The Bucs defense is currently tied for fifth in the NFL with 25 sacks, including 15 in the last three games, and that’s even after not playing a game this week. Their team leader in sacks, Yaya Diaby has just four, so it’s not a typical example of a defense having one dominant player getting the bulk of the sack production.

Tampa Bay has seven players with two or more sacks recorded on the year. And in total, there’s been at least 15 players that have recorded at least a half a sack. The Bucs don’t necessarily do it the traditional way of just lining up four or five pass rushers and getting after the quarterback. They will at times, but it’s the blitz schemes orchestrated Todd Bowles that confuses quarterbacks and often leads to half of the team’s sacks.

Bucs DT Elijah Roberts and 49ers QB Mac Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

During their most recent game, the Bucs recorded five sacks against the Saints. Just two weeks prior, Tampa Bay had six sacks on a 49ers team that had gotten the better of them in recent seasons until that game. The defense is figuring it out at the right time with a tough stretch ahead and everybody is bought into the game plan.

“It helps a lot just for the opposing team not knowing where everything is coming from, not being one-dimensional,” Diaby said. “That’s what Coach Bowles does a really god job at – just bringing guys. Sometimes he’ll let us rush, but then sometimes he’ll bring some blitzes to give different looks.”

Bucs Have Revamped Their Pressure

The 23-3 win against at New Orleans against the Saints prior to the bye week is good example about the sharing the spotlight when it comes to sack production. It will go down as the Anthony Nelson game, as he forced a fumble, recorded two sacks, had a pick-six and won NFC Defensive Player of the Week. It was Nelson in the last game versus the Saints, but could easily be someone else the this week against the Patriots.

“It’s really huge. We’re selfless,” Yaya Diaby said. “It’s whoever’s day it is. It can be my day one day. It can be somebody else’s day. As long as we’re getting to the quarterback and getting him down, everybody’s going to make plays. And if it’s destined for me to get double digit (sacks) that’s all God. At the end of the day, we just get after it and that’s helping us win so far.”

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson and DTs Vita Vea, Logan Hall and Elijah Roberts – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Expectations were higher for the Bucs and their defense this season after a lack of turnovers last year. That was expounded upon when Todd Bowles said that he wants ballhawks in the offseason. Tampa Bay had just 18 takeaways last year and a minus-6 turnover differential. This year they already have 12 takeaways and a plus-7 differential, which is good for fourth in the entire league.

Diaby credits Bowles’ emphasis on the important difference.

“The beginning of the [season] we weren’t getting a lot of turnovers,” Diaby said. “Coach Bowles honed in on that. He was like, ‘We need the ball. We need the ball.’ Especially to play a whole game. Sometimes the offense might not be getting plays down and you know you need plays to be made. And what better way than to get it on the defensive side?”

Bucs Needed This Bye Week 

Tampa Bay’s Week 9 bye week came just at the right time. It’s halfway through the season and the team has its toughest stretch yet coming out of the gate with games at home against the 7-2 Patriots, on the road taking on the 6-2 Bills and then on the road again facing the 6-2 Rams. The Bucs are considered a title contender with a 6-2 record and some big wins already, but these next three games will truly tell us what kind of team this is.

That’s why it was important to rest and re-calibrate before this next big run.

Bucs OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo by: USA Today

“I needed that bye week,” Diaby said. “Overall I feel like everybody needed this bye week. It’s real deal the perfect time to have that bye week, because these next stretch of games is going to be the real deal of putting your whole body on the line. I was super happy that it was last week.”

Of course there’s always going to be the conversation of rest vs. rust in these situations. The Detroit Lions just came out of their bye and lost to the Vikings, 27-24, and coach Dan Campbell commented on not looking as ready as they could be.

When asked about making sure they don’t come out slow, Diaby informed everybody that head coach Todd Bowles has already been on top of not allowing a lull to set in this week with a lot at stake.

“It all starts with today,” Diaby said of Monday’s conditioning and watching film. “Coach Bowles stated that we don’t want to be that team. We don’t want to be that team that comes back from a bye just like what happened with Detroit. It all starts with today, guys focusing up and getting a little extra day to get an edge up on an opponent.”