Bucs’ pass rush finds itself in an tough spot and the answer to fixing it might be staring Todd Bowles in the face
Todd Bowles has always been an aggressive blitzer. Maybe it’s time to lean the other way after looking at some numbers and tape.
They say sacks and takeaways come in bunches, right?
That’s certainly been the case for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025. From Weeks 3-8, the Bucs racked up 21.0 sacks and 12 takeaways over the course of six games. They went on their bye in Week 9 and have amassed just 4.0 sacks and six takeaways in the four games, since.
And get this: They’ve allowed six touchdowns of 25+ yards since Week 10, which equals the takeaways and betters the sacks accrued over the same span. In other words – that’s not good.
A big reason why the defense has taken a step back is the lack of a pass rush and right now, the pass rush is in a weird spot when it comes to functionality and philosophy.
In the past, the Bucs have always had to blitz in order to generate sacks. From 2019-2024 Todd Bowles’ crew has averaged right around 47.0 sacks per year and nearly 47% of those sacks were generated through the blitz.
2025 has been completely different, thus far. Through 12 games, the Bucs have 29.0 sacks on the year and just 10 of them have been generated via blitzing.
The Bucs’ pass rush has been a lot more effective without the blitz. Not only have nearly 66% of sacks come from a four-man rush, but the Bucs have the ninth-fastest time to pressure when sending four guys and the 32.8% pressure rate is the highest it’s been since 2020, when Bowles generated a 34.7% pressure rate without blitzing.
So, what’s been the difference this year? It’s pretty simple: The secondary has been playing a lot better which has given the guys up front a big boost when it comes to getting opposing QBs on the ground.
The Bucs secondary averages just 3.2 yards of separation when sending four or fewer pass rushers, which is the sixth-highest mark in the league. The secondary hasn’t been any better than 13th since 2021 when it comes to his metric and it’s ranked 26th or worse in four of those five years. That makes a huge difference because the Bucs haven’t had a true No. 1 pass rusher up front and if that’s the case the secondary needs to be on point, which it clearly hasn’t been before this year.
Something has been off up front since Week 10, however, as the secondary has still been solid, for the most part. The easiest direction to point to is the loss of Haason Reddick and that makes total sense as he’s easily one of the top-2 pass rushing options on the team.
But, what if it’s simply the fact Bowles needs to stop blitzing as much and lean on his secondary more? It’s an intriguing idea that, while out of character, has enough traction at this point to where it’s worth looking into.
A four-man pass rush makes it easier on defenders, for the most
There’s a lot going on in a Bowles secondary and blitzing only creates more room for miscommunication, poor execution, and mismatches. Everyone needs to work in concert on every single play in order for things to consistently work, but this is especially true when defenses send extra guys after the quarterback.
Creating a plan for the pass rush is a weekly endeavor that involves a lot of factors and a good chunk of them don’t even have to do with the defense, as to A to Z NFL’s Kyle Crabbs points out below.
“I believe that pass rush is far too often oversimplified. Consider this — every pass rush plan a team constructs is different. You take into account not just the concepts and timing of an offense but also the habits of opposing quarterbacks. Does he like to escape the sides of the pocket or does he spike vertically out of interior gaps? Is he a slow processor who holds the ball? Or is he super quick with his release while trying to space the field and make fast decisions, too? Does he have a long delivery? Where does he hold the ball? What does the opposing offense like to do when you show pressure? Are you trying to attack an individual player in the opposing protection scheme with stunts and games, or are you trying to unleash your own talent on the field to win against any matchup you catch?
“There’s so much more to this than simply beat the man and attack the quarterback. Far too often, the vast majority of a collective pass rush plan succeeds — but one loss by one individual out of the four or five rushing players can concede the space that is the difference between a pressure and a sack. As much as we want to make the performance of a unit’s sack totals an individual accolade, more often than not it is a unit achievement. The greats can hunt individually and roll up back sack numbers — but you better have a top-10 pass rusher on your roster if you want to live this way and convert your pressure opportunities into sacks.”
It’s yet another example of how a four-man rush can help simplify things. It helps the secondary focus on the assignments that matter instead of filling voids or even getting after the QB, themselves, and the pass rushers can you know, rush the passer instead of dropping back in coverage like we’ve seen so many times throughout Bowles’ tenure.
Bowles can still have it both ways and throw his exotic looks at guys, too. There were a few sacks generated through zone/sim pressures that involved heavy looks along the line just to see guys drop back into coverage as the ball is snapped. And of course, he can dial up the super-exotic blitzes on obvious passing downs and gotta-have-it moments.
The secondary has been playing well enough to warrant this conversation and if it’s done properly it can get the pass rush back on track for a crucial final five-game stretch.
