Devin White Comes Up Big In Germany, Looking Past the Bye | Bucs Insider

and about the season. So if you want to send us those, put them underneath the live video on Facebook and the comments section. We'll get to some of those in a little bit. So for now, just go ahead and tell me a little bit about the big picture takeaways from the game and anything that really stood out to you in terms of what this game meant to this team and some of the individuals on it. Well.

I asked Donovan Smith in the locker room up to the game, I said, it was this a statement game for you guys because they've taken some heat, right and they've had adjust to a lot of lineup changes. And he agreed, and really they think of the amount of time that Tom Brady had to throw in that game. He was not sacked, He was only hit one time. He uh he had. He had an average of two point seven eight seconds from the snap to the throw, which is by far his highest average of the year.

In this season, he's been getting involved really really quickly and throwing a lot of short passes. But think about those passes down field. Mike Evanscott went down the sideline kay dot and kind of down the scene. Chris Goblin had one Scotty Miller, remember the one where he jumped at the near the goal line. He had time to look down field and be comfortable and wait and let those plays develop. And that's the little thing. We haven't seen a whole lot of out of this offense this year.

It's a lot more like what we did in two thousand twenty. See here you go with the offensive line statement game. Hundred sixty one rushing yards, zero sacks all that. Also, the Buccaneers had their best third down game. There were ten of fifteen, but really it was ten of thirteen because there were two kneel downs on the third down and the Bucks were over for two in the first

two drives needing ten in fourteen yards. So from then on, the eleven times they tried to convert the third down, they succeeded ten times, which is pretty and that's why you have these extended drives. And part of that was because the good work in the running game was producing a lot of third and one, two, three, and they were there were seven and seven on those, so that all worked together to create a type of offensive output

that we haven't seen a whole lot of this year. Yeah, it felt like every storyline that had been a question mark for the team got answered in this game, right the third and one and third downs on both offense and defense, and the red zone and extending the drives and not making the defense beyond the field too long, faster starts, I mean, you name it, every potential issue except one except one. They still kind of lagged a little bit on defense at the end after a dominant performer.

It was very much like the a little bit of a let up in the second half. Well, not even

the second half, it was like the fourth quarter. Well, yeah, a little bit in the second half, because if it hadn't been for that force fumble by Devin White, then um it could have been a lot of harrier, and I was thinking about that of how important that was of after five games of no turnovers and even you can say even you know, five and a half games, or if you want to depend on how specific you want to get so many games without a turnover, and that play by him, it's a reminder of how big

turnovers are, of what they can do. Because I agree with you that because that came not long after the Seahawks interception on the trick play, and it was Lloyd that we went from the Bucks having all the momentum to suddenly you could feel that shift happening and it felt a little dangerous. And then Devon's play, I mean to me, it was it saved the momentum and potentially saved the game, especially when you look at the fact that they really ended up only winning by five. It's

not like it was this blowout situation. Well, they immediately not only did they get that, but they immediately then drove eighty seven yards for a touchdown. So it was a complete swing of like potentially fourteen points. And so at that point it was twenty one three with about eleven minutes to play, and while the defense did have

some lapses. The rest of them way, they're just ran out of time, right, Yeah, in twenty one three, with eleven mints to play, you're almost always gonna win that game. So it might have seemed a little scary at the end, but the odds were never very strong of Seahawks coming all the way back. Yeah, And so tell me a little bit about not just that play, but Devon White's

game overall. I mean, now we've seen that he's named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week, which very deserving, and um, you know, I know people have probably at this point heard about the emotional side of it for him of losing his dad a few days before the game, so we know what it what it meant to him

personally for this game. You see him sort of acknowledging his dad after that play, but so separate from just the emotions and the personal side of it for him in terms of what that game meant to the team and what we saw about what this means about Devon's

level of play? What did I say? Yeah, well, you probably recall, I'm sure that he was the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for September, so he obviously was playing really, really well, and the Bucks offense, if you probably also recall through the first three games, was killing it. And I think they were averaging nine points allowed per game,

and it was it was the best known league. And then you know, it didn't kind of hold up as much, and and Devon himself took a little bit of heat for a couple of weeks from outside sources, and uh you see this performance and it's very much more like Devon White at his best, and that means a lot to this defense, and especially in terms of getting after the quarterbacks. He had the two sacks because that play counted as a sack, the one we just saw with

the force phone. He had another one, and uh, now he's got I can't remember how many has this year, maybe four point five or something, but over the last well since he came in the league, over four years of off ball linebackers, not edge rushers like Shack Barrett, but off ball linebackers, he's the one with the most sacks of anybody in that span. And that's a big part of what the Buccaneers can do because the Bucketeers are I think maybe second in the league in sacks

as a team, but we don't. I mean, Vita Vea leads us with six point five, we don't have Shack Barrett with ten sacks, right right, is very much a team effort, you know, Antoine Winfield's got three uh and and Devin White is a big part of that effort. He had the two sacks, He had another play where he just shot up the middle and disrupted the play and I think he got credit for a quarterback hit. So that element to the game. It was maybe missing for a little while, but having that bag is big.

And then of course because he did so well, we forgot to mention or I forgot to mention he was named the NFC Defense Player of the Week. Yeah, yeah, it's it's amazing and uh and it's so well deserved and just so happy for him. And you know earlier you didn't mention the longer drives, which of course we know also helps the defense, helps those guys be fresh

to make plays like that. For sure. Um, it's one thing to know that just recently this team had struggled a little bit in terms of putting together longer drives and finishing them. But put into perspective a little bit for U is how impressive. It was how long these drives were, how many of them they were doing that. Did it feel impressive just because of what they've done recently or was it actually a pretty big deal. It's not common that the Bucks did do what they did

in that game. They came into this game with three drives touched on drives of eighty or more yards in the entire first nine games, and they had three in that game. They had an eight eight and eighty seven and an eighty three I think six, So three of the top five longest drives of the entire season touched on drives were in this game. And as you can see there on this chart, doing that three times one game is not common, at least it's not common for

the Bucks. I didn't look it up for every team, but I have charts of of drives going back to two thousand and I could only find five games is including this one in that span where the Buccaneers had three a plus touched on drives in the same game, and they never had four, so they I don't have the information from earlier, but from two thousands on in the last twenty three seasons, that's as good as it's been in terms of sustaining drives. So it's it's not common,

but it is encouraging going forward. But we may not have touchdongs drives next week or the week after, but showing the ability to consistently keep moving the chains is what was encouraging. Yeah, I feel like a couple of weeks ago, Coach Bowls said one of his availabilities about how some of these plays and drives and moments are contagious where you just kind of need to get started, you need to get rolling a bit. And it feels like maybe that game winning drive for the Rams was

that catalyst. It was that thing to remind the team who they are, get that identity back. And then, of course health is just such a huge factor in this and it's why the Bucks were the healthiest team in the league the year they won the Super Bowl. That

is not a coincidence. It wasn't the case last year, and it was not the exactly And I feel like this last game against Seattle was the closest we've seen to having a fully healthy team, because, yeah, you had most of these guys week one, but I think it's safe to say, Chris Godwin, you know you lost in part with through the game and he just wasn't back as much in terms of his legs under him and

all of that. To feel like, you have Antoine Winfield junior back, you have Achem Hicks back, Julio Jones looked like Julio Jones, Chris Godwin looked more like Chris Godwin, both of those guys getting their first touchdowns. I feel like we finally saw the Bucks team that they had envisioned, and you forget how much either Brady having to learn all these new different targets not having that consistency every day. Um, I just feel like this is hopefully a sign of

what this team can be moving forward when they're healthy. So, now that it's the bye week for you, what are the biggest things that you're going to be looking at for this back part of the season. We're past the midway point, but you know by week yeah, kind of a half and half things. So what are the biggest takeaways you feel like you have from that beginning part that will be something you're looking for these back seven Well,

I think you kind of brought it up earlier. The the things that have been ailing the Buccaneers, most of them Third and one third and short third downs, overall red zone. Uh, just basically consistently maintaining that things were doing well, having time to make plays down feel a little bit more, getting Chris Godwin and Julio Jones more involved, that sort of thing. Um, that was all in that evidence is you just very well pointed out in this game in Germany can and continue is at the beginning

of a trend, and I would like to think so. Um. But you also mentioned how coaches talk about momentum, right, and these things building on each other, or turnovers coming in budges and so on. I don't know if that's actually true, but I understand why they feel that way, and maybe that sort of speaks it into existence because they've been through this. I mean, think about the Super Bowl year, right, things weren't going great headed into the bye seven and five better than five and five, but

they weren't going great. I lost three of the last four and then came out of that and just started rolling right, and then everything they were doing well. They were doing well every single week, and so maybe they maybe the fact that they feel like that can happen will help it happen. Yeah, And I think that, Um, It's so interesting how every year when it comes to the bye week, we always end up talking about how thankful we are the bye week is here to get

some guys healthy. I don't remember a time where the week before the bye week we were saying, Wow, look at all these guys we have back healthy, and how what a luxury that is to not be in more of a desperate place and have a late by like this and still feel like you're actually trending upward health wise even before you hit the by. Yeah, and this maybe there's some help get Logan Ryan closer to returning

so they have more options on defense. Again, Uh, it helps that Leonard four Net will have time to rest that hip injury a little bit longer, because hip pointers usually take between one and three weeks to recover from, depending up how serious, and so it can still help. And and then we don't forget. I don't think I'm not saying you forgot this or anything, but a player may not be listed on the injury report. These guys have gone through a lot, and so every everyone's kind

of hurt versus injured. Everybody, Yeah, everybody needs that week off their stiff on Monday. So having the whole week off going into next week, they should feel better, a lot better. Yeah, which is great. Um, and let's kind of close with this. I know something we haven't talked about is Shot White and his incredible game that he had over a hundred yards. He brought up Leonard four Nett and that you know, we shot White in the wake of him for Net being out and even before

he was out was really stepping up. And we've even seen Keyshawn Von get a few carries, you know in these last couple of games. I think he had a ten yard or in this one. So, um, what do you feel like you're intrigued to see in terms of just how this running back room is used? And is this we know that they've wanted to establish the run game like this all season and what it is that has finally happened between them and the old line that do we see this moving forward? How much is each

guy maybe being used? What is the Buccaneers run game look like ideally going forward? Well, first, Keyshawn Von, you were right he did. He had an eleven yeard game was actually on a reception. It was a really good play to spend away from the tackler. And it was a key first down when they were trying to run out the clocks over so that was good overall. Obviously, we shot and White was great and he has shown

flashes with that. And then when he got a chance to get twenty two carries, you saw that somewhere along the way he's going to break for you. A couple of times. He had a yon yarder in an eighteen yarder, which are the bucks two longest runs of the entire season. And of course we can't not mention the incredible stiff arm that sent Quandre Digs into another zimpuns amazing and uh, it was funny hearing them talk about it because they asked him how that happened. Is that I don't know.

I just I started stutter stepping to set him up for something, but I didn't know what that was gonna be, and then it just happened. So anyway, that's for the whole overall game. I'm gonna assume that Leonard Fournette is back for the Cleveland game, or if not, he doesn't miss much time. So we're contemplating what the backfield will look like with both Leonard and healthy. I don't think it's gonna be a flip. So Leonard's played about the

snaps so far ras played about thirty. I don't think you're gonna see that flip and and Rashad become the lead guy. But I do think that you will probably find closing that gap something more like that, because you get to the point where you can't ignore this guy's producing big players when you can get him on the field. On the other hand, Leonard Fournett has a very good track where God and the coaches trust him, Tom Brady trust him, and we have seen that when Lenny gets hot,

he can really get on a roll like playoffs. So you don't want to take away that from your offense and and uh and you know, lose the possibility of him getting on heater, right, But you also probably want to see a little bit more of a shod white. So I just expect to see that gap clothes a little bit. Probably not if both those guys are healthy. Probably not a whole lot of options opportunities for Keyshawn Bibi. All right, Well, that's going to do it for us

on this edition of Bucks Insider Live. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time.