FAB 4. SR’s Bucs – Saints Game Notes

If time permits in my schedule, I’d like to add some notes about the previous week’s Bucs game from my film study. I’m not going to spend a lot of time rehashing the obvious, such as Todd Monken’s brilliant play-calling or Ryan Fitzpatrick’s big 417-yard, five-touchdown performance from Sunday’s 48-40 win at New Orleans. Instead, I’ll try to dig deeper and offer some insight you may have missed when watching the game and tie it into the up-coming match-up.

Here are my thoughts from re-watching the Bucs vs. Saints game.

• I really liked what I saw from new defensive end Carl Nassib last Sunday and I would expect him to get a few more snaps this Sunday against Philadelphia than the 26 he played in New Orleans. Nassib almost had a sack of quarterback Drew Brees in his first game since being acquired off waivers from Cleveland. Nassib has good strength and explosiveness for such a big guy at 6-foot-7, 275 pounds. He’s quicker than Will Gholston and Will Clarke, who was just re-signed this week.

Bucs DE Carl Nassib – Photo by: Getty Images

The knock on Nassib coming out of Penn State where he was a one-year wonder as a senior, recording 15.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss for the Nittany Lions was that he is on the ground too much. I saw that a bit in the New Orleans game. He’s such, linear player that has good, but not great balance. This is a part of his game that he will need to continue to work on with defensive line coaches Brentson Buckner and Paul Spicer, but I think this is a really good pick up by Tampa Bay and a really good start to Nassib’s career in red and pewter.

• Peyton Barber had a nice season opener with 69 yards on 19 carries (3.6 avg.), including a 23-yard run in the first half that if wide receiver Mike Evans holds his block a little longer, possibly turns into a 75-yard touchdown run. The cornerback Evans was blocking was Marshon Lattimore, who wound up making the tackle.

Not only did Barber showed tremendous power, especially in the second half when the Saints knew the Bucs would be running the ball to try to kill the clock, he also displayed great strength in pass protection throughout the game. On Tampa Bay’s first touchdown to DeSean Jackson, Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins got left guard Ali Marpet off balance and had a free inside run at Ryan Fitzpatrick until Peyton stepped up and stoned Rankins in the A gap. That allowed Marpet the second he needed to regroup, get his balance back and continue to block Rankins while Ryan Fitzpatick’s bomb to Jackson went airborne.

• Speaking of Marpet, that may have been his only bad play on Sunday. The left guard is picking up from where he left off in the preseason and continuing to be a dominant player. He had a really strong game working with left tackle Donovan Smith and center Ryan Jensen to create some big holes for Barber to run through. Barber’s 23-yard run and 12-yard dash in the first quarter were both off the left side of the line with Marpet leading the way.

Bucs CB Carlton Davis – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

• I think Bucs rookie cornerback Carlton Davis is going to be fine. He took his lumps in New Orleans as wide receiver Michael Thomas got a few catches on him and wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr. caught a touchdown pass and a two-point conversion pass against the Auburn product. It wasn’t as if Davis was lost out there and blew a coverage. He was in position to provide coverage, but he was just beaten by a step – likely due to a false step from inexperience or a slight hesitation from a rookie.

Going up against a veteran like Ginn or a talent like Thomas and facing a future Hall of Famer in Drew Brees in the noisy Superdome is a tough opening assignment, but Davis is mentally tough. I expect him to bounce back and have a better game this week against Philadelphia, although Shelton Gibson’s deep speed could be a problem for a cornerback like Davis, who has 4.53 speed. The Bucs will need to help Davis over the top with a safety if he’s matched up against Gibson, who is a bit of a one-trick pony as a go-route runner.

• Right on cue, second-year free safety Justin Evans made a game-changing splash play by picking up a forced fumble by cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and racing 34 yards for his first NFL touchdown to give the Bucs a 34-17 lead right before halftime. Earlier in the week defensive coordinator Mike Smith heaped a bunch of praise on Evans, saying he had “Pro Bowl capability.” Further film study concluded that to be the case.

Bucs FS Justin Evans – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

Evans had five tackles in the game and made a really nice stop on third down before the sticks in the second half to force one of only three Saints punts on the day. I’m predicting that Evans continues his hot start and gets his first interception of the season on Sunday, as Eagles quarterback Nick Foles will likely be targeting tight end Zach Ertz quite a bit.