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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Monday Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Monday Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Is the fast start by the Bucs defense a product of improved play or playing two bad offenses?

ANSWER: It’s both. This Tampa Bay defense is loaded with talent. It features four Pro Bowlers in Antoine Winfield Jr., Devin White, Vita Vea and Shaq Barrett. Those are the Bucs’ stars and they’re shining to start the season, especially after the Bucs’ 20-10 win in New Orleans. White leads the Bucs with 19 tackles and three sacks, and he also has a forced fumble. Remember, he had 3.5 sacks last year. He’s nearly topped that with 15 games to go.

Vea has 1.5 sacks and the run defense has been solid – even though it can play better. Barrett had seven pressures in Week 1 and had two sacks and a forced fumble in Week 2. Winfield had an interception in Week 1 and a sack in Week 2. His tackling has also been stellar.

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

But the Bucs have also gotten exceptional play from others. Linebacker Lavonte David had his first sack of the season against the Saints and has played very good football to start the season. Cornerbacks Jamel Dean (two interceptions) and Carlton Davis III (fumble recovery) accounted for three takeaways against the Saints. Safety Mike Edwards had a pick-six against former Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston because … well, that’s just what Edwards does. And that’s what Winston does, too.

Through two games, the Bucs have allowed just 13 points, including one touchdown. They have the league’s top-rated scoring defense because that’s what it’s all about: Stopping opponents from scoring. The Bucs have four interceptions already and 10 sacks to start the season. And Tampa Bay has also been quite stingy on third downs, holding Dallas to 3-of-15 (20%) and New Orleans to 4-of-13 (30.8%).

The games don’t get any easier when the Bucs host Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay this Sunday and Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City the next week. Those are two elite quarterbacks that should give Tampa Bay’s defense a stiffer challenge than Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Winston.

QUESTION: When will Bucs OC Byron Leftwich learn not to force the run on every first down?

ANSWER: As I pointed out in Pewter Report’s Most Disappointing article, the Bucs ran the ball 17 times on first down for 57 yards and threw the ball just six times on first down in the team’s 20-10 win in New Orleans. That’s not to say that it wasn’t effective. The Bucs averaged 3.4 yards per carry. Most of Tampa Bay’s 72 yards on the ground came on first down.

Was it terribly effective? Not really, but it did help the Bucs get into more manageable third down situations. Not that it mattered much, as Tampa Bay converted just 5-of-19 (29.4%) third downs against New Orleans. Had the Bucs thrown the ball more than six times on first down, the Saints defense might not have keyed on the run as much as it did.

I understand why Leftwich did it. With four new starters along the offensive in left tackle Josh Wells, left guard Luke Goedeke, center Robert Hainsey and right guard Shaq Mason, Leftwich didn’t want to expose that quartet to any excess passing downs. The Bucs threw when they had to against the Saints for that reason. Then, when Brandon Walton came in at left tackle for the injured Wells, it only strengthened Leftwich’s resolve to run the football even more.

I’d be more concerned about Leftwich’s play-calling on third downs rather than first downs. Tampa Bay has struggled mightily on third downs through the first two weeks of the season. The Bucs converted just 5-of-14 (35.7%) third downs in Dallas in Week 1.

QUESTION: If the Bucs get their injuries fixed, will the offense continue to be run-heavy or will they open things up?

ANSWER: When the offense gets healthier, I do think the playbook will open up. The effectiveness of the passing game and the frequency of explosive passing plays will be determined by how well the offensive line holds up for Tom Brady. Head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich know that they’ll need to lean on the ground game early in the season. At least until rookie left guard Luke Goedeke and center Robert Hainsey get some much-needed experience. And for all of the snaps that new right guard Shaq Mason has logged in the NFL, he’s only played two games in Tampa Bay’s offensive system.

Bucs LT Brandon Walton – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Keep in mind that in the second half, Leftwich had to navigate the fact that the Bucs were down to playing their third-string left tackle after Josh Wells got hurt. Brandon Walton stepped in and played really well, even though he’s a better NFL guard than left tackle. Brady was only sacked once, and it wasn’t by Walton’s man. In fact, despite all of the newness up front, Brady has only been sacked a total of three times in the first two games.

Also, once Mike Evans was ejected for fighting Marshon Lattimore in the second half, Brady only had Breshad Perriman, Russell Gage, Scotty Miller and Jaelon Darden to throw to. Without Evans and the injured Chris Godwin and Julio Jones, Tampa Bay’s passing game isn’t nearly as explosive. But if the injuries can heal and left tackle Donovan Smith can return along with Jones and Godwin, I can see Brady throwing for 300 yards again against certain opponents.

Yet, even when the offensive personnel is at full strength, expect the Bucs to run a little more than they did last year. It’s just something that Bowles believes in. And so far, that approach is working, as Tampa Bay is off to a 2-0 start to the 2022 season.

QUESTION: Should the league be stepping in and telling the refs they have to control these games before they get out of hand? I don’t want to give them power but this Bucs-Saints fight has been brewing for years and it’s not the first time.

ANSWER: Was this Round 2, Round 3 or Round 4 between Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans and Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore? I’ve lost count. These two have been going at it for years with some pushing and shoving. And of course there was the fracas back in 2019 when Lattimore and Jameis Winston got into it and Evans rushed to Winston’s defense.

Bucs WR Mike Evans and Saints S Marcus Maye – Photo by: USA Today

I actually think the refs did a good job of quelling the action pretty quickly. Both benches emptied and there was about 40 combined Bucs and Saints players on the field trying to come to their player’s defense. After Lattimore was jawing with Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, he and running back Leonard Fournette were getting into it. Then, Evans jumped in to protect his teammates and charged into Lattimore. Then, Evans got into it with Saints safety Marcus Maye with a brief altercation.

The refs handled it the right way and ejected both Evans and Lattimore. Both will receive hefty fines this week, and I hope that neither player gets suspended. They already missed time in the second half of Sunday’s game.

If anything, I want the NFL to not step in and I want the refs to do less on Sundays. The NFL is trying to legislate the physicality out of the game with the ridiculous unnecessary roughness calls. The officials called three really bad unnecessary roughness penalties in the Bucs vs. Saints game.

The first was against Keanu Neal on Lavonte David’s sack of Jameis Winston. Neal got there a split second late and was flagged for a late hit. Then, David was penalized for hitting Chris Olave in the back to prevent him getting a first down. Later, the Saints were whistled for a similar flag on what looked to be a good hit on tight end Cam Brate. The NFL is ruining its own product with the stupid emphasis on these types of calls.