The Bucs offense was an unstoppable force on Sunday in a 33-16 win over the Eagles. And the defense was mostly an immovable object. Here are my notes from watching the tape on the Bucs defense vs. the Eagles offense.

Overarching Schematic/Global Notes

• Bucs ran a ton of Cover 2 early challenging Jalen Hurts to beat them with big time throws into the deep outside holes.
• Early pressure came via simulated pressure and not blitzes.
• Bucs tried to isolate Yaya Diaby on Eagles right tackle Fred Johnson to a lot of success. Immediate pressure on first snap of game.
• Bucs tackling was much sounder in this game. Only 8.1% missed tackle rate vs. 17.7% season to date.
• All of Todd Bowles’ pressure games seemed to work. Eagles O-line had trouble passing/picking up all game and Hurts could not find answers with quick outlets.
• As game moved on Bucs worked in Cover 3 and Cover 4 with fire zone blitzes from mugged up and overloaded fronts with the rotated cover-2 looks they were showing early in the game.
  • Made it near impossible for Hurts to get a read on where he wanted to go pre-snap.

Bucs Secondary

• Awesome bounce back game for CB Jamel Dean. His click and close was back to where it was vs. Detroit as he pinched routes and contested every ball thrown his way.
  • Had two plays that would be considered losses.
    • Missed tackle on dump off to Saquon Barkley in flat.
    • Fell down on deep corner route to Dallas Goedert near end zone.
      • Would not have broken up play even if he had fell and it was a good call by PHI vs Cover 3. Dean had to carry a post inside and the Corner hit the blind spot of the coverage.
  • Made an unreal play on a pull lead where he took on 6’7 350+ pound RG Mekhi Becton and knocked Becton to the ground. on the first drive.
  • Covered a deep vertical to John Ross in end zone well for incompletion.
  • Near pick in Q4 was a fantastic play on the ball.
  • Good day tackling outside of the one catch and run by Barkley.

Watch Jamel Dean take on 6’7 350 puller Mekhi Becton and put him on his backside.

I get Dean frustrates fans. But he does so much that goes unnoticed. pic.twitter.com/huTuur1wh4

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) October 1, 2024

• Zyon McCollum continues his ascension into the upper echelon of NFL corners.
  • Allowed one TD on scramble drill where he was able to cover initial route and first scramble break. Parris Campbell finally created some separation on second reaction back inside.
  • Covered a deep vertical in man coverage well in fourth quarter.
  • Sifted through traffic on perimeter screen to Jahan Dotson on third-and-15 on final drive to make tackle for just 4-yard gain.
  • Continued to contest every throw his way.
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  Bucs SS Jordan Whitehead and Eagles RB Saquon Barkley – Photo by: USA Today

  Jordan Whitehead

  • Second consecutive off game for Whitehead.
  • Got manipulated by Hurts in coverage to pull off of Goedert for a deeper route that wasn’t there and would have been another player’s responsibility.
  • Had an easy sack on a blitz but got fooled by a pump fake and let Hurts run by him.
  • Allowed Goedert to cross his face on a Texas route in low red zone down to the Tampa Bay 2.
  • Did save the Saquon Barkley 59-yard run from going for a TD.
• Tykee Smith
  • Fantastic day as a pass rusher from slot. Consistently got in backfield with by selling late and moving with suddenness.
  • Got a shot on Jalen Hurts on first rush on third-and-10 to force a soft pass that allowed defenders to make tackle before a first down could be achieved.
  • In coverage had a really good rep where he was concept side on a 3×1 in what looks to me like a Cover 4 defense. Izien triggers down late outside of him to double the perimeter receiver, and Smith helps squeeze the two inside receivers’ routes with Lavonte David (Tykee was squeezing from the outside and David from the inside.
    • Once they squeeze the routes and pass them vertically to deep defenders, he quickly triggers back underneath on a shallow cross coming from the opposite side and makes an immediate tackle for no gain. (Q4 6:48)
  • Only bad rep I have for him was the Saquon Barkley 59-yard run where he uncharacteristically did not stick his head inside as Barkley shot through the hole. That’s a play he normally makes.
• Christian Izien
  • Made a good play on second drive of the game to read out Y-cross by Goedert developing behind him. Deepens his drop to make the pass more contested.
  • Was primary culprit for Barkley’s long run being as long as it was. Took a bad angle to Barkley and allowed what should have been a 20-yarder go for an extra 39.
  • Made two back-to-back good plays down at the goal line in third quarter.
    • Triggered quickly on the Goedert Texas route to stop him from scoring.
    • Next play shot into the backfield to tackle Kenneth Gainwell for a loss.

Linebackers

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  Bucs ILB Lavonte David and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts – Photo by: USA Today

  Lavonte David had his best game of the season with several impact plays on top of solid down-to-down performances where he was all over the field.

  • Had a near pick in the right flat late in the game.
  • Was fantastic as a blitzer all day.
    • Per Pro Football Focus 9 rushes – 5 pressures – 2 sacks – 1 FF
  • Had one bad coverage rep on an inverted Cover 2 where he needed to carry a seam vertical to Whitehead who was rotating deep and didn’t push the route enough leading to a 26-yard explosive.
  • Triggered quickly on underneath routes and had no missed tackles resulting in little-to-no YAC for Eagles receivers.
  • Sack-fumble came at a huge juncture in the game where Philadelphia looked to be getting back into the game in the third quarter.
    • Runs over Saquon Barkley.
    • Hurts avoids David’s first effort to lay hands on him.
    • Doesn’t quit the play, throws Barkley off of him and comes back to Hurts from behind to hit the ball out of his hand.
  • Second sack executes a perfect loop off of a KJ Britt stunt.
• KJ Britt
  • The stunt to set up David’s second sack was his best play of the game.
  • Got exploited in low red zone on Hurts’ scramble that led to TD pass to Campbell.
    • Lack of athleticism leaves him stuck in mud in those situations more often than not.
  • Bucs tried to limit him as a coverage defender by blitzing him a ton.
    • Outside of being a solid stunter he was not very adept as a pass rusher.
    • Stiff hips meant he couldn’t change directions and was often pushed to the ground by using his own momentum against him.
  • Lacks explosivity out of his drop in coverage.
  • Asked to be the pole-runner in several Cover 2 reps and lacked the speed needed for that assignment.

Defensive Line/Outside Linebackers

• Vita Vea made big difference vs. Week 3.
  • Commanded extra attention on most reps allowing others to win one-on-one.

.@Buccaneers @VitaVea is the “anchor” every grest defense needs to help control the LOS. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/Jw2D6FZ3aj

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 30, 2024

• • 

    Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson, ILB KJ Britt, DT Vita Vea and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

    For such a big guy, Vita Vea’s ability to reduce surface area to split double teams is truly unique.

  • Crossed Mekhi Becton’s face after a strong punch for a sack.
  • Stunted through Becton and caught Johnson not paying attention and slipped past for a pressure.
  • Pushed Cam Jurgens back to condense the pocket and eventually get a second reaction pressure on Hurts after Logan Hall ties him up to begin with.
• Logan Hall made great play to deflect a play-action screen that would have hit for an explosive.
  • Added a sack late by just running around Landon Dickerson, who gave him a slight shove.
    • Hall displayed some nice flexibility on the rep to twist back into the pocket and tie up Hurts for the sack.
• Will Gholston with multiple quick pressures, beating Fred Johnson and Mekhi Becton on separate reps.
• Chris Braswell’s athleticism was on display as he read out a zone read run by Jalen Hurts and held the play to just four yards.
• Anthony Nelson had a solid day as a pass rusher with a couple of pressures where he was able to get inside left tackle Jordan Mailata at the top of the arc.
  • His best win of the day was on the game’s final play when he hit Mailata with an excellent cross hop and finished with a rip move to win the corner clean and sack Hurts.
• Yaya Diaby had several convincing wins overall with multiple against Eagles right tackle Fred Johnson.
  • Bullied him on a bull rush on first drive.
  • Won on a T/E stunt inside on a loop.
  • Beat Johnson on a powerful long arm.
  • Won around the arc with a late rip that got his first sack of season and forced fumble.
• Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
  • Won on a long arm against Mailata.
  • Bull rushed Johnson for a pressure.
  • Was able to execute his long arm on numerous occasions, just lacked the leg drive/strength to drive opponents back fast enough to create consistent pressure.