Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Studs and duds vs. Saints in Week 11

Dud: Bucs’ Offensive Line

The reason why the Bucs had to throw 51 times? The offensive line. They were constantly beat from both sides throughout the entire game. Winston was hit 12 separate times, and was sacked twice. It felt like he was scrambling or on the move almost every time he dropped back to pass in the first half.

Furthermore, the offensive line could get absolutely no push against the Saints’ stout interior defensive line. Granted this is not an excuse for only eight rushing attempts all game, but it’s a big reason for it.

Next offseason, this line needs to be gutted. Release tackles Donovan Smith and Demar Dotson. Bring in competition for center Ryan Jensen and right guard Alex Cappa. The only lineman that deserves to remain a starter is left guard Ali Marpet. The rest of the offensive line needs to be replaced. If general manager Jason Licht can’t see that by now, then he needs to be fired as well.

Stud: Mike Edwards (6 combined tackles, 1 sack)

After the release of former first-rounder Vernon Hargreaves III and the injury to cornerback M.J Stewart, someone needed to step in and play nickel back today. Well, Edwards proved to be more than up to the task. Although he had a rough missed tackle on Saints star running back Alvin Kamara early in the game, Edwards still had a very good day.

His sack of Saints all-purpose weapon Taysom Hill was a thing of beauty. As the play began, he dropped into coverage. However, sensing that Hill couldn’t find his targets, Edwards ran in and took Hill down, leading to a loss of seven yards. The third round rookie out of Kentucky had himself a solid first game at the nickel back position.

Don’t be surprised to see him play there more as the season progresses, especially with Andrew Adams and Jordan Whitehead (who’s becoming a star in his own right) holding things down on the back end of the secondary.