Bucs' Liam Coen Gives Defense High Marks

The NFL season is underway, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are ready to take the field against the Washington Commanders on Sunday afternoon.

There are so many things to look out for Sunday, but one is how the Bucs offense will perform under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen. They will try and get off to a good start by being successful on early downs.

The Bucs OC recently raved about the defense the team has and how it has the potential to unlock the offense's prowess as well:

"It is very important for us to start fast," Coen said. "We've got a top-five defense in the NFL, so if we can start fast and get ahead and play from ahead, typically good things happen. In the style of play that we want to play with, that helps when you can jump out and play fast and get ahead early."

Saying that the Buccaneers have a top-five defense is a bold claim, but they certainly have the chance to back it up this season.

Coen is trying to emphasize starting quick, and he understands that the Bucs were unable to score any touchdowns on opening drives last season. He also gave some insight to the types of plays we could see to start the game:

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"Yeah, we'll try to be creative within the first 15 or 20 calls," Coen said. "Those are specific plays that we kind of talk about as a staff to kind of group together and get the defense on their heels a little bit and throw different looks at them to just give yourself an advantage and be able to see what they're presenting, as well, with some of those plays."

It's good to hear that we will get a chance to see some of the creativity of the Bucs playbook early in the game. If the Bucs' defense is a top-five group like Coen claims, the ceiling for this team is very high.