gholston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• Defensive end Will Gholston is off to a great start. He’s gone from average-at-best rotational defensive lineman to a real stud under Bowles and defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers. He’s a legitimately decent threat on passing downs as an interior rusher, recording his first sack of the season and matching last year’s sack total in just the second game of the season.

• Safety Jordan Whitehead had a huge bounce-back game, making several key stops in the run game, including on the fake punt by the Panthers. Again, that is where his game absolutely thrives, as Whitehead is basically a linebacker’s skill set in a safety’s body. Unfortunately, I don’t think his coverage woes will go away any time soon, but I do enjoy watching him be a tone-setter around the line of scrimmage for the Bucs young defense.

• Two weeks in, teams are having a really hard time completing the smoke routes and bubble screens against Tampa Bay, largely because Jamel Dean, Davis, and especially  Murphy-Bunting, have been quick to identify the plays and are physical coming downhill. It’s the mental makeup the Bucs have needed for years in their secondary, and now they have it.

• At some point this season, I’m going to do an in-depth film breakdown on inside linebacker Devin White, who had a game-high 15 tackles on Sunday, but I want to see him play more of his second season before I go there. He’s such a mixed bag right now, making a handful of outstanding plays each game, while looking totally over-matched at other times and overrunning plays. I can live with that type of output from a linebacker, especially if he can create splash plays like I feel White is about to in the next couple weeks.