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Buccaneers Game Grades: 2017 Week 7 loss to Buffalo Bills

By Philip Schwegler

ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 22: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks towards the sideline during the second quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 22: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks towards the sideline during the second quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CA – OCTOBER 23: Gerald McCoy #93 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks onto the field prior to playing the San Francisco 49ers in their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium on October 23, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – OCTOBER 23: Gerald McCoy #93 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks onto the field prior to playing the San Francisco 49ers in their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium on October 23, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

What can be said about the defensive line that hasn’t been said already? The Buccaneers are desperate for some help up front on the defensive side of the ball.

Throughout much of the game, Tyrod Taylor had his way with running through the d line. There were no signs of much pressure or moving the line backwards. Much like last week against the Cardinals, LeSean McCoy had an impressive day against the Buccaneers defensive front.

McCoy finished his day against the Bucs with 91 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. At some point this defensive front needs to stop the run and cause the opposing quarterback to make mistakes.

The Buccaneers currently have seven sacks on the year. Defensive End Robert Ayers had the lone sack of the day. The d line as a whole accounted for just 8 tackles on the day while giving up 53 rushing yards to Taylor.

There were plays to be made within the trenches, but poor tackling and some missed gap assignments prevented this unit from really showing a strong froce on the stat sheet.

The one well-played series by a defensive lineman occurred with 5:40 left in the third. The Bucs needed a stop to get Winston and the offense another chance to score. Noah Spence, along with Kendall Beckwith, got some room off the edge and created some pressure on Taylor to throw an incomplete ball to L. McCoy.

One could argue that the d line would’ve gotten more done during the game if some very obvious holding calls occurred but were followed by no yellow flags being thrown. Ayers was a victim of this pretty much all game along with G. McCoy.

Grade: D+

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