Bucky Irving trusts his eyes in his NFL debut

With 11 minutes left in the Tampa Bay-Washington game at Raymond James Stadium, the Commanders had one chance to get back in the game. Trailing 30-14, they had punted from the center line, pushing the Buccaneers back to their ninth base. Washington had to make a quick stop to get the ball back, as they still needed to score at least two more points.

Bucky Irving, the former Oregon running back who was selected in the fourth round by the Buccaneers last spring, pretty much dashed those hopes on the next two plays. First, Irvin ran over the right guard for eight yards, putting the Bucs in good position to keep the ball on the ground and run out the clock. That gave Irving another handoff, and this time he broke free and ran to the halfway line for a 31-yard gain. The Bucs eventually extended that drive 91 yards and scored a game-winning touchdown.

On that play, quarterback Baker Mayfield went under center with Irving five yards behind him. Right tackle Luke Goedeke picked up edge rusher Dorance Armstrong and rode him to the outside, while tight end Payne Durham stumbled behind Goedeke and defensive tackle Daron Payne intercepted him and forced him to the left. The result was a wide running lane for Irving, who had to decide which way to run behind a block by Chris Godwin on safety Jeremy Chinn. Irving pulled right without hesitation and ran into the open field.

“We had a mid-zone call,” Irving said. “Our tight end Payne did a great job kicking the ball out, and I had to read the wide receiver block. I saw daylight and just hit it.”

That kind of determined, purposeful running game is one of the things the Buccaneers coaching staff wants in all running backs, and it's something they saw in Irving during draft evaluations. For Irving, that means he has to trust his eyes and process them in a split second.

“I see that at this level, you don't have time to feel sorry for yourself,” he said. “You have to hit the ball when you see it. That's what I stick to. You have to trust what you see. In practice, you can get different looks and in games, there will be different looks, but you also have to see how the defense is playing against you. I basically say when I get the ball, I trust what my eyes see and hit the hole.”

In his NFL debut, Irving carried nine times for 62 yards and caught two passes for 14 yards. He is the first Buccaneers running back since Doug Martin in 2012 to rush for more than 75 yards from the faceoff line in his NFL debut. In the fourth quarter, as the Bucs tried to run down the clock, he was so decisive that he heard the crowd chanting his name. Other Buccaneers running backs, most notably Mike Alstott, have received the same treatment in the past, but probably not in their very first game.

“It was great. It was a great experience to hear the fans calling my name and welcoming me to Tampa. It's always a pleasure to hear things like that from the crowd.”

For Irving, it was indeed a pleasing debut, but it also left him a little dissatisfied, as he made clear to his friends and family, who texted him congratulations after the game.

“They told me, 'Good job,'” Irving said. “I told them, 'Not good enough.'”

Perhaps the reason for his (very slight) dissatisfaction was a play where he had a one-on-one situation with a Washington defender and couldn't get past him. He prides himself on always taking out the first opponent. Irving had two runs during the game that lost him four yards each, but those were mishaps where he was hit almost immediately when he got the ball. The play Irving is referring to is likely a two-yard run in the second quarter when he ran left toward a small alley between Tristan Wirfs and Ben Bredeson, with safety Quan Martin coming forward to sit in that gap. Irving would have had room to run if he had gotten past Martin. The Commanders' safety made the play by not being too aggressive in his push toward the oncoming runner.

“I see that guys in this league like to sit,” Irving said. “They don't really get up there. But I'll get used to it. It probably won't happen again.”

If he is right, Irving will definitely hear the crowd chanting his name again.