Bucs Get Another Shot To Solve Struggles Against Unheralded QBs

On Christmas night in Arizona, the Bucs will once again face a quarterback making his first career start in the NFL. With Kyler Murray done for the season due to a torn ACL and Colt McCoy ruled out with a concussion, it’ll be former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley under center for the Cardinals.

Of course, Tampa Bay has had its share of struggles with unheralded quarterbacks over the years – even under Todd Bowles. Whether it’s a debuting quarterback, a rookie or a backup, there’s been something about those situations that has been hard to solve. Just two weeks ago, the Bucs faced a similar situation in San Francisco. Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant from the 2022 Draft, made his first career start and led the 49ers to a 35-7 win while scoring three total touchdowns along the way.

What Purdy did actually wasn’t all that surprising, at least given the Bucs’ track record in such matchups. In fact, history is on McSorley’s side this Sunday, as Tampa Bay has lost five straight games to debuting quarterbacks (h/t Greg Auman).

For the defense, coming out on top this Sunday starts with ensuring that no one is overlooking the man under center on the other side of the ball.

“Regardless of the quarterback and who he is, they’re in the NFL. And they’ve got a game plan and they’re getting paid like we are, so we can’t underestimate anybody,” Bucs cornerback Carlton Davis III said Wednesday. “In previous games, it didn’t turn out how we thought it would as far as them having a backup quarterback in and being [undermanned] because of that. I think every week, regardless of who’s up, we have job to carry out. And this week, we’ve got to carry out our job and get a dub.”

Purdy wasn’t even the first rookie or backup quarterback to beat the Bucs this season. When Tampa Bay lost to Pittsburgh back in Week 6, it was rookie Kenny Pickett and backup Mitch Trubisky teaming up to engineer the 20-18 win for the Steelers. The very next week, Carolina’s reserve P.J. Walker led the Panthers to a 21-3 win over the Bucs. Then, of course, there was Purdy taking the 49ers to an even more lopsided win over Bowles’ team on Dec. 11.

However they have to do it, the Bucs need to keep history from repeating itself when they face McSorley and the Cardinals this Sunday night. They still maintain a narrow one-game lead atop the NFC South, and a win on Christmas would set up the chance for them to clinch the division with a win over the Panthers in Week 17.

Bucs Plan To Prepare For Arizona’s Scheme – Not Its Quarterback

Bowles said ahead of the team’s meeting with Purdy and the 49ers two weeks ago that what a defense can do when facing a new quarterback is prepare for the scheme rather than the quarterback himself. On Wednesday, he echoed a similar sentiment as Tampa Bay gets set for another matchup against a debuting signal-caller.

“As far as quarterback, whether it was Kyler [Murray], whether it was Colt [McCoy] or whether it’s [Trace] McSorley – they kind of run their system,” Bowles said. “All three can run the football – Kyler may be faster than everybody because he had elite speed, but everybody else can run the ball as well. They throw it just the same, so we’ve got to prepare for everything.”

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That’s a philosophy that Bowles has instilled in his players, with linebacker and captain Devin White saying much of the same when speaking with the media on Wednesday.

“It doesn’t make a difference [who’s playing quarterback],” White said. “We’ve just got to key in on what they do and the details they provide for us on the film. Whoever’s back there at quarterback, we’re knowing it’ll to be the same offense because that’s what they worked on in training camp and throughout the season, so they aren’t really going to switch anything up.”

There’s no doubt that a lot of the Bucs’ preparation will have to do with Arizona’s scheme. But a lot of their work will also focus on the Cardinals’ skill talent, which Bowles had high praise for this week.

“They have very good skill guys – they’re very fast,” he said. “Obviously, [DeAndre] Hopkins has been doing it for a long time – [he’s] one of the best in the league, he’s got outstanding hands and he competes. They’ve got ‘Hollywood’ [Marquise] Brown, they’ve got Robbie [Anderson] so they’ve got tons of speed outside. [James] Connor does a heck of a job for them – blocking, catching, and running the football – so he’s kind of a triple-threat, so to speak. They’ve got [Trey] McBride they just drafted – we loved him coming out of college – he was a great player there. They’ve got a huge offensive line.”

Despite playing in just eight games, Hopkins leads Arizona with 63 catches for 713 yards and three touchdowns. Brown has 57 catches for 584 yards and three scores, while Connor has 624 rushing yards, 228 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns. So, there will be plenty of guys for the Bucs to key in on when they take the field on Sunday.

Tampa Bay’s defense is allowing 20.6 points per game, which is tied for 10th in the league. Meanwhile, Arizona is averaging 20.9 points per game, which is 18th-best in the NFL. Whether or not the Bucs can hold the Cardinals below that average may decide this Christmas night primetime game, especially given their own offensive struggles. But to do so, of course, they’ll finally have to solve their issues with unsung quarterbacks.