The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be walking directly into one of Joe Burrow’s strengths when they face the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has long relied on pressure, with Tampa Bay blitzing on 37.7% of its defensive snaps during his tenure, the third-highest rate in the NFL, via Sports Illustrated’s Joe Goodberry.
That method could be dangerous against Burrow.
"Joe Burrow dices up the blitz. He always has, but last season, Burrow completed 71.4% of his passes against the blitz at 8.3 yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 122.6 passer rating," Goodberry wrote.
Six of his eight touchdowns against extra rushers came on throws released in under 2.5 seconds.
Burrow also handled pressure better than nearly every quarterback
during Tampa Bay’s late-season slide. Over the Buccaneers’ final 11 games, he earned Pro Football Focus’ second-best grade among quarterbacks under pressure at 72.9.
Cincinnati could have another way to punish Tampa Bay’s aggressiveness. The Bengals spent the offseason adding more under-center play-action concepts, while the Buccaneers allowed explosive plays on a league-worst 27.7% of play-action snaps last season.
Assuming Tampa Bay sticks with its usual aggressive formula Sunday, Cincinnati’s quarterback has recent numbers suggesting he is equipped to make it pay.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Joe Burrow’s numbers against the blitz could spell trouble for Bucs
