Pass Defense Turning The Corner?
October 20th, 2021
Bucs DC Todd Bowles.
Even though the Bucs have been winning, their pass defense has not been playing winning football.
The Bucs’ pass defense on a 5-1 team is sort of like the wart on Cindy Crawford’s face. You had to be a special kind of a-hole to let that birthmark (?) turn you off.
Ugly cyst? Sure, but the 5-1 record is beautiful.
What Joe found interesting about last week’s results in Philly was Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts only had 113 yards passing. So Joe started doing some research.
Seems the Bucs’ pass defense is getting better but the pass defense stats still paint a gnarly picture. The Bucs are currently the sixth-worst team in passing yards allowed per game.
WTF allows 309.5 yards per game
Jacksonville 297.8
Dallas 295
Miami 292.5
Seattle 292.3
Tampa Bay 280.8
But each week the Bucs are allowing fewer yards through the air. It’s dropping. Back in September, Matt Stafford gouged the Bucs for 331 yards. Since, that number has fallen weekly.
Against Mac Jones the Bucs coughed up 295 yards passing, then Jacoby Brissett had 262 yards. Next, on a short travel week, the Bucs limited Hurts to 113.
Part of this is the Bucs getting a better pass rush. That may not be the whole story, however.
One can argue the Bucs defense shouldn’t get lit up facing a rookie, a career backup and a guy known more for his legs than his arm, in successive weeks. That’s fair. Remember, Bucs outside cornerbacks largely been inconsistent — Jamel Dean, a 33-year old dude off the street (Richard Sherman), Dee Delaney and a bottle of cologne (Pierre Desir).
Joe has maintained that defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ history with the team shows the pass defense will improve. In both 2019 and 2020, it showed up big-time late in the season.
So despite Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting still injured, are we already beginning to see the pass defense tighten up like the previous two seasons?
October 20th, 2021 at 6:17 am
Turning the corner in a bad neighborhood
October 20th, 2021 at 7:03 am
Yah. Hope its not too late to figure out. Winning now is equally important. I would rather have a bye (extra week of rest ) so two weeks to prepare and play at home in playoffs
The defense just appears different this year. Now they started out rough last year too. But it seems like less and less guys are contributing on a regular basis. More guys arent flashing. White and winfield are 2 good examples. You just dont notice them as much this year and that is not good. Run defense is great but lets face it. If you want to try and run against us , thats your stupidity
October 20th, 2021 at 7:27 am
The Bucs find ways to win against teams that they should beat, and it is a glorious time to be a fan! Although I worry about any rookie, I’m just glad the Bucs aren’t playing the Browns (Case Keenum may start) or the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Paxton Lynch).
October 20th, 2021 at 7:32 am
The positive aspect about all of the DB injuries is that the backups are getting invaluable experience. If we have a db injury in the playoffs that might come into play.
October 20th, 2021 at 7:37 am
Kinda demeaning to call a starting player on our professional football team a bottle of cologne, because he has a funny sounding name isn’t it?
October 20th, 2021 at 8:20 am
We’ll find out in two weeks. We know Jameis can stack up the yards given the opportunity. If we keep him under 250, I’ll buy the improvement theory.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:30 am
You guys know I start talking draft in October, did it with many of our top draft picks that have worked out….
CB Alontae Taylor with our 32nd…..go study!
October 20th, 2021 at 8:47 am
Any team without its top 2 corners is going to struggle in pass defense. Bucs just need to keep winning and get SMB and Carlton Davis back. With a healthy team the Bucs are the best roster in the NFL.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:50 am
Hmmmmm
Maybe is our running game allows the defense to stay off the field more each week.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:51 am
No doubt. Add in your No. 3 corner and it will suffer.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:59 am
WTF has a football team?
October 20th, 2021 at 9:00 am
We’ll give up more to the pass because of our run-stopping defense…..the overall yards against us would be more important.
October 20th, 2021 at 9:22 am
Just like my dear old Dad used to say… If you want your defensive backfield to stink less, get yourself a bottle of cologne.
October 20th, 2021 at 9:59 am
The bucs blitzed less and rushed with less and dropped with more. That would usually works to improve passing defense.
October 20th, 2021 at 10:54 am
So TimBucs2 you are gonna base the improvement of our passing defense off of Jameis Winston?
That seems weird to me!
October 20th, 2021 at 11:03 am
The obvious is that they have been playing crappier opponents each week.
October 20th, 2021 at 11:11 am
Bucs have been winning time of possession the last 3 games- probably due to resurgence of running game.
Less opportunities for opponents to throw the ball result in better pass defense stats.
October 20th, 2021 at 11:22 am
The defense is absolute crap. Not aggressive enough and definitely not ready for the postseason. Better get it together, and fast.
October 20th, 2021 at 11:44 am
New England is working out Brian Poole. I didn’t realize that Saints had released him off of IR. I sure hope New England passes on him, because Poole is a decent slot CB and has the versatility to play on the outside. This assumes he’s back to 100%.
October 20th, 2021 at 11:47 am
The stat is not always a good one to guage the quality of a Def. The O is putting teams behind early and nobody is game planning to run against the Bucs
October 20th, 2021 at 11:51 am
BucsMinisiterFuller has no sense of humor.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:47 pm
Well it’s easy for the pass defense to improve when you play a bunch of lousy QBs / teams.
BTW, didn’t Mac Jones have like 19 completions in a row at one point?