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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: Where is Vita Vea? He’s been virtually invisible this year.

ANSWER: Bucs nose tackle Vita Vea certainly hasn’t been a difference-maker up front through the first four games. Statistically speaking, Vea has produced nine tackles, one tackle for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He also has four QB pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. His splash plays have been few and far between, but it’s difficult to box score scout interior defensive linemen like Vea because sometimes his job is to take on double teams and free up Lavonte David and Devin White to make plays instead.

But Vea has been getting moved off the ball too often this year, whether it’s double teams or on one-on-one blocks. That was the case on Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Chiefs center Creed Humphrey beat Vea off the snap and drove him back into the end zone to pave the way for Edwards-Helaire’s score with some help from left guard Joe Thuney. Vea had four tackles against Kansas City and did little to shut down a Chiefs offense that ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-31 win over the Bucs on Sunday Night Football.

Vea also has trouble re-directing as a pass rusher due to his size. That doesn’t serve him well against mobile quarterbacks who can scramble for yards or improvise with their legs in the pocket like Patrick Mahomes.

The Bucs paid Vea handsomely at the end of last year with a four-year deal worth $71 million. That coincided with Vea making his first Pro Bowl last season. But so far this year, he hasn’t come close to taking over a game – or even a quarter of a game. Players making an average of $17.75 million per season need to show that ability. So far, that hasn’t been the case for Vea outside of a few splash plays. There’s no doubt that Vea needs to play better and be a more impactful defender.

QUESTION: Why is this run defense a shell of itself this year? Does Ndamukong Suh really make that big of a difference? Is there too much of a focus for INTs?

ANSWER: In talking to several Bucs defenders after Sunday’s night loss to the Chiefs, they took responsibility for not stopping the run. Kansas City’s offensive line just put a hat on a hat and blocked Tampa Bay’s defensive line with near perfection. At halftime, only one interior defensive lineman – Will Gholston – had a tackle, and he had just one. Meanwhile, safety Mike Edwards had seven tackles and linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White had seven and six tackles, respectively. That means that running backs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco were getting to the second level with relative ease. Kansas City had 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground at halftime, averaging a whopping 5.8 yards per carry.

Bucs NT Vita Vea and DT Ndamukong Suh – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Chiefs converted 12-of-17 third downs (70.6%), including 8-of-9 (88.9%) in the first half. Ten out of those 17 third downs were third-and-4 – or less – situations. Kansas City converted on 80% of third-and-short situations, oftentimes with successful runs at the heart of the Bucs defense.

There isn’t too much of a focus on interceptions. The Bucs played with a loaded box often enough to stop the run, but credit the Chiefs up front for winning their matchups. Kansas City just dominated the line of scrimmage against Tampa Bay. Logan Hall weighs less than 300 pounds and doesn’t hold up well against the run. Tampa Bay is also missing new defensive tackle Akiem Hicks, who suffered a foot injury against New Orleans.

Would Ndamukong Suh help stop the run? Maybe in goal line situations and interior gap runs. But where Suh struggled last year was with stretch plays, as he didn’t have the lateral speed to maintain gap integrity. Kansas City ran a fair amount of stretch zone runs on Sunday night, and it would have been tough for Suh to adequately defend those plays. Keep in mind, the 35-year old Suh is still a free agent for a reason.

QUESTION: Sunday was by far our best offensive performance, but only by necessity. Do you think Byron Leftwich will actually see that opening it up more produces results or do you think he’ll go back to trying to establish the run – even when it’s obvious it’s not working?

ANSWER: The Bucs abandoned the run because the score got out of hand so quickly. Tampa Bay trailed 21-3 midway through the second quarter and the Bucs had three carries for minus-3 yards at that time. The Bucs offense is wide receiver-driven with Tom Brady at the helm. It made sense to go up-tempo and put the game in Brady’s hands at that point. They had to get touchdowns on the board to keep up and couldn’t afford any more three-and-outs and punting situations.

Tampa Bay wants to be more balanced offensively because it opens up the playbook. What Kansas City was able to do on the ground against Tampa Bay was a prime example. The Chiefs offense rolled up 417 yards, with 189 yards coming on the ground. That allowed Kansas City to dominate the time of possession (38:38 to 21:22) to tire out Tampa Bay’s defense and keep Brady on the sideline.

Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich would love to be able to do the same thing, which is why they attempt to establish the run. But it’s not working and the tight end position is a big culprit. Cam Brate has always been more of a receiving tight end and just can’t sustain blocks at the line of scrimmage. Cade Otton got beat twice on Sunday night, which resulted in two negative runs by Leonard Fournette. As a result, the Bucs ran the ball six times for just three yards and one touchdown, which came from rookie running back Rachaad White.

To say this team misses Rob Gronkowski is a huge understatement. It’s not just the catches down the seam and help in the red zone. Gronkowski is missed as a blocker in the running game and in pass protection. Veteran Kyle Rudolph hasn’t shown he can be an effective replacement and has been a healthy scratch for three out of the four games to start the season.

QUESTION: Where would the Bucs be with Ryan Jensen if he were playing?

ANSWER: Any time a team loses a Pro Bowl player it hurts. Ryan Jensen is not just a Pro Bowl offensive lineman. He’s the center – the leader up front for the offensive line and the tone-setter, especially in the running game. That’s where Jensen is missed the most right now. He brings not only ability to the huddle, but attitude.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Jensen’s replacement, Robert Hainsey, has played decent to start the season. Take Pro Football Focus’ grades with a grain of salt, but Hainsey had a 63.3 overall grade with 64.9 run blocking grade and a 55 pass blocking grade prior to the Kansas City game. His fumbled snap with Tom Brady in New Orleans was more on Brady than it was on Hainsey. But the expectation would be that the Bucs would be receiving better play from Jensen if he were healthy.

There has not been a definitive diagnosis on his knee injury yet – at least one that’s been made to the media. But the the expectation is that he could return later this season, perhaps after the bye week in late November or early December because his knee injury does not require surgery. In the meantime, the Bucs will have to live with Hainsey’s on-the-job training and growing pains. He’s only played in a handful of NFL games as a second-year player, and only has four career starts.

QUESTION: Is Todd Bowles in over his head? The Bucs got out-coached in every way last night. Play-calling has to change. First down runs ending up in second-and-long. Does Tom Brady have say in this? Behind the eight ball a lot with these calls. Going up tempo with Brady and he scores in six plays.

ANSWER: The entire coaching staff got out-coached on Sunday night and the players got out-played. Head coach Todd Bowles took the blame for the loss, and told the team as much after the game. But receiver and team captain Mike Evans stood up immediately in the locker room and said that the loss was on the players instead. That’s a clear indication that the players are still rallying behind Bowles and believe in him. I don’t think Sunday’s loss shakes their belief in him one bit. There’s still 13 more games to be played.

Falling behind 21-3 early and then 28-17 at halftime to the Chiefs, it’s clear that this was a total team loss. No single unit played well against Kansas City. It’s too early to say that Bowles is in over his head. Bowles’ defensive play-calling wasn’t up to snuff last night, nor was the execution.

On offense, the Bucs simply can’t run the ball, evidenced by three yards on the ground on just six carries. While they weren’t effective, first down run calls weren’t necessarily the culprit in this loss. Tampa Bay had 31 first down plays in this game and only ran the ball four times on first down.

What was more damning from a play-calling perspective was watching the imagination and creativity by Kansas City’s Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy compared to the play design by Byron Leftwich and the lack of execution by his players. Kansas City achieved balance with a myriad of different run plays and pass plays that kept the Bucs defense guessing and playing on their heels.