Tag: Calijah Kancey

5 key takeaways from the Bucs 28-13 win over the Raiders

The Bucs are 7-6, there are some things that fans should keep their eyes on as we are closing in on the home stretch of the regular season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked into Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders needing a huge win. This is not because the Raiders are in the midst of a mid-season rebuild but because a win would put this Buccaneers team over .500 for the first time since they fell to 4-4 following their second loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

While the boxscore displays what appears to be a lopsided 28-13 victory, pushing the Bucs to 7-6, there are some things that fans should keep their eyes on as we are closing in on the home stretch of the regular season. Here are five key takeaways from the Buccaneers Week 14 win.

Live and Die by Baker Mayfield

For all of the great things that Bucs QB Baker Mayfield brings to the table, there is also an erratic counterpart, ala a modern-day Brett Favre. Mayfield’s 3329 passing yards and 28 TDs are each, respectively, the third-most in the NFL. His 13 interceptions put him right behind the leader in interceptions, the Falcons’ Kirk Cousin- who has 15. You can argue that a lot of this has to do with Chris Godwin not being available, as Mayfield and Godwin had a top-tier connection.

To put into context just how good that connection was, Godwin had only played in seven games this season and was the team’s leader in receiving yards until Week 14. Godwin’s 50 receptions are currently still the second-most on the team behind TE Cade Otton’s 57. Both sides of the coin, mixed in with his personality, make Mayfield one of the most polarizing players in the league. He is both fun and frustrating to watch, oftentimes within the same game.

With a defense that is still trying to find its way and navigating injuries, the Buccaneers are a lot more reliant on its quarterback play than some other teams in the NFL.

Increased defensive-line snaps

It’s been observed week in and week out that Todd Bowles plays his defensive line with some odd rotations, namely keeping Yaya Diaby, Vita Vea, and Calijah Kancey on what appears to be snap count restrictions. Sunday’s contest saw upticks to 79% for Diaby and 70% for Vea, and a 66% snap count for Kancey. The Bucs are now a Top 10 team in total sacks with 35 on the year, and Diaby’s 52 pressures have him with the eighth-most in the NFL.

As the Buccaneers’ defense battles injuries in its secondary, it’s imperative for Bowles to continue to increase the snap counts for his best defensive linemen into pressuring quarterbacks to make quicker decisions to help his younger and less experienced set of defensive backs.

 Liam Coen’s unconventional passing offensive success

Piggy-backing off of Mayfield, the carousel in the backfield, and one true, reliable target at wide receiver, the Buccaneers offense is Among the top three in yards per game at 379.2 and fifth in points per game, averaging 27.9. For all of the questions surrounding this Bucs offense, offensive coordinator Liam Coen has displayed an innate ability to generate a lot of yards and a lot of points on a regular basis. Against the Raiders, Mayfield had seven different targets, with five of those seven having more than three targets each.

Evans is always going to draw attention from opposing defenses, and Otton is toeing the line between a mid-tier and top-tier tight end. Outside of that, which receivers are stepping up? This is where Coen’s playcalling is standing out. With such a youthful and unproven wide receiver room outside of Evans, no single player needs to play with the weight on their shoulders of needing to step up and have a huge game. Jalen McMillian saw seven targets for the second time this season and logged two touchdowns against the Raiders, however he had just five total targets in the previous two games combined.

Playing in rotational roles is clearly proving successful as the Buccaneers offense continues rolling.

The defense is tightening up

Yes, they played the 25th-ranked offense, but you play who you are scheduled to play. Bowles’s defense held the Raiders to under 100 rushing yards and under 200 passing yards with a depleted linebacking group, losing Antoine Winfield without Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards, just to name a few.

Just a week prior, they gave up a lot more to the Carolina Panthers, but divisional games are meant to be closer and more difficult; that should not be a tell-tale sign- unless you’re allowing a quarterback to have a career day in his 13th year. Despite having three turnovers on offense, holding the Raiders offense to under 300 total yards and only 13 points is noteworthy.

Anyone can get an “A”; it’s keeping it that’s the hard part

“It’s one thing getting to first place. It’s a whole other thing staying there,” coach Bowles said after Sunday’s game, as the Buccaneers took over first place in the NFC South. It was a tale of two halves for the Buccaneers offense, but the defense, which has been a liability at times this season, remained grounded and held up their end of the deal.

With four tough games remaining on their schedule, including two division games, the Buccaneers are eyeing their fourth-straight division title, but it won’t be easy, especially not having a tiebreaker over the Falcons. The Bucs’ remaining opponents have a combined record over 21-30, while the Falcons are 15-37, with only the Washington Commanders, the only team remaining that has more than four wins through Week 14 of the season.

Bucs’ Calijah Kancey explains how pass rush and defensive backs help each other

When speaking to the media on Monday, Calijah Kancey was asked if defensive backs doing their jobs makes it easier for the defensive line.

The Buc’s pass rush and the coverage ability on defense have been so-so this year. When one group has a good game, the other isn’t when in reality they should be feeding off each other’s success.

When speaking to the media on Monday, Calijah Kancey was asked if defensive backs doing their jobs makes it easier for the defensive line to generate pressure.

Kancey responded saying, “It’s really the same thing – a team effort thing, as far as defense. We’re kind of forcing the blitz towards each other. It’s just all about everybody getting to their assignment and executing. I [will] force it to the DB, the DB [will] force it to me or Yaya [Diaby] or Vita [Vea] or Joe [Tryon-Shoyinka], or anybody else who’s out there. It’s really just all [of] us just executing together as a team.”

Kancey hits the nail on the head here. When both groups are executing their designed plays the way they are intended, the results speak for themselves.

On Sunday, they will face the Carolina Panthers, another team with offensive woes. This should allow them to keep building momentum within each group before facing some tougher matchups in December.

5 key takeaways from the Bucs lopsided 30-7 win over the Giants

The Bucs came to East Rutherford, New Jersey, desperate for a win, as they had lost their previous four games before last week’s bye.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to East Rutherford, New Jersey, desperate for a win, as they had lost their previous four games before last week’s bye.

Not only did the Todd Bowles team come out of the bye week looking refreshed, they made a statement on all sides of the ball, improving to 5-6 on the year and keeping their playoff hopes alive. Here are five key takeaways from today’s 30-7 win over the Giants.

Bucky Irving is RB1

The Buccaneers are known around the league as a team that struggles to run the football. Part of the issue is the running back by committee approach that Liam Coen runs. It’s impossible for any of the Bucs RBs to become “the hot hand” and get something going on the ground when they are constantly being rotated out (this is also covered later on the defensive side). Bucky Irving has been the clear-cut RB1 for the Buccaneers for the last handful of games, and it seems like the only ones that cannot see that are on the Bucs sideline. Totaling only 12 of the team’s 28 designed carries, Irving led the backfield with 87 yards- an average of 7.3 yards per carry. Irving tied Mike Evans with six receptions for the team lead, not only effective on the ground, netting 64 receiving yards. It was understood how dangerous Rachaad White was catching passes out the back. However, Irving has proven to be just as, if not better, at being a pass-catching back than White.

Keep your best players on the field

Throughout the season, namely the four-game losing streak, Bowles was rarely keeping his best defensive line players on the field at the same time. All too often, Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey, and Yaya Diaby were around the mid-60 % of defensive snaps played, which is unacceptable for your star players, who are healthy, to see snap counts that low. This game proved to be different, and while the official snap counts are not out, it was a noticeable effort to keep their best players on the field, and it made a distinct difference, registering four sacks of Tommy DeVito.

Mike Evans opens up the offense

Needless to say, one of the best Buccaneers players in the history of the franchise is a good player. However, it was extremely apparent as Mayfield was able to effectively spread the ball around. Mayfield connected with 11 different players, completing 24 of 30 for 294 yards on the day. The Giants have the best-passing defense that they have faced in the last five games in terms of yards allowed, which begs the question, was it a mistake not to try and trade for another well-established wide receiver when Evans went down?

Playing with urgency

The Buccaneers never let up off the gas throughout the game, no matter what the score was, which is proving to be the recipe for success. Against the Falcons in their Week 5 OT loss, it was a winnable game had the playcalling been more urgent rather than designed screen passes. The controversy of not going for two and not attempting to win against the Kansas City Chiefs in regulation. Not having anyone to catch passes that were not a running back or Cade Otton over that four-game stretch showed that this team has the talent to play with and beat the best that the NFL has to offer. However, they just seem to go on cruise control at the wrong time. Today was not the case and should be the blueprint for the Bucs for the remainder of the season, as they are on the bubble of making the playoffs.

Outcoaching bad coaches

Bowles is not a bad coach. He may be too conservative and make calls that those of us who are not on the sidelines question, but he is not a bad coach. Brian Daboll is not a good coach, and Bowles stepped up and outcoached the Giants. Mistakes are going to happen, as no team, player, or coach is perfect, but continuing to play with urgency and Bowles stepping up and outcoaching the remaining six coaches that the team plays against to close out the regular season is something that needs to happen.

5 key takeways from the Bucs 23-20 loss to the 49ers

In a game that was not nearly as close as the scoreboard would indicate, here are 5 key takeaways as the Bucs continue to look for answers.

In what was sort of a midseason battle of attrition of under-performing teams between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers, the Buccaneers once again fell short, this time in regulation as Jake Moody hit a game-winning FG as the clock expired.

In a game that was not nearly as close as the scoreboard would indicate, here are 5 key takeaways as the Buccaneers continue to look for answers following their fourth-straight loss.

The Buccaneers are not built for close games

Close games are traditionally won by out-coaching your opposition. Todd Bowles is unable to do that and has proven it time and time again. Whether it is poor clock management or just simply playing without a killer instinct and playing to win, Bowles is overstaying his welcome among fans. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who would be the front-runner to take over the team should the Buccaneers make the unlikely midseason move at head coach, has continued to show flashes of great calling, followed by headscratchers. On the season, the Buccaneers

Bucky Irvin should be RB1 from now on

Of that headscratcher, as mentioned above, decisions would be why the Buccaneers have not named rookie RB Bucky Irving the clear-cut RB1 after routinely out-gaining Rachaad White on running plays. White is dynamic in the passing game; however, splitting nearly 50% of carries every week is less than ideal as Irving is not only the team leader in rushing yards but out-gains White by over a yard per carry, which is a lot considering how close the Buccaneers games have been as of late.

Defense is poorly indescribable

Injuries be damned. Players get hurt weekly, and there is no excuse for how poor this Buccaneers defense is, especially with the number of self-inflicted wounds we see weekly. That falls back on coaching. Bowles continued odd-man substitutions rarely allow for his best players to be on the field at the same time, namely on the defensive line. In last week’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Yaya Diaby, Vita Vea, and Calijah Kancey all saw more than 55% of defensive snaps, which was the highest for all three players all season. Antoine Winfield Jr. has to put 120% effort into every play, not to account for a lack of talent but for a lack of effort from his teammates, which is a recipe for disaster as the season progresses.

The lack of depth at WR should’ve been addressed

The NFL trade deadline came and went, and all the while, the Buccaneers were missing superstar WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. This left Mayfield solely to rely on a young and unproven wide receiver corps, as Jason Licht and the Bucs front office chose to stand pat and not make a move. TE Cade Otton has emerged as Mayfield’s favorite–and most reliable– target over the last several weeks; outside of Otton and the Bucs running backs being utilized in the passing game, it’s become a total crapshoot if and when someone else will step up. Luckily for the Buccaneers, Mayfield continues to toe the line as an outlier in the MVP conversation. Evans will likely return following the bye, which should help open up the offense more.

Bucs playoff hopes dwindling

Per The Athletic, the Buccaneers entered Week 10 with only a 21% chance of making the playoffs, and with another NFC loss to a team in the Wild Card picture, that only makes things harder. Five of the remaining seven games are against fellow NFC teams, making each a must-win bout. As the Bucs enter the bye week, they will look to address some of the problems in hopes of shoring up the defense. In Week 12, the Buccaneers will play against the New York Giants, who have been a mess all season, with the caveat that Bowles has never won a game following a Bye Week.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles discusses potential for giving up defensive play calling

Defense has been costing the Bucs several games this season, while the offense has put up impressive numbers in just about every category.

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent weeks due to his defense’s performance. The defense has been costing the Bucs several games this season, while the offense has put up impressive numbers in just about every category.

On Monday, during his media availability, Todd Bowles was asked about the potential for his play-calling duties to be handed over.

“What’s not happening is we have about four or five plays a game where we either miss a tackle or we’re not dropping where we’re supposed to and we give up a big play. I’ll continue to call plays.”

The defense showed against the Saints that it can make play after play when it is healthy. Against the Ravens and Falcons, the Bucs have looked lost and, at times, disorganized. The play calling has been a factor; look at what Minnesota and Brian Flores have done with a depleted Vikings secondary.

Something has to give for the Bucs. If they can’t turn things around against the Chiefs in Week 9, then the rumblings will only get louder.

Is Vita Vea playing against the Ravens? Injury updates for Bucs DL

Vita Vea missed some time earlier in the season, and since he returned to the lineup, the entire defense has had a facelift.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been dealing with some injuries, most notably with Mike Evans. However, there is also a major injury on the defensive side that is worth monitoring: Vita Vea.

Vita Vea missed some time earlier in the season, and since he returned to the lineup, the entire defense has had a facelift. The run defense he offers as well as his ability to get pressure on the quarterback.

We got an update on his status for the game against the Ravens in primetime early on Monday.

Vita Vea injury update

Vita Vea popped up on the injury report late at the end of last week with a hamstring injury. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Vea will be available and start for the Bucs on Monday night despite the issue.

Vea has a sack in three straight games for the Bucs since returning to the lineup. He will have a tall task to do som against reigning MVP Lamar Jackson. His presence alone will help the defense, but it is yet to be seen how impactful he will be with his injury or if he will be on a snap count.

Bucs defensive lineman depth chart

  • Vita Vea
  • Calijah Kancey
  • Logan Hall
  • Greg Gaines
  • C.J. Brewer
  • William Gholston

Saints, Bucs each rule out 5 players on final Week 6 injury report

The Saints and Buccaneers each ruled out five players on the final Week 6 injury report, with many more questionable or doubtful to play:

The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers each ruled out five players on the final Week 6 injury report, with many more questionable or doubtful to play. Those out for New Orleans include starting quarterback Derek Carr (oblique) and right guard Cesar Ruiz (knee), as well as tight end Taysom Hill (rib), linebacker Pete Werner (hamstring), and safety Will Harris.

Tampa Bay’s list is just as long. The Bucs will likely be without running back Rachaad White (foot), who is doubtful, with five others preemptively ruled out. That group includes center Graham Barton (hamstring), cornerback Christian Izien (elbow/groin), wide receivers Trey Palmer (concussion) and Kameron Johnson (ankle) as well as defensive lineman Earneset Brown IV (ribs).

And that doesn’t even get into the players designated as questionable for  both sides. Here’s the full Week 6 injury report with the final word on guys like Alvin Kamara, Rashid Shaheed, Mike Evans, and Calijah Kancey:

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Bucs place LB SirVocea Dennis on IR with shoulder injury

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to deal with injuries as they now are placing linebacker SirVocea Dennis on injured reserve.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to deal with injuries as they now are placing linebacker SirVocea Dennis on injured reserve. Dennis suffered a shoulder injury against the Eagles and the team has determined that he will need some time to fully recover.

During Friday morning’s media session, Bowles told the media “We’re not counting on him anytime soon.” He would go on to explain that his shoulder was ‘kind of messed up this summer. . .kinda knew he was touch and go.”

Dennis joins several other starters who will be set to or have missed time, such as Calijah Kancey and Antoine Winfield Jr. The defense showed that it was hurting on Thursday night against the Falcons when it surrendered a whopping 550 yards, 509 of which came from Kirk Cousins and his passing.

The team will now have to rely upon K.J. Britt to step up in his absence. His roster spot was given to Antonio Grier, who the team signed off the practice squad.

Todd Bowles rules out several players for Week 5 matchup against Falcons

The Bucs head to Atlanta to play against the Falcons, head coach Todd Bowles has officially ruled out five starters on the short week.

Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers injury report has been in midseason form in the early stages of the 2024 season. As the Bucs head to Atlanta for a Thursday night matchup against the Falcons, head coach Todd Bowles has officially ruled out five starters on the short week, as reported by Greg Auman.

  • DL Calijah Kancey
  • S Antoine Winfield
  • T Luke Goedeke
  • WR Jalen McMillan
  • WR Trey Palmer

Calijah Kancey will miss his fifth straight game with a calf injury. Bowles did note to reporters that Kancey might have been able to see his first action this season had the game been on Sunday, as the DT had no setbacks this week at practice.

Justin Skule, who has allowed seven pressures, will get the start against an Atlanta Falcons defense that has struggled in generating pressures on opposing QBs as the 28th ranked pass rushing defense per PFF, with Luke Goedeke unable to clear concussion protocol, being forced to miss his fourth-straight game.

The Bucs signed WR Sterling Shepard to their active roster again this week as both Jalen McMillan and Trey Palmer will be out on Thursday. Shepard is coming off a 50 offensive snap outing against the Philadelphia Eagles, the most since 2022.

Eagles limp into bye week after a 33-16 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 4

The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a disastrous 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

With A.J. Brown (hamstring), DeVonta Smith (concussion), and Lane Johnson (concussion) out with injuries, the Eagles didn’t have enough depth in key positions. They suffered a disastrous 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Jalen Hurts was sacked six times on the afternoon, and the star quarterback committed another turnover (fumble), as Philadelphia could not sustain any offensive consistency without the big three in the lineup.

Saquon Barkley had ten carries for 84 yards (8.4 avg). Still, with the Eagles playing from behind all afternoon, the running back was unable to get the Philadelphia offense over the hump against a motivated Tampa defense.

An Eagles defense that shut New Orleans down in Week 3 was gashed to 445 total yards for the Buccaneers offense, including 111 rushing yards and a twelve-minute advantage in time of possession.

Baker Mayfield was on fire early, and even after an inefficient second half, he still was 30-40 passing for 347 yards, two touchdowns, and a 100.2 rating.

Philadelphia (2-2) will now have a week off, during which questions about Sirianni’s job security and the Eagles’ playoff hopes will dominate the airwaves.

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