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By Bob Sturm
20m ago
We had some real unknowns heading into this first contest, but one that we felt good about was that Dallas was going to have a real chance to rattle the Tampa Bay offensive line.
After all, Tampa Bay would be without Ryan Jensen and Ali Marpet up front and both were considered well-above-average veterans at left guard and center. Jensen suffered a huge injury in training camp and Marpet retired as a young player last year. Then, Donovan Smith, their fine left tackle was also going to be out of service after just 23 plays on Sunday night.
So, the Bucs would walk into a loud environment without any real quality experience at center, left guard and early in the game left tackle, too.
Surely, this can be exploited.
And yes, Micah Parsons did. Without Parsons’ beautiful domination on two third downs in the first half, this game could have been out of hand much earlier than it was. Still, he did not wreck the game as he can.
Nor did the 11 defensive linemen that the Cowboys kept on the roster. Sure, there were good signs from a few of them — Osa Odighizuwa again showed to be very nice, Trysten Hill flashed a bit — but there was nothing that put the Tampa Bay offense in a big bind.
In fact, the truth is that Tampa Bay put drives together at a very high rate in the first three quarters and then the game was virtually on ice. Leading 19-3 entering the fourth quarter, the Bucs were content to run the game out of life and leave with a victory.
Look at their drive charts. Anything that ends in Dallas territory and has multiple first downs is a successful drive. Of the Bucs’ first seven drives, they scored on five and missed a field goal. By these measures, we should be lucky this game wasn’t more like 31-3.
This is the issue with the premise that this is a dominant or elite Dallas defense. If you come to AT&T Stadium with a compromised offensive line and uncertainty at other spots of the offense and you have to deal with the Dan Quinn/Micah Parsons experience, we should hope your punter is getting more use than this.
But, we should also know that Tom Brady is Tom Brady and underestimating the oldest starting QB in the history of the sport is how a lot of people have been humiliated. I wouldn’t say the Cowboys suffered that indignity Sunday night, but they also didn’t do too much to trouble the man they have never beaten, despite many opportunities over his celebrated career.
But here is something we didn’t anticipate seeing Sunday – the Leonard Fournette show. He has had bigger days in the NFL, but they were all with Jacksonville. This was the biggest performance in his 28 games in a Tampa Bay uniform and it definitely lends a hint into what the Buccaneers might try to do more of this year.
Either way, if you knew Fournette was going to be running the rock like that, wouldn’t you think they would run behind the right side of the line? You know, the healthy side?
Nope. This Next Gen chart from the NFL shows us the path that Fournette took and it was left, left, left.
When you have that many green lines going in the same direction, we can see two things:
1. Tampa Bay thought it could attack a certain side of Dallas’ defense and 2)
2. The Buccaneers weren’t wrong. We know that Trevon Diggs has a complicated scouting report and run defense is always going to be an adventure, but apparently the left edge and linebacker play could use some work, too. Let’s focus on that in our film study below in a bit.
For now, let’s look at the overall performance of the defense:
Weekly data box: Week 1
The overall metrics are not bad. I didn’t break out the red ink on any of them because these are numbers in the range of reasonable expectations for an NFL defense — 19 points and 347 yards. This is a league where 344 yards and 22 offensive points are the averages, so you bet this team would take this performance against an elite opponent.
It wasn’t bad at all. It also wasn’t great. How do you grade that? If at no point Tampa Bay felt like its offense was struggling and that it could have scored much more than it did, it is tough to say the Quinn defense was excellent. It wasn’t.
The defense also was not that bad. Lukewarm!
Next Gen: Tom Brady throw chart
Here is the Brady chart and again, what I love about that offense is that a few times a quarter — it feels like every drive — the Buccaneers are going up top for a kill-shot play. It almost feels like a set objective of their core beliefs. We will rattle the cages of the defensive backfield often enough that they think it could come at any moment. Be ready, because we are going to throw it over your head. It is coming your way. And Brady’s arm is still fantastic.
Tampa Bay personnel groupings
It wasn’t all bad for the Dallas defense. We know that. We saw decent moments which is why we keep splash plays here with our friends at TruMedia offering the tabulations. Last year, Parsons ran away with the total, but big Osa is actually the player who got to three in the first week.
Cowboys splash plays: Week 1
Parsons is a beast and it is great to see that the sky is his limit. We knew that and we knew that the best chance for Dallas to hit its best potential season is the continued destruction of plays by the young lion. He is remarkable and had two huge sacks that probably converted potential touchdowns into field goal chances. Seriously these two plays below might have turned 14 points into just three Sunday and maybe that is the difference between 30-3 and 19-3.
On the first one, Parsons hit him with the unreal spin move to the inside that would make Von Miller proud. Just a remarkable play that barely beat Odighizuwa to the QB and opened his sack account in 2022. Also, it was the play that knocked Smith out of the game and should have really weakened the Bucs even further.
This one above is even more beautiful in that poor Josh Wells has to deal with his get-off to the outside and has no chance. Again, look at Odighizuwa winning on the inside, too! He is off to a very nice start, so you have to love what Parsons and his buddy from that same 2021 draft are showing early. It remains crazy how great Parsons is at something that we weren’t even sure about as he was a run-and-hit linebacker who might be a top-5 edge rusher in the NFL.
Just crazy.
Film study
The following is a five-play study on the Buccaneers running directly at the left side of the offense and behind a group that was trying to get its sea legs, but knew when and where it wanted to attack Dallas. It was a clear and present objective of Tampa’s plan. It is all seen best in the banana stand.
First quarter, (2:47) L.Fournette left end to DAL 25 for 17 yards (M.Parsons).
This first one is 13 personnel with a weakside pulling guard (No. 69 Shaq Mason) running power right at the Cowboys flank. You will definitely see a trend on these that seem to attack Dallas with a focus on finding Diggs (7) and either Anthony Barr (42), Leighton Vander Esch (55), or both. No. 99 is Chauncey Golston, by the way.
Golston gets walled off by tight end Ko Kieft (41) and Barr gets the same from tight end Cade Otton (88). You have your two bigs on the edge blocked easily and this photo is what’s left.
Diggs vs. the pulling right guard with Big Len behind him. There is no way Diggs is going to win this play and there is no way he should be blamed for it. This is just poor general alignment when you see this many “bigs” lined up left of center.
At this moment, the question quickly becomes: What do you think is going to happen?
I need some better work up front and more awareness of the personnel grouping.
Second quarter, (10:06) L.Fournette left end pushed ob at DAL 13 for 10 yards (L.Vander Esch).
This one is not that different a concept, but it is 11 personnel. Still, three blockers outside the tackle on the left and Chris Godwin (14) is going to motion over and take Jourdan Lewis (2) with him.
That leaves Otton, who is going to crack down on and take out DeMarcus Lawrence (90). Julio Jones will do the same to Jayron Kearse (27). Once that happens, the left tackle can pull around both of those and go find work.
Guess who the only guy left is against the sprinting 338-pound left tackle?
Yes, Diggs again.
Look at that frame and see Diggs vs. a man almost twice his size. No other defender is even close to the scene. Where are my linebackers? Where is my safety? On this play, Diggs has to turn the play inside. You simply cannot allow it to get outside you.
But, once Diggs gets out-flanked, Fournette has the sideline and the team is in trouble. He could have done better, but the Cowboys are being out-schemed here.
Third quarter, (8:07) (Shotgun) L.Fournette left end to TB 32 for 11 yards (D.Armstrong).
Let’s do this again.
This time, we have three receivers right and running back left with the pulling center and left tackle as their tight end cracks down again on the Cowboys’ RDE Dorance Armstrong (92).
Armstrong and Neville Gallimore (96) are slanting inside hard at the snap and it looks like Gallimore is shooting the gap of the pulling center. Problem is, if you don’t get to the ball, they are out the gate. Can Barr turn everything back inside? Yes.
But, again, we have the pulling center vs. Diggs with help arriving too late in the safety and Armstrong rallying back to the ball — 11 more yards.
Holy heck. Fournette must feel like Emmitt Smith. Every run all he sees are good things and pulling linemen with no obstacles.
Two more.
Third quarter, (7:33) (Shotgun) L.Fournette left end to TB 41 for 9 yards (J.Kearse).
Fournette is supposed to run right but sees the flow is so aggressive that he cuts back to go at Diggs and Kearse again.
You would love to see Barr better on the scene, but it is tough to say that Barr and Vander Esch were very good in this game.
They were just not able to anticipate what Fournette would do and were a step behind. When that happens, he has no resistance to the second level and now you need Diggs to contain again.
He does and turns him back to Kearse, but we are nine yards downfield again.
Last one.
Fourth quarter, (11:12) (Shotgun) L.Fournette left end ran ob at TB 27 for 14 yards (T.Diggs).
By the fourth quarter, it is just one left run after the next.
Again, Tampa is pulling Mason and he will have only Donovan Wilson (6) to block. Everyone else up front is winning for the Bucs and Vander Esch can’t get there as he gets blocked off by another tight end.
If Mason gets his block, Fournette is out of the gate.
Again, you look at the screen and see a back-pedaling Diggs, but is that really your plan against pulling guards and tackles who are sprinting at your corner with no real impediments?
I get that we all need an easy explanation and Diggs is definitely not Antoine Winfield Sr., but this isn’t because your corner hates to tackle. It is because you are getting your tails whooped at the snap with either scheme or execution and the little guy on the edge is the only guy left to deal with the two or three guys running right at him.
And as we always say in this league, now you will see it every week until it gets cleaned up.
