ABuccsFan

Feb 12, 2007 -

After a dramatic increase in sacks by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense during the 2004 season, in which the team ranked third in the league with 45, the pass rush has fallen on hard times over the last two years.

Following that 45-sack performance in ’04, the Bucs’ pass rush generated just 36 the following season, ranking it in the NFL’s bottom 10. That decline continued this past season, as an injury-depleted unit registered only 25 sacks. That number was good for second to last in the league, and it was the lowest total by a Bucs defense since 1995.

Tampa’s new assistant head coach/defensive line coach Larry Coyer knows those totals can’t continue to dwindle if the Buccaneers’ defense is to regain the form that characterized it through the last decade and propelled the team to a Super Bowl championship in 2002.

“Oh, you’ve got to rush the quarterback,” Coyer said. “I don’t care where you are, who you are. You have to be able to alter the quarterback’s plan of attack. If you can’t do that, [quarterbacks] are too good. If you can’t make them throw when they don’t want to throw, they’re much too gifted now. They are going to complete those that they are supposed to complete. What you’ve got to do is take them out of their rhythm. If you can’t do that, there’s no coverage that’s any good.”


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