Bucs Special Teams Improvement Explained
September 17th, 2026
SirVocea Dennis weighs in.
The new-look Bucs offense was marred by penalties, drops and four turnovers on Sunday. The new-look Bucs defense was dragged down by an invisible pass rush and rough tackling.
Bucs special teams, however, looked vastly improved.
Remember, last season the Bucs flat out gave up covering kicks. All kickoffs were to be sent into the end zone because Todd Bowles was convinced that was the smartest play — to give opponents the ball at the 35 yard line. That’s how bad it got.
And the Bucs were brutal returning kicks.
Among 2025 NFL kick returners with at least 10 returns, Bucs returner Kameron Johnson ranked 41st in the NFL in yards per return while Sean Tucker ranked 56th.
But on Sunday, the Bucs looked like a quality professional unit. The Bengals averaged 23.7 yards per kick return on six attempts. That average would have ranked second-worst — second-worst! — in the NFL in 2025.
And the Bucs’ return game averaged 29.4 yards per return on seven attempts. That total would have ranked second best the NFL last season.
Joe was impressed.
Yesterday, Joe asked linebacker SirVocea Dennis, who had a special teams tackle on a kickoff Sunday, to state the biggest difference in the special teams unit following an offseason overhaul. He went right to new coordinator Danny Smith.
“It’s just the way Danny has people in different positons,” Dennis replied. “He likes to attack a certain way. He likes to cover a certain way. He’s a guy you’ll run through a wall for, and I think that means the most, especially on special teams.”
September 17th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
very encouraging….
keep making tackles on ST SVD and you just might find some playing time on defense…maybe lol
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 17th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
Sunday was only a disaster because of one man.
If Baker is better, the team wins.
Hopefully he’s better vs the Browns and all the moronic Baker Boi(s) are chanting MVP, since it means he finally had a good game and the Bucs won (not that the Baker Boi(s) care about the Bucs winning, but that should be a side benefit of a good game from Baker).
September 17th, 2026 at 12:43 pm
Glad to hear of the improvement. This upgraded play *SHOULD* result being more competitive.
Now, as to the equipment guy who hands out cleats each game…
September 17th, 2026 at 12:52 pm
The last loss was definitely caused by Baker’s 3 fumbles. One near the end zone. That’s a huge loss of momentum.
Munch is right.
Some other guys who sucked last week. Anzalone. Wirfs. Vea. Barton. Bain. Kancey. Irving.
Expect a bounce back from all of them.
This SHOULD be one of the biggest blowouts in team history.
September 17th, 2026 at 12:52 pm
Do a coach can make you want to run through a wall for them? I though effort couldn’t be coached?
September 17th, 2026 at 1:00 pm
ModhairKen…..
Bucky played decent. He didn’t suck…
Had 1 mistake.,.
Tried to cut and his foot slipped on him…
Had to stick an arm out to balance from falling and couldn’t put it on the ball when he was a bit out of control and defender hit right on the ball….It was bad luck…
That turf was affecting several of the Bucs players that were slipping besides Bucky. Saw Baker slip going back to plant and pass. Anzalone slipped like 3 times trying to make tackles in the flat. Even saw Bengals WR slip on a curl route…
September 17th, 2026 at 1:06 pm
Does Danny Smith also teach how to securely hold onto the football?
September 17th, 2026 at 1:09 pm
The special teams improvement on kick coverage was noticeable
The defense was not that bad, they had three rookies and a new field General at ILB plus the second year cornerback starting outside for the first time. It will improve.
Just like the o line, first time playing together for almost 2 years, they will improve.
People need to chill out with Baker.
He played good other than the fumbles obviously. The team is healthy, he will be fine.
Mark my words, they’re going to destroy Cleveland. Offense and defense are going to be outstanding.
One bad day with fumbles doesn’t change the fact that he is the best franchise quarterback other than Tom Brady. They’ve had since Doug Williams. And it’s not close. Not Steve Berg not Trent Dilfer not Brad Johnson not Jameis.
It’s Tom, Doug, and then Baker.
Very grateful they signed him for the next four years
September 17th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
Yeah the entire offensive line looked rusty this past weekend except for GOEDEKE. He was planting defenders in the ground. Very solid.
I rewatched the game last night and took notes…
The interior line had some issues and it was like each guy was taking turns at making mistakes…
Didn’t think Wirfs played all that bad. Baker had no feel to anything around him and was holding the ball foreverrrrrrr!! Most of the issues were on him. Trying to play Superman when he should have protected the ball better.
September 17th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
If SVD settles into a special teams demon role, he could see the ire of the fandom directed elsewhere
September 17th, 2026 at 1:18 pm
“Had 1 mistake.,.
Tried to cut and his foot slipped on him…
Had to stick an arm out to balance from falling and couldn’t put it on the ball when he was a bit out of control and defender hit right on the ball….It was bad luck…”
The same play Bucky fumbled he caught the pass with outside leverage up the sideline had he stayed outside and 1-man to beat, but planted his foot to go inside to run right at the pursuit between the numbers and hashes. The extra 7 yards after the cut, would’ve been positive had he not dropped the ball. Luck had nothing to do with it, it was bad decision that let to a bad outcome as he didn’t even brace before contact just ran straight into the 3-4 guys surrounding him. It was 3rd & 14, I’d take a punt there over giving any team the ball in scoring distance.
September 17th, 2026 at 1:25 pm
Okay then. Now that we’ve got a return game, why don’t we bust one? Kickoff or punt would be good. And while we’re at it, maybe we could block one? Field goal, extra point or punt would be fine. I’ve been watching this team for over 3 years and I haven’t seen anything busted or blocked in the entire time. How can that be?
September 17th, 2026 at 1:30 pm
so your saying coaching made the difference?!
September 17th, 2026 at 1:30 pm
Hallelujah.
Terrific article on how we have addressed critical weakness from last year – which may have also led directly to a big screen fracture in my house last season (shh..don’t tell Mrs Tampa2).
Thank you, Danny Smith!
September 17th, 2026 at 1:39 pm
Cleveland’s Raheem Sanders had a huge game as a kick returner against the Jags. Danny needs his coverage guys ready.
September 17th, 2026 at 1:42 pm
Good. Maybe he’s our new head coach in waiting.
September 17th, 2026 at 1:45 pm
Bucfan1988 , Goedeke got beat bad on Bakers first fumble which was the scoop and score. Immediately Baker had to leave the pocket because of it.
September 17th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
The way you disperage Voss I wouldnt answer any of your questions. professional
September 17th, 2026 at 1:51 pm
The ire towards dennis was stupid last year he had a few bad games early but ultimately played ok. he was not responsible for any loss single handedly, His partner at LB was no better but got the TB icon pass
September 17th, 2026 at 1:57 pm
I hope you’re making a good living Joe because your site is borderline unreadable now. Literally you can barely read the article anymore, between moving this ad over or moving that ad away.
September 17th, 2026 at 2:14 pm
Good coaching makes a difference!
September 17th, 2026 at 2:16 pm
“Goedeke got beat bad on Bakers first fumble which was the scoop and score. Immediately Baker had to leave the pocket because of it.”
No he didn’t get beat, Goedeke’s man got close enough to move Mayfield up in the pocket but he didn’t even/barely touched Baker. When OTs let rushers round the entire horn and they end up on their bellies in the backfield without the sack that’s usually a win.
The fumbled got credited to Myles Murphy, but it was Joe Giles-Harris that came in once Mayfield stepped up and put paws on Baker. Murphy finished him off from behind(pause)
September 17th, 2026 at 2:35 pm
Fire Bowles, let Danny take over.
September 17th, 2026 at 2:43 pm
The part I want to see from our special teams more than these other categories that we weren’t able to see was punt coverage. Good special teams manage to flip fields consistently force teams to start at 10–15-yard line. As I recall, I think it was our game vs Buffalo, where you saw how impactful special teams could actual be from a defensive perspective. We’d finally get a stop on Allen, and then their special teams would put us in and around the 10-yard line. I guarantee there’s stat that shows starting positions dictate chance of scoring… starting from the 10 is that many more first downs to even get into field goal range.
September 17th, 2026 at 2:45 pm
@Christopher Schiefen…yes, the excessively ad-laced website is brutal.
September 17th, 2026 at 3:02 pm
Thanks for the support Warren Brooks Lynch!!
You took the words right out of my mouth.
OURYEAR apparently doesn’t rewatch or pay attention to how these fumbles came to be.
September 17th, 2026 at 3:06 pm
Warren Brooks Lynch…
Regarding the Bucky fumble, the bad luck was the fact that the defender hit solid on the ball and it popped out going over to them due to slipping on a cut back inside.
Obviously he thought the other 2 defenders coming up to help were protecting the outside. Thats why he cut back in.
He normally protects the ball pretty well with 2 hands when he gets in major traffic. This was a fluke slip in my eyes that turned out bad 🤷🏻♂️.
September 17th, 2026 at 3:25 pm
Thanks for this. While everyone is whinging about Bain and Baker, I was just so thankful that we finally have a competent Special Teams unit.
September 17th, 2026 at 3:56 pm
I see there’s Plenty of opinions. And without reading them I have a feeling that Most tried to explain and perhaps some have made this exact comment. If that’s the case I’ll simply reiterated…
Yeah.. THEY GOT AN ACTUAL COACH THAT’S AT LEAST FAIR, IF NOT GOOD TO GREAT AT HIS JOB!
There you go. Mystery solved. Nothing to explain beyond the “Obvious”…
GO BUCS!
September 17th, 2026 at 4:23 pm
All you Baker bashers did you notice the defense gave up an 80 yard TD drive after his fumble?? A 3 & out stand could have made it a different game. Also Otten’s drop could have been a TD. The team overall sucked and were NOT ready to play. Great job Todd!!!!!
September 17th, 2026 at 4:43 pm
David Says:
People need to chill out with Baker.
————–
He’s the third highest player in the NFL, and the highest paid player in team history.
And he’s 1-5 in his last 6 games, ALL FIVE LOSES ARE 100% ON HIM, and he cost the team the playoffs.
People are going way too easy on him.
September 17th, 2026 at 4:46 pm
One thing I noticed when the new coach came on in special teams was that he made it sound very important right away. It seemed before that if you couldn’t play great football, you were relegated to the ST unit. I believe, from the beginning, Danny turned that idea on its head. To me, he instilled pride in the role. It was obvious that things were headed for a big change.
GO BUCS!
September 17th, 2026 at 6:01 pm
Tbbucsfan Says:
September 17th, 2026 at 12:52 pm
Do a coach can make you want to run through a wall for them? I thought effort couldn’t be coached?
————-
This ^^^^^
September 17th, 2026 at 6:12 pm
“All you Baker bashers did you notice the defense gave up an 80 yard TD drive after his fumble?? “
Who’s fumble?
“He normally protects the ball pretty well with 2 hands when he gets in major traffic. This was a fluke slip in my eyes that turned out bad 🤷🏻♂️“
Bucsfan1988, you just articulated why the fumble happened can’t convince me you really think it’s a fluke. The fumble sucked, my point was to scrutinize the decision making on Buckys’ part, because yes we needed to move the sticks but even in the scenario we were in. I’d take a punt from our own 33 over giving the opposition the ball right there.
That aside, just check the play out again. Bucky immediately gets upfield, he’s got a man to his immediate right in front of him and instead of trying to beat him to the boundary. Irving plants and head inside, that CB played contain right there and probably got kudos in the film room because that’s what they teach boundary defenders-funnel the ball back into the pursuit.
My thing is having watched it at varying speed and more time Í care to admit. Is that Bucky had leverage to pick up the same 6-7 yards he got going inside with a fraction of the contact. Not calling Bucky trash, but that particular instance where a on the fly decision was made it worked out in the worst way.
September 17th, 2026 at 6:54 pm
I was wondering if anyone was gonna note the obvious improvements in our S/Ts play. Kudos.
o Bucs kicked off 6 times in the game & gave up an average of 24 yds per kickoff return. That a LOT better than what we were doing last year (kicking into the end zone & giving them the ball on the 35-yd line).
o Bucs took 7 kickoffs in the game. Kam Johnson returned 5 of those for an average of 27.4 yds (not too shabby). Kenny Gainwell returned 1 for 22 yds, and then … Josh Williams had a spectacular 47-yd kickoff return back to the Tampa 49-yd line with only a tad over 5 mins left in the game (7 plays & 2 mins later, Mayfield punched it in for a TD to close the gap to 33-27).
Williams looked really powerful on that kick return. I’d love to see what he could do running the ball out of the backfield. No bigger than our other RBs (only 5’9″ & 210 lbs) but he sure did look to be running with ‘determination’.
September 17th, 2026 at 7:40 pm
svd is not a bad player, he makes a lot of plays and could replace anzalone if he can’t get it done, his weakness is pass coverage like kj britt also, maybe it’s todds scheme
September 17th, 2026 at 7:43 pm
So far so good with Ira’s stunt double Danny Smythe!