How do you win in convincing fashion in the NFL while scoring less than 20 points? The Bucs showed how it’s done on Sunday night when they dominated the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The Bucs won with a stifling defense that held the Cowboys to just three points. What happened that allowed the Bucs defense to be so successful against Dallas?

Let’s start with the obvious. The Cowboys were not playing with their full complement of weapons on offense. Starting receiver Michael Gallup had not returned from his torn ACL suffered late last season. Third-round rookie receiver Jalen Tolbert was a healthy scratch. The Cowboys traded away their former No. 1 receiver in Amari Cooper the previous offseason. Quarterback Dak Prescott had a significantly inferior talent pool around him then last year.

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In addition to that the Cowboys were faced with challenges on their offensive line. Last year’s starting right tackle La’el Collins was released in the offseason. Second-year undrafted free agent Terrance Steele stood in his place.

Starting left tackle Tyron Smith suffered a catastrophic leg injury just weeks before the season started. Taking the reins on Prescott’s blind side was rookie first-round draft pick Tyler Smith after spending all training camp working at right guard. The rookie was set to replace last year’s starter Connor Williams who signed with the Miami Dolphins in free agency. Matt Farniok stepped into the starting guard spot vacated by Smith.

To say the offense the Bucs faced on Sunday night was the same as the one they faced off against in their season opener a year ago would be the equivalent of saying my daughter’s latest creation in art class is on par with van Goh’s starry night. Technically they are both paintings, but they elicit very different outcomes from each other. I love my daughter’s painting just as I am sure Cowboys general manager Jerry Jones loves the offensive roster he has built. But the rest of the world has a vastly different opinion of it.

With all of that said, that does not mean the Bucs defense was not spectacular on Sunday. It was. And in a bit of a surprising twist, it was not the Bucs’ pass rush that was the engine that drove the success. Tampa Bay’s coverage was elite against Dallas. Led by the secondary, with contributions from the linebacking corps, the Bucs defense made it hard for the Cowboys to move the ball in the air with any kind of consistency. Cowboys quarterbacks Prescott and Cooper Rush combined to go just 21 of 42 for 173 yards and an interception.

Cornerback Play Was Stellar

The Bucs ran a variety of coverages on Sunday night. I recorded them running Cover 1, Cover 2 (both straight up and rotated), Cover 3 (a Bowles staple), Quarters, Match Quarters, Cover 6, and Cover 2 man. With each concept the personnel executed the concept extremely well. And that personnel started with cornerbacks Carlton Davis III, Jamel Dean, and new slot corner Antoine Winfield, Jr.

Carlton Davis = CB 1

Davis picked up right where he left off last year. After signing a contract that makes him the 11th-highest paid corner in the game on a per-year basis, Davis needs to show that’s what he is. On Sunday he did not disappoint. Davis was targeted eight times, allowing two catches for just 25 yards.

Early on their first drive of the game the Cowboys attempted to spread the Bucs defense out with no one accompanying Prescott in the backfield. Earlier on the drive the Cowboys were able to beat Davis on a slant route to receiver CeeDee Lamb from out wide. So offensive coordinator Kellen Moore decided to dial up another one. This time Davis was matched up on Lamb in the slot. This should have been advantage Cowboys, as Lamb is familiar with working out of the slot, whereas Davis doesn’t do it much.

That doesn’t stop Davis from balling out on the play. In a straight-forward Cover 1 concept, Davis gets to run man versus Lamb. He lets Lamb release to the inside and knowing the lone safety zone coverage (Mike Edwards) is shaded over top of him he gets aggressive, undercutting Lamb’s route and breaking up the pass easily.

The Bucs defense is at it’s best when Davis is allowed to run press man coverage. You can see that on the above play. Davis lined up at the bottom of your screen runs press off the line. He is able to gain inside leverage and force his receiver to work in a condensed area close to the line. Then as the receiver works up field Davis stays in phase perfectly. By the time the receiver tries to turn for the back-shoulder throw, he has no room to maneuver and has no chance to make the catch on a poorly thrown ball. Davis executes flawlessly here.

Jamel Dean Kept Things Quiet

Prior to the game I pointed out that one of the keys to victory for the Bucs this year in learning from their last matchup with the Cowboys would need to be improved play from the CB2 position. Dean delivered in spades. He had a relatively quiet game, due to him clamping down his side of the field so well. Here is an example.

Dean wasn’t targeted on this play. But there’s a good reason why. Watch his coverage from the top of the screen on the crossing route. Do you see a window? I sure don’t. The rest of the night was more of that from him. In a contract year, Dean is off to a hot start.

Antoine Winfield, Jr. Looks Like A Vet In His New Role

Winfield was moved from free safety to slot corner this offseason. In his first real action at his new position Winfield looked gooooood. Six tackles, five solo, a pass defensed and an interception. He had himself a day. My favorite play? Not the interception. It was this heads-up reaction to this bubble screen.

Winfield has his eyes in the backfield as the ball is snapped. He quickly diagnoses the screen. Now watch as he gets penetration past the line of scrimmage. This forces the tight end trying to block him to now get into the path of Lamb trying to field the pass. Ultimately, Winfield is able to create a traffic jam that prevents the ball from being caught. Winfield played fast and instinctive all night. Oh yeah, and he did this.

#GraveDiggers 🪦

📺: #TBvsDAL on NBC pic.twitter.com/wHkGUvTMG1

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 12, 2022

Linebackers Making Plays

The coverage was not just stellar by the cornerbacks on Sunday. Both of the Bucs linebackers showed some impressive reps as well. Lavonte David made a memorable and athletic pass breakup during the Cowboys second drive.

Off of play-action Prescott tries to connect with Lamb on a deep dig, hitting a tight window against zone coverage. While Prescott throws a good pass, he did not expect for the 32-year-old linebacker to show off the hops to break it up. But that’s exactly what David did. While dropping into a hook zone, David follows Prescott’s eyes. Once he sees Prescott load up he commits to getting to the ball. A strong leap allows him to bat the ball in the air and almost get an assist on an interception.

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Devin White had a stellar training camp. After publicly talking about improving in coverage during the offseason, the Dallas game provided him his first opportunity to show he has taken that next step. And while most will remember White’s two sacks on the evening, he had some good plays in coverage as well. None were better than this one where he reads and reacts with fantastic instincts, jumping a hitch route and almost grabbing what would have been a pick-six.

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka Getting In On The Action

Bowles loves dropping defensive linemen into coverage. I like eating ice cream. There are just some things we cannot help but do. Per Pro Football Focus, the Bucs dropped linemen into coverage 22 times against the Cowboys. And no lineman was dropped into coverage more than Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. And Tryon-Shoyinka looked pretty solid in those snaps. Using his length and athleticism, JTS was able to put together a few snaps that contributed to the success of the Bucs coverage unit. Here are a couple of examples.

In the second half the Cowboys faced a third-and-10. Running out of shotgun they set up 2×2 with Lamb in the slot to Prescott’s right and tight end Dalton Schultz in the slot to the left. The Bucs countered with a nickel package in a single-high look.  Out of the snap Lamb runs a vertical route up the seam. White picks him up and trails him up the seam with Winfield providing overtop help.

JTS helps on Lamb as well providing the initial coverage as he dropped to a short hook zone until White could pick him up. Once JTS passes off Lamb he looks for any underneath middle-of-the-field routes. With the route combinations designed to work to the sidelines, Tryon-Shoyinka then looks into the backfield to see if he can read Prescott’s eyes to assist. And he is able to.

Right as Prescott tries to uncork a pass to Lamb, Shaq Barrett is able to unload on him, disrupting the attempt. The result was a soft floater right in Tryon-Shoyinka’s area. Because he was watching Prescott, JTS was able to make a valiant effort to make the interception, just missing it.

In another 2×2 shotgun look, the Cowboys were attempting to convert on third and six. They ran a play that had a curl/dig combination on Prescott’s blind side while providing him with a dig/corner on his front side. The Bucs countered with a Cover 6 look. Cover 6 combines a Cover 2 look on one half of the field while the other half is executed like Quarters (Cover 4).  The Bucs ran the Quarters coverage on their right side with Dean and Winfield.

Prescott never looked that way. Instead, he was focused on the front side of the play where he had Noah Brown running a dig route at the sticks with Schultz running a deep out to try and pull extra defenders away from the primary read.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

Now, remember how I said the Bucs were running Cover 6? Well, they were but as with a lot of things Bowles does, he put a spin on it. On the front-side of the play Davis sits on the short zone while safety Logan Ryan rotates over to provide help over top. Meanwhile, Edwards comes in on a blitz through the “A” gap, trailing White who also comes in on the blitz. Edwards is the first to get home.

While Edwards doesn’t sack Prescott, he is able to distract him until the rest of the pass rush gets him down. The rush is only able to get home because Prescott can’t get his initial read out. You can see him start to wind up but pull the ball down. That’s because JTS dropped to into coverage in order to mix up the blitz. In his drop, Tryon-Shoyinka trailed Schultz on the corner route. By doing that he allowed Davis to sit on the stem of the dig giving Prescott no options.

Just great game-planning by head coach Todd Bowles and his staff, and great execution by his Bucs defenders against the Cowboys. The Bucs have the league’s top-scoring defense after Week 1, allowing just one field goal.