Coming off of the frustrating week we all experienced due to Hurricane Irma, the Bucs defense left it all on the field last Sunday against the Bears, in a near shut-out performance that got their first win of the season 29-7.With less than 24 hours before the week 3 kick-off between the Bucs and Vikings, lets take a look at Pro Football Focuses week 2 NFL grades for the Buccaneers.
Per Pro Football Focus, here’s the breakdown of how our defense was graded in week 2.
At the top of the list, with a grade of 90 overall, is Lavonte David. Due to awesome play by the defensive line, David was able to make aggressive plays on the ball, and thanks to Noah Spence’s sack fumble, David’s ball awareness was apparent, when he made a move on the free ball, giving the offense another chance to score.
Our Rookie Linebacker, Kendell Beckwith, graded in 2nd highest in linebackers with an 86.8 overall score. With Kwon Alexander out due to a hamstring injury, Beckwith took over line-backing responsibilities. And while the Bears tested him often, Beckwith came through with an impressive performance on the field, he was quick with the ball as well as very physical with his tackling.
Defensive tackle, Gerald McCoy, graded in with an 89.6 overall score. He pressured Chicago’s quarterback 7 times, causing him to throw interceptions, and his remarkable jump off the snap assisted the Bucs defensive in pushing the line of scrimmage backward 2-3 yards.
Last, but not least, newly signed Buc, Pro Bowler T.J. Ward, graded the next highest at 84.8 overall. Ward found Bears running back, Tarik Cohen, 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage for a loss, in one of his first plays as a Buccaneer.
The Bucs defense is full of play makers throughout, I am confident they will continue to dominate in week 3 against the Vikings tomorrow.
