The Buccaneers’ offensive line has been one of the biggest letdowns of the season, but Tristan Wirfs has somehow managed to keep his reputation intact - and then some.
Through four games, Tampa Bay has given up 16 sacks, the most in the NFL. Baker Mayfield has taken 13 of them, more than any other quarterback in the league, even though he didn’t play in one of the Bucs’ four games.
The pressure has been relentless all season, and it’s been a major reason Tampa has stumbled to a 0-4 start. Mayfield has spent too much time dodging defenders, including on the play when he dislocated his thumb after getting hit right after releasing the ball.
He’s now missing games for the first time in his 3+ seasons with the team.
Still, if the question is who deserves blame for the pass protection mess, Wirfs isn’t the place to start.
According to PFF, the Buccaneers’ star left tackle is the highest-graded pass-blocker in the NFL. His 87.5 pass-blocking grade leads every offensive lineman in the league, regardless of position.
The next closest mark belongs to San Francisco 49ers guard Dominick Puni at 84.2. That gap of 3.3 points is actually wider than the 3.1-point separation between Puni and 10th-ranked Amarius Mims, who sits at 81.1.
The part that makes Wirfs’ grade even harder to square is the production behind it. PFF says he has allowed four pressures, two sacks and four penalties this season.
That’s a strange profile for the league’s top pass-blocking grade, especially when compared with Mims. PFF has Mims charged with just two pressures, one sack and two penalties, yet Wirfs still grades 6.4 points higher.
Go figure.
However odd the numbers may look, PFF still has Wirfs sitting at the top. And if Tampa Bay has any chance to get its first win Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys - whom Todd Bowles called the "most physically gifted team” the Bucs will face all year - the rest of the offensive line will need to catch up to Wirfs’ level fast.
Right now, the unit is nowhere near good enough. Even with Wirfs playing at an elite level, it hasn’t been nearly enough to save the Bucs from a brutal month up front.
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For Tampa Bay, the challenge is not just surviving the short week but finding enough stability to hang around against a Cowboys team that needs better defense while counting on its offense to set the tone at home. The matchup feels like a steep ask already, and the expectation around it is leaning heavily toward Dallas taking control by a wide margin. [Read more 🡒]