Buccaneers ranked 17th in forced incompletion percentage during the 2018 season

Although Tampa Bay’s defense was abysmal for the most part of the 2018 season, they did have somewhat of a positive stat come out of the 2018 campaign.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Buccaneers were ranked 17th in forced incompletion percentage. While that is the middle of the pack, they were ranked dead last in the division, with both Carolina and Atlanta finishing in the top 10.

However, I expect that number to be much higher this season. Todd Bowles has stated many times he loves to run press defenses and that requires the cornerbacks to play a ton of man coverage from the line of scrimmage.

Too many times in the past few years we have seen receivers have easy releases against the Buccaneer cornerbacks from the line of scrimmage and catch a slant pass for 10-15 yards. That shouldn’t be the case this year.

With a revamped secondary in pretty much all phases and a new scheme, I expect Tampa Bay to finish in the Top 10 in forced incompletions percentage in 2019.