For the past two years Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith has tried to reintroduce the Tampa 2 defensive to the franchise. As we all know the Tampa 2 system was the catalyst for the 'Golden Age' of Buccaneer football. The Tampa 2 has two goals: A) Take the top off of the opposing offense; this is accomplished by having two high safeties while deploying the MLB in a deep 'center field' zone. B) Apply pressure to the opposing QB using primarily a four man pass rush allowing the defense to drop seven men in coverage; this is accomplished by having a dominant DL.

The great Buccaneer teams of the late 90's and early 00's had the personnel to accomplish these goals. John Lynch, Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber were the stars of the defense - while guys like Booger McFarland, Dexter Jackson, Dwight Smith, Donnie Abraham, Brian Kelly, Shelton Quarles and Greg Spires were perfect fits for the system. These perfect personnel fits for the Tampa 2 system led the Bucs to Top 10 Defensive performances in both Points Allowed and Yards Allowed every year from 1997-2005. During that 9 year stretch the Bucs had an 83-61 (0.576 w%) recored with 6 postseason appearances and that amazing 2002 Super Bowl victory.

Flash-Forward to 2014 when Lovie Smith was hired. Lovie was going to bring the Tampa 2 system back and everyone was sure the glory days would be back in no time. Problem was the Bucs didn't have the personnel to run the Tampa 2, and while they did have to great pieces who mimicked Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks in Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David - there was no Simeon Rice, Ronde Barber or John Lynch. In the 2014 offseason the Bucs took some big swings in the FA market. They signed DE Michael Johnson (Simeon Rice - Check), CB Alterraun Verner (Ronde Barber - Check) and hoped the tandem of Dashon Goldson and Mark Barron could transform and learn to cover deep sections of the field (John Lynch - Check). By Week 3 of the 2014 season, in front of a national audience, it was clear this defense was nothing close to those Golden Era defenses. A 56-14 loss at Atlanta was demoralizing, two weeks later the defense allowed 511 yards in an overtime loss to the Saints, the following week Joe Flacco threw 5 first half TDs in a 48-17 loss at home. Prior to Week 9 Barron was traded to St. Louis, after the season Johnson and Goldson were also let go - all three players exits were attributed to 'scheme fit.'

The 2015 season saw Lovie again go back to the FA well in search of guys who could fit his system. This time though the Bucs didn't sign any big name FAs (not for lack of trying though - See: Hardy, Greg), they went and got Chris Conte and Henry Melton - two guys who had played for Lovie in Chicago. They also signed Tony McDaniel,Sterling Moore & Bruce Carter, traded for Jacquies Smith and drafted Kwon Alexander. Lovie then took over the defensive playcalling responsibilities from Leslie Frazier. While the defense did improve it still didn't perform anywhere near those Golden Era defenses, there were two main culprits: CBs allowing too much space which led to a high rate of short completed passes and the DL not getting to the QB quick enough to disrupt the passing game.

Whether it was an outdated scheme, personnel not fitting that scheme or a combination of the two, one thing was abundantly clear: the defense was the weakest link on this team. They couldn't get off the field, allowed two many completions and weren't able to get to opposing QBs consistently.

While we don't know who the next Head Coach will be, there should be a question of whether or not the new regime wants to keep the current defensive scheme. Personally I think it would behoove the organization to leave the Tampa 2 behind, I'm not saying rip it out of the playbook, but relying on it 35-65% of snaps is a bad idea. Quick slants are killing this team, and until they can generate a pass rush teams will be able to consistently pick apart this zone. A man based 4-3 would allow the new defense to let Kwon Alexander to get after the QB more from either the SAM or MLB position and not force him to drop deep in coverage where he is at his weakest. It would allow Jonathan Banks to play more bump and run to shut down those quick slants and it would elevate pressure on having just a four man pass rush.

Time will tell, but the Tampa 2's time as the primary defensive scheme is likely over and thats a good thing.