Mixed into Sunday’s dominating win against the Atlanta Falcons was the bad news of OLB Yaya Diaby sustaining injury. Diaby exited the game with a knee injury with 6:32 left in the first quarter. Following their edge rusher’s departure, Tampa’s defense didn’t miss a beat. The Bucs’ defense was pristine against the Falcons, allowing just eight first downs, zero third down conversions, and forcing four turnovers, all while holding Atlanta off the scoreboard entirely.
Diaby’s knee injury is hoped to be
non-serious, however, even in its non-serious state Tampa’s edge rusher is expected to miss time. Without Diaby in the fold, at least for the short-term, players like Rueben Bain Jr., Al-Quadin Muhammad, and David Walker will need to step up to fill the void (7 sacks on the season so far between those three).
Tampa Bay, their defense in particular, does have a tough stretch of games coming up— Starting with Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears this week. Ben Johnson’s usage of Caleb Williams will certainly test Todd Bowles’ recent success. In four games played this season, Williams has five touchdowns, 1,000 yards, and just one interception. To his credit, Todd Bowles has been on his game lately. His defense has held their last two opponents to 13 points total and forced eight turnovers. The Bucs have rolled through the NFC South competition so far this season, Diaby’s contribution to that in the box score— 11 tackles, 3 sacks, and an interception.
The team has improved their record to 3-5 and while they are technically in second place (due to Carolina having already had their bye week) the Bucs officially control their own destiny from this point forward.
