Buccaneers Defense Still Among League's Worst After Bye Week

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to tighten up on defense against the New York Giants.

Nov 10, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) catches the ball over Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David (54) during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming off of a nice rest during their bye week in Week 11. They'll have some players coming back and getting healthy, but there's still plenty of work to be done.

The Bucs are set to have Mike Evans back in the fold for proceedings against the New York Giants in Week 11, but even despite that, the Bucs have been fine without him statistically. Per Team Rankings, Tampa Bay remains a top offense in the NFL, boasting a top 5 status in four different categories and coming in at No. 8 in points per game:

Buccaneers Offense	Value, Rank
Points per game	27.9 (No. 5)
Yards per game	361.5 (No. 8)
Yards per play	5.8 (No. 8)
Third down conversion %	50.00% (No. 2)
Fourth down conversion %	57.14% (No. 17)
Red zone scoring % (TDs)	68.42% (No. 3)
Touchdowns per game	3.3 (No. 4)

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the defensive side of the ball.

Tampa Bay remains a bottom-five defense in yards per game, yards per play and fourth down conversion percentage and remains just barely outside the bottom five in points per game and touchdowns per game. The defense isn't above average in any category, with its best being red zone scoring percentage at 17th:

Buccaneers Defense	Value, Rank
Points per game	26.6 (No. 27)
Yards per game	389.3 (No. 30)
Yards per play	5.9 (No. 29)
Third down conversion %	43.31% (No. 24)
Fourth down conversion %	73.68% (No. 28)
Red zone scoring %	57.89% (No. 17)
Touchdowns per game	3.0 (No. 26)

Tampa Bay is looking to get a win, and to do that, they'll need to be a better defense. The Bucs will have some players back in the fold, like cornerback Jamel Dean, but if they really want to make the playoffs with a late push, they'll have to tighten up and get back to fundamentals to prevent teams from moving the football.

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