The arrow is not pointing up for the Bucs.
Oh, it may for the offense. The Bucs had their best game on the ground in Buffalo. How much of that was improvement and how much of that was the soft Buffalo run defense? Well, only time will tell.
One guy whose arrow certainly is pointing up is Sean Tucker. He was the first running back to run for over 50 yards this season against New England a week ago. Then, at Buffalo, he ran for two touchdowns and over 100 yards, and caught a 28-yard touchdown pass.
So Joe is much less worried about the Bucky Irving-less running game than he used to be. Tucker is the hot hand. Run that hot hand until defenses prove they can stop him.
But the defense? Egads! The Bucs defense has been gouged for 849 yards in the past two games, both coming after the bye. Yesterday was the defense’s worst performance as Josh Allen went nuts, tying his own record in the Super Bowl era, having a hand in six touchdowns, three passing, three running.
Only once before has a Bowles-led Bucs defense given up two straight 400-yard (or 500-yard) games. That was in 2023 when the Bucs allowed three-straight 400-yard games.
(The game before that streak started, the first game after the 2023 bye week, the Bucs gave up 380 yards to the Lions — what the hell are these guys doing during the bye weeks?)
The only way the Bucs were going to stop Allen on Sunday was to get him off the field and keep him there. The offense did its job. The defense shat itself.
Again.
At least with the offense, one could point to the cavalry coming. Bucs coach Todd Bowles had reassuring words yesterday about Chris Godwin’s potential return. Bucky doesn’t appear far away from returning.
And there is the quiet hope Mike Evans could be back by the end of the regular season. Maybe Jalen McMillan, too.
The defense? There’s no cavalry coming, unless Calijah Kancey possibly returning is what you call cavalry. Joe doesn’t know if he’s a one-horse gang or not.
So if the Bucs plan to do anything in the playoffs — hell, at this point, do they even make the playoffs the way the defense is playing? — Bowles is going to have to figure it out. The season may depend on his actions.
Neither Capt. York, Sgt. O’Rourke nor Sgt. York are coming to save the defense.
(Yes, Joe is well aware Sgt. York was never in the cavalry.)