Five Key Takeaways From the Buccaneers' Re-Energizing Win Over the Vikings
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are back on the right track. After a much-needed bye week to iron out issues across both the offense and defense, the Bucs were able to snap a three-game home losing streak by defeating the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 26-14 on Sunday.
This win moves Tampa Bay to 8-5, clinching the tie-breaker between the Bucs and Vikings as Minnesota entered the game as the No. 7 seed in the NFL playoff picture, just behind the No. 6 Buccaneers. Now, Tampa Bay will finish its season off against Atlanta twice, as well as Detroit in between those divisional games, with a bit of momentum after the week off.
Tampa Bay's playoff chances jumped 16 percentage points to 95% following the triumph, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Below, you can find our five key takeaways from the Bucs' refreshing victory over the Vikings.
Play-calling was balanced, and solid rushing production opened up play action
Although the Bucs got off to another slow start with punts on their first two drives, Tampa Bay didn't give up on the run game and the offense found a rhythm. The next four drives ended in points: Touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown.
Deep balls were hit or miss for Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady as he got off to a less than ideal start, missing numerous passes, but he ended up connecting with wide receiver Scotty Miller for a 48-yard touchdown on the third drive to get things rolling. Miller had two receptions for 14 yards over his previous three games after a hot start to his second season.
After starting the game 1-of-4 passing for nine yards, Brady finished the first half 9-of-13 for 131 yards and the touchdown. Meanwhile, running back Ronald Jones II took all of the Bucs' 11 first-half carries for just 33 yards, but scored as the half neared its close.
Brady would go on to finish his day with a second score, in the third quarter that came off of play-action with Joe Haeg reporting as a sixth offensive lineman to tight end Rob Gronkowski, and ended up 15-of-23 for 196 yards. Two plays prior, Brady found wide receiver Mike Evans for 29 yards down the left sideline on a play-action pass which set Tampa Bay up at Minnesota's six-yard line,. LeSean McCoy entered the game as a rusher earlier on the drive and posted four consecutive carries for 32 total yards.
A change-of-pace from Jones at that point freed up some room for the starting back to gain 47 yards on seven second-half attempts as Tampa looked to control the ball and clock to close the game out offensively.
Tampa Bay's secondary held its own, forcing Minnesota to look elsewhere from Thielen and Jefferson
Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson have been one of the NFL's top wide receiver tandems throughout the year, but didn't produce like one on Sunday. The two combined for seven receptions and 78 yards, neither scoring a touchdown on the day. The two combined for 12 targets, with Jefferson catching four-of-eight.
The Vikings ran the ball heavily, including 16 rushing attempts on their first 22 plays. That opened up Thielen for two receptions of 15 yards each, before an otherwise rather quiet day.
Jefferson caught two passes for 17 yards in the second quarter before three consecutive passes that went his way fell incomplete. Cornerback Carlton Davis III broke up a touchdown pass to Jefferson that could have resulted in a touchdown if not for great coverage as the pass was thrown well and where only Jefferson could come down with it. Jefferson's next successful target came on a two-point conversion, and he posted another two short catches after that but nothing more.
Minnesota turned to its tight ends and even fullback Cortez Ham for help in the passing game. Those players finished with 12 receptions for 125 yards and quarterback Kirk Cousins' lone touchdown pass of the day, caught by tight end Irv Smith Jr.
The Bucs' pass rush came to play, but struggled to contain at times
Cousins posted a career-high in rushing yards with 41 as there were open lanes up the gut of the defense early in the game. That won't cut it against actual dual-threat quarterbacks, but it ended up being a-okay on Sunday as the Bucs still sacked Cousins six times and pressured him throughout the entirety of the game.
Three of those sacks came on third downs. Two of the third down sacks, coming via linebacker Shaq Barrett and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, were earlier in the game which forced a punt and a field goal, which was missed. The third came in the fourth quarter, via Barrett once again, and that drive ended in another missed field goal.
Following disastrous performances on fourth down throughout the game (more on that next), outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul sealed the victory with a strip-sack on fourth down with 2:05 left in regulation.
After posting six sacks over the last four games and often struggling to get home despite bringing pressure, this type of production was much-needed to get Tampa Bay's pass rush back on track.
Fourth down defense was abysmal
Tampa Bay's defense did a great job on third downs, with the three sacks lending a hand towards the Vikings finishing the day going 5-of-15 on third down.
However, as the game went on and Minnesota lost trust in its kicker (next takeaway), the Vikings embarrassed Tampa Bay by converting four times on fourth down in as many attempts. Two of which came on Minnesota's final drive of the game, which made its way up as close as the TB38 before the drive was finally shut down.
Running back Dalvin Cook, who had a productive but not stellar day, was able to squeeze out one yard on 4th and 1 in the third quarter, and just a few plays later, Cousins was able to hit tight end Tyler Conklin for seven yards on 4th and 5. The next play (after a penalty) resulted in Smith's touchdown grab.
Win or lose, Tampa Bay will need to address this issue immediately as fourth-down conversions given up by the defense are inexcusable, especially when they're not of short distances. The two successful fourth down plays on Minnesota's final drive were from 4th and 6, and 4th and 5.
Dan Bailey... wow
The Vikings left ten points on the field by the foot of kicker Dan Bailey. This could have been a totally different ball game if Minnesota was able to score those points, as the Vikings would have held a 24-23 lead in the early fourth quarter with some accuracy behind Bailey's kicks.
A pretty historically accurate kicker (86.9% on field goals in his career), the tenth-year pro missed his three field goal attempts (from 36, 54, and 46 yards, respectively) as well as an extra point on Minnesota's first touchdown of the day. Minnesota went for two after Smith's third quarter touchdown and converted, at that point showing little-to-no faith in Bailey, although his final field goal attempt came on the next drive.
The Bucs found ways to win themselves, but Bailey is probably the biggest reason why Tampa Bay won, and certainly why they won by double digits.
