Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians called wide receiver Cyril Grayson a “ferocious blocker.” Grayson called Arians “a ferocious” coach.
All of the ferocity on the field in Sunday’s 32-6 win over the Carolina Panthers came from second and third group players who waited and picked up their turns. With a myriad of Buccaneers injured and in COVID-19 protocols, Grayson, running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Anthony Nelson produced.
Trailing Carolina 3-0 in the first period, Ke’Shawn Vaughn struck.
He hit a hole on the left side of the line and then picked up a block by Grayson, who came across the field to finish springing him. It resulted in a 55-yard touchdown run and gave the Buccaneers a 7-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the day.
Grayson’s hustle was a definition of the effort that ruled the day and gave the Buccaneers their seventh division title and the first since 2007.
“Cyril made a great effort play on Ke’Shawn’s run,” explained Arians. “He has played big every time he has gotten his opportunity. Glad to see Ke’Shawn run the ball like he did today.”
Grayson was a four-time NCAA champion at LSU as a sprinter in the 200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter runs. He was a seven-time All-American and a five-time All-SEC performer.
Arians has admired Vaughn’s work since arriving in Tampa Bay two years ago and has seen him work himself into a position where he could make a difference in a big game as he did Sunday.
“He is a speed guy and will block,” noted Arians. “He has gotten so much better. If there was a most improved player in the last two years, he has worked harder than anybody we have on our practice squad, and when he has gotten an opportunity, he has flashed with it.”
Vaughn finished with 70 yards on seven carries as he came in with only 50 rushing yards all season. Once he got the block off the left side of the line, Justin Burris dove for his legs and missed and then Grayson blocked Myles Hartsfield to spring Vaughn the rest of the way.
“He made the first one miss and turned on the jets and Cyril came flying across the field from the other side and blocked that last guy and he used the block perfectly to get into the end zone,” explained Arians.
Grayson also added in the passing game as he had a 62-yard catch that set the Buccaneers up at the Panthers 2-yard line. It was an out and up where he was run down by Carolina defensive back Keith Taylor, Jr.
“We had one play call and we alerted it and then it went to something else and he kind of blew it and I put my hand up and I guess I am not a track guy anymore because I let him catch me,” laughed Grayson.
He came into the game with only one catch, which was a 50-yarder in a loss to New Orleans earlier in the season. Sunday, Grayson had three catches for 81 yards.
“It’s not always the passing game,” said Grayson. “You don’t always get the ball and you have to take pride in the run game. He (Arians) came to me in the week and said, ‘I have you up so you can block.’”
What Brown Did For the Bucs – With Chris Godwin out, the controversial Antonio Brown emerged back into the lineup at the right time.
Brown caught two passes for 101 yards as quarterback Tom Brady targeted him 15 times.
“When I watched him practice, I knew he was in great shape,” noted Arians. “He was healthy and told me this week, he was there if I needed him.”
It was Brown’s first appearance since Oct. 24 against Philadelphia as he has fought off injuries and served a three-game suspension for his role in obtaining fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.
“I know he has been itching to get back out there and he is wanting to succeed so everyone’s happy when he is out there doing great plays for us,” said Brady.
Injuries and Isolation – Tampa Bay finally can raise an NFC South flag for the first time since 2007 and the irony is to be able to win a title with so many players missing.
The Bucs are without Chris Godwin for the rest of the season as he went down for good with a knee injury in last week’s 9-0 loss to New Orleans. Mike Evans and Leonard Fournette were also missing with hamstring injuries as Evans is day-to-day while Fournette went on IR.
Starting safety Antoine Winfield, Jr., starting linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul and linebacker Lavonté David were missing with injuries, as well as cornerback Pierre Desir.
Add to that the COVID-19 protocols for kick returner Jaelen Darden, starting defensive tackle Rakeem Nuñez-Roches and wideout Breshad Perriman and this was as ailing of a team as there was in the NFL.
It became worse when linebacker Shaq Barrett went out with what was termed a “minor MCL injury.’
“We gotta play clean games,” Brady said. “It sucks having those guys out. They add so much to our offense. Chris and Mike and Leonard couldn’t go. We’re going to do our best to give guys opportunities and they stepped up and did it today.”
Defensive Devastation – The Buccaneers haven’t given up a touchdown in two weeks after they pitched a near-perfect performance in the 9-0 loss to New Orleans.
Even with the injuries on the defensive side of the football, Tampa Bay only gave up 273 yards to the struggling Panthers as they only rushed for 67 yards.
“The defense has stepped up all year,” said Arians of Todd Bowles’ unit. “They fought through it and everybody is pretty healthy. Hopefully, we won’t lose Shaq. With the secondary healthy, we can do a lot of different things.”
Safety Jordan Whitehead defended three passes as he and safety Mike Edwards led Tampa Bay in tackles out of the secondary with seven.
William Gholston posted 2.5 sacks as he had his best overall game of the season as the Buccaneers feasted on Carolina quarterbacks Cam Newton and Sam Darnold by dishing out seven sacks.