![]() ![]() Rather than use his hands and try pass-rush moves, Bowers appears to just slam his body into offensive linemen, hoping to dislodge them. The defensive end doesn't look as explosive as he did last year, which should be no surprise given that he's only just returned from injury, but he also looks just as raw as he did last year. The return of Da'Quan Bowers from an Achilles injury two weeks ago has given the Bucs some hope that they've found at least part of an answer to their struggles, but Bowers has been disappointing. None of those moves have really been effective. They've tried various different personnel packages: Michael Bennett, Da'Quan Bowers and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim have all lined up at defensive tackle, while linebacker Dekoda Watson has been given ample opportunity at defensive end (and shown absolutely nothing in return). They've tried blitzing relentlessly - a tactic that hasn't really worked, in part because the secondary can't hold up. They've tried many different defensive line stunts, which appear ineffective in large part because the players are absolutely terrible at executing them. In fact, the Bucs have tried basically every single trick they could think of. Teams can do this because Tampa Bay has not found a way to exploit one-on-one matchups elsewhere on the line. The Bucs' real pass-rushing threats are defensive end Michael Bennett and Gerald McCoy, but teams are routinely double-teaming McCoy while chipping and otherwise scheming around Bennett as well. Clayborn wasn't lighting the world on fire this year, but he was much better than replacement Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, who has been somewhat regularly single-blocked by tight ends. Despite a promising start to the season, the Bucs' pass rush has disappeared ever since losing defensive end Adrian Clayborn in week 3. ![]() With just 13 sacks, they rank 25th in Football Outsiders' Adjusted Sack Rate. Unfortunately, the Bucs have rather struggled to get to the passer. More importantly, perhaps, Rivers is slow as molasses and no good outside the pocket, which means he has precious few options when the pocket collapses. Rivers has an excellent feel for the pocket and knows when to get rid of the ball, but because his release is among the slowest in the league he can still be caught when quicker QBs could have gotten rid of the ball. Rivers issues under pressure are caused by a couple of things, most notably his relatively slow release and a lack of foot speed. That's where Tampa Bay will want to strike, especially so given the fact that left tackle Jared Gaither may very well be out for Sunday's contest. According to Pro Football Focus, Rivers has been under pressure on 34.6% of drop-backs, the ninth-highest total in the NFL. He 'boasts' an obscene sack rate of 7.1% this year, with 20 sacks. This tendency comes out most strongly under pressure - and Rivers has been under pressure quite a bit this season. Not unlike Josh Freeman, Rivers has struggled to be consistently accurate, at times simply missing throws he used to make easily. Still, Rivers' play has been far from inspiring this season: his ten interceptions and six fumbles have hurt the team's chances of winning, while his statistics conceal one large issue with the veteran quarterback: inconsistency. When a quarterback is still completing 66.5% of his passes for 7.1 yards per attempt with more touchdowns than interceptions, it's hard to speak of 'struggling'. Rivers used to be an elite quarterback, but he's struggled this season - for his standards, at least. Their sole saving grace has been turnovers, as they've managed to produce seven in those four games against quality competition.Īnd now, veteran Philip Rivers comes to town. The Bucs have allowed a ridiculous 7.5 net yards per pass attempt this season, 30th in the league - and that's including dominant games against luminaries Brady Quinn and Christian Ponder. ![]() Over four games against what I would consider good quarterbacks ( Eli Manning, Tony Romo, Robert Griffin III and Drew Brees), the Bucs have allowed 366 yards per game. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass defense has been awful this season when facing quality quarterbacks. The San Diego Chargers have arrived in town, and they'll look to feast on a weak Tampa Bay secondary. ![]()
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