Defensively, Tampa Bay put on a clinic against the Chargers in Week 15. The Bucs limited the Chargers' offense to just 206 total yards – the lowest total allowed by the Bucs in a game in 2024. The Chargers went 0-for-6 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down in the matchup and rushed for a season-low 32 yards. Los Angeles totaled just 14 first downs on Sunday, the fewest surrendered by Tampa Bay in a game all season.
In the third quarter, Bucs' veteran cornerback Jamel Dean intercepted a Justin Herbert pass intended for Quentin Johnston to record his first interception of the season and the eighth of his NFL career. Herbert had not thrown an interception on his previous 335 passing attempts – the fifth-longest streak all-time. He tied Tom Brady for the longest such streak by a quarterback within a season in NFL history (minimum of 15 attempts in each start) and Dean ended the prolific streak. With outside leverage and his eye on the ball, Dean spun around and hauled in the pick on Herbert's floater, sparking the Bucs' defense at SoFi Stadium.
"I was guarding Quentin Johnston, and he is the fast, vertical guy," said Dean on Bucs Total Access. "In my mind, I thought, 'He is the fast vertical guy, so they know I am going to take shots backed up. Eventually, he is going to test one of the corners.' He does it at least two or three times a game and he helped me when he did an inside release. So, I was in a comfortable situation because I could see the receiver and I could see the ball. Once the ball was in the air and I could see that the receiver was not paying attention, I just played the ball."
His approach – eliminate possibilities by working backwards – is rather unconventional but was the recommendation of Todd Bowles and that of former teammate, Richard Sherman. It stuck and has paid dividends in Dean's career in Tampa Bay, along with Bowles' one-on-one tutelage. Dean meets with Bowles nearly every afternoon in his office and the pair watch film together and dive into X's and O's. The Bucs' defensive minded head coach often leaves Dean on an island and stresses, "play what you see and trust what you see." During his pre- and post-snap process, Dean focuses on that piece of advice.
"So, pre-snap I am looking at the down-and-distance and then I am looking at the whole formation to see, 'Ok, I can start eliminating these routes because out of this formation, they like to run this,'" noted Dean. "Then I look at the receiver location – where is the vertical guy and where is the guy that runs the intermediate routes to see what combination I could get. Then post-snap, I wait for the guy to do a certain thing to trigger me to do this or that."
Dean has accumulated 55 tackles, six passes defensed and a forced fumble. He mans the outside cornerback spot and has the coveted combination of weight, length and speed. Dean possesses quick feet to stay in an advantageous position from press, elite recovery speed and the size to challenge the catch space/jump balls. He missed four games due to a hamstring injury that he suffered in Week Six, but Dean is playing at peak form.
