Bucs Defense Ranks Seventh In Points Allowed
October 3rd, 2023
NFL history shows it’s hard to have a crappy record with a top-10 defense in the category of points allowed.
Joe has scoured the data. A couple of five-win teams have been in that boat but most clubs finishing with a top-10 defense have at least seven or eight victories.
Through four games this sason, the Bucs have allowed the seventh-fewest points in the NFL. They’ve played a couple of powerful offenses and two weaksauce offenses, so the defense’s ranking feels fair and balanced, Joe believes.
In yards allowed, the Bucs rank No. 15 overall, but they’re No. 2 in forced turnovers and No. 3 in interceptions (thanks, Jameis!). That’s been a huge difference-maker.
The run defense and pass defense have similar rankings. The Bucs rank tied for 14th in yards allowed per carry at 4.1. Tampa Bay’s next opponent, the Lions, only allow 3.0 yards per carry, good for second best in the league. What a test that will be for Rachaad White and the rest of the struggling Bucs running backs.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:05 pm
Joe Says:
I think you mean seventh least.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:17 pm
The Bucs pass rush is Krispy Kream sweet!
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:37 pm
We finally have a pass rush to talk about thank God for that last time we had that was a super bowl run
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:40 pm
@Jack
We’re averaging 3 sacks per game. Buffalo at #1 averages 1 sack more per game. What are you ranting about?
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:43 pm
The D has been stellar!
BUUUUT…..the 2nd 1/2 of the igles game took me back to the lovie smith era.
they FELL APART.
more evaluation is needed.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:43 pm
Tampamac…. ignore the jack as$
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:51 pm
“Tampa Bay’s next opponent, the Lions, only allow 3.0 yards per carry, good for second best in the league.”
Here’s an idea… don’t run the ball if your opponent is really good at the stopping the run.
You know, like vs the Eagles, the best run defense – don’t just keep running it up the gut for no yards, instead, be creative, use the pass to open up the run, and don’t run in obvious running situations.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:51 pm
@Mike C-
Bro, I’ve been on this site for 11 years (Joe can confirm) and I RARELY post, but some stuff is just asinine.. I ignore the FSU and UF homers, the Mayfield/Trask fanclubs/haters and generally dumb posts, but to beat a dead horse this loudly and WRONGLY is killing me 😂
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:06 pm
While the stat sheet looks fine, the Bucs are not getting a ton of pressure, in particular when they don’t blitz. Most of those sacks came against Justin Fields, who sat in the pocket forever. Also, yesterday, Carr just sat in the pocket forever not getting rid of the ball. But week 1 vs the Vikings, the Bucs did get good pressure, but mostly through blitzing.
The team really needs Kancey back. With that insane first step and quickness, he could break the trend of rookie DT’s generally not doing much. It’s such a small sample size vs the Vikings, but man, did he jump on the screen in the ALL22. He could be a legit difference maker when trying to get pressure with just 4.
But while the Bucs aren’t really getting pressure, credit has to go somewhere. Bowles is doing a great job, apparently, in confusing QBs and making them hold onto the ball. He’s playing almost exclusively zone, and other teams move it with no issues between the 20s, but those sloppy loose zones get tighter when the size of the field is reduced and the corners can’t play 10-12 yards off the LOS. Of course you could say if the Bucs tightened up their zone perhaps they could stop teams from moving outside of the 20s as well.
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:19 pm
I really don’t understand jack Clark. You are rambling about nothing..either get on the ship or stay off! We don’t need fans like you
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:24 pm
and NO. 3 in interceptions (thanks, Jameis!)
Don’t you mean “America’s QB”?
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:28 pm
We need to play the Giants. Seahawks had 11 sacks and secured three TO’s. That’ll fluff the stat line!
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:31 pm
We won’t allow any points next week so our ranking should improve greatly.
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:31 pm
Tampamac Says:
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:40 pm
We’re averaging 3 sacks per game. Buffalo at #1 averages 1 sack more per game. What are you ranting about?
#99 the big fella Says:
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:19 pm
I really don’t understand jack Clark. You are rambling about nothing..either get on the ship or stay off! We don’t need fans like you
Those were “coverage” sacks due to the exceptional performance from our secondary. Try watching the game instead of reading stats!
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:32 pm
Yeah what a crappy running game! Surprise, surprise, surprise.
The OL now has 8 games of NFL experience at RG and RT (yeah Goeddeke got to play some guard last year, clearly not his position so he’s learning as well.)
The Center is in his second year. The left side features one of the best LT’s in the game and an LG that is servicable if not great. Do we think this OL has a chance to grow and improve. Did they show any improvement Sunday?
Same with White…he’s basically a semi rookie as well at RB with nobody yet behind him…still waiting on “Sneak” and the rookie. Rachaad already has half as many carries in four games as he had all of last year.
IMHO Both OL and White showed improvement the last game. IF they can build on that the running game should improve.
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:44 pm
Bucs could have won the Eagles game too. They didn’t take advantage of their opportunities. Mike dropped the ball and Devin White should have had a pick 6 but his groin prevented him from returning it.
Bucs can be a top 8 team.. maybe top 5 if the offense continues its development, they play as a team and get/stay healthy.
October 3rd, 2023 at 5:01 pm
Joe it sounds like you’re finally embracing Points Allowed as the best measuring stick for a defense’s performance (the title ‘Bucs Defense Ranks Seventh In Points Allowed’ gave it away). Being stingy on yards or having a boatload of sacks don’t mean a thing if we can’t keep them out of the end zone & off the board.
Still, that #7 ranking is backed up by lots of other good stats through 4 games. For instance:
o Takeaways: 10 (6 INTs, 4 FRs)
o Pressures: 38 … 12 sacks, 15 QB Knockdowns, 10 Hurries)
o Blitzes: 96
o Pass defended: 145 targets, 96 completed, 64.4% completion percentage (it was 69.0% our SB year).
o Missed tackles: 9.4% (it was 9.6% our SB year)
We’re on-track for a very good year. And if they stay healthy, it should get even better.
October 3rd, 2023 at 6:41 pm
Defense Rules – I appreciate the fact you backup your comments with stats.
While I believe yards against do matter, in the Bucs case it’s a bad stat. Since the Bucs offense isn’t turning it over, and you have a boomer punter, it means the defense has had to defend more yardage than usual. But it also means teams have to go further to score points.
So the Bucs, in this case, would give up more yards and less points than you might otherwise expect. The only worry there is that you’d think those numbers would average out over a full season, meaning the Bucs defense will likely start giving up slightly more points and less yards going forward.
But we shall see, it really comes down to the offense if they can keep the number of turnovers down over the course of the full year.
October 3rd, 2023 at 8:38 pm
I think kancey will improve those #s as well as long as he stays healthy. Hopefully he’s a go after the bye.
October 4th, 2023 at 12:11 am
Good news Joe!
I think that we may stay around 7 this year. Holding a stacked Fleagles team to 25 despite a poor offensive performance is a good sign actually.
Go Bucs!
October 4th, 2023 at 4:29 am
The Defense so far (only 4 games) has been generally quite good.
Points allowed is what really matters in a game of course but with other stats you can see and evaluate things.
It is true that the Eagles and the Vikings had many yards against us and we can use a few more stops, 3 and outs, punts to be considered a top Defense. At least in my opinion. During the season things balance out and if we give up too many yards eventually we will give up more points.
I m not complaining but we can be really good if we can make a few more stops. For example the Saints had 4 conversions on 3rd down and 8+ with short passes because of yards after the catch.
What i m saying is the Defense leaves some things on the field to be considered a top Defense.
Go Bucs