Bucs RB White Helps Tampa Bay Dash To 5-5

Sonntag war ein guten tag für die Bucs!

The Bucs extended their winning streak to two games by beating the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 in Munich, Germany in the first NFL regular-season game held in the country. A big part of the win was due to the impact made by a rookie playmaker (or spielmacher in German) – running back Rachaad White. With Leonard Fournette’s passport issue up in the air until literally just hours before the team’s flight took off for Germany on Thursday, the Bucs stuck to their plan of starting White against the Seahawks.

As it turned out, Fournette’s passport did arrive and he played in the game, but suffered a hip pointer injury that allowed White to log a career high 22 carries in the win. This game was his coming out party as he looks to establish a more defined workload in the Bucs’ rushing offense. With performances like this, it will make it harder for offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to leave him out of the game plan. White gained 105 rushing yards on 22 carries with an efficient 4.8 yards per attempt.

Bucs Rookie RB Shines With 100-Yard Effort

“I feel great – blessed really to get the win,” White said of his first 100-yard game. “That was the big thing for me. We’re just trying to do everything we can to get the win. It was fun out there. I feel like I did good.”

While Fournette averaged 4.1 yards per attempt, one has to go all the way back to the team’s Week 1 win against the Dallas Cowboys to find a Bucs back that averaged greater than 4.0 yards per carry in a game while leading in rushing attempts. That is how much Tampa Bay’s ground game has struggled throughout the season, a product of bad play calling and poor execution opening up running lanes. 

But that was not the case for the Bucs and White on Sunday. Coming in with 117 rushing yards this year, White nearly matched that total on the ground in one game and did so by gaining consistent yardage as well as breaking a few runs open.

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On a 29-yard run by White to close out the third quarter, he provided more than a viral SportsCenter-worthy stiff arm on Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs. It was a vital play in leading a touchdown drive that helped the team build a 21-3 lead. 

“I was setting him for something and the stiff arm just happened,” White said. “It just was a reaction. Playing running back you have to react a lot.”

White provided much-needed dynamism as he was dodging defenders and picking up yards in bunches. In this game alone, he had four runs of 10 yards or greater. That was crucial for an offense that has been derived of big plays for most of this season. 

As a third-round pick, White has been worthy of that investment. Each week he continues to grow more comfortable within the offense and has been involved through the air as a check-down option as well, hauling in 20 receptions for 135 yards this season. Although he did not have a catch in Week 10, he has the ability to factor in the screen game, which has been a staple of the offense. 

With Fournette held out near the end of the game with his hip injury, it was White who had the crucial carries on the final drive to run out the clock. If the injury to ‘Lederhosen Lenny’ were to set him back any, White has proven himself ready to step up and be the featured back on offense, whether by pounding the rock or developing a rapport with quarterback Tom Brady as another receiving back like the many he’s had throughout his career.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles: ‘We’re Trending Forward’

White and the Bucs leave Munich back at .500 with a 5-5 record and solely on top in the NFC South. Their win Sunday was the spark the team needed to get on track as they look to prepare for the rest of the season.

“It was great to go into the bye week with a win,” head coach Todd Bowles said in his postgame press conference. “Obviously two wins so hopefully we’re trending forward. You almost don’t want to have a bye since you’ve won two in a row, but we got some guys nicked up. We need to get healthy, so we’ll get some rest, and we’ll get ready for the stretch run.”

If anything else it will be, as Brady put it after the game, a “fun ride home.”