Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Scotty Miller can be a forgotten man on this team as it features as much depth and firepower at the position as any team in the NFL.
Sunday afternoon in the Buccaneers’ 26-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings, the little man with the big heart was the elixir that head coach Bruce Arians needed to jump start the team’s struggling offense and get the team in position where it could start to nail down its first playoff berth since 2007.
Going into the third drive of the game, Tampa Bay had been held to 29 yards on eight plays as the shadows of the afternoon seemed to start to gather over the Buccaneers’ offense.
On third-and-four at the Vikings’ 48-yard line, it was time for quarterback Tom Brady to start trusting his offense and his receivers.
He hit Miller on a 48-yard touchdown pass on a deep post pattern as the speedster from Bowling Green was able to get inside cornerback Chris Jones as the Buccaneers took a 7-6 lead, as they strung together 23 unanswered points and had the Vikings on their heels by the end of the third quarter.
It’s was Miller’s only catch of the afternoon, but it was the kick-start that the Tampa Bay offense needed against a Vikings team that had won five in a row.
“We just missed a couple of third downs early, but that was a huge touchdown,” said Arians. “I think getting a stop; then that play changed all of the momentum on our sideline.”
Miller has struggled with hip and groin injuries this season and when he has a been in the game, he has seemingly gotten lost inside of the passing game as had only two catches since his 3-catch performance in a win over the Giants on Nov. 2.
“It was a deep post,” he said. “I think (quarterback Tom Brady) was going through a flat route and then an intermediate out-route. Then, I think he saw the one-high safety creep down and I had a one-on-one with the corner. So, I think he probably liked the matchup and I was able to run right by him pretty clean.”
Brady saw a three-man rush which gave him an eternity. In not liking the first two reads, he found Miller who did a good job of running the route all the way to the end of the progression.
“Scotty ran the post, just got it up over the top of the safety and Scotty made a great catch,” said Brady. “Big play for us – we’ve just got to keep making them.”
Tee it Up: The 23-point outburst gave the offense confidence and it also allowed the defense to tee off on Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who has a tough time with a lack of mobility.
The Buccaneers sacked him six times as linebacker Shaq Barrett checked in with two of those.
“I want to do my job as much as possible and be known as one of the best, so in order to do that you have to have the stats,” said Barrett. “You have to have the numbers to go with it.”
Barrett now has eight on the season, while Jason Pierre-Paul clocks in with a team-high 9.5.
“We always talk and are always switching sides now and are trying to figure out what works best for us,” said Barrett. “It’s working right now, and we’ve just got to stay hot, keep it hot and keep going.”
A Rook No More: Antoine Winfield, Jr., had a huge afternoon against the Vikings who his father starred for from 2004-2012.
The younger Winfield led Tampa Bay with 11 tackles, nine solo, and had a sack. His aggressiveness is even more of a tone setter in a secondary with speed and playmakers.
“Antoine is just so heady,” Arians explained. “He studies, he’s got his dad to lean on, he’s got all his coaches to lean on and he puts the time in.”
Just for Kicks: The kicking game was a huge determinant in Sunday’s win as well.
Ryan Succop has been money for the Buccaneers this season as he hasn’t missed a field goal since Week 4 vs. the Chargers.
Succop was good from 18 and 48 yards, while his counterpart placekicker Dan Bailey missed three field goals and an extra point.
“I think he was shocked on the extra point that he missed because that’s never (an issue),” Arians said. “I had no doubt he’d make that field goal that made it a two-score game. He’s been great for us all year.”
