Following a huge win over the Lions last week, emotions were high, and suddenly, the Buccaneers had a lot of attention aimed at them.
Following a huge win over the Detroit Lions last week, emotions were high, and suddenly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a lot of attention aimed at them.
Welcoming in an 0-2 Denver Broncos team led by Bo Nix, who had yet to score a touchdown – neither passing nor rushing – in his rookie season, this had either trap game written all over it, or the Bucs would assert their dominance.
Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, it would be the former. As the Buccaneers fall to 2-1 on the season, here are five key takeaways from their 26-7 loss to the Broncos.
1. Offensive line still struggling to protect Baker Mayfield
We saw the Bucs offensive line have a difficult time protecting QB Baker Mayfield last week and it was essentially chalked up as Justin Skule drawing the extremely difficult task of blocking Aidan Hutchinson. Today was more of the same, except the difference is that the Broncos’ secondary is a bit more stingy than the Lions. With tighter coverage and an often collapsing pocket, Mayfield could not find his footing and evade pressure. Skule struggled again. However, the mistakes were all over the offensive line. Assuming there are no setbacks, Luke Goedeke should be back next week- but it’s difficult to think that he alone is the missing link to the offensive line’s protection issues.
2. Lack of depth on defensive line was on full display
For most of the game, Nix remained comfortable in the pocket. With both Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey inactive, William Gholston and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka banged up all week. It left only a healthy Yaya Diaby as the only healthy starter on the defensive line.
3. Bucky Irving needs to be utilized more
In three games this season, Bucky Irving has been primarily used as the change-of-pace back for the Bucs, with Rachaad White getting the early-down carriers. White displayed a great ability to catch the ball out of the backfield last season, but Irving also possesses that same ability while being a bit shiftier- as he displayed against the Broncos. Suppose the Bucs continue to struggle to keep Mayfield’s pocket clean. In that case, it might be time for Liam Coen to dial up some two-back sets or add some wrinkles to the playbook and get Irving involved and on the field more, and his explosive play needs to be capitalized upon while it’s still early in the season.
4. Absolutely no energy on either side of the ball
The lack of energy was apparent from the first drive. Beat a good opponent and then falling flat the following week has been the cycle over the last three seasons since Todd Bowles has been the head coach. The secondary was playing prevent defense from the first quarter, and with the defensive line unable to get after Nix, the Broncos wide receivers had plenty of real estate to allow for easy, uncontested catches on a much more frequent basis than any defensive coordinator would like to see; alas that was what we saw from the Bucs secondary today.
5. Offensive play-calling looked predictable
Perhaps a testament to the Broncos’ defense, the Bucs’ offense looked stagnant and predictable for about 75% of the game until late in the fourth quarter. Irving was clearly the hot hand in the Bucs backfield and only surpassed Rachaad White in carries until five minutes remained. Many fans were having PTSD of the Byron Leftwich “run it on first down, no matter what” play calls on social media, the Broncos defense looked a step ahead the entire day. Even though the Bucs won in Detroit in Week 2, the offense was still significantly out-gained by the Lions, by over 200 yards. As stated above, seeing Coen open up the playbook a little more would be a welcome addition.
