All-Twenty Tuesday: Bucs’ Young Secondary

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On the very first defensive play of the game for the Buccaneers, Tampa Bay’s young secondary gave us a preview of what the afternoon was going to be like. Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles came out of the gate aggressive with a single-high safety look and man coverage with the outside cornerbacks.

What was the reason for this? I believe it was due to the threat Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson presents with his legs. Seattle came into this game as a Top 5 rushing team in the NFL, and it’s not just because of their running backs. Wilson, as he has done through his entire career, has been an escape artist from the pocket, often picking up yards and first downs with his legs, if left unchecked.

Bowles wasn’t going to let that part of Wilson’s game go unchecked, and so he dedicated more attention to the box with an extra secondary player close near the line of scrimmage instead of on the back end. That meant he had to get tight and aggressive with the coverage players that remained to make up for it.

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Unfortunately for the Bucs, Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was ready for it and was able to implement plays to counter such aggression in the secondary with such young player for Tampa.

Seattle used pre-snap motion a lot this game, not only to give away what kind of coverage shell was being deployed before the snap, but also to force Tampa’s young secondary to communicate. They also used stacks and tight formations to manufacture clutter over the middle as to force Tampa’s players to retreat as they navigated through the middle instead of sticking closer to their receiver.

The play above was a good example. Seahawks Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyler Lockett was wide open for the catch, but what more could cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III do? He couldn’t really cut underneath the linebackers as to impede them moving towards the line of scrimmage, and he certainly couldn’t get physical with the receiver due to him being off the line of scrimmage. It was just a perfect play to attack man coverage, and Seattle had those plays dialed up all day.

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Take the first passing touchdown of the day for the Seahawks as an example.

Bucs rookie cornerback Jamel Dean was in coverage against Lockett on this play. Before Sunday’s game, Dean had played a total of three defensive snaps all year. But because Carlton Davis injured himself in warm-ups, Dean was told in the locker room just minutes before the game that he would be starting for the first time in his NFL career.

If you asked yourself on the Hargreaves play above “why didn’t he just go in front of the clutter as to stick closer with the receiver?” The play above is why.

We love the idea of man coverage. It’s aggressive, it’s in your face, it makes receivers fight for open space. But we’re also quick to react when it fails – and man coverage has a higher chance of busting than zone does.

The play above was a perfect call against man coverage, especially one being deployed by a young and inexperienced secondary. Dean was a little shook all game. Seattle saw that early and went after him all day. The results weren’t pretty for the rookie.

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I referenced Dean being shook all day, and this play sort of sums that up.

Dean actually plays great coverage here against Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, and this wasn’t the only good rep Dean had. The young Bucs corner recorded five tackles and had four passes defended. He was targeted a lot, but stepped up at times, too.

However what encapsulated his day, and what tipped me off that it might be a long one for Dean early was after the play above, was that Dean didn’t even know what to do. He just made a great play one-on-one against Metcalf, and after doing so, coaches cheered him, players went to give him a high five. He looked like he didn’t know where he was.

That’s part of what doesn’t exists right now with this Tampa Bay secondary. The young DBs don’t expect to win. I don’t want to harp on this too much like it’s a be-all, end-all or something. It’s just something little I noticed. But Dean had no idea what to do with himself after he made a good play, and that’s a sign of how nervous he was, and what’s it like to be a young corner in the NFL. He was just trying not to drown out there on Sunday and it showed. He’ll be better for it, but that game was overwhelming for him. You could see that in the good moments and the bad.

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It wasn’t all bad for the Bucs when they played man coverage, though. There were plenty of reps where they showed they could get it done in coverage, and even when they were beat, it was often just one out of four or five players who didn’t hold up on a certain play. But that’s the risk you take with man coverage. If you screw up, they’ll go after you. There usually isn’t much help.

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On top of not having the experience in the secondary to play that much man coverage, the Bucs also don’t have enough pass rush to play that much man coverage.

Despite Shaquil Barrett’s 10.5 sacks already, this team is not nearly impactful enough on the pocket on a snap-by-snap basis to be aggressive in the secondary. Even for the best man coverage players, two or three seconds is all you can ask for them to cover. Any more than that and someone is going to be open. I just don’t see enough pass rush from the Bucs right now to even allow them to play in man coverage as much as they did without getting exposed.

Edge player Jason Pierre-Paul said after the game that Seattle is tough to attack because you never know what’s a run or what is a pass. Pierre-Paul said there were a few reps where he was defending the run when he really should have been attacking the pocket.

Seattle’s a good 6-2 team, let’s not forget that. But when you go up against the good teams you want to be holding your own and be in it when the clock is winding down. The Bucs took this Seahawks team to overtime, so we know they had the offense to keep it close. But despite the close score, it was a blowout kind of chess match for Schottenheimer over Bowles.