YaYa Diaby Explains Winning Difference
October 9th, 2026
Losing defined the Bucs’ season before last night.
So what was the difference in Dallas?
Bucs edge rusher YaYa Diaby was asked about the team’s level of desperation entering last night’s big win at Dallas that took Tampa Bay off the winless list.
Diaby wouldn’t address desperation was asked on the SiriusXM NFL Radio postgame show.
“It’s just staying the course, man. We had a great week. The guys bought in; everybody was bought in,” Diaby said. “It was just a matter of time for us to blow; and tonight was the night.”
Buy-in was the difference that got the team over hump this week,” Diaby said: “Guys believing, man.”
Diaby talked about his key interception. He had dropped in coverage along with edge rusher David Walker, who go the turnover started with a pass breakup that sent the Dak Prescott pass into the air. Diaby said he won the game of “hot potato.”
Yes, the Bucs were all about staying the course and sticking together to work harder and smarter. Todd Bowles spoke in the happy postgame locker room about playing “for your brotherhood.”
October 9th, 2026 at 2:04 am
Congrats to the team. Well deserved after a rocky start.
Hopefully it’s a nice reset and they come out charging in ten days
October 9th, 2026 at 2:05 am
This is the winning difference.
Record over the last 15 Buccaneers games:
Daniels: 1-1
Baker: 2-11
October 9th, 2026 at 2:34 am
How Bowles deals with the impending return of Baker Mayfield will determine how I evaluate Bowles as a coach. If Baker could get 80% of his mojo back, he’d probably be the better choice. But obviously the team just played its best game since early last year with Jalon. Coach Bowles must choose wisely, then he must make sure that the relevant parties understand why he made that decision, and then, he must win. If Coach Bowles has accomplished all 3 of those objectives at the end of this year, particularly the winning, I would be in favor of bringing him back next year, even though I wanted him fired after the 2025 season.
October 9th, 2026 at 3:14 am
It was luck and a coaching staff worse than tampa’s
Dallas defense is putrid
October 9th, 2026 at 3:16 am
The Winning Difference: 39 – 25.
39 runs to 25 pass attempts for 6.2 yards per carry.
Take away Bucky’s outlier 72 yard run and the Bucs still averaged 4.4 yards per carry. But, a bigger sample size, like 39 runs, is much more likely to produce that kind of outlier. (You can’t win the lottery unless you have a ticket.)
During the summer, Joe published extensive analysis of Bucs offensive tendencies vs success and failure. In 2025, the Bucs overwhelmingly ran with some success on first down and then passed and failed on second and third down. Third down runs were very rare and very successful.
The Bucs began this game by turning those tendencies upside down. It is amazing what success can be achieved by an offense that is not predictable.
Those 39 runs led to a time of possession of over 39 minutes – teams can win football games when their offense controls the ball for almost 2 minutes for every 1 minute their defense is on the field.
It was like watching the Rams beat the Bucs except that the Rams were wearing Bucs uniforms while beating the Cowboys. Has a former Ram coach finally decided to actually do what the Rams do? Is it possible?
This opportunity has been there for the Bucs for three seasons in a row now. It is nice to see that they finally tried it for once.
October 9th, 2026 at 3:21 am
It wasn’t luck you moron the Bucs just played better go find another team all you do is complain
October 9th, 2026 at 5:25 am
Ball control offense is the exact reason they hired Robinson. Problem is in the NFL you’ve got to finish drives and score TDs. Bowles has gone all in on his defense playing great and the offense to control the clock. Good luck the rest of the season, I’ll enjoy this week for sure.
October 9th, 2026 at 6:37 am
Interceptions 100% of the time kill opponents’ drives. It probably drives one of the Joes crazy that both OLBs dropped back in coverage but it was a great call. That said, is it too much to ask to have both? 42 pass attempts and not one sack? So far, that’s the missing piece to what has been an excellent defensive turnaround this season.
October 9th, 2026 at 7:27 am
100% rod munch. Baker is trash. Coach better stick with the kid. Baker is Absolutely TRASh
October 9th, 2026 at 8:05 am
Baker is not trash. But we should wait until he’s 100% healthy before he goes back in there. Great to see the O-line playing better! Not perfect, but better.
October 9th, 2026 at 8:22 am
Rod, STFU. You are just a bitter stupid d!ck. Tired of your constant hate.
October 9th, 2026 at 9:21 am
If they block and run like they did last night, Baker would be 4-1 instead of 1-4. Daniels played great, and im so happy for the energy he has brought to the team. Let’s be real tho, $55m puts Daniel’s back on the bench whether we like it or not. It will be a short leash for next year, but Baker deserves his job back when he’s ready.
October 9th, 2026 at 9:21 am
The Bucs identity is run the football, mixed in with timely passing and NO TURNOVERS! With the way the defense is playing, this is the recipe for success. The offensive line is better at run blocking than pass blocking. So, play to your teams strengths. The run game will open up the pass game…
The defense has played well (well enough to win all 5 games this year). Bowels actually has his defense working as it’s designed. The DBs are playing great and that allows the blitz to create havoc. Speaking of DBs, Jacob Parrish is an absolute stud and he is the No. 1 cornerback. He’s even made Zyon McCollum step his game up.
So what you saw tonight, is the recipe for success for this particular team…
October 9th, 2026 at 12:17 pm
I think Dallas thought it ws going to be a cakewalk after they easily scored on their 1st possession. If Daniels plays next game and wins, we might have a 50 million dollar controversy at QB.
October 9th, 2026 at 12:29 pm
That’s the most expensive trash I have ever seen Headcase.
October 9th, 2026 at 1:02 pm
Man, was that fun! Run Bucky, run!!
I’d start Jalon against Pittsburgh. The kid is on a roll! Keep the momentum going and make sure that Mayfield is healed and not just pushing to get back in.