Buccaneers on Tape: What the Vikings showed in Week 2

DEFENSE

Looking at the Vikings defense, I had to look at Xavier Rhodes because of his match-up against these Buccaneers receivers.

Honestly though, the Bucs have enough weapons where they really don’t have to throw at Rhodes unless they want to.

Now, Jameis Winston fully challenged Richard Sherman last season, so I don’t see him shying away from Rhodes either.

The first thing I saw I thought was interesting mostly for the times he lines up against DeSean Jackson.

See, I’d never say Rhodes wasn’t a physical enough or tough enough corner, but it did strike me as odd when I saw a lack of physicality at the line of scrimmage against the Steelers receivers.

Granted they are faster than they are strong, and Evans is stronger than he is fast, so maybe this will be different against him. If Rhodes guards Jackson this way though, it could get interesting. Take a look.

Here, Rhodes is matched up with Antonio Brown at the bottom of the screen. He’s pressed up, and usually, I’d expect to see some hand fighting at the snap.

But that’s not what we get at all. Instead, Rhodes has his hands tucked in his pockets as Brown eats up his cushion and actually extends an arm, almost out of habit, to fend off Rhodes.

It’s not until Brown is passing Rhodes on a deep route that the cornerback gets physical with him, ultimately drawing a pass interference penalty.

Clearly, too much contact here, and it’s in no way a football play. Instead, Rhodes got beat and was bailing himself out.

I went deeper and deeper into the game film, and it’s the same throughout. Rhodes simply doesn’t do anything to knock Steelers receivers off their routes or timing when they’re coming off the line of scrimmage.

If he does the same against Jackson, this could make for a big play or two this Sunday.

Moving into the run game for the Buccaneers. If they take a cue from the Steelers, there won’t be much running going on the left side of their formation.

Pittsburgh ran the ball seven times on the left side of their offensive line. This is the side where Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph usually align themselves.

For their troubles, they came away with 16-yards on those seven tries, including a reverse which gained seven in one shot. So that’s nine-yards on six more carries. Not much success found there.

Especially when you consider that’s counting a three-yard gain negated by a hold. No film photos to show you here. Bottom line is, running against Joseph and Griffen’s side of the defense isn’t easy. Even if you have arguably the best running back in the NFL.

Next: Vikings Strengths and Weaknesses

It’s the pass rush I want to show you here.

Specifically, a 3rd-and-7 play from the Vikings’ eight-yard line with 5:46 remaining in the second quarter, coming off a timeout by Pittsburgh.

This is a situation the Buccaneers could easily find themselves in on Sunday, and one they’ll need to execute better than the Steelers did in this instance.

Ben Roethlisburger comes out with his guys in an 11 personnel group, with two of his three receivers bunched against the offensive line on his left along with his tight end playing inline. Le’Veon Bell is the single back playing nine-yards off the line.

The Vikings counter with a nickel look, pretty standard stuff for a three-receiver set. The idea behind this offensive formation when going with a pass play, is to look like you’re running and get the defense to over-commit against it, or at least hesitate long enough to get someone open.

Notice however, the Vikings don’t bunch up or crowd the box. Instead, they play the situation, and keep their formation open to force a field goal. It’s a very good formation design, which is designed to take advantage of over aggressive defenses, which Minnesota can sometimes become.

Here though, the Vikings linebackers and secondary players stay with their assignments without committing to the play action. This is key, because when the play doesn’t work out the way they want it to, there simply isn’t a lot of space for Pittsburgh’s offensive players to move around since they are so bunched together inside the 10-yard line.

You can see in the screen grab, the second and third level Vikings defenders aren’t biting on the play action. None of them is crashing down on the run, which is good.

Because of this disciplined execution by the Vikings. Every receiver is covered, including double coverage on Brown, and there’s a guy watching in case Big Ben tries to go for a big run.

Now, for arguments sake, and because no play is perfect, there is a immensely small window where Roethlisburger could have possibly delivered a ball towards the back left third of the endzone and Bryant may have gotten to it with his defender’s back to the quarterback. This is illustrated with the blue line and white ‘x’, but again, the window was very short, considering he’d just shook off pressure from Griffen and there were three Vikings in his window.

Now, this is all very impressive by the Minnesota defense, but the picture above is really where I’d ask the Buccaneers to pay attention. It’s the exact same picture, with a different focal point.

Tampa’s quarterback has very similar traits to Pittsburgh’s, especially when it comes to giving up on a play. Meaning, they don’t.

Now, I think I understand what tight end Jesse James is doing here. Everson Griffen had beaten him to the quarterback, and Roethlisburger was able to shed the initial sack attempt. So now, James has two choices.

Run out for a quick dump off pass, or get on top of Griffen and keep him from getting his quarterback a second time.

He chose un-wisely.

I don’t know if I’d be more surprised to see Roethlisburger throw it away, or look behind him for a receiver when trying to score a touchdown.

James apparently thought this made sense, and far be it for me for knocking a player in the heat of the moment. He’s trying to become an available target for his quarterback, I get it. The thought is nice, but he might as well be knitting an icepack carrier for his quarterback, because that would benefit Roethlisburger more here than letting Griffen get back up and climb on his back.

The lesson here, is for Donovan Smith, Cameron Brate, O.J. Howard and whomever may be tasked with blocking Griffen.

If you get him down, or your quarterback dances around him, stay on top of him. Your quarterback doesn’t quit on plays, and neither does Griffen.

Should you feel the urge to run downfield to try and become an open receiver, at least run downfield. This isn’t rugby, and Winston isn’t going to be pitching the ball five yards behind him anytime soon.

*Now watch, he’ll do just that this weekend.

I’ve given you a lot to chew on, and only covered four players.

Mike Remmers, Dalvin Cook, Xavier Rhodes and Everson Griffen are all going to be big parts of this game whether the Buccaneers win or lose.

I like Noah Spence to take advantage of Remmers’ deficiencies, Lavonte David and Chris Conte to help contain Cook, DeSean Jackson to make Rhodes pay for a lack of physicality off the line, and I pray Alan Cross, Cameron Brate, O.J. Howard or a combination of them can help Donovan Smith keep Griffen off our quarterback.

This is what I saw. How am I wrong? Maybe I’m right? Give me your opinion. I know you have one, don’t just sit there, tell it to me!

Comment, find me on Facebook, Twitter, or email me at walkingtheplankpodcast@gmail.com to discuss this or anything Buccaneers related.

I was 45 words shy of hitting 3,000 so I decided to write some more. Don’t judge me, I worked a long time on this and deserve to hit 3Gs. The Buccaneers win this game 26-13 and Winston will have two touchdown passes. Thank you.