Only predictable part of Bucs pass rush is a QB eventually going down There is a moment before each play when a quarterback looks across the line of scrimmage and anticipates what's about to come. More and more, for quarterbacks playing against Tampa Bay, that answer is chaos. A linebacker shooting up the middle. A safety coming around the left corner. A defensive end throwing linemen out of his way. This is the defense coordinator Todd Bowles has created, and it is unlike any we have seen around here before. Oh, that doesn't mean this group is as good as Lee Roy Selmon's defense in 1979. Or the Warren Sapp/Derrick Brooks/Ronde Barber defense of the Super Bowl-era Bucs. It's just that this defense plays the game with a greater sense of risk and intrigue. You saw it Sunday in the 28-10 victory against the Broncos. No matter how long Denver quarterback Jeff Driskel stared across the line of scrimmage, he could never quite figure out from which direction his demise would originate. Bowles came to Tampa Bay last year with a reputation as a master of the blitz, and the Bucs did increase their number of sacks from 38 to 47 in the span of a single season. But that was just a prelude to what Tampa Bay's defense would be in 2020. At any given moment Sunday, the Bucs would rush four defensive linemen. Or three defensive linemen and three linebackers. Or three linemen, two linebackers and a safety. Or some other combination that had Denver's offensive line scurrying around the backfield and the quarterback running for his life. "I've been on (teams) with some really good defenses and I'd probably have to go back to the early Steelers days when I was with them," coach Bruce Arians said when asked about the number of pass rushing weapons in Tampa Bay. "All four linebackers are really good pass rushers. And the inside guys are trying to outdo the outside guys. And the outside guys are doing a good job in coverage when the inside guys are blitzing. Our defense is built on multiple pieces being able to do a lot of different things. Yeah, I'd put our guys up against anybody." By game's end, the Bucs had six sacks and 10 quarterback hits. But what was most impressive was the diversity of the attack. Three linebackers, two safeties and three defensive linemen finished with quarterback hits. The Broncos never knew what, or who, was about to hit them. There were plays when inside linebacker Devin White went straight up the middle, and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. paused for a beat before following behind. There were plays when Shaquil Barrett, Lavonte David, Jason Pierre-Paul and White all rushed the backfield from their linebacker spots. There were times when the defensive line got enough pressure on its own because the Broncos were wary of a blitz that never came. "That's what we try to do, is don't do the same thing over and over, just throw different things at them," David said. "And the good thing about it is once you understand what your job is, and understand what the job is of guys around you, it gives you the opportunity to play faster. And it gives you the opportunity to disguise and show different looks to the quarterback. That's what we try to do, man, and once we get a team one-dimensional, coach always says he's going to unload it. Once you've got everybody in the playbook understanding what Coach Bowles wants? Oh man, we can be the best." The Bucs could never have done this last September. Not with the way the secondary was playing early. Sending this many rushers, including defensive backs, comes with a risk. If the quarterback can read it quickly enough, and the line stops the blitz for even a split second, there is bound to be a receiver open downfield. You saw it Sunday when Driskel occasionally hit a pass, and you could see it when Denver went to a hurry-up offense and the Bucs reverted to a more conventional defense. To be fair, the Broncos are not a very good team and were playing with backup quarterbacks. But this Bucs defense is growing in confidence and stature, and it's not difficult to envision more weeks like this to come. "Coach Bowles knows what he's doing, he's most definitely a defensive guru," Barrett said. "We appreciate him, I appreciate him, always getting us on the right page telling us what needs to be fixed. He's a great defensive mind." John Romano, Tampa Bay Times, published 28 September 2020