FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — They had been called out by their own head coach for a sack total more grim than a Bill Belichick stare.
Entering Sunday night’s showdown against the Patriots, the Bucs had three sacks in as many games. In spurts, they had been disruptive, but that wasn’t sufficient. While getting a quarterback off his rhythm is nice, getting him off his feet is the objective.
“Most definitely,” rookie edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka said, when asked if his unit felt challenged by coach Bruce Arians.
On Sunday, as showers drenched the Gillette Stadium field, the sight of a rookie pocket passer represented the real perfect storm for Tryon-Shoyinka and his peers.