Bucs Defense Gets A Breather
October 12th, 2021
Best of worst (?)
If the Bucs have to navigate the next few games with a beaten-up defense, then the NFL schedule gods are giving Tampa Bay a major break.
Mike Sando of The Athletic put together a list of teams facing the toughest quarterbacks over the next five weeks and man do the Bucs luck out.
With the Bucs likely missing three defensive starters for all of or much of the next five weeks — Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Lavonte David — Sando documents the Bucs will be playing the worst stiffs of starting quarterbacks in the league over that time period.
In breaking down the list of “Toughest Opposing QB Schedules, Wk 6-10,” Sando says the Bucs have the easiest path.
In other words, the Bucs are facing the lamest string of quarterbacks through mid-November: Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields or Andy Dalton, followed by Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston or Wing-T/wishbone quarterback/slug/stack of garbage Taysom Hill, then Taylor Heinicke and Carson Wentz.
The best/most dangerous quarterback of that group is easily Jameis, though Joe could argue Hurts’ wheels make him more dangerous.
So with the Bucs riddled with injuries, not counting banged up Jason Pierre-Paul (hand/shoulder), the defense is blessed to be facing mostly less than stellar quarterbacks.
Whew (sigh).
October 12th, 2021 at 8:08 am
Just get this win & they get another mini bye week. JPP needs to stop flirting with disaster and sit this game
October 12th, 2021 at 8:09 am
The defensive stats have been climbing every week. Look for that to continue while we get healthy.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:13 am
Jay-Miss is having a somewhat productive season because he’s become Captain Checkdown in the Saints offense with the occasional shot down field. Twitter warriors are criticizing Payton for not letting him sling it but without those clamps he’d be right back to throwing INTs and dropping fumbles.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:16 am
Gotta agree south Pete… dang lol
Go Bucs
October 12th, 2021 at 8:16 am
The defense will probably still look like hot garbage against those QBs. They haven’t exactly been stellar this season.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:19 am
What I’m seeing is an opportunity for Shaq Barrett to pad his stats so my DPOY bet pays out
October 12th, 2021 at 8:31 am
This is where we need to see Playoff Devin White… I think if he excels with LVD out, he could very well receive all-pro consideration.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:31 am
Exactly D Rome
He still threw a pick and lost a fumble but they won anyway. LOL…
Can’t let him loose then he is a liability
October 12th, 2021 at 8:46 am
I can see any of all of those QB’s doing damage to this defense. Offenses are moving at will between our 20’s which leaves us one bad DPI, defensive holding or Hurts/Fields/Hill taking off and running to score. Let’s start getting off the field consistently on the other side of the 50 before we start proclaiming an opposing offense as easy.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:48 am
We have a tendency to make all QBs look good……but ours looks better.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:49 am
Bucs history says it really doesn’t matter the QB, they some how do things like carve up the defense (Redskins) in a wild card playoff game, the QB you never heard of makes a name for himself, the rookie throws 18 straight completions, who was that guy for the Panthers “Allen”, Bus will win but they will find a way for the least expected QB to shine – it’s what they do.
October 12th, 2021 at 8:51 am
We need a stud CB next year
October 12th, 2021 at 8:54 am
With Rays unceremoniously eliminated, gotta focus on repeat to uphold the honor of Champs Bay!
Go Bucs!
Let’s go Brandon!
Peace, out….
October 12th, 2021 at 9:00 am
One game at a time, please.
October 12th, 2021 at 9:09 am
This page makes me shake my head the way they describe players. If it’s Brady and Gronk it’s not “Lombardi trophy winning, all pro, future hall of famers, etc” it’s just a bunch of stuff mocking them. And with AB it’s about his legal issues. But when it comes to Jameis it’s “America’s quarterback, pro bowler” and not “crab legs stealing, uber driver groping, turnover machine, pro bowl alternate” and with Mark Dominik it’s “rockstar former GM” and not “josh Freeman drafting, Luke kuechly passing, couldn’t build a playoff roster”…
October 12th, 2021 at 9:13 am
The Bucs always make 3 stringers look like Pro bowlers. I wouldn’t count out any of those QBs. Every game is going to be a struggle for this defense.
October 12th, 2021 at 9:15 am
Beating saints makes me happy. Others not so much.
October 12th, 2021 at 9:28 am
Saints will be a tough win
Payton is the best offensive mind in the game
He can have a running qb win
He can have a qb throw for less then 150 yards and win
Taysome hill was 4-0 last year
Bridgewater was 3-1 the year before
Jameis is better then both those too. Just watching saints highlights and guys are catching a ball for td and no one is in site of the receiver. That is great scheming. Trust me. Payton knows how to dominate the bucs
And saints defense has best secondary in nfl imo
So they will be tough matchup for the best offense in the game
October 12th, 2021 at 9:35 am
¨Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston ¨
Jesus H Christ how I hate this description or whatever you wanna call it…….
Nevertheless, let´s go game by game, step by step…..Doesn´t make any sense to tyhink this will be easy!!!
October 12th, 2021 at 9:49 am
Hurts is more dangerous than jamies it’s not even close
October 12th, 2021 at 10:12 am
Task at hand is Philly. They have two better than average receiving tight ends. The biggest area the Buc’s defense can be exposed this week.
We should be up for the task even without David. Time for D White to show some improvement in pass coverage this week.
October 12th, 2021 at 10:30 am
When you have QBs who can escape the pocket and make plays with their feet or extend a play anything can happen. We also got a lot slower on D with LVD54 out. Please use Jwhite33 as a LB next to DW45.
October 12th, 2021 at 10:33 am
Yep… nothing to worry about. WAIT, didn’t Mitchel Trubisky have a career day against us a few years ago. I dislike the mentality of ‘let’s all take a breather’.
October 12th, 2021 at 10:35 am
He is still America’s qb I see. ……
October 12th, 2021 at 10:58 am
Jaymiss hasn’t HAD to win the game for them yet–down 9 points, 5 minutes left, no timeouts… That’s when the picks come
October 12th, 2021 at 11:05 am
Any given Sunday and didn’t the Saint beat up on New England?
October 12th, 2021 at 11:08 am
Yeah… that’s what Alabama thought about Texas A@M too
October 12th, 2021 at 11:10 am
Well, the Bucs have always been known for letting lesser known QB’s play well against them. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen this time around.
October 12th, 2021 at 11:23 am
I agree with you Bird.
October 12th, 2021 at 11:24 am
All of those quarterbacks could look like future Hall of Famers against this defense unless Todd Bowles can figure out a way to stop the short passes and get the D off of the field.
October 12th, 2021 at 12:23 pm
17 game season then 3 playoff games will take every ounce of energy these guys have to give! Injuries come and go, next man up needs to be ready
October 12th, 2021 at 1:12 pm
Expect more games like the Dolphins from the Defense …
Allow early scores
Half-time adjustments
Outscore in the second half
October 12th, 2021 at 1:41 pm
I thought BA said 1/2 time is for bathroom breaks, not adjustments.
October 12th, 2021 at 2:42 pm
People are really overlooking Hurts — against what is supposed to be a good Carolina defense, down big, he brought him them back. It’s going to be an interesting matchup, the run stuffing Bucs going against a run-first QB – I’m not sure how Bowles is going to handle it, but Hurts can also throw the ball.
Also last night Wentz, on the road in Baltimore, goes for over 400 yards.
Then you have Winston one spot behind Brady on the NFL QB rating chart. Also the stupid Saints are always going to win at least one of the two games — and as we all know by now, in years the Bucs win the SB, they’re 0-4 vs the Saints in the regular season.
October 12th, 2021 at 3:22 pm
Yeah this seems very misguided.
Hurts can play (some weeks at least, lol). First mobile QB we’ve seen all year, while missing a bunch of starters and JPP out there at maybe 50%…
As for Jameis, could go either way. He’s gonna sling it out and if our guys continue to let receivers run open, he could easily have a 3 or 4 TD day. And we’ve seen Taysom Hill and Kamara wreak havoc on our defense 4 of the last 5 times we’ve played.
Careful what you wish for…
October 12th, 2021 at 3:36 pm
A lot of saints praise in here bring it on!!!
October 12th, 2021 at 3:50 pm
Actually they’re giving their son, Tom Brady, a break. They do it every year, Chk your sheets if you dont believe Howard
October 12th, 2021 at 3:56 pm
Heineken torched the Bucs in the Wild Card Round and will do it again.
October 12th, 2021 at 4:21 pm
Never get too cocky. Any team can be beaten at any time.
Without front line corners and banged up safety’s, not to mention a front 4 that looks pedestrian, any of the QB’s mentioned are capable of beating us.
We will need to outscore our opponents by a wide margin to have any chance at repeating.
Just keep running the ball and good things will happen.
October 12th, 2021 at 4:23 pm
On any given Sunday any NFL team can beat any other NFL team IF the loser isn’t on their game. Can’t take any opponent too lightly.
That said however, I think the Bucs defense will get a breather for the next 7 games, to a degree. But it’s more because of the opposing teams DEFENSES than it is their offenses. Our #1 offense SHOULD be able to control any of these next 7 games as long as we focus on their defensive weaknesses. Which of course is exactly what all those teams will do to us.
o Eagles: #21 defense (#3 pass defense; #30 run defense)
o Bears: #7 defense (#12 pass defense; #12 run defense)
o Saints: #4 defense (#24 pass defense; #4 run defense)
o WFT: #31 defense (#27 pass defense; #18 run defense)
o Giants: #26 defense (#22 pass defense; #27 run defense)
o Colts: #23 defense (#20 pass defense; #14 run defense)
o Falcons: #28 defense (#14 pass defense; #13 run defense)
October 12th, 2021 at 4:45 pm
The Defense is not playing good, is well below average. The coverage is so soft it reminds me the L.Smith and M.Smith era when Receivers were open by 5 yards. I ve seen enough called blitzes with the coverage being 10 yards off that kinds defeat the purpose of the blitz. Dont be afraid to get beat, mix it up play some more tight coverage. Even the INT by Dean if you look at it Dean is 5 yards off Waddle and the ball just bounces to his lap. They need to play better. Go Bucs
October 12th, 2021 at 5:16 pm
Hopefully Winfield gets back soon.
The pass rush and Sherman getting his legs under him and becoming more and more familiar with the playbook are going to be key
October 12th, 2021 at 8:14 pm
So that “America’s QB Mr. Entertainment etc” stuff…that’s NOT sarcasm?
October 13th, 2021 at 1:21 am
YoungBucs – I was thinking 🤔 the same thing !! Dang people , grow a pair and enjoy the team we have !! I think you all forget about the last 10 years prior to last year ! Defense will come around just as they did last year !! AND STOP TALKING ABOUT NEXT YEAR PLEASE !! THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR WE HAVE LEFT WITH THIS GROUP OF PLAYERS !! AND FOR ALL WE KNOW BRADY DECIDES TO HANG IT UP AFTER THIS YEAR .. IF WE NEED A GOOD CORNER BACK , THEN WE BETTER TRADE FOR ONE NOW , THEY DIDN’T BRING BACK ALL 22 STARTERS FOR NOTHING !! IT’S SUPER BOWL OR BUST .. GO BUCS
October 13th, 2021 at 6:07 am
Yea yea superbowl or bust to especially go back to la and smear in three hifi face .come on team let’s be the ruthless we all know we can .
October 13th, 2021 at 6:52 am
And 3 of those 5 will throw for 300+ yds and multiple TD’s.
October 13th, 2021 at 11:12 am
I don’t really see it as much of a break myself.
But still very winnable.
October 13th, 2021 at 11:23 am
The Saints will be the toughest game. They are getting a lot of players bak from injury/suspension. In all fairness, Winston has played well despite the Saints having a depleted receiving corps and injuries on the offensive line. The Saints won’t be able to run on the Bucs so the secondary will be tested and Devin White will be tested vs Kamara. The Bucs will win though. The Saints re hurting atcorner and that’s where the Bucs will feast. It’s going to be a fun one.
October 13th, 2021 at 3:15 pm
Winston’s strength is a weakness for the Bucs defense. Winston is good against the blitz and throwing deep. If the don’t pressure him he will have a big day against that secondary. Him and Brady will put up huge numbers.
Bird Winston isn’t captain checkdown, he just isn’t taking as many risk plus his top 3 targets are hurt. Kamara had no catches against the Giants.
October 15th, 2021 at 1:15 pm
Cmon Joe, why are you tripping? Didn’t Tampa BEAT Drew’s Rogers and Mahomes in three straight games last year. We’re not looking for an easy way out. My message to the rest of the league is, “bring it” and so will we. Last man standing gets the trophy, just like last year. GO BUCS!