Defense Good, Offense Was… There in the Buccaneers 23-3 Win

Despite the rather convincing win by the Buccaneers, it was not without its frustrations. The offense was pretty anemic for the whole game as they leaned on the defense to carry them over the finish line. With that said, omg, the defense is ridiculously good. It feels like Todd Bowles again has the pieces he needs to make the defense his own. Sure it was against a sub-par team, but any time you hold a team to three points is worth celebrating.

But to get back to the offense, it was complete garbage for 57 minutes. They once again struggled to protect Baker Mayfield as even Tristan Wirfs was getting beat pretty bad off the edge. The run game was just ok, and Baker when he had time missed some throws. It did seem like he was having trouble with his plant foot. Maybe his knee injury is hampering him more than he has let on.

The real failure of this team was having several tries at the one yard line and failing to score. They started a series at the one and failed to score any points. It was amazingly horrifying. What was insane is Josh Grizzard seemed hell-bent on calling the same run play every down. It didn’t work a single time. The o-line wasn’t getting any push and NOLA blew it the hell up. There was nothing creative, no boots, playaction, hell a goddamn shovel pass wasn’t even tried. That just felt like the whole game. The offense was using a stale playbook.

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The defense managed to score a TD before the offense. After the Buccaneers failed to score at the ONE YARD LINE, Spencer Rattler threw a pick-6 to Anthony Nelson. Yes you read that correctly. One of the worst defenders against the Lions absolutely balled against the Saints. Football makes no sense. He was so disruptive they had to chip him like he was Myles Garrett. And in this game, he was pretty damn close. No player since Khalil Mack in 2018 has been able to record a forced fumble, a sack, and an interception returned for a touchdown in a single half. It was amazing to behold.

The defense managed to get 4 takeaways on defense (don’t ask what the offense did with those chances). Antoine Winfield Jr had two and Nelson had two. The secondary was in complete lockdown mode and even the LBs made the occasional play. Sure Sirvocea Dennis had another missed tackle in open space, but you just have to accept that as a casualty of war for when he manages to get a sack. The Saints only had 275 total yards of offense. Even Alvin Kamara had a bad game.

It’s very clear right now where the strength of the team is. The defense has been the backbone of this team for most the season. Meanwhile the offense has a lot of work to do. Baker is injured, but the playcalling has not helped him much. They have the bye week to rest up and hopefully that helps Baker and gets some guys back. I hope they also shop around for LB help (Jordyn Brooks). Bowles has proven through the first half of the season he still has the touch in calling the defense. If the offense moves closer to average, this team becomes so much better.