The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fought from behind in their Monday night game in Detroit, forcing the offense to operate out of a one-dimensional gameplan. Baker Mayfield threw the football 50 times; against the Saints at Caesars Superdome in Week Eight on Sunday, Tampa Bay will look to reignite the run game. In 2024 during the Week Six pounding of the divisional foe in New Orleans, Sean Tucker spearheaded the ground attack with 14 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Bucky Irving followed suit in the one-two punch with 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Tucker was a catalyst in the Bucs' 51-27 win at New Orleans, accounting for 192 yards from scrimmage. He led a 277-yard rushing attack and averaged 9.7 yards per tote. Tucker recorded the highest rushing total of any NFL player in that Week Six slate and added 56 yards on three receptions. Following the matchup, he was named the NFC Offenisve Player of the Week for his contributions in the Superdome. Tucker, originally a rookie free agent out of Syracuse in 2023, made history of his own between the hash marks. His 192 yards from scrimmage against the Saints stand as the third most in a single game by an undrafted player in the last five years.
With Irving still sidelined due to injury, the Bucs will look to pound the rock against the Saints' 24th ranked run defense, fostering a balanced system on the road to dial up play action.
"We have to try and get ahead of it early and stay ahead of the chains and establish the run a little bit so he doesn't have to throw it 50 times," said left tackle Tristan Wirfs. "We want to run the ball regardless of who is out on the field but now, hopefully we can put that on our shoulders and let Tuck and Rachaad [White] do their thing. They are really good running backs and we want to get them out in space and get them to the second and third levels to make guys miss and fly around out there. It will be huge to get the run game going and it starts with us up front."
White has been the Bucs' primary workhorse following the injury to Irving, staying on the field for all three downs. He has displayed his body control and ball skills on checkdowns, prowess in pass protection and patience as a runner in letting blocks develop. White is adept between the tackles and out in space, with a barrage of moves to elude tacklers including a lethal stiff-arm. He has the lateral agility to beat linebackers to the edge and Tucker has the contact balance to fight through contact and lateral elusiveness to create in the open field. He has an outstanding feel for creating space from tacklers and his escape route from inside the rush. Tucker makes decisive downhill cuts and both could power the offense against the Saints in Week Eight.
