TAMPA — When it comes to chasing quarterbacks, the NFL has a buffet of superstar choices.
Aaron Donald is a future Hall of Famer and three-time Defensive Player of the Year as an interior lineman. Nick Bosa led the league in sacks and won Defensive Player of the Year as an edge rusher in 2022. Micah Parsons collected 26 sacks in his first two seasons and might be the preeminent linebacker in the game. There’s T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, Matt Judon and … well, the list goes on and on.
In all, the NFL has seen 36 individual seasons of 11 or more sacks just since 2020.
And not one of them was in a Bucs uniform.
But that’s not the remarkable part of this story. What’s truly amazing is Tampa Bay’s nondescript pass rush is still among the best in the NFL. The Bucs have 155 sacks since 2020 — which ranks third in the league behind Pittsburgh and Philadelphia — without a single player cracking the top 30 during that time span.
How is that possible?
Depth and versatility are part of the equation. So is unselfishness. But, mostly, it’s Todd Bowles’ never-ending collection of fronts and blitz packages that keep opposing offensive lines continually guessing which direction the pass rush is coming from.
“We’ve got a lot of dudes who are great at attacking and can also play (pass) coverage,” said linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, who is second on the team with three sacks. “We have all these knives that we keep sharpened and a lot of looks that he likes to cook up to confuse quarterbacks and offensive coordinators.”
First quarter, third and 6, at Minnesota. A five-man front with Lavonte David lining up outside of Shaquil Barrett on the right side of the line. When the ball is snapped, David and Barrett drop into coverage while Antoine Winfield Jr. and Devin White come behind Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka on the left. Winfield not only sacks Kirk Cousins but knocks the ball loose and recovers the fumble.
Five games into the season, the Bucs have nine different players who have contributed to 15 sacks. And of those 15, not a single one came with the exact same group of rushers.
“It’s part of Bowles’ mad science to give offenses a lot of looks,” said defensive passing game coordinator Larry Foote. “That’s something he’s done ever since I’ve been around him. He’s not going just give you a standard four-man front. If you’ve got the ability or the want-to to rush the passer, we’re going to put you in a spot to get you there. You know Bowles has fun with it, he likes it, but there is some type of control to his violence.”
Statistics typically list the Bucs among the highest blitzing teams in the league, but those numbers can be misleading. Of their 15 sacks, seven had five or more rushers. But a handful of the four-man rushes include inside linebackers blitzing up the middle while edge rushers drop into coverage.
It’s not that opposing coaches are completely befuddled. They watch enough video to have a sense of what Bowles is trying to accomplish. But there are enough variations on every look that pass rushers need only a split second of hesitation by the offensive line to create an open gap for someone.
“We do a good job of moving guys around just to keep the offensive line guessing,” said linebacker Cam Gill. “You can almost tell when they’re confused and they’re going to slide a certain way, and that’s going to free up someone on the edge. It’s a lot of disguising to create miscommunication.
Fourth quarter, fourth and 10 at New Orleans. Four-man line is spread out with Barrett on the far left and Vea lined up beside him. When the ball is snapped, the right guard engages Vea until Barrett loops behind his teammate. The guard and tackle then shift assignments, with the guard taking on Barrett and the tackle moving to Vea. With his momentum already going, Vea bulldozes the tackle and knocks the ball loose from Derek Carr. Logan Hall recovers.
It’s not as if the Bucs are devoid of elite pass-rushing talent. Barrett led the league in sacks in 2019 and compiled 37.5 in his first 46 games in Tampa Bay.
The difference is Barrett is not used exclusively on the pass rush. He and Tryon-Shoyinka and Anthony Nelson will line up ominously on the edge, but then drop into pass coverage when the ball is snapped about a quarter of the time.
It takes a certain skill set for guys in the 250-270 pound range to cover running backs on passing routes. It also takes some humility and unselfishness. For pass rushers, getting to the quarterback is where you make your money come contract time.
Crash test dummy?
“You run into three guys so the next guy can get free.”
Second quarter, second and 10 against Detroit. A standard four-man front except when the ball is snapped, Tryon-Shoyinka drops back into coverage. With Vea drawing a double team from both the left guard and tackle, David follows behind him virtually untouched and drops Jared Goff.
So far this season, the Bucs have sent three different cornerbacks (Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean, Christian Izien) two safeties (Winfield, Ryan Neal) and a host of linebackers after the quarterback. They don’t need to come often. They don’t even need to get sacks on every blitz. They just need to plant the seed in the mind of the offensive coordinator and quarterback that a rush might be coming from an unfamiliar place.
So how many blitz packages do the Bucs have?
“I couldn’t count them all,” Foote said. “I just know we’re not going to be in the same formation each play.”
John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.
