The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a vaunted “grave-diggers” defense for a short while from 2020-21, but those days appear to have already passed the team by.
The Bucs have one of the worst defenses in football since coming back from their bye week, often getting shredded in the passing game week by week. The team is usually staunch through the run game, but that wasn’t the case in its Sunday loss to the Indianapolis Colts, as the Colts put up three rushing touchdowns and dominated behind running back Jonathan Taylor. Despite that, there were some defensive splash plays, and Pro Football Focus reflected that a little bit when grading the team for the game.
Here are the 10 highest-ranked Bucs defensive players in Week 12:
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Overall grade: 77.7

Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Overall grade: 71.1

USA TODAY Network
Overall grade: 69.9

USA TODAY Network
Overall grade: 68.6

USA TODAY Network
Overall grade: 67.8

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Overall grade: 65.6

(Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Overall grade: 65.3

(Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Overall grade: 65.2

(Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Overall grade: 63.2

(Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Overall grade: 62.2