Bucs vs. Bears Game Grades

Let’s get this out of the way early.  This article is about four days late. And I’ll own that. But I wanted to start a game grades series and I got the first one out last week. My OCD would not stand for me up and skipping week two, only to get every other week done following. So, here we are on Saturday putting out game grades from last Sunday. I expect your comments to hold me appropriately accountable.

With all of that said. Here are the post-all 22 review game grades of each of the Bucs’ position units from last week’s tilt against the Bears.

Bucs Quarterback

Baker Mayfield had his second straight really good game. Mayfield was decisive and under control pre-snap. He would often check to hot routes or into whole other plays based on the coverages Chicago was presenting him. This led to an extremely efficient game where the Bucs quarterback was 26-34 for 317 yards and a touchdown. Mayfield was particularly impressive on the money down. NFL quarterback Colt McCoy broke down Mayfield’s fantastic third down decision-making and play in an excellent segment for Underdog Fantasy.

While Mayfield made his first big mistake of the young season on his first throw of the game, not seeing Bears safety Jaquan Brisker buzzing down to steal the pass he threw to Chris Godwin on a short curl, Mayfield would go on to not make another mistake all game. Not only did Baker play well from structure all day long, but it was also what he did out of structure that really made the difference. Despite the Bears defense pressuring him on 36% of his drop backs, they failed to record a sack. This was largely due to Mayfield escaping sack after sack while finding check down options over the middle or in the flat. Mayfield dropped back 27 times when facing pressure. He went 15-21 for 230 yards while throwing for one touchdown. Adding in his five scrambles he was able to aid in the Bucs picking up seven first downs in those situations as well.

Grade: A

Bucs Running Backs

Rachaad White was a completely different back in week two. Decisive in his cuts and explosive in his running. White’s 17 carries for 73 yards were crucial in assisting the Bucs offense in maintaining balance on the day. White forced six missed tackles and generated almost half his yardage after contact. White’s impact was amplified in the passing game. He caught all five of his targets for 30 yards and a first down.

Chase Edmonds and Sean Tucker added eight carries for 29 yards. Edmonds looked like he could potentially be an impactful compliment to White early when he ripped off a 13-yard run off a backside cut, but Edmonds suffered an injury on the next play that eventually would send him to IR earlier this week.

Grade: B

Wide Receivers

Evans turned back the clock for this one. As good as he has been over the past few seasons, no one would have guessed Evans would record the greatest yards after catch game of his career. Most of that YAC came on two incredible plays. The first a 70-yard catch and run that featured Evans elbowing his defender to St. Petersburg before turning around and running away from the Bears defense all the way down to the Chicago seven-yard line. That play would set up a four-yard touchdown run by White. The second YAC play had Evans hitting a nifty spin move off of a quick hitch followed by the six-foot-five receiver powering down the left sideline for 36 yards. Add in four more catches including a 32-yard touchdown from Mayfield and Evans ended with 171 yards for a great week two outing as he seeks his record ninth straight season of 1,000 receiving yards or more to start a career.

Chris Godwin provided an excellent complement to Evans catching five of his eight targets for 58 yards. Godwin made some tough, gritty catches as he helped the Bucs offense on multiple third downs to keep drives alive. Past those two the Bucs receivers did not contribute much. Trey Palmer, Rakim Jarrett and Deven Thompkins combined to catch two passes for 27 yards along with one carry for 11 yards.

Grade: A-

Tight Ends

Cade Otton was a regular contributor as a pass catcher, racking up six catches for 41 yards on six targets. He was a regular beneficiary of Mayfield’s off-script improvisation under pressure, providing an outlet for Baker to hit just before being hit by a Bears pass rusher. As a blocker Otton continued to struggle as he lacked the powerful lower half or the determination to drive through defensive ends or linebackers to help spring bigger holes for White and company.

Behind Otton Ko Kieft was de-emphasized in week two seeing his snap count diminish in favor for David Wells. Kieft was not targeted but provided decent blocking. Wells caught both of his targets, but fumbled one for was almost a huge game-turning event. Luckily for Wells Mayfield was able to fall on the ball leading to a touchdown pass to Mike Evans on the very next play.

Grade: D

Offensive Line

The positives for the Bucs offensive line was a much better yards per carry average and no quarterback sacks of Mayfield. But look past those surface stats and you will find that Mayfield was largely the reason he wasn’t sacked on the day. The Bears very easily could have had 3-6 sacks on the day as they were able to pressure the Bucs signal-caller throughout the day.

Left tackle Tristan Wirfs was solid in both pass protection and in the run game. Wirfs had the toughest assignment along the line in pass protection but shut down Yanick Ngakoue. As was right tackle Luke Goedeke who had the best day overall on the line. Right guard Cody Mauch has been worth every bit of the second round pick the Bucs spent on him. Surprisingly, Mauch has looked at his best as a pass protector.

The real issues with the Bucs line on Sunday came from center Robert Hainsey and left guard Matt Feiler. Hainsey’s troubles spilled over from a lackluster week one in Minnesota while Feiler regressed from a solid debut for the Bucs. Both players allowed Bears nose tackle Andrew Billings to generate pressure and get penetration against the run on a regular basis.

Grade: C

Bucs Defensive Line

Edge rushers Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka really headline this group. Beyond the splash plays, of which there were several (both racked up sacks and Barrett of course had the phenomenal pick -six to seal the game), the two were instrumental in being disciplined in their rush lanes to help keep the pocket from breaking down and allowing Bears quarterback Justin Fields to hurt the Bucs scrambling. Tryon-Shoyinka was consistently a menace to the Bears offensive line, racking up six pressures and two sacks. He added on an athletic play early in the game where he blew up an end around by getting immediate push into the backfield. Barrett added two pressures, a sack, an almost-sack of Fields where he chased the Bears signal-caller down for a zero-yard run and the game-defining play at the end.

Inside the Bucs had Vita Vea wreaking havoc with five pressures and two sacks of his own. And while his pass rushing prowess was on full display, it was what Vea did as a run defender that helped set the table for the Bucs defense on the day. Vea had three defensive stops and clogged up the interior all day, all while taking on double teams regularly, making running a near impossibility for the Bears.

Bucs NT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Mike Greene was a pleasant depth contributor, assisting Vea with run defense duties while adding two pressures of his own. Will Gholston and Greg Gaines delivered a workmen-like performances as early down run stuffers. Cam Gill added a hustle sack on a play where Fields held the ball entirely too long.

Logan Hall was the weak link on the field for the Bucs defensive line. He was routinely moved in the run game and was by far the most inconsistent as a pass rusher. Hall was on the other side of several double teams from the Bears and he just could not deliver competitive efforts to hold his ground. Most of the time in those situations the Bears offensive line was able to fold him up to create desired holes. While there was a play or two where he would generate a pressure on the day, there was no continuity or variation of pass rush plan from the Bucs 2022 second round pick.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Both Devin White and Lavonte David were excoriated by Pro Football Focus, with grades of 31.5 and 38.6, respectively. For my money I think both played much better than that grade belies. David had a good play early in the second quarter when he sniffed out a bubble screen on 3rd and nine to end a Chicago drive. Both White and David were very active near the line of scrimmage and helped keep the Bears’ running game in check.

For the most part both linebackers were at the mercy of Bowles’ gameplan to send pressure and maintain the top in coverage. It left both linebackers having to cover wide swaths of space over the middle. I have trouble blaming either guy for being the sacrificial lambs in a scheme that worked for the most part. The lone exception was a play in the second quarter when White had Bears tight end Cole Kmet in man coverage and let Kmet get easy separation on a deep out as part of a flood concept. Fields was able to hit Kmet at the sidelines, but White was bailed out by a great play by Antoine Winfield to break up the pass.

Grade: C

Cornerbacks

Jamel Dean put up a poor performance for the second straight game. There was no sense of urgency to his coverage responding to stems or deciphering route progressions to put himself in a position to disrupt passing lanes in zone coverage. He allowed several big plays. His one saving grace was that he continues to be a plus contributor as a run defender. Some might suggest he is letting off the gas now that he signed his second contract but usually you would see that show up in a corner’s run defense first and foremost. I know J.T. O’ Sullivan put a lot of blame on Dean for Roschon Johnson’s 29-yard run in the second quarter during his QB School feature on Fields, but I struggle to give as much blame. Dean was bailing to an inverted Cover-two and is required to get depth quickly to execute the coverage.

Across from Dean, Zyon McCollum filled in for the injured Carlton Davis III very well. He allowed just two catches for seven yards on the day and assisted with several stops in the flats. McCollum’s tackling is still an adventure, but on Sunday he helped erase half the field for Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

In the nickel, rookie Christian Izien continues to be everything head coach Todd Bowles could have hoped for. Assignment sound, good in run support and a great tackler. Izien on more than one occassion saved McCollum from losing a tackle by coming in and cleaning it up.

Grade: B

Bucs Safeties

Ryan Neal had a fantastic bounce back game. He was physical and aggressive at the line of scrimmage, where he was allowed to play almost 37% of the time against the Bears as opposed to only 25% of the time against the Vikings. Neal helped set the edge on the attempted end around that JTS blew up early in the game that was blown up for a three-yard loss.

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Antoine Winfield Jr. was his expected amazing self throughout the game. Lining up as a deep safety over 80% of his snaps, Winfield help keep a lid on the Bears vertical passing game and preventing the Bears from doing anything beyond the intermediate levels of the field.

Grade: B

Special Teams

Punter Jake Camarda won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Between his fantastic punting and heads up play to recover a blocked kick he will easily pull this grade into the good. Kicker Chase McLaughlin nailed both of his non-blocked field goal attempts and every one of his extra points. Returner Deven Thompkins fielded both of his punt return attempts cleanly.

Grade: B (The blocked Field Goal prevented this from being an A)