Bucs took advantage of the Cardinals’ cluelessness and it led to one of the best moments of Tristan Wirfs’ career
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered Week 13 in a must-win situation against the Arizona Cardinals. Thanks to three-straight losses and four defeats in the last five games, the Bucs’ once-firm hold on the NFC South had dissipated. The Carolina Panthers were (and still are) breathing down their neck, making Sunday’s matchup a crucial one. Even […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered Week 13 in a must-win situation against the Arizona Cardinals.
Thanks to three-straight losses and four defeats in the last five games, the Bucs’ once-firm hold on the NFC South had dissipated. The Carolina Panthers were (and still are) breathing down their neck, making Sunday’s matchup a crucial one. Even if it were against a 3-8 Cardinals team.
The Bucs offense continued its recent struggles in the first half as the Cardinals battled and kept the game close. With under two minutes to go, Baker Mayfield and Co. were finally able to get into the end zone thanks to none other than… Tristan Wirfs?
Josh Grizzard used his All-Pro left tackle -plus some trickery- to pull off one of the coolest plays of both the Bucs’ season and the 2025 NFL season as a whole. So, naturally, I had to pull in A to Z NFL’s Kyle Crabbs to break it all down.
Tristan Wirfs and the Bucs made the Cardinals defense look clueless
Kyle: I love how well this play tied together. Any offensive lineman going out on a route must declare themselves as eligible before the play, which Wirfs did on his big touchdown. Tampa Bay running on a sixth offensive lineman and then having Wirfs, a full-time starter, declare as the eligible should have set off alarm bells for Arizona that something was amiss — yet when the Bucs lined up on this play, Wirfs was in his typical alignment at left tackle.
But the Bucs put an extra lineman on the line of scrimmage opposite the center, meaning that Wirfs, while aligned at left tackle, was technically the last man on the line of scrimmage to the left and therefore eligible to run a route after confirming as such with the officials before the play.
This minor detail appeared to pass by Arizona’s secondary. The cherry on top for Grizzard’s play design is that the other receiver to that side of the formation was rookie sensation Emeka Egbuka, who was off the line of scrimmage and ran a slant route that commanded lots of attention from both Cardinals corner Garrett Williams, but also safety Budda Baker.
When Baker Mayfield snapped the ball, he looked right first while Wirfs bluffed a block on Zaven Collins. This really sold the “nothing to see here!” element of this play before Mayfield turned left and Wirfs released from his delay into the flat. It appears as though, based on the rest of Arizona’s coverage landmarks, that Budda Baker did not expect Garrett Williams to stay plastered to Egbuka on the route and to keep leverage into the flat. Williams, obviously, had a different interpretation.
Either way, the assignment breakdown leaves us with one of the best big-man touchdowns of the season.
Evan: The Bucs absolutely need this touchdown to come through. It capped off a frustrating drive highlighted by two highly questionable calls from the refs. There’s also the fact the Cardinals were going to receive the ball to start the second half. To come away with just three, or zero, points would’ve only added to the dysfunction that has surrounded the Bucs offense, lately.
Arizona kicked a field goal to close the half, but the Bucs still had a full-touchdown lead, which helped them build some momentum to eventually make it a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter. That would ultimately provide enough breathing room for the 20-17 win. It’s clear that Wirfs’ touchdown was the springboard the Bucs offense needed to get the job done on Sunday.
Credit to Grizzard, who’s been under some fire lately, for the play design and the presence of mind to call it at this point in the game. It’s a risk-free/high-reward-type play that completely caught the Cardinals off guard. This offense needs all the easy breaks it can get right now and Grizzard set his guys up for success in a big way.
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