The Dominant Run Defense
November 15th, 2022
Underrated defensive effort?
Todd Bowles is a big Kenneth Walker fan.
The rookie second-round pick out of Michigan State has not only impressed Bowles but the rest of the NFL as one of the best young running backs in the league. Bowles crowed yesterday in his day-after press conference about how good of a runner Walker is.
In fact, Bowles believed Walker is the engine that runs the Seahawks’ offense, despite having DK Metcalf (grandson of Terry) on the outside at receiver.
(Sunday was the first time Joe saw Metcalf in person. Dang, he is big!)
So Bowles was determined to shut down Walker. How did the Bucs do? Well, per NextGen Stats by way of Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com, Walker may have had his worst game.
Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker had just 11 yards on seven carries outside the tackles, his fewest in a game with at least five carries.
Now that’s playing defense. And Bowles was right. Stop Walker and you’ve got Seattle boxed in.
If the Bucs can play the same way in stopping Nick Chubb in two weeks, the Bucs ought to have a winning record.
November 15th, 2022 at 4:47 am
It’s amazing the difference getting Akiem Hicks has made for our run defense these last 2 games. Keep thinking though that there has to be more going on that just that, because in those 2 games Hicks has a grand total of 4 tackles (2 of them solo) & 1 QB hit. Yet it looks like both the Rams & Seahawks respected his presence in looking at their rushing play selections.
Our 3rd down performance looks to have improved significantly (Rams & Seahawks were a combined 5-for-24 on 3rd down conversions). Our defense limited opposing offenses to 57 plays against the Rams & 52 plays against the Seahawks. More importantly though, getting Hicks back has allowed the DLine to set a better rotation, keeping our DLinemen fresher. Both Hicks & Vea have averaged only 33 def snaps in those 2 games (right at 60%, which is probably optimum for those 2). Both Gholston & Hall have seen fewer snaps also, as has RNR.
Now we just have to keep them all healthy.
November 15th, 2022 at 6:51 am
Suh.
November 15th, 2022 at 7:07 am
Hicks and Vea to some degree are tying up O lineman and clogging up the running lanes. That usually equates to someone else getting freed up to make the tackle.
November 15th, 2022 at 7:46 am
Yup hicks and weinfield addition has been huge for the defense getting Ryan back will also be pretty significant.
November 15th, 2022 at 7:47 am
There is no question that Hicks has made a difference………hope he stays healthy because we need him down the stretch.
November 15th, 2022 at 8:00 am
It’s about want to, and attitude. The games we got gashed by the run we had guys not playing hard, even loafing. Guys weren’t lining up right, missing gaps, no fight, we were letting teams push us around. You got to bring it EVERY week. We weren’t doing that till last Sunday. The big question is can we keep doing it? We can if we have the want to.
November 15th, 2022 at 8:42 am
Having your starters actually play makes a huge difference. Hopefully they now stay playing, get better and contribute even more.
Easier to win when you haven’t had the injury bug. Just ask the other division leaders.
November 15th, 2022 at 8:44 am
Just hide Hicks in the closet, please don’t get hurt at practice, big, big difference maker…
November 15th, 2022 at 8:52 am
With and without Hicks – huge difference.
Keep Hicks healthy.
November 15th, 2022 at 8:57 am
Having Hicks back sure has lit a fire under VV and JTS. LVD’s players-only pop talk/meeting sure helped, too.
November 15th, 2022 at 9:21 am
I think Hicks and Vita did a good job tying up blockers. You just didn’t see there offensive lineman getting to the second level to our linebackers. Also it seemed like guys weren’t getting out of position like before. I would love to see the all 22 on some of there rushing attempts to confirm it but it sure seemed like everyone was doing a good job of just playing their assignments. Additionally our guys were physical when they got to the ball carrier. There were some punishing tackles.
November 15th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Hicks makes this defense work.
Having Windfield back and Dean ball’n is nice too.
November 15th, 2022 at 5:14 pm
When Logan returns maybe the Bucs will intercept another pass, finally.
November 20th, 2022 at 1:21 am
All Bucs fans should watch and listen to Hicks Miced Up video on the official Bucs site. Usually worthless Fan hype ,but this is worth the watch.
Hicks is a beast!
I actually felt sorry for the offensive linemen going against him!
November 20th, 2022 at 1:26 am
Hicks is a beast! Every Bucs fan should watch him on the official Bucs site.
They had him miced and isolated on tape. I had no idea this dude hit people that hard! I felt sorry for the O-line trying to block him on a few of the plays shown.
November 20th, 2022 at 1:29 am
Sorry for putting the other site out there Joes ….but damn this gives us a better idea of what this dude can do.
November 20th, 2022 at 10:09 am
Fortunately Jason Licht has the controls. If Mork Dumbernik was in office, he would surely let him walk because Ryan Smith is looking better on the practice squad and McCollum is ready to roll.
Think of Michael Bennett.