Tampa Bay Buccaneer honored by NFL for huge performance in division-clinching win
There were plenty of standouts in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 27-19 win over the New Orleans Saints that clinched the NFC South for the fourth straight year. Mike Evans was the storyline of the day, reaching 1000 yards for the 11th straight season to tie Jerry Rice. Jalen McMillan had one of the catches of […]
There were plenty of standouts in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 27-19 win over the New Orleans Saints that clinched the NFC South for the fourth straight year.
Mike Evans was the storyline of the day, reaching 1000 yards for the 11th straight season to tie Jerry Rice. Jalen McMillan had one of the catches of the year for the winning points.
However, it was Yaya Diaby who quietly had one of the best games in the league that helped Tampa Bay come back from 16-6 halftime deficit to prevail. And on Wednesday, the league honored him with the NFC's Defensive Player of the Week Award for Week 18.
It's the first time for a Buccaneers edge rusher to win the weekly award since the 2020 season, when Shaq Barrett took one home.
Diaby had a major impact on the game Sunday. He had five tackles, but four of them were for a loss. He added a sack and had four total quarterback hits. He became the fourth player this year to win the award with at least four tackles for loss and four quarterback hits, joining Detroit's Aidan Hutchinson, Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson, and San Francisco's Nick Bosa.
Diaby's sack total in his first season has a full-time starter has dipped a bit. He posted 4.5 this year as opposed to 7.5 last year. However, his total number of quarterback hits has more than doubled, going from 8 to 20 while increasing his total tackles from 38 to 54 and tackles for loss from 12 to 13.
Diaby becomes the fourth Buccaneer to win NFC player of the week honors. However, he's the first defender to win it. Sean Tucker won it in Week 6, Bucky Irving in Week 13, and Baker Mayfield in Weeks 15 and 17.
The Bucs will need another huge performance from Diaby on Sunday night in the Wild Card round against a surging Washington Commanders offense led by star rookie Jayden Daniels.
Bucs’ huge improvement has to show up against Commanders or else they’ll lose the Wild Card matchup
Sure, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known for an aggressive, blitzing-style offense under head coach Todd Bowles and it's been that way since he arrived in 2019. But another major trait has been the Bucs' run defense. Year-in and year-out, it's been one of the NFL's best and opponents typically have a very tough time […]
