Bucs’ Defense Wreaking “Havoc”
October 29th, 2025
Stingy defense.
The past two weeks, the Bucs defense has been impressive.
In a Detroit road game, the defense held the mighty Lions to 24 points. In the previous six Lions home games, including a playoff loss last winter, the Lions had been averaging 37 points a game.
Last week in Lincoln’s Tomb, the Bucs defense jostled, mocked and robbed the slimy Saints. Outside linebacker Anthony Nelson damn near won the game by himself with two sacks, a forced fumble, and a pass defensed and pick-six all in the same play.
And a made-up fantasy football stat sort of reinforces how the Bucs are playing really stingy defense.
Ian Hartitz of @MBFantasyLife has a made-up stat showing the Bucs leading the NFL in “havoc.”
In Hartitz’s mind, “havoc” is the percentage of plays a defense records either a pressure, tackle for loss, forced fumble, pick or a pass breakup.
Joe has no earthly idea why Hartitz would include pressures and not sacks. Forever and always, sacks > pressures.
Anyway, the Bucs lead in havoc, telling Joe the defense is both active and efficient.
There’s no doubt that with the Bucs in a bad funk offensively in New Orleans (probably due to all the injuries) the defense both carried the team and won the game.
Think about it: Nelson outscored the slimy Saints all by himself.
Top NFL defenses in "Havoc" which is the % of plays a defense gets a pressure, TFL, forced fumble, INT, or pass breakup:
1. Buccaneers (42.8%)
T2. Broncos (41.7%)
T2. Seahawks (41.7%)
4. Lions (41.6%)
5. Rams (41.5%)
6. Chargers (41%)
7. Texans (40.8%)
8. Packers (40.6%)
9.…— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 28, 2025
October 29th, 2025 at 9:10 am
Lol, BS stats.
October 29th, 2025 at 9:11 am
Get all three phases playing well all 60 minutes in the same game. Then we’ve got something.
October 29th, 2025 at 9:11 am
The Bucs defense is mainly healthy…..I expect the havoc to continue!!!
October 29th, 2025 at 9:21 am
Great defense is a tradition here. It doesn’t surprise this OG fan. What is surprising and very uplifting is the improvement of the offense. Those two combined coupled with a decent special team = a very good/great football team. Go Bucs!!
October 29th, 2025 at 9:21 am
Since the entire secondary has been healthy, including the two rookie DBs, the D has been able to run the way Todd Bowles envisioned it! If the D stays relatively healthy this havoc will continue!! One game at a time!!! LFG!!!
October 29th, 2025 at 9:24 am
“Joe has no earthly idea why Hartitz would include pressures and not sacks. Forever and always, sacks > pressures.”
Frequency, pressures happen more frequently than sacks. As a result several different things including sacks, moving a qb off his spot which may turn to an incompletion(=PBU) and everything else listed.
Gives this model a little bit more to stand on and speaks more about team effort than say a guy like Myles Garrett having almost half of Clevelands’ 24 sacks but no other player having more than 4.
We have 25 sacks and 7 players with at least 2. Also, speaks to the scheme and how sack generation is kind of built in with Smith(2), Parrish(2), Dean(1), & Winfield(1) having 6 sacks between them. Those are secondray guys putting that up. We’re apparently on pace for 50 sacks this year.
Let’s keep this thing going.
October 29th, 2025 at 9:28 am
If that is an important metric than the Bucs need to get it to 50% plus in the playo
October 29th, 2025 at 9:30 am
Anybody remember this ? Defense wins Championships!! Is that still true in today’s world of high scoring offenses?
Go Bucs !!
October 29th, 2025 at 9:45 am
Imagine their stats if the defense wasn’t robbed of two TD’s due to incompetence from the referees.
October 29th, 2025 at 9:56 am
Only one stat matters.
October 29th, 2025 at 9:56 am
Cry havoc! And let loose the dogs of war!
October 29th, 2025 at 9:58 am
Now if something could be done about crooked officiating and the commissioner who condones it.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:01 am
Stats for refs. That’s what I want to see.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:07 am
JBF I know loves sacks as do I but a TFL OF -3 YDS is better than a sack that gets back to the line of scrimmage for No Gain that is not a negative play…That is why he uses the TFL instead of a Sack …If you ever look you will see sometimes a Player has more Sacks than TFL because half sacks and and No Gain Sacks do not count as TFL…This is why Lavonte should be a no Brainer for the HOF as he is about to be 4th All Time in TFL which is nuts for a off the Ball LB.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:09 am
I know officiating is horrible but I think it’s the suits up in NY! They have an agenda! You notice how quickly NY stepped in and ruled/overturned those calls…not sure how that happens that fast. There must be some sweaty grease ball staring at the screen with his finger on the button waiting for his chance to screw the Bucs!
October 29th, 2025 at 10:16 am
Give me a forced punt or a 3 and out vs a made up stat
October 29th, 2025 at 10:24 am
WBL
great break down!!!!!
6-2!!!
GO BUCS!!!
October 29th, 2025 at 10:26 am
Bowles has this defense playing at a championship level!!!!
everyone knows their role and they’re executing at a high level!!!!
great work fella!!!!
6-2!!!
GO BUCS!!!
October 29th, 2025 at 10:34 am
Defense is finally trending in the right direction. After the last couple of years it’s long overdue. Can the offense get headed back in the right direction. After carrying the team for so long they have now mysteriously lost the plot. Without that happening the team’s going nowhere. This team is like the guy at the fair trying to keep all the plates spining at the same time. Offensively, the most disappointing has to be the OL. They were actually playing better at the beginning of the season when they had numerous guys playing out of position. Now Mayfield is more beat up than Mike Tyson’s old sparing partners. Regardless 6-2 is more than respectable.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:39 am
Sack = TFL. It’s in there.
Call it havoc, call it whatever. It’s essentially the percentage of successful defensive plays. That’s all it is.
October 29th, 2025 at 11:04 am
Note that your havoc leaders are much bigger winners than tge bottom half.
October 29th, 2025 at 11:04 am
95
STFU CLOWN!!!!!!
you were screamin ATL fixed their defense in 1 offseason lol!!!!
bowles has you eating more crow than squidface!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 29th, 2025 at 11:18 am
Stpetematt Says:
October 29th, 2025 at 9:56 am
Cry havoc! And let loose the dogs of war!
lol “I swear! By for thee I swear!”
-Bill Murray (Scrooged)
October 29th, 2025 at 11:33 am
Joe … ‘Ian Hartitz of @MBFantasyLife has a made-up stat showing the Bucs leading the NFL in “havoc.” And a made-up fantasy football stat sort of reinforces how the Bucs are playing really stingy defense.’
Yes it is a made-up stat, one that focuses on only certain stats that don’t necessary reflect ‘the big picture’ IMO.
Bucs’ defense is currently on a roll, but go back a handful of games when we gave up 31 to the Eagles & 35 to the Seahawks in back-to-back games and I doubt many would be screaming ‘the Bucs’ defense is creating havoc’.
The Bucs’ defense has been a Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde this season to a certain degree. In the first 4 games, we went 3-1 BUT … it was the Bucs’ offense that was saving the day (Baker led FOUR 4th qtr comebacks). In those games, our defense generated 2 takeaways. We also had 10 sacks, 31 pressures, 32 TFL, 17 missed tackles & we blitzed 98 times (and 52 of those were against the Jets).
In our next 4 games, we also went 3-1 BUT … the Bucs’ defense up-and-down, just like our offense. Key though is that in those 4 games, our defense generated 10 takeaways (monstrous difference). We also had 15 sacks, 38 pressures, 18 TFLs, 35 missed tackles & we blitzed 61 times.
The biggest difference in those 4-game sets hasn’t been the sacks (10 then 15), but rather the takeaways (2 then 10). The pressures have been roughly the same (31 then 38), the TFLs have actually gone down (32 then 18), and the missed tackles have gone up (17 then 35). (Our tackling was horrendous in 2 games … Seattle & Detroit). Thankfully the Bucs’ offense only made 2 giveaways in those first 4 games, then 3 giveaways in our last 4 games. Takeaways are where we’re ‘creating havoc’.
October 29th, 2025 at 11:55 am
lol so they play the saints and now they are wreaking havoc, top D in the league blah blah multi threaded narrative pushing….SVD is great etc etc. what nonsense.
October 29th, 2025 at 2:25 pm
“Get all three phases playing well all 60 minutes in the same game. Then we’ve got something.”
We’ve got something? Which of your favorite teams are you talking about, Jacksonville or Detroit?
October 29th, 2025 at 4:09 pm
The Havoc statistic, as a team metric, might be more useful if, instead just give points for pressures, it gave bonus points for pressures associated with QB runs that are not wins for down and distance and for pressures associated with incompletions, passes defended and interceptions. That might better reflect how pressures are contributing to team success.
Maybe another stat would be useful, EPA per pressure. Again, something that links the outcome for the team to the pressures.
As an individual measure, pressures are still a valuable tool for evaluating the player. Unless the team is selling out to allow the player to generate the pressure, the pressure is a real contribution by the player minus missed tackles by the player.
But, the other stats I suggested should reflect the teams ability to capitalize on the individual’s performance generating pressure.
In the Saints game, Diably strip sack clearly benefited from Reddick pressuring the QB by driving his blocker back into the pocket giving the QB no room to dance and making him a sitting duck for Diaby.
Some stat should reflect such contributions even if the ones I suggest above are not ideal.
October 29th, 2025 at 4:39 pm
havoc finally a stat we can dominate!!
October 29th, 2025 at 5:37 pm
@DR
Very Very Well laid out… It’s Completely accurate. And I know I pointed out, Todd Actually DID change up his game. Thank God because it’s Working! I’m Very Pleased with the defense. I Most Certainly Was NOT for a very long time because it was quite lousy. I go back and look at our rankings through the last 4 years and Change HAD TO happen. And not just a little.
Bowles DID IT! Not only was the “Entire Defense” trained properly (which was my number 1 complaint), Not only that, but Bowles has been Out Maneuvering (my number 1b complaint) the offensive coaches on the opposite side of the field. Including against the lions (sometimes you Actually Have To Fight a Fight that if you’re not swinging back.. You’re not going to win it!) but Especially for the last 4/5 games the changes HAVE BEEN CLEAR. He’s actually FIGHTING BACK and even Laying Down defensive FIRST STRIKES (though not too many as of yet). But it’s SOLID MOVEMENT in the Absolute right direction.
And BTW, If guys come around from being disgusted by what was Obviously LOUSY coaching and now are content and even Pleased in what coach Bowles has Just “Now” been accomplishing, well that would please Any True Fan and if YOU’RE NOT AN “ACTUAL TROLL” , then you’d be welcoming of such glory, happiness , and exceptiveness of a fellow fan. Because let me let you on in a little secret to “yourself”. And it’s this… YOU ARE NO GREATER FAN THAN THE NEXT GUY! SOMETIMES THINGS “HAVE TO” BE SAID! WOULD YOU DEFEND JTS FOR HIS LOUSY PLAY??? NO?? THEN WHY WOULD YOU CALL SOMEONE A TROLL FOR DEMANDING BETTER?
And another BTW, Just Maybe the Criticism WORKED! Did any of you that are walking on water think about that??? THIS NEW DEFENSIVE AWARENESS “IS” All THE SUDDEN AFTERALL! We might actually OWE THE ONES BANGING THE DRUMS RELENTLESSLY FOR THE COCOONED CHANGE in coach Bowles! Or maybe God came down and had a chat with him, idk, BUT IT WORKED!
Though I Do Get the getting tired of cheap shots when they Aren’t Earned or Relevant… If it gets to the point of getting guesses and your info from a magic 8 ball then … yeah… you might be trolling and deserve a little razzing..
BUT if that Stops and the said troller sees the light and is excited to cautiously change their minds and are No Longer guilty of refusing to see things Have Truly changed for the better …. Well, HAVE SOME CLASS!
Prove that YOU’RE A REAL FAN AND WELCOME THEM. They’ve Already Eaten Crow and if they weren’t a WORTHY AND PASSIONATE FAN, THEN THEY WOULDN’T HAVE FOUGHT SO HARD TO BETTER OUR SITUATION LIKE A “REAL FAN” WOULD…
One more bad game Offensively, and IT’S BACK ON! It’ll be Grizz for Lunch!
October 29th, 2025 at 6:47 pm
Amazing what happens when you abandon the soft zone crap, don’t have 6 defenders standing around doing nothing, and actually play defense. THIS is the scheme that won the SB. Also it’s not just two games, the Bucs played like this in the Jets game as well, and the 4th quarter vs the 49ers.
Also, yes, you will get burnt from time to time being aggressive – as we saw in Detroit. But so what? You’ll also get turnovers and sacks and won’t passively stand by as your defense gets shredded.
The players aren’t magically improved – and it’s not the opponents (the Lions are on the best offenses in football) – it’s all down to scheme, and Bowles thinks if all his corners aren’t 100% healthy, he can’t play this defense, and uses any injury for an excuse to play scared and sit back in zone, like he did in Seattle, for example, where he made Darnold look like a future first ballot HOFer. Then, when he finally stopped playing that soft zone crap and got aggressive, Darnold turns back into a pumpkin. We’ve seen it for years now, and it’s ridiculous Bowles has waited this long to finally go back to doing what the team won a championship with.
October 29th, 2025 at 7:05 pm
When we can start stopping other offenses then i will be convinced, till then Fire Bowles.
October 29th, 2025 at 7:05 pm
They’re getting better and more locked in. All of our DB’s are back and it shows. Morrison and Parrish are great additions. Winfield is healthy and back in form. Tykee Smith is money and Dean is having his best season. McCollum is playing well. Then there’s Izien, Vildor, Merriweather, Hall. lol did I miss anyone? Probably. Licht and Bowles have built a deep secondary of ballers. Sirvocea is getting better as is the D line. We may be getting a defense that can carry the team, with good coaching. I can’t say that I expected this, but I was hopeful with these draft picks. Did Licht nail another draft top to bottom? This may just be his best draft class yet. Man, I got nothing. Just gonna kick back and enjoy the ride.
October 29th, 2025 at 7:52 pm
After the Patriots opening drive for a TD, maybe the D can wreak havoc the rest of the game. Let’s save the anointing oil until we see Bucs choking out a better opponent for 60 minutes,
October 30th, 2025 at 12:24 am
My god. Some of you write books in here. We need a word limit.