Bucky Irving — Week 3: Fifteen Carries, Forty-Six Yards
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Irving carried 15 times for 46 yards and one first down, with no run longer than 8, and caught 2 of 4 targets for 12. A 4-yard run to the Minnesota 3 came back on holding in the second quarter, and a 15-yard catch on third and 15 in the third was wiped out by his own chop block, in a 23–16 loss to the Vikings.
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10 to seven, Vikings, seven 56 left in the second quarter, first and goal at the Minnesota seven. Bucky Irving went off right tackle for four yards to the three, and it came back: holding on Tampa Bay, 10 yards. On the next snap a five-yard Irving catch came back on another holding call. First and 27 from the 27, and the drive that had reached the seven ended in a 28-yard field goal that tied it at 10. That run to the three was as close as Tampa Bay's ground game came to the end zone all day, and the play-by-play keeps it only as a penalty.
The line: 15 carries, 46 yards, no touchdown, one first down, three of the 15 successful, −2.7 expected points added on the carries — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. Four targets, two catches, 12 yards. The carries went four, one, eight, three, four, five, three, four, three, three, −2, three, one, five, one. The eight was first and 10 at his own 34 in the first quarter, on the drive that ended in Ted Hurst's 40-yard touchdown, and the first down came on the next snap, three yards on second and two, with 15 more for a Minnesota face-mask penalty. Eight carries before halftime for 32 yards, seven after for 14. The catches were four yards on second and 14 at the Minnesota 14 in the second quarter and eight on second and seven early in the third, a first down. One more catch does not count: third and 15 at his own 29 with four 28 left in the third, down 17 to 13, 15 yards to the 44 and a first down, wiped out by a chop-block penalty on Irving himself. On the next snap an 85-yard Chris Godwin touchdown came back on holding, and Tampa Bay punted from its own 14.
The split: 15 of Tampa Bay's 18 designed runs were his, and Kenneth Gainwell had the other three. His four targets tied Chris Godwin for fourth on the team, behind nine to Emeka Egbuka, six to Cade Otton and five to Gainwell.
Back in June the preview called Irving a top-18 per-game rate sitting on the league's worst rushing efficiency, and the first thing it said to watch in September was whether the burst was back. Week 1 was 15 touches, a touchdown and a lost fumble. Week 2 was 17 carries for 89 yards, 38 of them on one run. Sunday had no run longer than eight. Three games: 40 carries, a hundred 80 yards, four and a half a carry, one touchdown; take away the 38 and the other 39 carries averaged about 3.6. The volume has held and the backfield is his. The burst has shown up once. Tampa Bay is home to the Packers on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Bucky Irving's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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