Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Star Tribune's Ben Goessling emphasized that "the reason Bailey was attempting field goals at all was because a Vikings offense that moved the ball effectively against the Buccaneers strong defense couldn’t finish drives with touchdowns." Goessling wrote:
Quite often on Sunday — and especially on two of the three drives that ended with missed Bailey field goals — the Vikings issues were rooted in how they handled pressure. All six of Tampa Bay's sacks came in Buccaneers territory, and three of the six directly preceded Bailey field goal attempts, taking the Vikings out of position where going for it on fourth down was even a realistic option.
Goessling said that Bucs Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles blitzed Cousins "a modest 34 percent of the time … often choosing not to send extra pressure after Cousins."
Instead, Bowles found he didn't need to devote extra rushers, as the Buccaneers generated five of their six sacks with a standard four-man rush.
On the Buccaneers first sack, Shaq Barrett and Steve McLendon worked a stunt around Dakota Dozier, forcing the Vikings to punt on a drive that had reached the Tampa Bay 32. The second came on third-and-7 from the Buccaneers 11, when the Vikings lined up in a rare four-receiver set and motioned Chad Beebe out of the backfield; Tampa beat the Vikings five-man protection with a standard rush, as Anthony Nelson nearly stripped the ball from Cousins' hands before Ndamukong Suh finished the sack.
The only Tampa Bay blitz for a sack, wrote Goessling, occurred when the Bucs brought seven rushers after Cousins and safety Antoine Winfield, Jr., forced a fumble.
That sack came on second down; on third down, Barrett dipped inside of right tackle Rashod Hill (who was playing after Brian O'Neill left with an eye injury) to get to Cousins, forcing a 4th-and-goal from the Buccaneers 28.
In the fourth quarter, Pat O'Connor beat Ezra Cleveland with a spin move off of his initial rush, and on the Vikings final offensive play, Cousins never seemed to feel Jason Pierre-Paul coming after him as he moved to his left. Pierre-Paul stripped Cousins, providing a fitting end to a day where the Buccaneers were consistently getting to the quarterback with an arm to swipe at the ball.