Week 14 preview: What has Bucky Irving brought to Tampa Bay’s offense?

Five questions with Bucs Nation

Three out of the Las Vegas Raiders’ next four games in December come against the NFC South, the first being this weekend’s Week 14 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To preview the contest, Evan Wanish from our friends at Bucs Nation was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Buccaneers.

Q: The Buccaneers’ offense suffered a big loss about halfway through the season with Chris Godwin going down with a season-ending injury. How has that impacted the offense as a whole, and who has stepped up as his replacement?

A: The absence of Chris Godwin has forced offensive coordinator Liam Coen to get a little more creative when it comes to game planning. Godwin did a ton for this offense and was having a career year before going down.

Tampa has turned to guys like Cade Otton and Sterling Shepard to try and fill the void, while also involving RBs Bucky Irving and Rachaad White in the passing game. It has been all hands on deck since Godwin went down.

Q: Bucky Irving has had an impressive rookie season with 732 rushing yards, 5.5 yards per carry and six touchdowns heading into this weekend. What can you tell us about the young running back’s game? What has he brought to Tampa Bay’s offense?

A: Irving has been a fantastic piece in the Bucs offense. He continues to get better each week and gets more and more opportunities.

He’s very difficult to bring down on first contact and for someone with that strength, he has very good burst and acceleration. The rookie running back had a career day against Carolina but did get a bit banged up in that game so we’ll see if that affects him in this one.

Q: Tampa Bay’s defense currently ranks 25th in points allowed per game after finishing seventh last season. What’s been the biggest difference between the 2023 and 2024 campaigns on that side of the ball?

Photo by Matt Kelley/Getty Images

A: One of the biggest differences is quite simple, their best players just aren’t playing well. Guys like Antoine Winfield Jr and Yaya Diaby haven’t been as good as they were in 2023. Combine that with injuries to key pieces like Calijah Kancey, Jamel Dean, Vita Vea and you are bound to see some struggles.

The scheme has also been a concern. Todd Bowles and his staff have too often been outmatched and out-coached in these games.

Q: The Bucs came off their bye week and dismantled the Giants in Week 12, making it look like they had turned the corner with Mike Evans back in the lineup. However, the team narrowly escaped with an overtime win over the Panthers last week. So, do you think Tampa is back on track and last week was a fluke, or is there cause for concern best on last Sunday’s performance?

A: I think this game coming up is going to give us that answer. I do think the Giants are a much worse football team than the Panthers and Carolina has been playing much better football as of late so the game being so close wasn’t exactly a shock.

However, what was surprising in that Carolina game was how lifeless Tampa Bay looked at times. There were multiple moments during that game last Sunday where the Bucs did not look like a team fighting for their playoff lives.

If I had to guess, I’d say where the Bucs actually are is somewhere in the middle of those two games. Not the dominant football team that will control the entire game for 60 minutes every Sunday, but also not the sloppy, lackluster execution we saw against Carolina.

Q: Building on that, what’s your confidence level in the team’s ability to win the NFC South/make the playoffs?

A: I actually am fairly confident in this team’s ability to win the NFC South, which is crazy considering Atlanta swept them this year. I believe the Bucs’ most realistic path to the playoffs is winning the South and in order to do that, they need to have a better record than the Falcons.

One of the reasons I’m confident is because of their remaining schedule, but also because they faced a similar situation last year down the stretch where they needed to win some games and were able to do just that. Time will tell if they can pull it off once again to win their fourth straight NFC South title.