As much has been written about the lack of pass rush or injuries at cornerback in the Bucs’ defensive struggles, they’ve also had a noticeable lack of splash plays from inside linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White.
Two of the defensive catalysts and leaders from last season’s push to a Super Bowl championship, the two linebackers are off to a quiet start in the Bucs’ first three games. They’re the team’s top two tacklers, yes, but in 221 defensive snaps, they’ve yet to record a single sack or interception, force a fumble or even get a tackle for loss.
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Pro Football Focus has been especially harsh in its grading of White, ranking him 77th out of 81 inside linebackers across the league with a very low grade of 34.8. Bucs coach Bruce Arians said part of the problem is that they’re great against the run, but opponents have had so much success throwing the ball on Tampa Bay that they’re barely even bothering to run the ball.
“There’s no doubt, they can both play better,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said Monday. “Devin, he likes to play against the run and nobody’s going to do that anymore, so they’ve got to get better playing against the pass. They’re capable, both those guys, of multiple-interception games.”
Video: From postgame last night, Lavonte David talks about what the Rams did to take away Tampa Bay’s pass rush and how the Bucs need to respond. pic.twitter.com/yHRy4wL4Ka
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 27, 2021
Secondary woes
Are the Bucs’ pass defense issues a function of injuries, poor communication or bad execution? Why choose, Arians said Monday, noting that while the defensive backs need to be talking more on the field, many times they’re just not doing the right things.
“It was some communication and some just really bad technique,” Arians said of the Bucs allowing the Rams to convert 10 third downs and throw for four touchdowns. “They knew the coverages. They played it really shitty.”
The Week 1 injury to Sean Murphy-Bunting — his return timetable is still unknown — created problems in the secondary, and when another starting corner, Jamel Dean, was lost to a knee injury in the first quarter Sunday, the Bucs had to turn to Dee Delaney, a special-teamer. Delaney making the 53-man roster was one of the better longshot stories to start the season, but he had played five defensive snaps in his NFL career before Sunday, and he had to play 53 of them Sunday as an every-down replacement for Dean.
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The Bucs could have shifted to a three-safety model with Ross Cockrell as an outside corner and Antoine Winfield or Mike Edwards as the nickel, but the Rams have difficult speed in their receiver depth, so they stuck with Delaney, even as he was targeted.
“He played really, really well,” Arians said. “He gave up one play where he got picked a little bit, but he might have played the best in the secondary we had, and Ross Cockrell the next-best. The rest of the guys, they need to pick it up. When we have interceptions right in our hands, we have to catch them.”
The Bucs are waiting to see how long Dean might be sidelined, and Murphy-Bunting’s timetable remains unclear, so while they could make a move to add a veteran corner into the rotation defensively, they’ll also get some help from the schedule. Instead of facing the Rams, who have the league’s second-highest passer rating, they’ll be facing the Patriots (ranked 27th) and rookie Mac Jones, then the Dolphins (29th) and backup Jacoby Brissett.
It would be easy to chalk Sunday’s loss up to the Bucs facing perhaps their toughest opponent of the season, but Arians pointed to small missed opportunities in the first quarter when the game was still scoreless: a false start on the initial third-and-1 on the opening drive, Dean dropping an easy interception, Rob Gronkowski dropping what looked to be a 30-yard gain.
“The whole game may change,” Arians said. “I’d still look at us more so than them.”
Bucs still struggling to find offensive balance
Falling behind can take teams out of their offensive game plan and Tom Brady has thrown for 10 touchdowns in three games, but the lack of a consistent, reliable run game will eventually be a problem if the Bucs need to throw as often as they have.
The Bucs rank 31st in the NFL in rushing offense and 26th in yards per carry, such that even in wins against the Cowboys and Falcons where they led much of the game, Tampa Bay has skewed heavily toward the pass.
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Arians was polite in postgame Sunday when asked about the lack of a run game, saying “RoJo (Ronald Jones) ran really well, and especially on that one drive.” Just to sum up Jones’ day: five carries for 11 yards, all on one drive, so 2.2 yards per carry is rarely characterized as running “really well,” and if his only touches came on one possession, there’s no need to say “especially on that one drive.”
Leonard Fournette wasn’t any better, mustering 8 yards on four carries, with Giovani Bernard having his best game of the season, catching nine passes for 51 yards and a late touchdown. Backup Ke’Shawn Vaughn, active for the first time this season, had no offensive role and played 16 snaps on special teams.
The Bucs go to the Patriots this week, and New England’s defense all but invites Tampa Bay to try to find its running game again. The Patriots rank No. 2 in passing defense and No. 1 in interception percentage, but they’re No. 25 against the run, so it’s not only an opponent they should run more against, but one they should run well against. The Saints, in handing New England a 28-13 loss on Sunday, had 38 running plays against just 24 dropbacks — don’t expect quite that dramatic a change for the Bucs.
Emerging more at receiver: Tyler Johnson
With receiver Antonio Brown sidelined after going on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the question was which of the Bucs’ backup receivers would step up most in his absence. And for Sunday at least, that answer was second-year pro Tyler Johnson, who had catches of 23 and 31 yards on one third-quarter drive and finished with a career-best 63 yards on three catches.
Scotty Miller, by comparison, had just two catches for 11 yards, nearly offsetting that with a 5-yard false start penalty. Arians said Monday that he’s dealing with a “pretty severe” case of turf toe, which could put him on injured reserve for a few weeks.
One option that did not get a larger share was backup tight end O.J. Howard, who has barely played in the first three games. He caught an 11-yard pass Sunday but played only 14 snaps, compared to 33 for Cameron Brate, who had four catches of 35 yards.
On returns and on offense, it was a low-key debut for rookie receiver Jaelon Darden, who handled the Bucs’ return duties with Jaydon Mickens out with a hip injury. Darden caught a single screen pass for no gain, with just two 24-yard kickoff returns and a 4-yard punt return against a Rams unit that had struggled with long returns against them in their first two games.
If Brown is back off the reserve/COVID-19 list this week, he’ll get most of the third-receiver reps, but Johnson has earned a longer look as the team works to make the best use of their offensive depth.
Here’s Bucs receiver Tyler Johnson from postgame last night after he had a career-best 63 receiving yards in the loss to the Rams, talking about preparing for Patriots this week: pic.twitter.com/j26VJ7Yy1K
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 27, 2021
Spotlight on Brady, Gronkowski returning to Foxboro
Sunday’s Bucs game at the Patriots will be the most eagerly anticipated game of the regular season, with Brady returning to face the team he played 20 seasons and won six Super Bowls with, against Bill Belichick, who coached him in every game. It’s a similar homecoming for Rob Gronkowski, but Arians stressed that for most of his team, this is another non-conference road game where they just need to focus and take care of business.
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“For 98 percent of these guys, it’s just another game,” Arians said (the math is closer to 96 percent). “We’re playing an AFC team on the road and we need a road win. For two of them, it’s huge, and it’s the biggest story nationally and that’s all they’ll hear about all week. But it ain’t got a damn thing to do with their job. Just get yourself prepared to play and beat the Patriots and let all the hoopla take care of itself.”
(Photo of Devin White and coach Bruce Arians: Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images)