The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Safety Pressures versus the Lions.

In Week 2, Tampa laid out how to attack the Lions' run game in a 20-16 early-season victory.

Head Coach Todd Bowles is still regarded as one of the best defensive minds in football. The veteran coach runs a zone and blitz-centric defense that uses pressure to force issues in the passing game. In ‘24, the defense played erratic, even with a relatively stable roster. The defense had inconsistent play from its Edges, linebackers, and the Safety opposite Antoine Winfield Jr. Tampa finished ninth in EPA/play versus the run last season, but 20th against dropback passes (no play-action).

Player card via Field Vision’s FV Pro. Click to enlarge.

During NFL Free Agency, the defense only saw two major contributors leave for other teams. Former first-round draft pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka’s fifth-year option was not exercised in ‘23 (above), and the Bucs officially moved on from him when he signed with the Browns. Linebacker KJ Britt also left, signing with the Dolphins. Heading into ‘25, Bowles will have an almost identical roster to ‘24, with the only major signing being former Jets DE Haason Reddick.

The NFL has three outliers regarding pressure: Brian Flores (Vikings), Todd Bowles, and Vance Joseph (Broncos). In 2024, only two teams blitzed on more than 40% of their downs: the Vikings and the Buccaneers. On early downs (1st/2nd), only three teams had a blitz rate higher than 40%: the Vikings, the Buccaneers, and the Broncos. The next closest team, the Panthers, only blitzed on 32% of their early downs.

The wide margin puts Bowles ahead of the curve regarding pressure. Bowles has always been known for his zone-pressure designs, and he established their use on early downs, which is abnormal in the NFL. Challenging offenses early is not popular; first and second downs are reserved for ‘base’ defense. Bowles, unlike Flores and Joseph, sends pressure on nearly every down.

That much pressure on offenses stresses the defense's back end. For the most part, the corners held up. According to Field Vision's Havoc Ratings, Cornerback Zyon McCullom was a top-25 CB in production this past season. His primary partner, Jamel Dean, finished 32nd. Both played exceptionally well in zone, with Dean finishing as the #2 CB zone in Havoc, though he did struggle in man coverage.

At Safety, Antoine Winfield Jr. is one of the best at his position and finished twelfth in Safety Havoc Ratings. Nickel Tykee Smith is a rising star at the slot defender position. Winfield’s primary partner, Jordan Whitehead (current free agent), did struggle at times and had a down year. After a car accident, he finished the year on the IR, and the Bucs did not exercise his team option.

The linebacker corps, in particular, was a significant issue all season. Veteran LaVonte David, 35, is heading into his 13th season leading the Tampa defense. Last year, his production took a step back, highlighted by his ability in coverage falling off a cliff. David finished 114th in Field Vision’s Coverage Ratings for linebackers. Britt, who played on 54% of the Bucs’ snaps, finished 99th.

Week 5 vs. Buccaneers

Coverage ability in the middle part of the defense, primarily in the seams, was the main culprit for the lack of success against the pass. A game that defined this issue was the Week 5 overtime loss to divisional rival Atlanta. In that game, Kirk Cousins threw for over 500 yards, four touchdowns, and only one interception. Above, his heat map illustrates that most of his throws went to the lower-middle zones or where the linebackers should have been in coverage.

Following the Week 5 loss to the Falcons, the defense cratered. By Week 10, it had gone from 16th in EPA/play to 29th. Only the Tennessee Titans had a more significant drop in that ‘quarter’ of the season. Todd Bowles' offense was firing on all cylinders, while his defense was sputtering. Liam Coen parlayed that offensive success into the head coaching position in Jacksonville. Bowles has now produced two offensive head coaches in the past two seasons.

Bowles didn’t panic or change anything defensively. As stated, the roster stayed relatively stable from Week 1 to the season's conclusion, so it wasn’t a shift in player usage. Looking at the data, the only significant change was Bowles’ shift from utilizing Quarters pressures at ~38% when running the coverage to 28% by the end of the season. Tampa Bay started using more man and Fire Zone coverage behind their pressures.

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