The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have needed quite a few areas of their game to get better in 2025, and the pass rush has been a big part. The Bucs’ pass rush has been largely ineffective this year, but it’s also dealt with injuries — particularly with $14 million-pass rusher Haason Reddick, who’d been out since Week 7 with an ankle sprain.
Reddick returned in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals, though, and the Bucs had one of their better pass rushing efforts on the year. netting a 40.00% pressure rate, 15 hurries and two sacks on the day. Head coach Todd Bowles spoke to the media on Monday, and he evaluated the team’s pass rush and spoke on Reddick’s return to the lineup.
Todd Bowles liked pass rush, but still identifies key to work on
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea and linebacker Yaya Diaby sack Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
“As a pass rush group, I thought we got back there quite a bit. I thought we missed quite a bit of them, but we did get back there and put pressure on him, Haason included. I thought he did well for his first game back, but we’ve got to get him on the ground. We missed about five of them where we could have had him on the ground.”
Per SumerSports, the best pass rusher on the day was DT Vita Vea, who had a 17.24% pressure rate, two quarterback hurries and one sack. DT Logan Hall (16.67% pressure rate, four hurries) and OLB Yaya Diaby (13.79% pressure rate, one hurry, one sack) also contributed in a big way, suggesting that Tampa Bay’s interior defensive front led the day in pressure. Should the Buccaneers get interior pass rusher Calijah Kancey back before the end of the season, as some have suggested, the Bucs’ pass rush could get even more lethal.
However, there were some ups and downs when it came to Reddick’s pass rushing. He had just a 7.14% pressure rate, per SumerSports, and he wasn’t able to land a sack on the day — additionally, his average time to pressure was 2.50 seconds, .05 slower than his season average. However, he did have a 10.71% hurry rate, close to his season average, and his EPA per pass rushing snap of 0.16 EPA/play is also around his average.
The Bucs have their next game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, and last time they faced the Saints in Week 8, they had their best pass-rushing game of the year. They had an unbelievable 44.26% pressure rate and five sacks in that game, per SumerSports, so the pass rush could see an even bigger jump here in Week 14 once the Bucs host the Saints at home.
READ MORE: Vita Vea passes elite company in Buccaneers franchise history
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