Todd Bowles, Buccaneers provide latest test of Jordan Love's ability to handle blitz

Going from Steve Spagnuolo to Don “Wink” Martindale to Todd Bowles isn’t just the old “out of the frying pan into the fire,” it’s more like “out of the frying pan and into a dragon battle from whatever comes next in House of the Dragon.” All three defensive minds will blitz a quarterback until they believe the signal-caller can handle it then throw a couple more designer pressures at him just to be sure.

To date, Jordan Love has handled these extra rushers well. Still, after an uneven performance against Martdinale that featured more simulated pressures, Bowles has the chops to provide another crucial touchstone for Love.

For whatever bona fides Bowles brings to the table -- and he was once the patron saint of the now-defunct Two Deep NFL Podcast with your two The Leap co-founders -- his Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has struggled to stop opposing passers in ways that will surprise fans who haven’t watched them since the 2020 team ate the lunches of one of the best offenses of the 2000s not once, but twice.

And there are plenty of familiar faces from that defense with Vita Vea, Lavonte David, Devin White, Antoine Winfield Jr., Carlton Davis, and Jamel Dean coming to Lambeau Field on Sunday. While the names will be the same, the productivity won’t be. Tampa enters a crucial tilt with the Green Bay Packers 28th in expected points added per dropback and 18th defending the pass by DVOA. For all the resources they’ve invested in the passing defense to go with one of the pre-eminent blitz designers in the league, the Buccaneers couldn’t even stop Desmond Ridder last week, allowing over 340 yards through the air.

One reason: The blitz package lacks the same teeth it once had. Part of that is the four-man rush isn’t as good either. Blitzes tend to work most effectively when regular pressure is sufficient. If a defense can manhandle the opposing offense with four, adding bodies almost makes it an unfair fight.

That was the case for those 2020 defenses, but it no longer holds true.

Blitzing Loves likewise comes with some mixed results. The Packers’ quarterback is eighth in EPA/play against the blitz this season, though it’s worth noting he is behind Baker Mayfield in that statistic (the best plan against Baker is to rush four and make him read out coverages, rather than try and get aggressive).

The news gets even better for the Packers. When Love faces six or more rushers this season, no one produces more than Green Bay’s quarterback … and it’s not even that close. And that’s why Love faces a below-average amount of heavy pressure looks.