2-Point Conversion: Bucs Benched Devin White For K.J. Britt

White was a healthy scratch on the inactive list, as he practiced all week after missing two games with a foot injury. When Bowles notified White that he wouldn’t start against Green Bay, the fifth-year linebacker opted out of the game and declared himself inactive.

“Well, I made him inactive based off him saying that he couldn’t go today so if he couldn’t go today, I made him inactive,” Bowles said after the game.

Bowles made it sound like White said he couldn’t physically go due to his foot, but that was not the case. White essentially pouted over his demotion.

Given that White thinks too highly of himself, his decision wasn’t all that surprising. But what is surprising is White’s stunning fall from grace over the past two seasons.

Once regarded as one the league’s better, up-and-coming playmaking linebackers, White has just about self-destructed his own career. Inconsistent play and lack of effort are the culprit, especially this season, which is a contract year for White.

Remember that White held out during the offseason, and wanted the Bucs to pay him $18 million-$20 million per year in a long-term contract extension. When Bowles and general manager Jason Licht stuck to their guns and insisted that he play out his fifth-year option, White initially requested a trade. The team relented.

In fact, there are rumors that the Bucs actually attempted to trade him at the trade deadline but found no takers – not even for a seventh-round pick. I reported on Dec. 1 for Pewter Report that the Bucs were not going to re-sign him.

White will be lucky to get a one-year, prove-it deal worth $4 million elsewhere next year. It’s one thing to put bad film out there in a contract year, and White has plenty of that. It’s another thing to be benched in a contract year.

But it’s something else entirely when a player quits on his team just because he’s unhappy about being demoted. That’s not a good look and won’t sit well with other teams in free agency.

Yet that’s Devin White’s narcissistic attitude.

He didn’t get paid in the offseason, so he wanted out. He didn’t get to start on Sunday at Green Bay, so he didn’t want to play. Multiple sources have told me that White has become one of the least popular players on the team this year because of his play and his attitude.

For the last two years, White has thought he’s a better player than he was. You know who is a better player than White right now?

K.J. Britt, who had six tackles on Sunday in Green Bay and nearly had his first NFL sack.

The Bucs are 3-0 over the last three weeks with Britt starting in place of White. While he’s not the uber-athlete that White is and doesn’t have the blazing speed White does, Britt is steady and solid – and that’s valuable right now in Tampa Bay. Britt has a high football I.Q. and doesn’t make the mistakes that White made. Plus he’s also stronger at the point of attack and sheds blocks better. He’s also a more dependable tackler.

And Britt is also well liked by the team. That’s important.

Who knows what Devin White’s status will be for the rest of the season? If I’m Bowles, I’m rolling with Britt as the starter for the remaining games. And if I’m Bowles, I’m removing White as a team captain for opting out of the Packers game. That’s not captain-like behavior.

It wouldn’t do any good to cut White right now. And there is a chance that the Saints or a Bucs’ playoff opponent could sign him just for intel reasons.

But with him not being in the team’s plans in 2024, there is no need for him to see the field again in red and pewter. The Bucs should roll with Britt as the starter and Russell as the backup for the rest of the season.

STATEMENT 2. Baker Mayfield’s Masterpiece In Green Bay

If you watched the Bucs’ 34-20 win at Green Bay, you don’t need me to tell you that Baker Mayfield threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns, while becoming the first and only quarterback to have a perfect 158.3 QB rating as an opposing QB at Lambeau Field. That’s a pretty historic accomplishment.

Don’t look now, but Baker Mayfield is having a better season than Tom Brady had last year in Tampa Bay. Brady finished the 2022 season with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions as Tampa Bay went 8-9. With three games to go in the regular season, Mayfield has already tossed 24 TDs and eight INTs for the Bucs, who are 7-7.

It’s also a bit wild to think that the combination of rookie offensive coordinator Dave Canales and Mayfield would be outscoring Byron Leftwich and Brady from a year ago, but it’s true. Tampa Bay is averaging 21.1 points per game this year after averaging 18.2 points per game in 2022.

What I really appreciate about Mayfield’s game is his resiliency. If he has a bad play early in the game, he can just shrug it off, and that requires a good deal of swagger and mental toughness. The amount of grit that Mayfield has is impressive.

It’s a far cry from the days of Trent Dilfer, Chris Simms and Jameis Winston in Tampa Bay, where an early turnover could be the beginning of a downward spiral day. Those former Bucs QBs had trouble shaking off bad starts and one interception would lead to two – and sometimes three in the case of Winston.

I suggested after the Bucs’ 24-18 loss at Buffalo that Mayfield was not a difference-maker at quarterback, but he obviously was on Sunday in Green Bay. The fact that he had such a command performance is a great sign for Mayfield and the Bucs offense as this season progresses. Because doing it once means he can do it again if necessary.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1. Can The Bucs Bottle Up Some Road Points And Bring Them Home?

They need to. Tampa Bay scored 34 points on offense on Sunday at Green Bay. This comes on the heels of scoring 27 of the 29 points the team scored last week in a win at Atlanta. The Bucs have scored 196 points in eight road games this year. That’s an average of 24.5 points per game, which would rank ninth in the league in scoring if the Bucs could replicate that number at home.

Bucs Road Points – Offense
20 at Minnesota
26 at New Orleans
18 at Buffalo
37 at Houston
14 at San Francisco
20 at Indianapolis
27 at Atlanta
34 at Green Bay
 
196 points = 24.5 ppg.

But that’s not the case, as points have been hard to score at home for Tampa Bay. In the Bucs’ six home games, the most points Tampa Bay has scored is just 21 against Carolina three weeks ago. The Bucs have three home games with at least 20 points per game, but also have three games where they have scored 13 points or fewer.

Bucs Home Points – Offense
20 vs. Chicago
11 vs. Philadelphia
6 vs. Detroit
13 vs. Atlanta
20 vs. Tennessee
21 vs. Carolina

91 points = 15.2 ppg.

Tampa Bay has scored 105 fewer points at home this year and is averaging just 15.2 points per game – nearly a touchdown less — at Raymond James Stadium. With the Jacksonville Jaguars averaging 24 points per game heading into their Sunday night game against Baltimore, the Bucs will likely need to set a new high scoring mark at home on Christmas Eve to have a chance to win.

Another 34-point game might do the trick. Jacksonville is 0-3 when allowing 25 points or more this season.

QUESTION 2. Do The Bucs Have Enough Pass Rush To Win?

It’s debatable. Tampa Bay entered the Green Bay game with 38 sacks and added two more as Anthony Nelson got one and Shaq Barrett and Lavonte David split one. Now the Bucs have 40 on the year, and 10 teams around the league have more.

The Bucs missed several opportunities to sack Packers quarterback Jordan Love more than they did. And one time was costly, as Love scrambled out of a pressured pocket and threw a touchdown pass to Jayden Reed in the second half.

The Bucs have to rely on blitzing to apply pressure, as the team doesn’t have one player who can consistently win one-on-one battles up front. Nose tackle Vita Vea has 5.5 sacks and is leading the team in sacks for the second year in a row. That’s not ideal.

While the Bucs have six players with at least four sacks in 2023, not having a player like Barrett in his prime when he was a double-digit sacker is troublesome. Should Tampa Bay make the playoffs either as a division champion or a Wild Card, the Bucs will be facing some of the better quarterbacks in the league.

The best way to topple teams in the playoffs is to pressure and rattle opposing quarterbacks and force them into turnovers. The Bucs need to hope that someone up front – perhaps rookie edge rusher YaYa Diaby, who has five sacks, or defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, who has four QB captures – can catch fire and get hot at the right time over the next few weeks.

If Todd Bowles can blitz when he wants to and not when he has to, it could open up his playbook even more and increase the Bucs’ chances of being successful in the postseason. Provided they get there first.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1. Bucs Keep Streaking, Beat The Jaguars

Okay, it took me a while for Tampa Bay to earn my trust, but a three-game winning streak is not a fluke. The Bucs got a signature win in Green Bay to get back to .500 and have some much-needed momentum heading into a big Christmas Eve game against AFC South-leading Jacksonville.

The Bucs get a win and improve to 8-7. Learning how to win at home will be important with a big NFC South matchup looming against New Orleans on New Year’s Eve.

PREDICTION 2. Bucs vs. Saints Game Gets Flexed To Sunday Night Football

Just a guess, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the NFL flexes the Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans game to Sunday Night Football. The NFC South title will be on the line and both the Bucs and the Saints could be NFC playoff teams and have interesting QB stories with Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield and New Orleans’ Derek Carr.

The scheduled Sunday Night Football game is the 6-8 Packers at the 7-7 Vikings. While an NFC Wild Card spot could go to the winner, neither team is really in contention for the NFC North title. The only other game that could prompt a flex in Week 17 is the 8-6 Bengals at the 9-5 Chiefs.

But that game is already in CBS’ 4:25 p.m. ET matinee window, and without Joe Burrow at quarterback, it lacks some star power. We’ll see if the Bucs wind up with another prime time game thanks to their recent winning streak.