Bucky Irving does not usually do the talking. Before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first win of the season last Thursday in Dallas, he did, and on Wednesday he explained why. “I’m more of a guy that be in the back. Don’t really say too much. I just try to lead by example,” Irving said. “But I was just tired of losing, bro.”
The message went to his offensive line. Irving ran for 165 yards on 21 carries and scored twice, once on the ground and once on a 5-yard catch, in a 24-16 win at AT&T Stadium that moved Tampa Bay to 1-4. The Buccaneers host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, October 18, at 1 p.m. EDT.
“It starts with them guys up front”
Irving kept steering every question back to the blockers. “It start with them guys up front. I mean, they set the tone,” he said. “However the game going to go, however they come out, however they feeling, it starts in practice. So I tell them guys it starts in practice and it translate to the game. If they keep rolling, we going to keep rolling.”
Asked what it meant to seal the game with his late carries, he would not take the credit. “It wasn’t me. It was the guys blocking it. I never give credit for what I do. It’s always the guys that’s blocking for me,” Irving said. “Them guys are the one that’s open up the lanes. And I just got to do my job at a high level and trust my track, and good things happen.”
He said speaking up carried weight precisely because he rarely does it. “Sometimes you got to come out your shell a little bit,” Irving said. “When I do say something, it means a little something, ’cause I don’t say a lot. Don’t nobody like losing. If you’re a competitor, no one likes losing.”
The 72-yard run
The play that flipped the game came on the first snap of the third quarter, with Dallas ahead 10-7. Irving cut back and went 72 yards, and Emeka Egbuka finished the drive with a 14-yard jet-sweep touchdown. Irving said he had to make a move in the backfield before getting back to the hole the play was designed for. “Then pretty much let my instincts and my ability kick in,” he said. “I seen daylight and I tried to go all the way, but I ran out of gas.”
A reporter pointed out how long his blockers stayed engaged while he searched for a crease, and Irving said that is the standard in the room. “It takes all 11 in the run game. Everyone got to strain through the whistle, ’cause you never know,” he said. “I’ll probably cut it back to your side. I’ll probably go the other way.”
As for the reaction in the film room, Irving said there was not much of one. “We are capable of making them plays, so it’s not really a big deal,” he said. “We watched the film, put it to bed, and then moved on to Pittsburgh.”
“Death by inches”
Irving also brushed off any talk of the standings. Tampa Bay is still 1-4 after an 0-4 start, but he said nobody in the building is looking at the standings. “We take it game by game, and we got to go out here and prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We got a good football team coming in here,” he said.
His approach to the week has not changed either. “Death by inches. You got to stay in your routine. You can’t get satisfied with the results that you had,” Irving said. “Give yourself a 24-hour rule and move on.”
Undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels is expected to make his third straight start on Sunday with Baker Mayfield still not throwing because of his dislocated right thumb, which keeps the run game, and Irving, at the center of the plan.
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