Sorry Pass Defense
February 28th, 2026
At least pass defense is consistent.
No one who is considered a defensive guru allows this to happen.
Since Bucs coach Todd Bowles arrived in Tampa Bay in 2019, the Bucs pass defense has almost always finished ranked in the 20s for passing yards allowed.
That shouldn’t happen.
The one year that Bowles and the Bucs had a good pass defense was in 2022, Bowles’ first season as Bucs head coach.
And here is another example from Ryan McCrystal of Sharp Football Analysis.
Allowed 7.9 yards per attempt when the defense failed to generate pressure, ranked 27th.
While that suggests the Bucs can’t get after the quarterback — what’s new? — Joe will suggest the 7.9 yards per pass attempt is pretty close to par for the course with the Bucs.
Consider that the Bucs finished 26th overall in passing yards allowed per attempt. That includes all opponents’ passes, not just passes without pressure.
So no matter how you slice it, the Bucs pass defense stinks. Almost always has since 2019.