Another week, another Sunday where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers outsmarted their opponent and colelcted a win.
Last week there was a lot made about how Baker Mayfield figured out the Minnesota Vikings defensive signals less than halfway through the game. Some tried to frame this as cheating, while people who actually watch the games noted it was a display of high football IQ by a guy we're not used to seeing it from.
This week it was the defense's turn to get in on the mind games.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the Bucs only up by a field goal and plenty of time left for the Bears to mount a comeback drive, Shaq Barrett picked off Justin Fields and returned it for a touchdown. The pick six sealed the victory for Tampa Bay, was an incredibly special moment for Barrett, and was apparently something the Bucs saw coming from a mile away.
Lavonte David says 'everybody knew what was coming' on Justin Fields pick six
Bucs linebacker Lavonte David talked about the big play after the game and revealed that the defense knew what was going to happen before the ball was even snapped. Chicago ran a screen on the previous two plays and rather than changing things up, decided to run the same exact play a third time in a row.
That third time was the charm for the Bucs defense.
"It was the same formation, everybody knew what was coming," David said. "Playmakers make plays/ His number was called and he made a big play."
To be fair, it didn't take a genius to figure out what the Bears were doing -- which is a pretty massive indictment of how things are going for Chicago. It's also not a slight against the defense, as good teams are supposed to beat bad ones when they make stupid mistakes. That's exactly what happened, and it was a breath of fresh air.
Given how mistake-riddled last season was for Tampa Bay, it's nice to see the shoe on the other foot.
More locker room video from Sunday: Lavonte David says “everybody knew what was coming” from Bears on Shaq Barrett’s game-clinching pick-six: pic.twitter.com/F3tdDsjGy4
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 18, 2023
It seems like a small thing, but the fact that the Bucs are operating on this high of a level this early in the season is a fantastic sign of things to come. The schedule gets a little tougher in the coming weeks, with a Monday Night Football showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles up next. After that the Bucs have games against the Lions, Falcons, and Bills -- all teams that appear to be contenders early in the year.
We're going to learn a lot about just how real this Bucs team is in the next few weeks, but so far they're doing all the right things. Capitalizing on dumb mistakes is an opportunity Tampa Bay afforded other teams last year, and it's clear they aren't going to let that happened this time around.