Defenders Picking Perfect Time To Ball Out
January 26th, 2021
Kicking tail in January.
Joe has sensed a trend with the Bucs defense.
And if it can continue one more game, or see a couple of other players jump on the bandwagon for one more Sunday night rodeo, Joe really likes the Bucs chances of Bucco Bruce Arians hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft in the thick, dewy, Tampa night sky next month.
We all know how Devin White has been playing like he’s been shot out of a cannon in the playoffs. As Joe joked on Ira Kaufman’s emergency podcast, if Joe was an inside linebacker in the NFL and saw how White is playing after he got the COVID, Joe might want to try to get infected as well.
White catching the COVID bug is like Peter Parker getting bit by a spider. And of course, Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul came out of hibernation Sunday to light up Aaron Rodgers with five sacks.
Those are not the only Bucs defenders who have raised their games big time at the right time. Per NexGen stats, so has Sean Murphy Bunting.
The second-year Bucs cornerback matched Ed Reed’s mark of being the last player to get an interception in each of his three postseason games. Per NextGen stats, SMB had a bad 2020 regular season. To be polite, NextGen stats suggest SMB was a bit toasty.
In the playoffs? NextGen stats has him as one of the best.
Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting is making plays at just the right time.
During the regular season, opponents gained +52.9 EPA when targeting Murphy-Bunting (worst in the NFL). In three games this postseason, opponents have lost -6.2 EPA (4th-best in NFL).
🔒 | #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/eW0x2F0VvL
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) January 25, 2021
Joe doesn’t get into these statistical hopscotch formulas when the words “expected” or “adjusted” are used.
Expected? Whose expectations? Adjusted? Why monkey with numbers? That’s twisting numbers and the word “fraud” bounces through Joe’s head when people twist numbers to their liking.
However, Joe can use these same numbers to get an overall ballpark idea how a guy is playing. And Joe thinks it is safe to say that SMB is playing his best ball of the season this month.
One more game, man. One more game.
January 26th, 2021 at 9:07 am
Geez. Worst in nfl? Ouch.
Glad he is playing better now. You have to get a DB to year 3 to see what he has. Hopefully end of year 2 is a sign of things to come.
January 26th, 2021 at 9:07 am
Vita Vea won Angry Runs on GMFB this morning!
January 26th, 2021 at 9:13 am
the kid was hurt…not an excuse but being hurt does effect your play….
NFL is a what have you done for me lately business…lol…and lately he’s been balling…
keep it up SMB…
GO BUCS!!!!!
January 26th, 2021 at 9:15 am
They’ll be watching for a PI this game. Keep ballin though!
January 26th, 2021 at 9:23 am
One of the biggest impacts of this Bucs season has been the never ending wealth of info that Joe can give us.
Instead of “draft news” we get the privilege of a continued focus on our current 2020 roster.
Thank you Joe 🙂
January 26th, 2021 at 9:42 am
Whats up with Carlton Davis? He has been struggling.
January 26th, 2021 at 9:47 am
The entire secondary,as well as the rest if D, has been great and if Bucs don’t turn it over vs Packers, they win that game by 20.
January 26th, 2021 at 9:56 am
It’s not what they did last week. It’s what are they going to do this week? Keep ballin’ young secondary.
January 26th, 2021 at 10:09 am
Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill is probably the fastest WR in the NFL. Ran a 4.29 at the combine. He tore up the Bills with 172 yards. During the last meeting with the Chief, Hill smoked Carton Davis for a 75 yard TD and 13 catches for 269 yards – ouch! He had trouble all day keeping up with Hill. Dean was out with a concussion the game prior. Dean runs a 4.3 and better matches up with Hill. This should be a better match with Dean. Should be fun watching.
January 26th, 2021 at 10:15 am
If it was me, I’d test the refs on every play – getting more and more aggressive until they finally call something. Then I know where the line is. Otherwise, we might not be playing as aggressively as the refs will allow.
January 26th, 2021 at 10:34 am
Hill needs to be jammed hard at the line. You ain’t keeping up with him.
January 26th, 2021 at 11:44 am
Hmmmmmm Not One Sheep Anywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 26th, 2021 at 11:44 am
Just one GOAT!
January 26th, 2021 at 11:46 am
Problem with jamming is that if you miss, even safety help over the top won’t help you. Hill is lightning without the bottle.
January 26th, 2021 at 12:02 pm
BoJim … I was thinking the same thing about jamming Hill at the line, but then I thought ‘Danged, he’s not just super fast, he’s elusive as he11′. Got a hunch that a lot of defenders who’ve tried to jam him at the line have been left in his dust.
Would still love to know what Bowles changed in our 1st game against the Chiefs after the 1st qtr in terms of defending Tyreek Hill. He ended up with 13 catches out of 15 targets for 269 yds & 3 TDs in that game, the longest being 75 yds. What’s most interesting to me is that IN THE FIRST QUARTER, Mahomes targeted Hill 7 times … Hill caught all 7 for 203 yds. Mahomes threw deep to Hill 3 times; Hill caught all 3 … 2 for TDs. THAT’S SCARY.
And yet after that horrific 1st qtr, our defense must have some pretty significant adjustments, because Hill caught 6 of 8 targets, but was limited to 66 yds. Yes 2 of those were still deep passes, but our Secondary at least kept them to 21 yds on one & 20 yds on the other (bummer, for another Hill TD). So there had to be some Bucs’ adjustments made, and my guess is that it involved the Safeties. But I don’t have a clue what those adjustments were. I’m sure that it was a valuable learning experience for all of them though.
January 26th, 2021 at 12:20 pm
SMB is getting it now just like Carlton Davis did at the end of his second year We need to keep these defensive backs as they are all getting better In the endzone Edwards and Adams did a double pbu to prevent Devonte Adams touchdown I remember just a couple weeks ago Jalen Ramsay getting fully burned for a score by that guy. Jordan Whitehead lays the wood for the fumble–thing of beauty, no more peeps out of that running back and his highlight reels.
January 26th, 2021 at 12:21 pm
Mike C- Well played, well played!
Props to this defense!
We KNOW what we need to do on defense if we want any chance of beating KC. On offense, we have to be methodical and minimize mistakes. We need to play COMPLEMENTARY football.
Clearly the secondary became a weak link with Winfield, and then Whitehead out.
January 26th, 2021 at 1:14 pm
I’m going to be pessimistic all the way thru the Super Bowl…As I have been all year… No time to be the jinx now. 🙂
January 26th, 2021 at 2:10 pm
Went back and looked at the KC game and they played quite a bit of bump and run in the first quarter and switched to off coverage after getting burned a few times.
January 26th, 2021 at 4:27 pm
Sean Murphy Bunting in his rookie year made the All Rookie team.
Vita Vea made Shaq and JPP better by pushing the center of the pocket back where they could feed. That caused the resurrection of the pass rush missing since he broke his ankle. They all made the back end’s job easier. Just one more game. It has been a long time.
January 27th, 2021 at 12:27 pm
SMB has balled out. I only remember one play vs the Packers where he got beat, that 3rd and long where Rodgers scrambled in the end zone. Other than that, he was a difference maker. Hopefully this trend continues.