Bucs Film Room: Neal, Edwards Contribute To Run-Stopping Woes

Early on in Thursday night’s 27-22 loss to the Ravens, the Bucs contained Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson awfully well. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman looked to expose an undermanned secondary throughout the first half, and both the back half of Tampa Bay’s defense and its pass rush held up and frustrated the visitors. Through 30 minutes, the Ravens had just three points.

Then, in the second half, the wheels fell off. But why? Perhaps the Bucs’ offense inability to sustain drives combined with Baltimore’s rushing attack wore everyone down. Head coach Todd Bowles wasn’t interested in using that as an excuse after the game, though.

“It doesn’t matter,” Bowles said. “You try to win ball games. Defense, offense, whoever has to be out there to try to get off the field or win the ball game has to be out there. We train for this. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing, so that’s not an excuse for us.”

So, what was the problem in the second half? Linebacker Devin White had one of his worst games in the NFL, which certainly didn’t help. The other glaring problem came more as a result of who wasn’t on the field. Tampa Bay’s secondary was banged-up, missing nickel cornerback/safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (concussion), Carlton Davis (hip) and Logan Ryan (foot). And for much of the second half, the defense was without Shaquil Barrett (Achilles) as well. Prior to exiting with what has been confirmed to be a season-ending injury, he had a sack and two tackles for loss.

Taking a quick look at Pro Football Focus’ run defense grades for each of those players shows pretty clearly what the Bucs were missing as the Ravens ran for 231 yards on 33 rush attempts (7.0 avg.). Winfield’s run defense grade of 90.1 leads Tampa Bay’s defense for the year. Ryan’s 89.1 grade has him No. 2 on the team. Davis’ 66.2 grade is still in the above-average range. For the season, Barrett had a 77.5 run defense grade. So, it’s safe to say the Bucs were without quite a few of their top run defenders.

It all gets even worse when you look at the grades from Thursday night’s game. Keanu Neal graded out the worst against the run, finishing with a 33.1. White’s 34.2 grade was matched by Mike Edwards, who also had a 34.2. Rookie Zyon McCollum graded out with a 37.9, while Carl Nassib finished with a 38.5. Dee Delaney was the best of the backups against the run, yet he only graded out with a 45.5.

If you think PFF’s grades for these guys were bad, the tape really tells the full story. They don’t deserve alllll the blame, but it was an especially rough game for Bucs safeties Keanu Neal and Mike Edwards.

Bucs Had Just About Every Problem You Can Have While Playing The Run

The tape from Thursday night’s game has it all. Guys out of position, guys eaten up and unable to wiggle free from blocks and certainly some missed tackles.

Missed Opportunities For Tampa Bay As Neal Deals With A Case Of The Whiffs

PFF credited Keanu Neal with three missed tackles and a missed tackle rate of 30%. Here’s a bad one that led to a 12-yard run by Gus Edwards. Neal comes flying in from the top of the screen.

As Jackson hands off to Edwards, it’s actually Nassib who gets to the ball carrier first. He whiffs, then Neal comes flying in and can’t bring Edwards down either. The Baltimore running back shakes free and gets a first down. The drive ultimately ended in a punt anyway, but instead of the Tampa Bay defense being able to take advantage of the Ravens being pinned deep by Jake Camarda’s punt, it was the Ravens who were able to flip the field.

Let’s stay on Neal (left side of the screen) for this next clip. It’s another simple example where the safety steps up and puts himself in a good position to make a play on Edwards, but he just can’t bring him down.

Neal really does a great job of reading the play and moves well to get to Edwards. What happens, though? He may over pursue just a tad, which keeps him from really squaring up for the tackle. But he’s in a good enough spot to make the play. Those are the ones you have to finish. And the worst part is, Neal’s strength at this stage in his career is supposed to be stopping the run! This was a rough one for the veteran.

Bucs’ Edwards Was The Worst Edwards On The Field On Thursday Night

No gimmick infringement intended here (sorry anyway, Mr. Goldberg), but who’s next? Let’s take a look at Mike Edwards, who had a woeful game against the run. Baltimore’s Gus Edwards had the much better of the night between the two Edwardses, as Tampa Bay’s safety found himself being indecisive and out of position too often.

On the whole, the Bucs didn’t do a terrible job of containing Jackson as a runner. But he did break free for a 25-yard run early in the second half as Baltimore drove down and tied the game at 10. And while Edwards was far from the only one who contributed to this play, he badly overruns Jackson and allows the run to go for 10-12 more yards than it probably should have.

Obviously, Edwards isn’t the one responsible for allowing this run to get to the second level. Look at the top of the screen. He’s playing deep and off the snap, he nearly drifts off-screen. But Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, despite having Jackson in the backfield, can’t make the play. He ends up on the ground. Jackson then runs by a diving Vita Vea, who also ends up on the ground. It’s then that Edwards is the next guy up to make the play after his initial drop. But he over pursues, making it easy for the Baltimore quarterback to side-step him and keep running.

Watch from the other view, which sees Edwards run up from the bottom of the screen trying to make the play:

Edwards, like Neal on the previously covered plays, actually does pretty well to get himself in a position to make the tackle. But he overruns the play just enough to cost himself the stop.

It got worse for him, though. The Ravens ran some well-designed end-arounds that caught the Bucs out to dry a couple of times. One of those times saw Edwards hesitate for a split-second, which leaves him in a position to be run into the ground by Devin White, who is being blocked into him. Watch him here, where he starts at the left side of the screen before following the motion over.

Let’s get the other view of this play. Watch as Edwards (bottom of the screen, No. 32) reads the play well off the motion. He sees what’s coming and runs with Devin Duvernay, who becomes the ball carrier. But what happens next is what costs the Bucs a chance at a potential stop.

Edwards stops and anticipates a cut-back inside. The problem, though, is two-fold. One, he has Lavonte David there to make the play if Duvernay does cut back. So, keep going outside to contain there and let David make the play if it comes to him, right? Only Edwards hesitates and tries to stay in play for the cut-back, which leads to problem No. 2. That hesitation occurs behind White, who can’t get off his block. The linebacker is driven into Edwards, making for an ugly rep for the safety despite his recognition of the play.

The Problems Come Together For The Bucs

Now, when you give up as many big runs as the Bucs did on Thursday night, it’s never going to just be one or two guys. Neal and Edwards certainly weren’t at fault for everything, as White played his role as well. Tryon-Shoyinka and Nassib also missed opportunities. But when these big runs happen and guys get to the second level, it’s on players like Neal and Edwards to step up and make plays. They consistently failed to do that against the Ravens.

On this play, Edwards (right side of the screen, top of the formation) takes a bad angle to the ball and once again gets caught up in White’s block. Neal, playing off the line of scrimmage in the slot, struggles to get off his block down the field, but eventually does to make the tackle with McCollum (bottom of the screen), who didn’t get off his block until after the play was past him. It’s just bad all-around.

Duvernay’s fourth-quarter touchdown run was another example of everything just falling apart for this defense. Now, at this point, the unit had been on the field for most of the night. But this is still bad.

Pat O’Connor quickly penetrates the backfield, but Duvernay is already outside of him. White is blocked, with Jamel Dean getting caught up in that block as well. Edwards heads outside, but because Dean gets caught up, there’s no one in the inside lane that Duvernay takes. Edwards can’t get back over and Neal never really gets there either. It’s an easy touchdown run that helped Baltimore put the game away.

All right, one last breakdown and we’ll leave this alone. Where the Ravens really kill the game is on their final possession. After the Bucs cut the deficit to 24-16, the defense comes back out and immediately gives up a 40-yard run to Kenyan Drake.

O’Connor is taken out of the play. McCollum is taken out of the play. White is blocked downfield. Edwards gets caught inside, so Drake bounces to the outside and from there, Edwards is the only one who can get to him. He does well to get there, but it’s 40 yards down the field. Not long after, Justin Tucker kicked a field goal to make it a two-possession game with just over two minutes to go.

Now, To Wrap Up… (Something The Bucs Couldn’t Do)

There were so many issues with the way the Bucs played the run on Thursday night. It’s a shame, too, because that undermanned secondary held its own in the first half and put the team in a solid position heading into halftime. But Tampa Bay’s offense couldn’t sustain anything and once Baltimore went to the ground, it was over.

Edwards, long known as a ball-hawking safety, had actually been a solid run defender early on in the season. But this was an awful night for him. Neal, forced into more action due to the injuries to Winfield and Ryan, wasn’t any better. The Bucs’ linebackers weren’t any help, and when there are that many issues, two backup corners in McCollum and Delaney aren’t going to miraculously save the day.

This type of performance has to make Todd Bowles sick. His defense is predicated on stopping the run, and that group has been uncharacteristically awful against it for most of this season. Now, you have to wonder if some of the changes that have been made are coming back to bite Tampa Bay. Two key figures from a Bucs run defense that was previously near the top of the league are gone, as the team said goodbye to Ndamukong Suh and Jordan Whitehead in the offseason. Bowles is also operating with more under fronts and less two-gapping, so there might be something to the idea that schematic changes have impacted the unit’s dip.

Whatever it is, there may not be a quick fix here. But getting guys like Winfield and Ryan back can only help going forward, especially if Neal and Edwards are turning in performances like this.

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