Horrific Red Zone Defense
November 27th, 2018
Green light in red zone.
One would think after an impressive outing in which they held an NFL team to single-digit scoring the defense’s numbers would look better.
But that’s not the case with the Bucs’ red zone defense, and that just demonstrates how absolutely horrid it is — even after an impressive goal-line stand against the 49ers.
Yes, even after that giddy goal-line stand Sunday, the numbers suggest when teams enter the red zone against the Bucs, it’s six points. The Bucs have the worst red zone defense in the NFL.
Per the good folks at NFL Films, which breaks down stats for BSPN’s NFL Matchup, nearly 87 percent of the time an opponent enters the red zone, it will score a touchdown. This is just disturbing.
Whoever the new defensive coordinator is next year, this has to be Priority No. 1 for him to solve. In the new NFL, the way teams move the ball, it is almost unreasonable to expect an opponent to stay out of the red zone .Limiting touchdowns is a different, yet fixable issue.
Or at least, it better be.
November 27th, 2018 at 12:28 am
They need to keep teams out of their Red Zone
The Houston Texans are ranked low
But they are 5th in defensive scoring
November 27th, 2018 at 1:05 am
Is this another record for this historic defense?
November 27th, 2018 at 1:13 am
AND the Niners scored on the goal line, Breida def got in the end zone. So that would probably make it 90%. BOOM POW 👊🏽 💥 IM HERE ALL WEEK FOLKS
VV is a NT playing DT. We switching to 3-4? Might as well, the highest sack totals usually belong to olb’s.
Speaking of sacks, does McIceCream’s sack on Sunday count towards tHe pRo-b0wL rAnKinGs? Asking for a friend.
Is Jordan Whitehead silently killing it out there or is it just me?
November 27th, 2018 at 1:48 am
We are not surprised that one goal line stand would not change a season’s overall average. Unfortunately, the depth of the failures are starting to show. No Buc fan alive thought the CB situation was going to work this year. A CB at 35, “Superman” Hargreaves and two rookies? How did that work out? At least the No. 1 pick finally showed up in week 12. Is it too much to ask to get a few hundred yards out of a RB you took at the top of the second round? What the hell are we doing here? The man has 19 carries for 42 yards. Should we have been worried in the preseason when he was 28 carries for 22 yards? Remember that? Ugh.
November 27th, 2018 at 2:53 am
Im bored by the numbers let’s really get behind the why are these numbers for this talented defense. I’m going to start with the injuries that ravaged this defense throughout the season so far. Here’s every expected key contributor who has been injured this season:
CB Vernon Hargreaves, MLB Kwon Alexander, DT Mitch Unrein, DT Vita Vea, DE Vinny Curry, DT Gerald McCoy, LB Lavonte David, S Chris Conte, S Justin Evans, CB Carlton Davis, DB MJ Stewart and LB Kendell Beckwith.
That’s why this defense sucks first and foremost. All the above players have missed significant time this season. I consider significant time more than two games which every last player has missed more than two games. Four of those guys are now on injured reserve. Four starters at that BucBallers. Safe to say the plan didn’t come close to coming together. I will give the numbers a pass considering that alone and should be the story written about this defense.
Next is the coaching. Mike Smith made no adjustments once these injuries happen particularly in the secondary he just kept running his scheme. That’s why Mike Smith is gone because he never adjusted to the next man up. I’m looking at Duffner and it seems he’s falling in the same path just pumping the boys up a little bit more is all hes doing. There’s two players this coaching staff should consider innovating if they want to become a balance defense and they are Vea and N. Spence yes I said Spence. Spence should be moved to LB in the 4-3 and they should minimize Vea to just 3-4 defense and let Spence and L. David rush the passer relentless for a play. This would also allow for McCoy and JPP to sit as well as David possibly to in certain early game situations because you want them around in the 4th Q.
To sum it up this offseason needs to be all about defense once again. No overhyped RB or T. DT, DE,LB, S, CB are the team needs in that order too. I say DT first because I would like too see the defense have talented depth so we can fight these injuries. We could use another more natural young DE to go behind Nassib or compete in training camp. I’ve just always felt we never draft enough at LB or keep the position stocked and fresh from a talented depth standpoint. S and CB are also no brainers for obvious reasons. We need to make some high round defensive picks in the draft this year. We need reliable bodies when these injuries occur and incorporate better play call management personnel wise as well to keep our guys healthy and safe.
November 27th, 2018 at 6:15 am
@Jason S….. If your bored by the numbers most JBF readers are bored with responses longer then the original text in the story. Keep it short and sweet.
November 27th, 2018 at 7:53 am
That is eye opening 11.8% difference from Carolina thats insane
November 27th, 2018 at 8:58 am
If you watch, you already know how bad it is.
Jason- Injuries are not an excuse. EVERY team in the NFL experiences the same EXACT thing year-in, year-out. The fact is, when they were playing (ie. LVD, Kwon, etc) they weren’t playing well.
November 27th, 2018 at 9:20 am
Db55
The qb sneak got in too. Just no camera angles that showed neither.
November 27th, 2018 at 9:36 am
LOL Buc believer, yes true
November 27th, 2018 at 10:37 am
Do we need stats to tell us our defense is horrible?
November 27th, 2018 at 10:37 am
What? Kitties have a worse red zone D than the Bucs?
November 27th, 2018 at 10:39 am
@Jason S.: no team can completely retool a defense in the middle of the season.