The Tampa Bay Bucs have played half of their schedule so far this season and find themselves on a four-game losing streak with a 2-6 record. The Bucs have had a tumultuous travel schedule, where they haven’t played at home in Raymond James stadium since September.
PewterReport.com offers its midseason grades for each Bucs unit and the coaching staff. On Saturday we offered up grades for the offense and on Sunday we’re dishing out the grades for the defense.
Take a look and see if you agree, and share your thoughts in there comments section below.
Defensive Line
The Bucs rank 24th in the NFL with 19 sacks on the season, despite outside linebacker Shaq Barrett still leading the league with 10.5 QB takedowns. Moving in from their edge rushers, the Bucs have gotten just a half of a sack each from Ndamukong Suh, Vita Vea and Beau Allen along the interior defensive line although Vea does rank second on Tampa Bay’s roster with seven quarterback hits.
Where the unit has continued to shine the most has been stopping the run, where they remain among the league’s best as a unit, allowing just 78.1 rushing yards and less than one rushing touchdown per game. Vea and Suh have consistently been as disruptive up front as advertised while Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Will Gholston and Beau Allen have been effective rotational players who have stepped in and allowed the line to continue it’s success without skipping a beat.
Grade: B+
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