If I were to tell you the Bucs are third in the NFL in sacks, would you believe me? I don’t know if I would believe myself. It seems the Bucs pass rush has underperformed relative to expectations this year. We here at Pewter Report have called it out. But we aren’t the only ones.

How NFL defenses look in terms of pass rush this season: pic.twitter.com/XwgTd753DN

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) October 11, 2022

That chart shows the Bucs are still blitzing at a relatively high rate, but their pressure rate isn’t fantastic as compared to the rest of the league.

And that pressure rate has regressed each week since the beginning of the season.

In Week 1 at Dallas the Bucs were able to pressure Cowboys quarterbacks on 36.96% of drop backs. That number fell to 31.91% in Week 2, 30.56% in Week 3, and 30.23% in Week 4. Things were trending in the wrong direction.

Outside linebacker Shaq Barrett started strong but has regressed much like the unit as a whole. Defensive tackle Akiem Hicks has been injured. Rookie defensive tackle Logan Hall had a coming out game in Green Bay but went missing in other games. Outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has been inconsistent. Backup edge rushers Carl Nassib and Anthony Nelson have had moments here and there. Defensive tackles Will Gholston and Rakeem Nunez-Roches have offered very little in the pass rush game.

And while the pass rush hadn’t been as dominating as many thought it would be coming into the season, the run defense wasn’t living up to standard, either. Just all around the Bucs defensive front was underperforming.

The Bucs needed to turn things around against Atlanta. And you know what? They did.

This past Sunday the Bucs were able to pressure Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota 14 times on 34 drop backs. That equates to a pressure rate of 41.18%. That number over the course of a full season would place the Bucs in the upper echelon of passer harassers with the likes of San Francisco, Denver, and Dallas.

In addition, while the raw numbers would say the defense struggled against Atlanta’s run game (31 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown), the reality was the Bucs were able to largely bottle up Falcons running backs Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley.

Taking out quarterback Marcus Mariota’s contribution (seven carries for 61 yards) and that rushing attack falls to 24 carries for 90 yards. The Bucs allowed a long of 22 yards to Huntley and a long of 17 yards to Allgeier.

Now these are plays that happened and we can’t just “throw them out,” but we can provide context. On over one third of the Falcons offensive plays, the Bucs run defense held them to 51 yards and an average of 2.3 yards per carry.

What changed? How were the Bucs able to create more pressure? How were they able to largely bottle up the Falcons rushing attack?

I wish I had some existential theory to share with you. But honestly some of the guys who have struggled with consistency had solid games against an offensive line that isn’t great. It’s really that simple. But just because something is simple doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to watch. So, let’s take a look at some of my favorite moments by the Bucs defensive front from last week.

Bucs Defense Sniffed Out Naked Bootlegs

One of the staples of an offense predicated on outside zone is play-action off of that running game. And when the offense has a quarterback who can move to even a decent degree, the naked bootleg play-action pass can be a dangerous element. With Mariota as the quarterback this is something the Falcons attempted to do against the Bucs to almost no success.

Here the Falcons fake the long handoff to their left, while having Mariota boot back to the right. The hope is to get the Bucs front seven biting on the run action and follow the offensive line away from the boot. Barrett was having none of it. He keys the fake quickly and swats away the attempt by the tight end to get a hand on Barrett’s outside shoulder to keep him moving right. Barrett then starts his pursuit of Mariota, keeping a good enough angle to force Mariota to the sideline for a minimal gain.

Another attempt by the Falcons to catch the Bucs over-committing to the run. I’m sorry. Let me re-phrase that. Another failed attempt by the Falcons to catch the Bucs over-committing to the run. Hall working the backside of the play seems to know it’s a boot concept from the jump.

Watch his angle to Mariota. He heads to a spot in the backfield that initially has absolutely no Falcon near it. But by the time he gets there Mariota has arrived for the date they seemingly had pre-arranged. Props are owed to inside linebacker Devin White as well on this rep. There has got to be a tell that the Bucs picked up on these plays because White doesn’t commit to the run at all either. He works back across the line straight for the quarterback as well.

Vea Starting To Get Back To His Old Self

One player who has gotten off to a slow start in 2022 has been defensive tackle Vita Vea. Vea has shown a lack of anchor previously unseen during his first several years in the league. He needed to start to turn things around against an Atlanta interior that is below-average overall. And Vea started to do just that. It wasn’t a banner day for the big man, but it was a step in the right direction.

Re-Establishing His Power

Despite center Drew Dalman getting off the ball much quicker than Vea it doesn’t matter. And it shouldn’t. Vea has at least 40 pounds on Dalman and should be able to push Dalman like he’s a lawnmower with the self-propelled function engaged. Vea is able to get into Dalman’s chest and start to extend his arms. This pushes Dalman back and wide. As Vea starts to work back inside in response to the play-action fake, Dalman has no choice but to hold him. The refs get a rare call right in this game and throw the flag.

You Almost Feel Bad For Dalman

That wasn’t Dalman’s only loss to Vea on the day. The poor guy just couldn’t contend with Vea’s size, and strength. I mentioned this on a recent YouTube Film Room focused on Vea, but with the lack of diversity in his skill set, he has to lean into his one elite trait (his power). He was able to do that on Dalman for most of the afternoon on Sunday.

Nothing fancy. Vea just imposes his mass on Dalman and walks him back right into Mariota’s face. While he doesn’t get home Vea is able to rush the throw AND prevent Mariota from stepping into it. This is Vea’s pass rush arsenal in a nutshell. Against a smaller center like Dalman it can and should be very effective.

Getting Home From An Unusual Alignment

Head coach Todd Bowles is a creative defensive mind. One of his favorite areas to experiment with is his front seven alignments. You can see that on display on this play. The Bucs have six defenders lined up at the line of scrimmage. But notice where they are lined up. Vea and Hall, interior linemen by trade, are lined up as edge rushers. Tryon-Shoyinka and Barrett are stood up as non-traditional 4i’s. Then inside linebackers White and Lavonte David are walked up to the “A” gaps in a double-mug look.

The challenge for the offense is figuring out who is rushing and who is dropping into coverage. In this case, White and David work as decoys designed to occupy interior offensive linemen. Their real job is to spy Mariota and prevent the interior blockers from helping on the outside where the real threat is. JTS and Barrett end up dropping into coverage. Hall and Vea provide the pressure from the outside along with an unexpected nickel rush from slot defender Antoine Winfield Jr.

Winfield is able to get a wide enough angle to make sure Keith Smith is never a factor in blocking him. This forces Mariota to have to step up. Vea is waiting for him to finish the sack because he was initially slow off the snap. This allowed him to get behind the line slide on the run fake. Once he sees that Mariota has the ball, brushing off Hesse was a foregone conclusion.

JTS With A Splash Play, Or Two, Or Three, Or More

There is a narrative out in Bucs fandom currently that Tryon-Shoyinka is somehow a “bust.” How this can already be decided just 24 games into his career is beyond me. Call it unreasonable expectations, I guess. Not every first-round pass rusher will get you 10+ sacks in year one. Many don’t do it year two. To be honest, sacks aren’t even a very stable statistic to predict/measure anyways.

Don’t believe me? Look no further than the 2019 draft class. It featured five edge rushers who have established themselves as above average players or better in the NFL. Nick Bosa became a star from the moment he set foot on the field. But the other three? Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, Josh Allen and Rashan Gary all had their fifth-year options exercised and are set to have sizeable paydays in the near future based on their current trajectories. Between the four of them they averaged 6.5 sacks per season over their first two years in the league.

Getting Penetration At The Point Of Attack

JTS is not a guy who can take over a game at this point in his career. He may never be. But the Bucs don’t need him to be on this roster. But you know what he can do? He can take over a drive. He showed that in Indianapolis in the preseason. He showed it in Dallas in Week 1. And he took over the first drive of the game against Atlanta.

On second-and-5, Tryon-Shoyinka was able to immediately penetrate the line of scrimmage by working through the motioning tight end. And while he doesn’t finish the play with the tackle for a loss, he is able to help slow up the ball carrier for Winfield to secure the tackle. Make no mistake, Tryon-Shoyinka blew this play up. And just a few plays later he would end the Falcons drive with one of the prettiest sacks you will ever see.

Is He A Top? Because He Can Spin!

I don’t know if I have the proper adjectives in my arsenal to describe the majesty of this rep from JTS. From a wide set he immediately releases to left tackle Jake Matthews inside shoulder. He finishes the set-up with a wide false step to the inside. This gets Matthews to over-commit to his right even though he had help from his left guard to that side. Working off of the wide-step, Tryon-Shoyinka rolls into an extremely compact spin move that would make a prima ballerina proud. The spin allows him to avoid Matthews’ stab attempt and roll right off of Matthews’ outside shoulder and then lock in on Mariota to finish the play and the drive.

Becoming More Consistent In Run Defense

In the Dallas game, Tryon-Shoyinka was picked on a bit with the Cowboys setting up some of their most successful runs by running to his side on wide-developing plays. It was an area he would need to improve upon. And JTS has done just that. Watch him set the edge on this outside zone run.

From his wide-9 position JTS uses his long, powerful arms to push Falcons tight end Parker Hesse back. He then uses that initial push to set the edge of the run play effectively taking away running back Huntley’s opportunity to get outside the defensive line to try and turn up field. Huntley sees this and slows to try and re-route inside but can’t because Devin White has shot the gap. White ends up making the play, but it was made possible by JTS.

Getting The Edge

Earlier you saw Tryon-Shoyinka win to the outside by setting up Matthews with an outside spin move as a counter to an inside setup. On this next rep he is able to just get to the outside with speed and bend.

Watch as he gets under Matthews’ stab and turn the corner with a shoulder dip. Matthews is able to get a last second push to run Tryon-Shoyinka up the arc, but it was enough to get Mariota flushed from the pocket. And JTS wasn’t the only one to win on the rep. Barrett uses an inside spin of his own to create inside pressure preventing Mariota from avoiding Tryon-Shoyinka by just stepping up into the pocket.

Ultimately, the Falcons signal-caller has to make a last-second throw on the run that falls incomplete just before JTS drags him down from behind. Hall is able to to work through a double-team to push the pocket just a bit as well. This was a three-man pass rush that gets pressure, flushes the quarterback out of the pocket, knocks him down and contributes to an incompletion on third down. Defensive play-callers dream of this kind of result when dropping eight.

Hall Got Penetration

Speaking of Hall, while he wasn’t as impactful as he was in week three against Green Bay, he did show up a couple of times.

Hall, working as a three tech, uses his burst and lateral agility to simply beat right tackle Kaleb McGary to his spot. After penetrating the line of scrimmage, he is able to easily wrap up Huntley for a tackle for a loss. This is the quick-twitch athleticism the Bucs publicly spoke about pursuing in the offseason that allows them to better combat outside zone run concepts that are becoming more and more prevalent in the league. Consider this. From 2019 to 2021 the Bucs defense faced outside zone runs on 30% of running plays. This year that number has leveled up to 40% in 2022 (and that is not including the Falcons game) according to the kneeldown.com.

Welcome Home, Senat

In the grand scheme of roster building this offseason who had Deadrin Senat becoming a low-key consistent contributor for the defensive line on their 2022 “things that will happen” Bingo card? Anyone? Bueller? No? Me either.

But that is exactly what has happened since the 2nd half of the Packers game. Senat who played his college ball at Raymond James Stadium for the greatest college football program in the state of Florida (Class of ’08, #gobulls), has been a revelation. Averaging just a hair above 15 snaps per game, he has mainly helped shore up the Bucs’ lackluster run defense. But on Sunday, he had got in on the sack party with a heady play.

Senat, working as the nose tackle, moves to his right with the initial push from the offensive line on the play action. Then once he sees that Mariota has kept the ball he uses running mate Will Gholston’s bull rush as a natural pick for the center. Then Senat shows unusual bend for such a big man, turning the corner and bringing Mariota down from his blind side.