Human snowplow.
Tristian Wirfs is Joe’s favorite player. Love everything about him. He’s building a Hall of Fame career.
But there is one thing that irks Joe when it comes to Wirfs. And it’s nothing against Wirfs in any way.
To set this up, Zachary Pereles of CBS typed a column where he had the 100 most important players in the NFL. Pereles has Wirfs at No. 53. But what irks Joe is a claim by Pereles that the Bucs make sure to run behind Wirfs.
Wirfs is one of the standard bearers when it comes to blind-side protectors, and he’s a dominant force in the run game as well. The Buccaneers will look to him to lead the charge after their offensive line dealt with a bevy of injuries last year; Wirfs himself only played in 12 games.
The thing is, the Bucs don’t run behind Wirfs enough, in Joe’s mind. Joe remembers Dave Canales rarely ran behind Wirfs. Canales loved to run the ball but he mostly ran the ball up the middle to either side of Robert Hainsey.
Why Canales rarely ran behind Wirfs bothered Joe.
Even last year, the Bucs didn’t run behind Wirfs enough. But when they did, it was a beautiful thing to see.
Joe will never forget the win over Seattle. That was the Bucs’ best game of the year, beating Seattle in a shootout on the road against the eventual Super Bowl champion.
The Bucs took a 13-0 lead on a seven-yard run by Rachaad White. But it was all Wirfs on the play.
White ran behind Wirfs, who took out his man at the line. Wirfs wasted no time disengaging and splashed a Seahawks linebacker on the second level. Then, Wirfs zeroed in on a Seattle corner on the goal line and positively bulldozed him as White fell across the goal line at Wirfs’ feet.
Wirfs single-handedly almost took out half the Seattle defense on one play. It was absolutely beautiful. Joe damn near stood at full attention.
If Wirfs makes it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, any network covering the event must replay that highlight. Wirfs has some great plays but that play where he snowplowed a defender on each level of the defense to pave a path for White to score was something else, man.
If Joe was a Bucs offensive coordinator, he’d keep running behind Wirfs until a defense proved that they can absorb a block from Wirfs and make a play.