Buccaneers: 5 biggest surprises of the early NFL season
By Rob Leeds
The defense
Little more needs to be said. Bucs fans were the only people in the NFL apparently that knew the defense was going to be great this season, but even they couldn’t have foreseen that it would morph into a top-10 unit.
On a continuation of last season, the front-seven is still able to stifle the run even against the best teams. Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara have already been shut down as runners against this defense, and the defensive line is going to continue to test itself against great talent like Aaron Jones and Dalvin Cook down the road.
The linebackers are also continuing where they left off. Lavonte David won Defensive Player of the Month for September, Devin White has dominated in the tackles category, and the pass rush from the outside backers is one of the most potent in the league.
The area where the most significant improvement has occurred is the secondary. The Buccaneer corners and safeties were liabilities last season, yet they are already off to a scorching start this year. Antoine Winfield Jr. is on track for a tight race for DROY, Carlton Davis has two picks in four games, and Jordan Whitehead, Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Jamel Dean are building off of great 2019 campaigns.
There are still steps that this unit will need to make, but the Buccaneer secondary has emerged as one of the best in the NFL.