If you had told me before the season that the Bucs would be 6-2 after 8 weeks and heading into their bye week, I would have been ecstatic. Now that we’re here, I am! This ties for the best 8-game start in franchise history, achieved against a tough schedule and amidst numerous injuries across the roster.
However, my rants today—both positive and negative—are more focused on this past game than the season overall.
Defensive Production
It’s hard to argue with the direction of the Bucs’ defense over the last two weeks. They were straight-up dominant against the Saints yesterday. Yes, the Saints' offense is in complete disarray and lacks a starting-caliber NFL quarterback, but the defense did everything you could ask of them.
They racked up 5 sacks, caused 4 turnovers, scored a touchdown (they should have had 2), and allowed only 3 points. The defense is anchored by a strong run defense and a young secondary that is gelling more each week.
Maybe We Found Our Edge Rusher?
For the past 3 seasons, Anthony Nelson has been shelved on the bench, only to start and steal more reps by mid-season. They can’t keep him off the field! Every time he plays, he seems to make big plays. Remember last year at Carolina when he caused a fumble in overtime to set up the Bucs’ win?
He started in place of the injured Haason Reddick yesterday and dominated, finishing with 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception, and a touchdown. He’s almost guaranteed to be the NFL Defensive Player of the Week with that performance. We haven’t been able to find help at edge through the draft or free agency for years, and maybe we’re also having issues evaluating personnel on our roster? How has he only recently seen the snaps he got yesterday?
Offensive Regression
Injuries have been an ongoing struggle, and we’ve been dealing with them all year. Players coming back, others getting hurt—it’s ridiculous. Overall, the team has handled the adversity well, but the offense looked really bad against the Saints, marking the second consecutive game of disappointing offense.
Thankfully, our defense played their best game of the year because this offense didn’t perform well enough to win from their side of the ball, finishing with zero points in the first half.
In the first half, we again had too many run plays on first down that left us in 2nd-and-8 and 2nd-and-9 situations way too often. There was no rhythm in the play calling. If we’re worried about the offensive line holding up against the pass rush, let’s try throwing on first down when the defense has to respect the run. It’s better than putting the line in 3rd-and-long situations.
I’ll dive deeper into my thoughts about the offense in my Monday Contemplation article later today.
Our Schedule Doesn’t Get Any Easier
Coming out of the bye week, the Bucs face the Patriots at home, then travel to play the Bills and Rams. I’ll say it now: if we look anything like we have the last two weeks, we’ll be lucky to come out of those games with a 1-2 record.
Despite Bowles’ dreams, the defense can’t carry this team. If the offense doesn’t step it up and score 27 or more points in those big games, we’ll continue to be a team that dominates our division but struggles against the elite teams.
Yes, I know this was a win, and it’s great to be able to point out issues after a victory. Here’s hoping we get healthy and improve during the bye week! #buccaneerblitz #GoBucs #mondayrant
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