The Buccaneers finally broke into the win column with a 24-16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Bucky Irving led Tampa Bay’s offense with an 82.4 overall grade after rushing for 165 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. PFF also gave Irving a 79.3 rushing grade after he forced eight missed tackles and produced 151 yards after contact. His 72-yard run to open the second half was the biggest offensive play of the night and helped set up Emeka Egbuka’s go-ahead touchdown two plays later.
Tez Johnson finished second on offense with a 79.0 grade despite seeing only one target. He made it count, hauling in Jalon Daniels’ deep ball for 64 yards. Right tackle Luke Goedeke followed with a 76.0 overall grade and an 85.5 run-blocking grade, the best run-blocking mark
among Tampa Bay’s starting offensive linemen.
Tristan Wirfs earned a 73.1 overall grade and an 87.7 pass-blocking grade while allowing no pressures across 30 qualifying opportunities. Kenneth Gainwell rounded out the top five offensive grades at 69.9, with PFF giving him an 81.4 pass-blocking grade.
The bottom of the offensive grades told a different story. Center Graham Barton finished at 48.8 overall despite earning a 70.7 pass-blocking grade, while Payne Durham received a 49.1 and Ben Bredeson finished at 51.5. Daniels landed at 58.8 overall after completing 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
Highest offensive grades
- Bucky Irving — 82.4
- Tez Johnson — 79.0
- Luke Goedeke — 76.0
- Tristan Wirfs — 73.1
- Kenneth Gainwell — 69.9
Tampa Bay’s defensive grades had a few surprises at the top. Al-Quadin Muhammad led the defense with an 81.0 overall grade, narrowly finishing ahead of Calijah Kancey at 80.9 and Christian Rozeboom at 80.8. Kancey earned an 81.2 pass-rush grade, while Muhammad received an 80.1 pass-rush mark.
Rueben Bain Jr. was fourth at 70.5, followed by A’Shawn Robinson at 70.3. David Walker came in sixth with a 67.7 overall grade, but his 83.7 pass-rush grade was one of the more interesting numbers from the entire defensive report. That lines up with what showed up during the game, when Walker repeatedly worked his way into Dak Prescott’s space despite finishing without a sack.
Yaya Diaby, who came away with one of Tampa Bay’s two interceptions, earned a 66.3 overall grade and a 78.1 run-defense grade. Jacob Parrish followed at 64.6 after playing 58 defensive snaps and being credited by PFF with three pass breakups.
Highest defensive grades
- Al-Quadin Muhammad — 81.0
- Calijah Kancey — 80.9
- Christian Rozeboom — 80.8
- Rueben Bain Jr. — 70.5
- A’Shawn Robinson — 70.3
Rakeem Nunez-Roches finished 28.1 overall, Elijah Roberts finished 42.9, and Anthony Nelson finished 43.4. Josiah Trotter, who finished with seven tackles in the official gamebook, received a 53.8 overall grade and a 37.9 coverage grade.
Irving was dominant, Goedeke and Wirfs graded well up front, and the defensive front produced several strong marks even without recording a sack. The numbers were not clean across the board, but they matched what showed up on the field: the Bucs ran the ball efficiently, kept pressure around Prescott, and got enough solid performances across the roster to finally close out a win.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Buccaneers PFF grades from Week 5 win over Cowboys
