The 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defense 

Preach bruv

AMEN!!

02 bucs is the ONLY team with defensive stats that comes close to the 85' bears. But nobody talks about the 02 bucs strength of schedule of that year. It was a complete gauntlet from beginning to end.

Yessir!!!

For real bro beat defense from the db and line man

It hurts me seeing how disrespected Simeon have been in recent years. Dude should've been a first ballot HOFer imo but instead is going on about 9 years of not getting in. My man deserves his gold jacket and bust in Canton, as do Ronde, Lynch, and Alstott.

He's relatively unknown outside of Tampa at this point. It's really sad to see.

One word comes to mind thinking of Simeon Rice: monster. He was an absolute monster.

And he was robbed of SB MVP. I know picks and TD's are the sexy stats, but Rice was DOMINANT in the SB.

Dude deserves a gold jacket and a bust in Canton.

I hate to say this, but Skip Bayless is one of few that actually recognizes it. Anytime Brooks gets brought up he interjects with, "THE GREAT Derrick Brooks!"

Hall of famers in each defensive position

I wouldn't put Dexter Jackson in the same league as Ronde Barber and John Lynch. Don't disrespect Brian Kelly like that.

I think 11 bucs had their own radio show that year! Lol

I’m crying too fam 😭

His passion is so infectious. I cried during his press conference for his RoH induction because he still has that fire when talking about the game.

Don't forget Dexter Jackson

The offense was nasty too, they had Brad Johnson who played his best years with Bucs, Mike Alstott, Keyshawn Johnson, and Michael Pittman Sr played good that year too

Shelton Quarles, Booger McFarland...

Mike Alstott. 😆

Ronde Barber and John Lynch are nominees this year and both should either get in or Lynch, at worst, might have to wait a year or two. Simeon Rice might have to wait, which is sad because he was just as pivotal as Sapp and Brooks.

Lynch just got in and Ronde was a fellow finalist. Rice needs to be let in before his modern era candidacy expires. He's the only guy I've ever seen tackle as if he's a kid jumping into his parents arms, and then latch on like an Alien mid air.

Depends on which 49er team. '84 and '89 49ers were stacked and they wrecked some top tier defenses. Though one thing is for sure is that almost no one back then had a defense that could play as fast as the 2002 Bucs. I think one good comparison would be the '84 Bears which was a really good defense almost like the '85 bears and the 9ers shut them out.

@@GlobalWarmingSkeptic Miami torched the 85 Bears. Too bad Miami underestimated a plucky Pats team that was just happy to be there.

WestCoast Ridah Statistically best 3 single defenses all time are 85 Bears, 00 Ravens and 02 Bucs. Each had their own strengths better than the other. From a defensive TD standpoint no one better than the 02 Bucs

The Ravens? LOL! They were playing in a division where they got to beat-up on a terrible Cleveland new expansion team AND a terrible Bengals team, so they got 4 games against teams that put up 161 and 185 points - that's awful. The 2002 Bucs played in a division where the worst team was the 7-9 Panthers who put up 258 points, and the Falcons and the Saints both put up over 400 points. When you adjust to league wide scoring, which was way up in 2002 and the Bucs dramatically more difficult schedule vs opp offenses, what the Bucs did is much more impressive. Also a stat I haven't seen yet is how many points the Bucs allowed that were actually offensive turnovers. For example in game one against the Saints, the game ends in overtime when the dumb punter Tom Tupa throws an INT in the endzone for a TD - or take the Super Bowl for example where the dumb punter Tom Tupa gets a punt blocked in the endzone for a TD. Those stand out since I hate Tom Tupa. The Bucs defense (not special teams, defense only) that year scored 9 defensive touchdowns, the Ravens - best I can tell - scored 3 touchdowns. That's a difference of 42 points over the course of the full season. During the regular season the Bucs defense scored 5 TDs, which is 35 points and the Ravens, again from what I can tell, scored 1 TD, which is 7 points. The Bucs gave up 196 points, again against dramatically better offenses, so minus 35 from that you get a net of 161 points. The Ravens gave up 165 points, then minus their 7 points, they gave up a net of 158, again against much easier offensive opponents. The Ravens are incredibly overrated, the stats show that when you give it the proper context. What the Bucs did in 2002, against much better opponents, is much more impressive.

Correct. The 2002 Bucs defense is actually the top rated D in NFL history. 9.8 score, compared to 9,4 of the Bears and 8.0 of the Ravens. The Ravens D was certainly not overrated overall, but points is not the only factor.

To me the 2000 ravens true test on defense that year was in the playoffs, They did face mcnair and gannon, so at least they finally got tested and step up. but even after the 2000 season they still had a problem at qb. And yes i think the 2002 bucs defense is better than the ravens 2000 defense.

Samuel Robert 2002 Bucs were amazing BUT the 2000 Ravens defense was unreal. Record 165 total points allowed in 1 season, won 5 games without scoring an offensive TD, allowed only 23 points in 4 playoff games (including superbowl) and held running backs to 2.3 yards per carry entire season. Their offense was a joke also. Just unreal

I was in section 111. Do you remember hearing the guy that shouted WARREEEEN WARREEEEEN over and over every game? That guy was a human foghorn. I had to sit right next to him.

Idk this defense can play in any era and also the 2000 Ravens that 49ers defense is great but defense like 02 Tampa and 2000 Ravens they put the fear of god into you for the whole game

tyler moseley gonna have yo agree with as a niner fan. Our boyz aint hitters like the greats of Derick Brooks and John Lynch

Yall right Ronde Barber was to solid Richard Sherman is weak link

Bucs life Lol

Timmy Sullivan haha

Hate to break it to you but 2017 they were the NFC South team not in the playoffs

the wait is over my friend, 2020 was our year

Brooks Maddaloni you should always be proud Bucs Nation #Itsabucslife

2003, MNF vs the Colts would have been a comfortable Bucs win if Kelly hadn't gotten injured. Gruden takes a huge share of the blame on that one (bad clock management), but Kelly had Marvin Harrison on lock down until he got hurt. The Sheriff knew how to pick on backup corners.

Lmaoo

2000 2001 ravens

@@lexshifflett8300 nah. Bucs played a more talented offense in the raiders as well

@@lexshifflett8300 Tampa scored on defense. Ravens weren't doing that

Yea but dude that 2000 2001 defense was so good u could score a field goal and u could win the game.

85 Bears hands down

2002 Buccaneers

Don't forget in the Super bowl the Bucs picked off Rich Gannon five times. Three of them were for touchdowns. Two of them in the last two minutes of the game. Who else can claim that? Nobody. That is why our Bucs defense is the best ever.

@@glennvogt1194 Those 5 interceptions are still a Super Bowl record as of 2021. More people need to put some respect on the 2002 Bucs D's name!

Liam Mitchell Thanks man. Loved the video, keep it up!

Calob Parker-main No This 2017 offense is the best offense ever assembled in our history This current D is good but no elite like 02

hahaha... how about no?

Mike Evans Hahahaha

With alstott @ FB🤭

If you go by scoring, the 2002 Bucs were much better than the 85 Bears. The 76 Steelers are also better, and the 2000 Ravens are close. I never understood why yards allowed is the go-to metric for defenses when the game is decided on points. The 2002 Bucs are outliers among those 4. The other 3 teams all were focused on not giving the opponent ANYTHING, which is why they appear so dominant to the eye. The Bucs, however, were primarily concerned with preventing a score ("bend but don't break" vs "don't bend at all"). It's really not fair to fault them for allowing more yards when that was part of their plan. It's like taking points off Ali cause he took body shots while using the rope-a-dope. When you adjust for strength of schedule, the 02 Bucs pull well ahead of the 85 Bears, with 9.8 fewer points allowed vs 9.4 for the Bears (the Bucs are ahead even without adjustment, 9.4 to 9.2). This doesn't even take into account the fact that the 02 Bucs defense has the most points scored on DEFENSE in NFL history (off interceptions and fumbles), so the overall plus minus would likely be more than a whole point different. Also, the 85 Bears had the #1 scoring offense, with the most rushing yards in the league, so their defense got plenty of time to rest and good field position to play from. The Bucs scored the 16th most points in the league, and that number makes the offense look even better when you again take into account the points the Bucs defense scored without the Bucs offense even touching the ball. Side notr...because of the focus on yards instead of the thing that actually wins games, the 2013 Seahawks are criminally underrated. They are probably a top 5 defense all-time. Long story short: 85 Bears are highly overrated. Legendary team, probably the 2nd best after the 07 Patriots, but the defense really should never be put above the 2002 Bucs or the 2000 Ravens/76 Steelers, the latter 2 playing the same style of game as the Bears, just better.

robert harrah i also want to know

Liam Mitchell thanks alot. Great video. And i didnt know you could have gif as a profile picture, that pretty cool too.

Glazers team actually

Moreh Meir he did upset the packers in wildcard that year though

Ice J Holy shit he won a playoff game. Best QB ever.

Shawn Brink never said he was

Bradley Brown WRONG The Raiders blocked a punt in that game for a TD, not the Buccs. The Buccs returned 3 picks.

Shawn Brink...Bradley is saying the Bucs Defense only Gave Up 14 points to the Leagues #1 scoring Offense that year (Raiders). The Raiders blocked a punt for the other TD. Edit...The Bucs Defense actually only gave up 7 points (on a non-catch to Jerry Rice. He juggled in the back of the Endzone.). The other 14 points were a Blocked Punt TD and 2 Field Goals after the Bucs Offense turned the ball over in their on territory and the Bucs Defense held the Raiders Offense to FG's even with a short field.

Ric Henriquez Gotcha. I misread it.