Bucs at Saints All-22 Notes: Defense

In Week 6, the Saints scored 27 points against the Bucs, but seven of the points came on special teams from punt returns, and most of the other points came from short-field setups due to turnovers by the Bucs offense. There’s a lot to like about certain Tampa Bay defenders, and once the defense adjusted properly to some specific things the Saints offense was trying to do with quarterback Spencer Rattler, they took control of the game. , was able to maintain.

Bucs All-22 Notes at Saints: Defense

• The opening plays of the game continued the trend of opposing offenses taking advantage of the Bucs defense in the middle of the field. This time tight end Juwan Johnson got over the top of inside linebackers Lavonte David and KJ Britt.
• 

  Bucks DB Tykie Smith and CB Tyreke Funderburk – Photo courtesy of USA Today

  Rookie nickelback Tykie Smith was on another level in this game. Two forced fumbles (one was called off because a player went down before the punch) and one interception could be the best ever. He has instincts, zone awareness, incredible prowess, and great physical ability as both a tackler and run support.

  • A nickel blitz on the second drive tripped Alvin Kamara in the backfield.
  • His ability to understand how the offense is trying to operate him on the hook/flat is truly special.
• Britt will continue to be a victim of coverage while playing in all areas of defense. With Christian Isien out and New Orleans having a sizeable 12 personnel, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles isn’t making a dime and apparently J.J. Russell is better than Britt. It seems like he didn’t trust him.

*X The post does not mention that the data was taken from rbsdm.com (linked above).

• An unusually human game from Bucs top cornerback Zion McCollum. He lost some routes and failed to make physical plays at the catch point, where he had good coverage on out routes leading to catches. He wasn’t bad in this game, but he wasn’t as elite as he has been this season. We still had some high-end reps.