There are multiple ways to earn victories in the NFL; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got their most recent win, a 23-3 decision in New Orleans on Sunday, through a turnover-happy defense and Chase McLaughlin's powerful right leg. During their 5-1 start to the season the Buccaneers were primarily winning with late-game offensive heroics and an avoidance of turnovers.
There are also multiple ways to get to the components of those victories, whether they be a rash of takeaways or offensive balance. That is definitely true of producing sacks on defense, where the Buccaneers are among the top teams in the NFL in that category without having one breakout star pass rusher, like Denver's Nik Bonitto or Cleveland's Myles Garrett. The Broncos lead the NFL by a comfortable margin with 36 sacks, 8.0 of them provided by Bonitto. The Buccaneers are third on that list with 25 sacks, just ahead of the Browns with 24, but Cleveland has gotten 10.0 of those sacks, or 42% of the total, from Garrett. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers' leader in sacks, outside linebacker Yaya Diaby, has just 4.0.
In all, 15 different Buccaneer defenders have combined to produce those 25 sacks, which is tied for the most players on any team this season to have a hand in a sack. After Diaby, Anthony Nelson is next with 3.0 (including 2.0 in New Orleans) and both Lavonte David and Vita Vea then check in with 2.5. There are five defensive linemen on the list (Vea, Logan Hall, Elijah Roberts, Greg Gaines and C.J. Brewer), four outside linebackers (Diaby, Nelson, Haason Reddick and Markees Watts), two linebackers (David and SirVocea Dennis), two cornerbacks (Jacob Parrish and Jamel Dean) and two safeties (Tykee Smith and Antoine Winfield Jr.
Head Coach Todd Bowles sought to make the Bucs' pass rush less dependent on blitzes in 2025, hoping to juice up the pressure off the edges by signing unrestricted free agent Haason Reddick and drafting David Walker in the fourth round. (Walker since landed on injured reserve in August.) The Bucs' blitz percentage is down from last season, when the team ranked second in the NFL to Brian Flores' ultra-aggressive Vikings, blitzing on 38.9% of opposing dropbacks. But it's not down much; in 2025, the Bucs currently rank eighth in the NFL with a 35.0% blitz rate.
Bowles is known as one of the league's most creative designers of blitzes and he is aggressive as a play-caller. To him, the origin of the sack isn't as important as its impact.
"I like that we are getting home. [It] does not matter where they come from. If one guy has 40 sacks and everyone else has none, [then] I am happy for that. As long as we can get the sacks, it really does not bother me where it comes from."
The Bucs' defense has turned up the heat in recent weeks, with 15 sacks in their last three outings. That's tied with Denver for the most in the NFL in that span. Bowles attributes that to a defensive cast with some new pieces and new starters in different positions steadily coming together as a cohesive unit.
"It means they are starting to work together," said Bowles. "They are working together, helping each other out, getting sacks and there [are] not any selfish sacks going on. People are setting people up, and people are taking double teams for other guys and that is good to see."
