The Buccaneers’ offensive line is starting to look a lot more like the group Tampa Bay expected when the season kicked off.
Through the first five weeks, the line had its rough patches. But entering Week 6, it now sits at the top of the NFL in pressure rate, according to Pro Football Focus, which listed Tampa at 18.4%.
That turnaround showed up in a big way in Thursday night’s win over the Dallas Cowboys. The Bucs found real life on the ground, and starting tailback Bucky Irving turned in his best outing since his rookie year. The blocking in front of him opened lanes and gave the run game room to breathe after a shaky opening stretch.
The pass protection has also steadied down. Over the last two games, Tampa Bay has kept Jalon Daniels upright, giving up just four sacks across those matchups.
There’s no soft landing waiting in Week 6, either. The Buccaneers are set to face the Pittsburgh Steelers and former Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt, which puts even more pressure on the men up front to keep Daniels protected.
Tristan Wirfs remains the centerpiece of the unit. The All-Pro left tackle owns an 83.9 pass protection metric, good for second among NFL tackles, per PFF.
Wirfs also had one of the few clean performances in Tampa’s Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He shut down the league’s top pressure generator through three weeks, Dallas Turner, and allowed 0 pressures on 14 reps.
The rest of the line had a much tougher afternoon in that game. Tampa Bay surrendered six sacks and 12 QB hits, and the final hit worsened Mayfield’s aggravated injury.
Wirfs made his thoughts clear after that Week 3 loss, telling the media that the "calvary isn't coming," and that the turnaround had to start inside the locker room.
Now the Buccaneers have a chance to build on the progress. The line is projected to be healthy for the Steelers matchup, and its consistency over the coming weeks will go a long way toward deciding whether Tampa Bay can stay in the playoff hunt and maybe string together enough wins for Mayfield to come back.
In Other News...
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Prime Videos early TNF numbers have been strong across the board, and the platform has seen its pregame and postgame coverage pick up, too. For the Buccaneers, that matters because games like this do not just shape the immediate conversation around the team, they also keep putting Tampa Bay in front of a bigger audience at a time when the leagues media landscape is shifting fast. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Finally Have Hope But One Concern Still Looms
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The bigger question is still on the defensive side, where the Bucs have looked uneven from drive to drive. There have been some standout individual efforts, but the pass rush and linebacker play remain inconsistent enough to keep the unit from settling in, and that leaves one familiar concern hanging over a team trying to build on its first breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Godwin Just Fueled Growing Bucs Optimism Around Jalon Daniels
When Baker Mayfield went down, the Buccaneers turned to undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels, and the offense at least found enough stability to grab its first win of the season in Week 5. For a team trying to stay in the NFC South race, that mattered almost as much as the result itself, because Tampa Bay suddenly has a quarterback situation that feels less like a crisis and more like a chance to keep building.
Chris Godwin has become one of the louder believers in Daniels, praising the rookies poise and the way he carries himself in the huddle. The veteran receiver also pointed to Daniels charisma and the kind of positive energy that can spread quickly through a locker room, a promising sign for a Buccaneers team staring at a stretch of games it can realistically use to climb right back into contention. [Read more 🡒]