It wasn’t art, but it was enough.
The Bucs left Atlanta with a 23-20 road win over the Falcons on Sunday, and while the performance was far from flawless, head coach Todd Bowles came away encouraged by how his defense fought through mistakes and finished strong.
The defensive playcaller admitted there were plenty of plays his unit would like to have back, but Bowles also highlighted the toughness and composure that allowed Tampa Bay to escape a division matchup that easily could have slipped away.
Todd Bowles: SirVocea Dennis Had An “Up And Down” Return To Action
No player embodied the highs and lows more than third-year linebacker SirVocea Dennis. His box score jumps off the page – 10 tackles, two for loss, and a pass breakup – but the tape told a different story.
Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Dennis was benched briefly after a rough stretch that included a blown angle on Bijan Robinson’s 50-yard touchdown catch-and-run, getting stiff-armed by Kyle Pitts, and multiple missed tackles. Pro Football Focus graded him as one of Tampa Bay’s lowest-performing defenders, and he was featured on our Most Disappointing column this week.
After returning to the game following some time off the field though, a switch flipped. The 2023 fifth-round pick brought down Robinson in the backfield, broke up a pass in the middle of the field, made another stop on the star running back at the line of scrimmage, and teamed up with inside linebacker Lavonte David to bring down Tyler Allgeier on a third-and-1 from the Tampa Bay 2-yard line. Dennis did his best to overcome his early woes, with Bowles talking about his performance in further detail on Monday.
“[It was] up and down…Up and down,” Bowles said. “[There were] some plays he would want back from a mental standpoint. Physically, I thought he was very physical, especially in the second half. [There were] two plays in particular we’d like to have back on defense.”
Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis and Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier – Photo by: USA Today
For Dennis, could his early struggles be attributed to rust? It was his first time in a regular-season game since Week 4 of last season, when he left with a season-ending shoulder injury during the Bucs’ 33-16 win over the Eagles.
“I mean, it’s the first game out,” Bowles added. “He’s got a lot on his plate. He does a lot of things for us. We expect him to carry those out. Obviously, he got a little anxious on those, but he’ll calm down the next couple weeks.”
Pump the brakes on “Voss” not being able to hold down the starting inside linebacker duties. There is reason to be optimistic about his potential if he can get a full year under his belt. Despite limited playing time, he has the ability to become a long-term piece.
It was not his best showing, but the same could be said of a lot of defensive players in their first game of the season. Kinks will be worked out as the year progresses, and for as much as unit gave up yards and lost the time of possession battle in Atlanta, they stepped up in critical moments to hold them to 20 points.
Bucs’ Run Defense Set Tone, But Pass Rush Lacked Finish
For all of the damage Bijan Robinson did as a receiving back, neither Robinson nor Tyler Allgeier could get much of anything going on the ground. It was actually quarterback Michael Penix Jr. who had the longest run (12 yards) and only rushing touchdown in the game. Otherwise, Atlanta only mustered 22 carries for 48 yards.
One can give some credit to Todd Bowles and his Bucs’ defense in this regard. Facing an elite backfield, Bowles had some tricks up his sleeve when it came to defensive alignments that forced the opposing offense to adjust.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today
“We played hard,” Bowles said about defending the run. “[There were] a few scheme things we had with Haason [Reddick] and moving him around whether it was a 4-3 [front], a 3-4 [front], nickel, and that probably caused some consternation. I can’t speak for them but kind of helped us talk them out of a few things in the run game and then the guys up front really played hard and ‘Voss’ (SirVocea Dennis) really excelled in the run game, as well.”
When it comes to the pass rush, they did leave meat on the bone. Moving Reddick up and down the front seven led to inconsistent pressure, especially as he and the rest of the pass rush had a prime opportunity to feast against third-string right tackle Elijah Wilkinson. Instead, the veteran pass rusher had the lone sack of the afternoon, with one made by outside linebacker Yaya Diaby being negated after cornerback Jamel Dean was called for a face mask penalty.
Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. and Bucs OLB Haason Reddick – Photo by: USA Today
“I thought we missed quite a few of them,” Bowles said of the pass rush not being able to bring down Penix. “I thought we rushed well – we didn’t finish the play, but we rushed well. We’ve got to work on closing the middle out toward the end of the ball game with those guys, not letting the quarterback run up the middle.”
What made Penix uncomfortable and unable to get into a complete rhythm was the swarming pass defense played on wide receiver Drake London. Known for his past success against Tampa Bay, London was limited to just eight catches for 55 yards despite being targeted 15 times. Dean and Zyon McCollum shadowed him closely and disrupted timing routes, though they left chances for takeaways on the field.
“We dropped three [interceptions],” Bowles said. “[McCollum] dropped two. Dean dropped one. We had our chances. We had our chances. That could have opened the game up, but they covered well. They play very good press coverage and for the most part they were tight on their guys.”
All in all, Todd Bowles will take the victory and finally getting to see what he has in his defense in real action. You have to walk before you run, and Bowles was pleased that the players were resilient and did not give up or fold when the outcome appeared bleak.
“Those guys didn’t blink whether it was penalties, a bad play, or anything else. This is the first time they’ve played that many plays in a ball game with a limited preseason, so I knew there was going to be some fatigue in the second half, but mentally, they didn’t fall off. They believed in each other and that was the biggest take out of the game.”
Now it is on to Houston, with the hope being that there are not as many defensive problems facing the Texans in Week 2.