Antoine Winfield Jr.: Our No. 1 priority is to be the No. 1 defense this year
When the Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV, they had finished the regular season they had finished No. 6 in total defense and No. 8 in points allowed.
That was then-defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ second year with the team.
Tampa Bay’s defense has remained strong over the last two seasons, though the club finished No. 9 in yards allowed and No. 13 in points allowed in 2022.
But this year, defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr. says the club has its sights set high.
“[W]e want to be the No. 1 defense this year,” Winfield said in a recent appearance on Richard Sherman’s podcast, via Adam Silvan of PewterReport.com. “We’ve got the talent around us to do that, so that’s the No. 1 priority, to be the No. 1 defense.”
The Bucs last finished No. 1 in yards allowed back in 2005, when the team won the division but lost in the Wild Card round. But when the club was No. 1 in yards allowed and points allowed, it won Super Bowl XXXVII to cap the 2002 season.
During the summer, it’s almost easy for a player to declare that as a team goal. Realistically, it should be the unit’s goal to be the best in the league.
The team did add defensive tackle Calijah Kancey out of Pitt with the No. 19 overall pick in this year's draft. With questions surrounding competing quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask, we’ll see if the Bucs' defense can lead to team to some early victories in 2023.
