2-Point Conversion: It’s Time The Bucs Make Bucky Irving RB1

It’s time for PewterReport.com’s 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game. Tampa Bay got shellacked at home by a lesser team in the previously winless Denver Broncos, 26-7. The game was over early as Sean Payton and Co. jumped out to an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown and an interception and was sacked seven times, while rookie Bo Nix wasn’t sacked and didn’t commit a turnover in the upset.

2 BIG STATEMENTS

STATEMENT 1. Hey, At Least We Know Bucky Irving Is RB1

I don’t want to write this column any more than you want to read it.

The Bucs got their asses absolutely kicked by the Broncos offensively and defensively in Sunday’s humiliating, 26-7 loss at Raymond James Stadium.

So let’s get the bad news out of the way before I talk about the lone bright spot – running back Bucky Irving – in this embarrassing defeat to a previously winless Denver team.

This was atrocious. This was an inexcusable loss. The Bucs got outcoached and outplayed – head coach Todd Bowles’ words, and I agree with him – by a lesser team. Tampa Bay got bullied and pushed around by a Denver team that wanted the win more.

The Bucs looked like the less prepared team, the less physical team and a mentally weak team on Sunday that had no answers for what the Broncos were doing on offense and defense. For Bucs fans, it was like three hours of torture on a hot September afternoon.

It was comparable to being super excited about seeing a movie and realizing it stinks at the beginning. And you keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the movie to get better – but it never does and you realize you wasted your time and money on an absolute flop.

More on the misery in a minute, but first let’s talk about Tampa Bay’s electric rookie running back before you stop reading this 2-Point Conversion because you’re depressed.

Can’t we just say the obvious part out loud? Irving is a better, more instinctive, and more effective runner than Rashaad White.

I took some heat for this from some Bucs fans after Week 1 who said I was stirring the pot when I suggested that a possible running back controversy might be brewing in Tampa Bay in a Pewter Pulse video. But I was on to something, wasn’t I?

Granted, three games are a relatively small sample size, but the numbers speak for themselves. Actually, the numbers are screaming.

Despite not being the starter, Irving has been the leading rusher among Bucs running backs in each week of the season.

RB Bucky Irving
Week 1: 9 carries, 62 yards (6.2 avg.)
Week 2: 7 carries, 22 yards (3.1 avg.)
Week 3: 9 carries, 70 yards (7.8 avg.)
TOTAL: 25 carries, 154 yards (6.2 avg.)

RB Rachaad White
Week 1: 15 carries, 31 yards (2.1 avg.)
Week 2: 10 carries, 18 yards (1.8 avg.)
Week 3: 6 carries, 17 yards (2.8 avg.)
TOTAL: 31 carries, 66 yards (2.1 avg.)

Ignoring this discrepancy would be foolish for both offensive coordinator Liam Coen and head coach Todd Bowles at this point. After erupting for 37 points and 392 yards in the 37-20 season-opening win against Washington, Coen’s offense has regressed to 20 points and 216 yards in last week’s win at Detroit, and to just seven points and 223 yards in the loss to Denver.

For a team that needs to get off to faster starts offensively to build some momentum and hit some big plays early, why not start Irving, who ripped off a 31-yard run in Week 1 and a 32-yard run on Sunday?

White’s longest run of the season was 15 yards and came against the Commanders. Take away that long run from his total and White is averaging a pathetic 1.7 yards per carry.

You can take away both of Irving’s 30-yard jaunts and he’s still rushing for 91 yards on 23 carries – nearly a 4.0 average. Who’s the more effective runner?

White loyalists will say that he hasn’t had great blocking and gets hit in the backfield or at the line of scrimmage too much. That’s all the more reason to give more carries to the smaller, more elusive Irving, who can squirt through the tiniest of holes at 5-foot-9, 192 pounds in a way that the 6-foot-1, 212-pound White simply can’t.

At halftime, Irving had four carries for 49 yards and was averaging 12.3 yards per carry, including a 32-yard dash that injected some much-needed life into Tampa Bay’s offense – albeit briefly – and helped lead to the team’s only touchdown. And yet Coen didn’t give him a touch on the first series of the second half, trailing 20-7.

So much for “going with the hot hand.”

Part of being a good play-caller is play-sequencing and calling the right plays at the right time. The other part of it is the most effective use of personnel.

“He plays – they kind of split time anyways, so the opportunities he gets, he makes the best of,” Bowles said of Irving after the game. “He’s a heck of a football player. We just have to get him more opportunities.”

Irving is averaging three times as many yards per carry as White is through three games. Coen needs to recognize that and act accordingly.

Yes, Coen is a rookie play-caller at the NFL level and he’s still learning, so he gets somewhat of a pass this early. But at this point, if Irving isn’t the lead back heading into the Eagles game it’s going to become coaching malpractice.

Now back to ripping the Bucs for their inexplicable loss to the Broncos.

STATEMENT 2. Disappointing Bucs Lacked Intensity And Execution

Talent alone doesn’t win football games. Execution can trump talent and intensity matters.

The Bucs may have been the more talented team on paper on Sunday, but the game is played on grass – not paper. And the Broncos owned the grass at Raymond James Stadium. They had more intensity, more urgency and more physicality, and they executed far better than the Bucs did.

“We did not execute, [and] they executed,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “Sean [Payton] gets all the credit in the world. He outcoached me, and the team outplayed our team.”

Tampa Bay cornerback Zyon McCollum summed up Sunday’s stunning loss to the previously winless Broncos.

“They were pissed off for a week, and we were happy for a week,” McCollum said. “That was the major difference coming into it. They had an intensity that they were going to punch us in the mouth, and we were thinking that they were just going to roll the ball over.”

I applaud the truth and transparency from McCollum, who might have been the best player on a Bucs defense that allowed rookie quarterback Bo Nix to outduel Baker Mayfield and complete 25-of-36 passes (69.4%) for 216 yards with no turnovers and 47 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.

Legendary boxer Mike Tyson is famous for saying: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. Then, like a rat, they stop in fear and freeze.”

That’s exactly what happened to the Bucs on Sunday. They got punched in the face by a desperate 0-2 football team that wanted it more.

Nix started the game red hot, completing his first four passes for 70 yards with a 22-yard strike to Courtland Sutton, who abused Jamel Dean all game and finished with seven catches for 68 yards, and a 31-yard pass to Josh Reynolds against McCollum. The Bucs had no answer offensively or defensively.

“All the credit in the world to Denver for coming in here – I think we will watch this tape, and you can probably tell on the tape how much they wanted it more than us,” Mayfield said. “For offense, we didn’t start fast in the first quarter, didn’t start fast in the third quarter – that’s the story of the game.”

The Bucs had a great week of preparation heading into the game but just got caught off guard in the first quarter, watched the Broncos capture the early momentum and Tampa Bay never took a step towards taking it back.

“I thought we prepared well – just from the first quarter, just felt flat. We’ll learn our lesson and go from there.”

Bowles made no excuses for his team’s embarrassing performance on Sunday.

“We took it on the chin today,” Bowles said. “They beat us, flat out. They outcoached us; they outplayed us. It’s going to be a long season for us. We weren’t extra high the Monday we came in after Detroit, we can’t be extra low tomorrow once we watch the film on this game. We have to move onto the next one. There’s a lot more tough games to be played – a lot of football to be played and unfortunately, we didn’t win this one.”

So what does this mean? Great teams don’t lose games like this.

The Bucs took a step towards being a great team last week with a win in Detroit but took a step back this week with the loss to Denver. As I stated before the season started when I predicted a 10-7 record for Tampa Bay – this is a good team in 2024, but not a great team.

Not yet.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: Where Was The Bucs’ Pass Rush?

Nowhere to be found. Denver’s Bo Nix looked like a veteran quarterback in beating the Bucs – not a rookie who had thrown four interceptions and no touchdowns in the first two games of his NFL career. For the second straight week Tampa Bay did not record a quarterback sack, and Yaya Diaby, last year’s leading sacker, remains sackless on the season.

Tampa Bay only registered two hits on the elusive Nix – both coming from rookie pass rusher Chris Braswell, the team’s second-round pick. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka came close to getting a sack-fumble in the end zone in the second half, but being close and not being able to seal the deal has been the story of JTS’ underperforming career in Tampa Bay, unfortunately.

“We have to pressure the ball,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “It’s coming out quick. When we didn’t get pressure, we didn’t tackle well, and he broke a couple of tackles and got out of the pocket and that was the most disappointing thing – the tackling.”

Nix scrambled for 47 yards on nine carries (5.2 avg.) and a touchdown, including a 22-yard rush on a would-be sack.

“It’s not frustrating if we get the pressures,” Bowles said. “The frustrating part is missing the opportunities when we get them. You know, we have to get him down once we get back there.”

According to Pro.NFL.com, the Broncos’ interior offensive line – guards Ben Powers and Quinn Meinerz and center Luke Wattenberg – did not allow a single pressure on Sunday.

Not only did the team miss starting defensive tackles Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey on Sunday, but also All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., a frequent blitzer who logged a career-high six sacks last year.

QUESTION 2: What Is Wrong With Tampa Bay’s Pass Protection?

Quite a bit. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield has been under siege the last two weeks, getting sacked five times against the Lions and seven times in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos. Mayfield was hit five times in Detroit and hit nine times versus Denver.

Yes, the Bucs miss right tackle Luke Goedeke, who has been out with a concussion, but on Sunday it wasn’t just his replacement, Justin Skule, who was losing in pass protection. It was across the board.

“We weren’t executing and when we can’t get in a rhythm we always struggle as an offense,” Bucs right guard Cody Mauch said. “It was really, really frustrating.”

After the game, I asked Mauch what was happening specifically to make the pocket collapse around Mayfield and what was needed to correct it.

“Get on the same page,” Mauch said. “I feel like at times – even if they are only rushing four and they are running a couple of twist games, we’re just never on the same level [spatially]. We’re not fully passing off games [stunting defensive linemen]. So, I would say that, and win your one-on-ones. If they do bring those twists we’ve just got to play at the same level and play on the same page better.”

What Mauch means is that the offensive linemen, himself included, are allowing too much penetration to where the wall around Mayfield has cracked because the linemen are at different depths in the pocket. Mayfield owned up to being the culprit for a few of those seven sacks by either holding on to the ball too long or using the wrong escape route and running into defenders.

Tampa Bay’s struggling offensive line was also unable to take advantage of a Denver run defense that was allowing 143 yards per game on the ground through the first two weeks of the season. The Bucs ran the ball for 5.7 yards per carry but totaled just 91 yards on 16 totes.

“We need to fix our technique,” Mauch added. “We were looking at today as a good day to get back on track running the ball. Just take a look at that and see what didn’t look good technique-wise and scheme-wise and get the run game going.”

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1: Tampa Bay Will Learn From This Reality Check

The good news for the Bucs is that they lost to an AFC team and it won’t hurt as much when it comes to tiebreakers in the playoff seeding formula, which favors head-to-head matchups, divisional wins and losses and conference victories and defeats. But there is also a positive message that Tampa Bay can take from losing to a 0-2 Denver team.

“This is the NFL, and every team – no matter if you are the best team or the worst team – comes out with intensity,” Bucs cornerback Zyon McCollum said. “Whoever has the most intensity on any given Sunday will win the game.

“Keep this feeling bottled up so that we can taste it whenever we feel happy throughout the season. Go back to this – taste it, and start to have a reality check. This is the NFL.”

PREDICTION 2: Bucs Bounce Back vs. Eagles

I’m not sure if Tampa Bay will beat Philadelphia or not. I’ll make my prediction on Friday after I see the injury report for the Bucs and if reinforcements – namely Luke Goedeke, Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and Antoine Winfield Jr. – are on the way.

I didn’t see the Eagles beat the Saints in New Orleans, but what they did was impressive offensively and defensively. But we’ll see a better effort and better execution from the Bucs next week.

It can’t get any worse than this, can it?

Wait, don’t answer that.