TAMPA — This is an interesting time for the Bucs. TB doesn’t just stand for Tampa Bay.
Tom Brady has touched the laces of every aspect of the organization, which given his success as a seven-time Super Bowl champion, was probably warranted and inevitable.
The Bucs have signed the free agents Brady wanted, welcomed his personal trainer/business partner Alex Guerrero to the organization, executed a succession plan with a head coach that matched him philosophically, gave him 11 days off during training camp for personal reasons and let him skip a Saturday walk-through to attend the wedding of Patriots owner Robert Kraft the previous night.
While Brady’s team has lost three of their last four games, he has played well enough to be fourth in completions (166), sixth in passing yards (1,652) and eighth in passer rating (95.1).
The Bucs need Brady to set the tone for players and they need him to play great to win, even at age 45. But there seems to be a growing perception that Brady is no longer being checked — by ownership, the front office and the coaching staff.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles, who runs the defense and admittedly doesn’t spend a lot of time in the offensive meeting room, has no trouble pushing back on that notion.
“Everybody in that building gets coached, Tom included,” Bowles said emphatically following practice Friday. “I know the game plan. I get it. I understand everything that’s going on. I know who likes what. I know who calls what. I know who changes what. I know everything that everybody does.
“The better the player, the harder I’m going to be on them. The more expectations are going to come with it. We don’t give wooden nickels out there. We do not.”
Who is living off the Super Bowl?
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JELLFLQO6US5LLAPEH4Z7GDY3E.jpg "Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett (8) scrambles out of the grasp of Bucs linebacker Shaquil Barrett (58) during the first half last Sunday.")
It was an odd comment, prompted by a general question that included no mention of previous seasons.
“I think guys that are living off the Super Bowl are living in a fantasy land,” Bowles said following last Sunday’s loss to the Steelers. “You’ve got to get your hands dirty and go to work like everybody else. We’ve been working hard and we’ve got to work harder. Nobody’s going to give us anything.”
Bowles backtracked slightly to say he didn’t know of any player who was living in the past. But clearly we can come up with suspects. Start with some of the highest-paid players on defense:
Shaquil Barrett: The outside linebacker signed a four-year, $68 million contract with the Bucs in 2021 with an $18.75 million signing bonus and $34.25 million guaranteed. This season he has fewer sacks (two) than Antoine Winfield Jr. (three) and both came in the same game.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3L7UCRV5DVFPLB7QJRRD72YHOM.JPG "Stay updated on the Buccaneers")
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Explore all your optionsVita Vea: Ndamukong Suh is out of the NFL and Akiem Hicks is injured, leaving Vea double-teamed and exposed at defensive tackle. He has registered one sack (2.5 on the season) and 10 tackles in the last four games. The Bucs should expect more after signing Vea to a four-year, $71 million contract in March.
Carlton Davis: In training camp, Davis wasn’t bashful about saying “I want to dominate the league” shortly after signing a three-year, $44.5 million contract in March. He has zero interceptions, four passes defensed and one forced fumble. While Davis can lock up some No. 1 receivers, an interception now and then would help justify his salary.
Devin White: The linebacker was sensational during the Super Bowl run and got off to a hot start this season with three sacks and a forced fumble in the first two games. But White has cooled off, and worse yet, he extended a drive at Pittsburgh by drawing a roughing-the-passer penalty on third down, then failed to cover running back Najee Harris on the touchdown pass from Kenny Pickett to start the game.
Run it more?
The Bucs are last in the NFL in rushing offense (67.5 yards per game). Their 3.1 yards per rush also are historically bad. You have to go back to 1977 to find a Bucs team that was worse in yards per attempt.
Yet the Bucs are also 27th in rushing plays this season. While it’s true that it’s hard for offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to beat his head on the wall when the run game isn’t working, he’s not helping rookie left guard Luke Goedeke by calling so many pass plays.
The strength of this Bucs team is its defense. Until they iron out some problems, the best way to win may be to run the football, play defense, create turnovers and protect the rebuilt offensive line and 45-year-old quarterback.
That blueprint was used in the Bucs’ 19-3 win over Dallas. They only scored one touchdown, but the margin of victory was solid.
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