One of the most visible storylines of the Bucs win over the Lions on Sunday was the onslaught of pressure that Baker Mayfield was under from Detroit’s Pro Bowl edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson. Hutchinson set several Lions team records on his way to 4.5 sacks while acting as an absolute game-wrecker.
All of his quarterback takedowns happened while initially aligned over backup right tackle Justin Skule.
Skule became increasingly maligned throughout the game with each subsequent sack that “Hutch” picked up. But were all of the sacks a result of Skule’s inability to block Hutchinson? And how bad of a day did Skule have overall?
Bucs All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs was quick to come to Skule’s defense following the game.
Aidan Hutchinson: Sack One
Hutchinson’s first sack is not a Skule issue. Detroit runs a game up front with Hutchinson looping around a stunt from defensive tackle Alim McNeil.
Once Hutchinson loops inside he becomes the responsibility of right guard Cody Mauch. Baker Mayfield also steps into the Lions defensive end after trying to avoid the initial pressure from D.J. Reader who had split a double team from center Graham Barton and left guard Ben Bredeson.
It’s important to note that Hutchinson forced a fumble on the play while sacking Mayfield and it was actually Skule who alertly pounced on the ball to prevent a turnover. That saved the Bucs three very important points on the board, as Tampa Bay settled for a field goal and took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
Aidan Hutchinson: Sack Two
Hutchinson’s second sack is a clean win. He wins the corner and drives through Skule with a bull rush. The Bucs had no chip or help for Skule as Rachaad White was lined up to the opposite side of the line and releases to the passing concept.
Lions defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike was allowed a clean path through the interior to Mayfield due to a line miscommunication on the left side. Mayfield was unable to step up and Hutchinson was able to finish.
Aidan Hutchinson: Sack Three
This is another clean one-on-one win for Hutchinson against Skule. The Bucs offensive tackle just could not get deep enough in his pass set to guard the corner of the arc against the Detroit pass rusher and it led to a lot of issues on the day.
Aidan Hutchinson: Sack Four
This is an example of offensive coordinator Liam Coen giving Skule some help. Hutchinson is lined up in a wide-nine on a third-and-six obvious passing situation. Coen counters by aligning running back Rachaad White in front of him and has White execute an extended chip to give Skule enough time to get deeper in his set. Despite this Hutchinson still wins the edge on Skule.
My best guess is that Skule was concerned with Hutchinson’s inside spin move, which is his best pass rush move. That combined with Mayfield’s penchant for evading pressure by moving up the pocket rather than bailing wide to the outside may have played into Skule’s thought process. Nevertheless, the design was to ensure he absolutely did not lose the corner and he still lost it.
Aidan Hutchinson: Half A Sack
On this play the Bucs did everything they should have to prevent Hutch from getting to Baker and it still didn’t matter. This isn’t on Skule or offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Coen runs another chip from the slot, this time from tight end Cade Otton, and Skule gets his set deep enough to protect the outer edge.
Hutchinson just won with a high football IQ. He recognizes Mayfield is under pressure from Alim McNeill and is going to scramble up the pocket. He then disengages from Skule and loops back to the top of the pocket to meet Mayfield with Onwuzurike helping from behind.
But here is the kicker. I have no other clips of Skule losing.
He allowed no pressures outside of these, and again, not all of these were on him. Hutchinson was credited with just five pressures in the game per Next Gen Stats and they all went for sacks. Skule had three losses. Rarely will a blocker have three losses and all three go for sacks.
Skule didn’t have a great game. It wasn’t a good game even.
But it was not the abject failure I – or the rest of the world – thought he had on Sunday. And it was just enough to help the Bucs win against a talented opponent on the road as they moved to 2-0 on the season.