The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came up just short in Week 9, losing 27-24 to a contending Chicago Bears team. They can thank their elite rushing attack for keeping the game close down the stretch, as the run game, once again, carried the offense on its back. And unlike in. previous games where the entire running back stable got involved, Bucky Irving did it all on his own on Sunday Night Football.
On top of shouldering the bulk of the carries, Irving had no help from Baker Mayfield and the dreadful passing attack to take the pressure off of him in the box, yet he still toasted Jeffery Simmons and the Chicago Bears' top-5 run defense to the tune of 97 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, nearly averaging five yards per carry.
The question now becomes, can Irving handle that workhorse role consistently and still remain healthy down the stretch?
Buccaneers need to protect Bucky Irving from himself
This season, Irving has been by far the best player on the Buccaneers offense and one of the only players truly worth celebrating. He has reclaimed his superstar status after injuries derailed his 2025 NFL season. Irving has notched 825 rushing yards through nine games, putting him on pace for over 1,500 rushing yards -- a new career high. Meanwhile, he is averaging 4.9 yards per carry and nearly has a rushing touchdown per game with seven.
Those are insane numbers, but the Buccaneers have to figure out how to keep him fresh and healthy down the stretch. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles is already talking about how he is going to manage Irving's touches and workload, which becomes especially important considering he is only 24; the Bucs need him for the next decade.
Bowles told reporters that he plans on scaling back Irving's carries, which presumably means more touches for Kenny Gainwell and Sean Tucker. And that's not a bad thing at all for the Bucs or for Irving,whose best performances this season in terms of yardage and yards per carry have come when Gainwell and Tucker get theirs, too.
“I think the bye week for him has come at a perfect time. I think he's tough and he's handling everything right now, but I don't know if he has the frame to keep up that type of workload. We're gonna have to take some of the carries off of him, and it's hard to do because he's playing such great football right now. And he's our bell cow, but we still gotta be wary of trying to keep him upright the entire season.”
It's great that Bowles is thinking proactively about managing Irving's workload, but he has to answer what that looks like and how many carries he can take off Irving without hurting the offense, especially knowing that Irving is easily the offense's most important player, especially as Baker Mayfield and the passing offense continue to struggle.
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