Safeties
The last of the defensive groups also happened to be by far the ugliest on Sunday. The Bucs have a legitimate crisis on their hands with their safeties, and sadly it was one that was pretty obvious in the off-season. Against the Rams it showed big time.
On countless passes downfield Conte, Tandy, and McDougald were late to help leaving cornerbacks on unexpected islands. At this point you can pretty much expect a completion if receivers get even a bit of space on their cornerbacks as the Bucs’ safeties are simply unable to come help in time.
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As far as stats go, Chris Conte finished with six tackles and he certainly played some role in their success in the run defense department. Both Tandy and Mcdougald finished with a tackle each.
The low-light of the entire game came on a back-breaking Tavon Austin touchdown in which Keith Tandy allowed the catch and then missed the proceeding tackle.
There’s little reason to think that this group will improve as the season goes on; they simply are who they are as players. Rookie Ryan Smith was active for the first time today and represents the Bucs best hope for better play going forward.