Pittsburgh Steelers Meet The Opponent: Week 3, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Offense

Tampa Bay is 2-0, and a big part of their success has been their outstanding offense. The Buccaneers head into the third week of the season touting the league’s best offense statistically, averaging 482.5 yards and 37.5 points per game. I would insert the common cliché of “video game” numbers, but even that seemed a little far-fetched. It all starts with the play of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, a journeyman-turned-temporary MVP candidate thanks to his 819 passing yards and 8 touchdowns through two weeks.

Fitzpatrick has an assortment of weapons at his disposal, yet mainly relies on his top two receivers in Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson. Mike Evans is a big-bodied receiver who uses his athletic build and strength to win 50/50 balls and come down with ridiculous catches, while DeSean Jackson appears to not have lost a single step of his blazing speed, taking the top off of defenses on deep passes. If the ball isn’t finding its way to either Jackson/Evans, third receiver Chris Godwin has scored in both contests thus far and tight end OJ Howard presents a match-up nightmare with Steelers linebackers thanks to his superb athleticism for the tight end position.

If you didn’t get the message, Fitzpatrick has options, and good ones at that. Despite the heavy success passing, the Buccaneers have also committed to keeping the football on the ground as well. Out of 118 total plays ran, Tampa Bay has only ran 4 more pass plays as opposed to run plays.

Rookie Ronald Jones was expected to come in and make an impact right away, but has remained inactive through the first two weeks of the season. Peyton Barber man’s the Bucs backfield with 35 attempts on the year, twice more than the next leading rusher on the team (who happens to be Fitzpatrick with 13 attempts). Barber and the rest of the backfield haven’t had much success thus far, averaging 2.7 yards per carry as a unit and only scoring once while toting the rock (Fitzpatrick scored the only rushing TD thus far).

Up-front, the Buccaneers have done a fairly great job keeping Fitzpatrick up-right, only allowing two sacks thus far. Donovan Smith and Demar Dotson anchor the outside of the line as left/right tackle, while center Ryan Jensen holds the middle of the line with left guard Ali Marpet and right guard Caleb Benenoch beside him. This unit has fared well against impressive defensive fronts in New Orleans and Philadelphia, despite Pro Football Focus dishing out an average grade of 67/100 on the starting five.

The offense is run by third year offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who is in his first year of play-calling for Tampa Bay. Monken, who has done a phenomenal job thus far in his new role, has brought a new level of scheming thanks to his consistent tailoring of his offense. While not quite at Matt Nagy or Kyle Shanahan levels, Monken has excelled through the roof with his new offense, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Tampa Bay has fared drastically better through the air, and after watching Patrick Mahomes light the Steelers secondary up last week for six touchdowns, the Bucs are surely licking their chops to make a repeat of Pittsburgh’s nightmare defensive performance. Expect Monken to spread the field and utilize his match-ups, whether it be sending a guy like Jackson deep in man coverage, or letting his other receivers work between a shaky zone defense. The Buccaneers will stay honest and still run the ball against a Steelers defense that gives up an average of 4.8 yards per carry, but look for Fitzpatrick to adjust his cape and try to complete a trifecta of heroic performances throwing the football.