Cornerbacks letting Bucs defense be more aggressiveBy Roy Cummings | Tribune Staff Published: November 16, 2015
TAMPA — Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith isn’t as passive in his defensive play calling as some people think. Given the right combination in the secondary, Smith said Monday, he’d gladly bag the Cover 2 scheme he’s best known for and play mostly man-to-man, while blitzing at least a third of the time.Midway through his first season as the primary play caller, Smith appears to finally have the right combination of cornerbacks and safeties, because he has indeed become more aggressive. He was, at least, during the 10-6 victory Sunday against the Cowboys.With starting cornerbacks Sterling Moore and Jude Adjei-Barimah helping to shore up what had been a weak secondary, Smith mixed up his coverages more than in recent weeks and called just the type of aggressive game he likes, launching nearly a dozen blitzes at the Cowboys.“When you have good play in the secondary it allows you to do everything you’d like to do,’’ Smith said. “And in an ideal world, what we would love to do is play man coverage and mix in zone. We were able to do all that (on Sunday).’’Smith’s aggressive approach started early.On third-and-10 from the Bucs 16-yard line midway through the first quarter, Smith called a blitz that resulted in rookie middle linebacker Kwon Alexander sacking Cowboys quarterback Matt Cassel for an 8-yard loss. That, in turn, forced the Cowboys to settle for a 42-yard field goal during their only red-zone opportunity of the day.Two series later, back-to-back blitzes from the Bucs 32-yard line resulted in an incomplete pass on second-and-8 and a gain of just 2 yards on the ensuing third-and-8 passing play. That forced the Cowboys to settle, yet again, for a field goal try, but kicker Dan Bailey sailed his 48-yard try wide right.“We have a system that is proven, and when we play it the right way we’re going to have success,’’ Smith said, “That’s what we’ve been working (to achieve) and each week we get a little bit better at it.’’The Bucs are showing improvement defensively. Opposing quarterbacks are still completing nearly 70 percent of their passes, but in the past two games they threw for only 399 yards combined while being intercepted three times.The improvement is largely due to the unexpected emergence of Moore and Adjei-Barimah as responsible cover corners, allowing Smith to work from the more aggressive pages in his playbook.Once the fifth and sixth corners on the roster, respectively, Moore and Adjei-Barimah were given the chance to start a week ago when Smith benched former starters Johnthan Banks and Mike Jenkins. The decision paid dividends when Moore intercepted Giants quarterback Eli Manning on the first play of the game and Adjei-Barimah followed up with tackle for loss on a corner blitz.Now, the duo might be hard to supplant. In addition to creating takeaways and more blitz opportunities for the defense, they’re reducing scoring opportunities for opponents.Moore, for example, spent most of Sunday matched up against receiver Dez Bryant, a former teammates with the Cowboys who, despite being targeted 12 times, finished with only five receptions for 45 yards.Adjei-Barimah, meanwhile, is making plays in a different way. Though he’s allowed receivers to catch 10 of the 14 passes thrown his way the past two games, he allowed them to gain just 6 yards total after the catch.“You know, I always tell our guys, ‘Circumstances will work out where you’ll get your opportunity, and then it’s going to be a matter of what you do with it,’” Smith said. “And for the last two weeks, with our corner play, I like what we’ve seen back there.’’It’s not just the corners who are playing better. As a result of the improved corner play, the Bucs also got on Sunday what Smith said was the best game yet by linebackers Alexander and Lavonte David.Like Alexander, David had a sack off one of the blitzes Smith dialed up, and also tipped a Cassel pass that could have resulted in a takeaway had Alexander not dropped the interception opportunity.“Kwon has had a few special games but, yesterday, his sack was big and he had some other big tackles as well,’’ Smith said. “Yes, we need to work on his hands. But really no complaints about his play. And Lavonte definitely stepped up his game. He had an outstanding play on his sack, and he blitzed well, tackled well in the open field and just gave us the all-around type of game we expect him to have.“And, really, the defense as a whole played that way. Our back seven, they’ve been criticized quite a bit, especially our secondary. But our safeties both played well and our corners did an outstanding job.’’[email protected]Twitter: @RCummingsTBO
