Pressures don’t mean squat.

Aside from YaYa Diaby, the Bucs are so awful at an edge rush, they reached back to five years ago to a glorious year to bank on a former star getting a sack or two in the next three games to save the team from choking away a playoff berth.

Never mind this same player, Jason Pierre-Paul, was pulled out off his rocking chair in retirement, hasn’t had a sack in the NFL since 2022.

And despite the Bucs not being able to buy a sack from the edge aside from an occasional sack by YaYa, the Bucs sure do excel at football’s version of horseshoes and hand grenades.

Joe just doesn’t believe quarterback pressures mean a damn thing against good quarterbacks. Against rotten quarterbacks or perhaps rookies, they might.

And Joe is pretty confident in the playoffs, if they make the playoffs, the Bucs have a better than average shot of facing a really good quarterback as opposed to a rotten quarterback or a skittish rookie.

Guess what does work on rookies, stiffs and All-Pro quarterbacks alike? Sacks.

So why is Joe bringing all of this up? Entering this weekend’s Week 16 games, the Bucs are one of the best teams at quarterback pressures.

Per Tony Holzman-Escareno, a senior researcher at NFL.com, NextGen Stats had the four best teams at quarterback pressures. The Bucs are No. 3, averaging 15.3 pressures a game.

This gets Joe tingly all over.

Want evidence that pressures/almost-sacks don’t mean a damn thing? The Bucs are No. 3 in average number of pressures per game. The Bucs are also No. 30 in passing yards allowed per game.

Pressures: Pppffftt! Give Joe a friggin’ break.

And damn it Bucs, will you find an edge rusher in 2026, somewhere, anywhere, for crying out loud!

Lowest pressure percentage faced this season:

1. Aaron Rodgers – 21.9
2. Matthew Stafford – 26.4
3. Bo Nix – 27.4
4. Sam Darnold – 28.3

Most QB pressures per game this season:

1. Broncos – 16.7
2. Seahawks – 16.4
3. Buccaneers – 15.4
4. Rams – 14.5

Per @NextGenStats

— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) December 19, 2025