Taking Advantage?
September 25th, 2019
Bucs OC Byron Leftwich.
Did the Bucs build an offensive gameplan that would effectively expose the Giants?
Stat geeks would suggest, maybe not.
Appearing on Joe’s Twitter timeline is an interesting stat published by the good people of NFL Films for BSPN’s NFL Matchup. It shows the Giants have the worst pass defense on first down in the NFL.
This got Joe to thinking: How often did the Bucs throw on first down Sunday? Turns out, not often. But when they did they had a great percentage of kill shots.
The Bucs, per Joe reviewing the play-by-play of the game, had a total of 32 snaps on first down, including 19 rushes and nine pass attempts with six completions. Jameis Winston, America’s Quarterback, was also sacked twice, flushed out of the pocket once and spiked a ball.
(One of those runs was a Benn’d Around by Breshad Perriman, and the first half was rather even with seven passes, nine runs and one sack.)
Of those six completions on first down, two were touchdowns. If one-third of your completions go for touchdowns, that’s good in Joe’s eyes!
So did the Bucs try to take advantage of a porous first-down pass defense of the Giants? Stats would suggest, no. However, this doesn’t shine a light into what Bucco Bruce Arians Byron Leftwich saw from the Giants. They could have been showing formations on first downs that would have doomed pass attempts.
In his press conference this afternoon, Arians said that on first downs he’s more worried about getting large chunks of yards on first-down pass plays than the number of times you throw. Fair enough. And the Bucs did get large chunks of real estate when Jameis completed passes on first down.
As for Arians Leftwich losing trust in Jameis after his second-half pick and taking the ball out of his hands, Arians denied that was the case.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:27 pm
que the BL haters!!!!!!!!!!!!!…..lol….
GO BUCS!!!!!!!
September 25th, 2019 at 3:31 pm
Throwing on early downs has proven to be successful in the league. I was excited to see the Bucs become a part of a trend-setting risk-taking style… Nope. More 1980’s strategy from Grandpa Bruce. You could have told me that Dirk called that game, and I would 100% believe you.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:32 pm
and for the folks talking about they want last years predictable offense……..
BL has the O ranked 13th in points…..
DK has the falcons ranked 21st in points…..
GO BUCS!!!!!!
September 25th, 2019 at 3:34 pm
Leftwhats? Offense blows big Donkey balls
September 25th, 2019 at 3:35 pm
The play calling between the first and second halves was almost like we brought Dirk and Smitty back to play turtle one more time.
I think Leftwich is learning and growing in his young OC career and he will be better for this game.
Arians just needs to bust out them biscuits and we’ll be fine. I believe this is the type of team that will keep getting better and better as the season progresses.
It’s not like with Dirk or Lovie or Schiano where you get blown out and your team questions if the coaches can put them in the right positions.
This year the coaches have put players in positions to win every single game. Bucs got to stop beating Bucs.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:53 pm
Bucs are inches away from being 0-3, and inches away from being 2-1. That loss hurt worse than any other I can remember of late, but there is a lot of football left to play and our Bucs COULD turn this thing around. Just feeling positive. It’ll pass soon.
September 25th, 2019 at 4:01 pm
Joe … “As for Arians Leftwich losing trust in Jameis after his second-half pick and taking the ball out of his hands, Arians denied that was the case.”
And yet, the play-by-play tells a different story. Jameis was intercepted at 11:24 of the 4th qtr, but our defense got it right back for him at 10:36 (Jones’ fumble). the sequence of Bucs’ plays after that?
1 – RoJo runs right (5 yds)
2 – RoJo runs left (13 yds)
3 – RoJo runs left (7 yds)
4 – RoJo runs middle (4 yds)
5 – RoJo runs middle (6 yds)
6 – RoJo runs left (2 yds)
7 – Barber runs left (no gain)
8 – Gay 23 yd FG
9 – Pinion kicks off
Bucs defense holds
10 – RoJo middle (8 yds)
11 – RoJo left (no gain)
12 – Jameis pass complete to Brate (1 yd)
13 – Pinion punt
Giants drive for a TD & XP
14 – Jameis run left end (2 yds)
15 – Jameis pass complete deep to Godwin (20 yds)
16 – Jameis pass complete deep to Evans (44 yds)
17 – Jameis spikes ball, followed by delay-of-game penalty
18 – Jameis run left end (12 yds)
19 – Gay FG no good
BA can deny it all he wants, but there were 15 snaps to the QB after the INT (plus a kickoff, punt, and 2 FG attempts). 11 were runs, 1 was a spike & 3 were passes … TWO of those not coming until the last series when we were losing the ballgame. Sorry but they DID take the ball out of Jameis’ hands after the INT, and didn’t let him pass again until (1) it was a 3rd down; and (2) we were losing the ballgame & had no choice but to pass. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a friggin duck.
September 25th, 2019 at 4:02 pm
No risk it, no old soggy biscuit.
September 25th, 2019 at 4:04 pm
Leftwich sucks
How do you not know how to use
Evans
Godwin
Howard
And the other weapons on this team?
Arians values friendships over championships
September 25th, 2019 at 4:27 pm
loyal
did you not see mike score 3TD’s?…lol….
oj had 3 catches for 66yards…..
CG balled out vs the panthers….
dude wake up….
BL has a balanced attack and he’s spreading the ball around….
Gay sucks…..
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 25th, 2019 at 4:55 pm
I guess there was zero chance of throwing the ball on second down with 11-13 seconds left and Winston getting crushed (again) and losing the ball Bc according to one of the Joes the Bucs oline is serviceable or decent? I hope I got that right.
BUT HOW MANY TIMES DID WINSTON GET HIT? HOW MANY HITS HAS HE TAKEN THIS SEASON? I’m willing to bet my Cadillac that he’s been hit at least half as many times as Mahomes. 🙄
September 25th, 2019 at 5:00 pm
I’ll tell you what, Bullchit Bruce may still be dusting off the rust on his coaching, but his coachspeak BS is already in mid-season form.
September 25th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
wow! ..some really good valid points.
I don’t know if we can squarely blame Leftwich for something our scouting dept. and stats geeks should’ve counseled him on. That’s important info needed to put a game plan together to attack their deficiency’s and weaknesses.
September 25th, 2019 at 5:28 pm
BA needs to adjust to the technology available to the average fan. He sounds silly saying they didn’t take the ball out of JW’s hands. He did. The proof is right in front of everyone.
September 25th, 2019 at 5:52 pm
DB55 No bet…Mahomes is very agile and guess what…he gets the ball out quickly and knows where to go with it.
THREE EFFING POINTS in the 2nd half. Blame BA for a lot of that…perhaps Leftwich…under BA’s orders.
Read D.R’s line score of plays run. Thanks D.R.
The runs were largely successful.
To what do you attribute JW”s absurd interception. He WASN’T HIT…his arm was not touched…but even you or I could throw ball that well. It’s literally inexplicable but a polished apologist like you should be able to over it.
September 25th, 2019 at 6:02 pm
“Ball out of JWs hands?
My Dad and I
are not fans of BA and BL s offensive schemes and playcalling however
the plan at halftime was to slow the game down by running the ball with a 28-10 lead
BA and BL thought like most coaches would have, was to change the strategy and eat the clock with the run with the 18pt lead. Neither team nor anyone thought the Bucs would explode with this production in the first half
however what horrifically happened was that the Giants got 15 pts in less than a quarter and it was now a 28-25 battle in the middle of the 3rd quarter
From a blowout than to a sudden close game at 28-25 score stunned BA/BL halftime strategy and created the uncertainty and chaos which led to 3 pts in the 2nd half”
Son of a whistleblower
September 25th, 2019 at 6:13 pm
Nobody holds onto the ball or has a “deer in the headlights” look quite like Jay Miss. Nobody scrambles more awkwardly either.
September 25th, 2019 at 6:22 pm
That fairly successful Benn’d around was nice to see though. Since Benn ruined that play for me I’ve only seen the Bucs use it sparingly. It’s nice to see it run effectively.
September 25th, 2019 at 6:35 pm
He’ll never make me believe he didn’t take the ball out of Winston’s hands after that boneheaded interception. It was obvious to a blind man. It’s a shame you can’t be honest in public with a 5th year professional.
September 25th, 2019 at 6:45 pm
This is truly the dumbest fan base. We have idiots crying because the bucs only scored 3 pts in the second half. Shut the f@ck up!!!! This is the nfl. Did this idiot not see two weeks ago “mahomes” scored all of his 28 pts in the 2nd quarter? What happened in the 1st qtr and 2nd half? Zero pts!!!!#! Why? Because this is the nfl!!! And no the bucs did not take it out of jameis hands. Defense rules, when 98% of nfl teams have a 6 pt lead with 4 minutes to go, they run the ball to salt it away. All you need in that situation is a couple first downs. You run the ball to keep the clock running to chew up the clock and force the other team to use timeouts. So if the bucs pick up that 1st down with brate, the game is probably over. I know buc fans are not used to winning and they are not aware how teams chew the clock in those situations. Smdh
September 25th, 2019 at 6:52 pm
Great post DR, and thanks.
Arians denied that was the case….very convincing. I’m not digging the tack he is on, it’s beginning to be insulting.
September 25th, 2019 at 6:56 pm
Alvin
Certainly agree with your first line…
“Nobody holds onto the ball or has a “deer in the headlights” look quite like Jay Miss. Nobody scrambles more awkwardly either.”
As for his scrambling…once he decides to scramble he’s actually effective…remember a couple of years ago that amzing run for a first down I think against the Falcons.
It’s when he gets the deer in the headlights look that he grows awkward.
JW simply does not handle decisions well. Once he makes up his mind…if he does it in time…he can be very effective running or passing.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:23 pm
SPB Fan. Remember, he made us his mind to throw a pathetic interception in the 2nd half. That was an interception that I can’t imagine another starting NFL QB would have made. However, it was vintage Jay Miss. Every time you start to gain confidence in him, he invariably does something really stupid.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:41 pm
SPBF/Alvin
“JW simply does not handle decisions well. Once he makes up his mind…if he does it in time…he can be very effective running or passing.”
QB is the most difficult and demanding position in pro sports. I don’t think he’s up to it. The last four years have shown that.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:19 pm
DR I see that you are not happy with the run/pass ratio but when I look at those numbers you posted I don’t see why. Just look at those first 6 plays……5 yrds, 13 yrds, 7yrds, 4yrds, 6yrds 2yrds……every play was a positive gain and represent very effective rushing. Why do we got a problem with using an effective rushing attack? If you ask me that’s called cramming the ball down somebodys throat. That’s a good thing.
Now I also see that Joe is not happy with us rushing on first down. I wish DR would have included the downs on his post but if my math is right 1st down rushes went for 5, 7 and 6 yards……Then another 8 yards on the next drive. We are talking about late game running while holding a lead. Everybody knows we are trying to run the ball & they still cannot stop us. This is very hard ghly effective rushing & borderline dominant. We literally imposed our will on them…….I don’t see what the problem is.
Now if you wanna complain about a specific situation then I might see your point……Mainly that set of downs before the 3 points. I do think once you get the ball inside the red zone you gotta try to take one shot to the endzone.
Other then that I don’t see where the issue is…….We were driving the ball with our running game. Why are we complaining about driving the ball?
September 25th, 2019 at 8:32 pm
Maybe Byron should have went to a run heavy play call earlier then the fourth quarter. Maybe he should have run the ball like that in the third quarter instead.
He does that and maybe it takes away some of them sacks we gave up. Then instead of negative plays and punting maybe we get another FG and early and put that game on cruise control.
Did we get a three and out on our 1st drive in the second half? Cuase you knows what the easiest way to let a team back into a 3 score game?…….Going three and out thats what.
Maybe if we run like that earlier there is no Winston pick and we put up a 40 spot.
Byron and Bruce is still learning this team and learning what we can and cannot do effectively. He might of learned we can lean on this rush for sustained period at a time. Sucks to drop this one but if Byron got it figured out for next time and he can confidentaly make playcalls he knows had a better chance for success we will be a better team for it……..That’s called learning and development. Works for coaches just the same like for players.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:44 pm
Arians is officially [eeeeaaasssyyy there “Anonymous.” — Joe]. Leftwich is inompetent. Winston is inconsistent a definitely not the future.Licht is light. All must go. Todd Bowles is the only bright spot leading anything here.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:46 pm
A franchise QB would be trusted to take care of the rock. These coaches are finding out what most already knew. But you can’t accept a job that pays millions if you speak the truth about Winston. That’s the cold hard facts.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:46 pm
St Pete
You know I try to show you respect so please don’t be a dumbarse.
You don’t see Dotson completely missing his blocks and edge rushers coming free? If not then go watch the mini camp videos of DWhite getting “sacks”. Dotson is STILL letting DEs free unblocked untouched and they’re hitting jameis within a second of getting the snap.
You’re insulting me sir. You are saying ithat dk what I’m talking about and you of all people know darn well that I do.
I’ll look for videos and see if joe will allow the post. You clowns gotta stop drinking and watching the game on the radio. You’re going to give me a stroke.
Jameis isn’t under regular pressure where the pocket collapses and he needs to scramble. Jameis is getting the snap and has pressure in his face as soon as the receivers release.
That’s how it is in the first quarter and by the 3rd qrt after 10 hits and 2-3 sacks he is shook. Scared in the pocket and afraid to throw bc you know protect them ball and what not. That man will need a team of psychiatrists by the time he leaves Tampa.
Look if you can’t cue up the game and watch tape don’t even respond to me. You people are going to drive me to drive. Simpletons the whole lot.
But but Mahomes….Mahomes literally has a pocket of 5 yards in all directions and all you ever hear is the announcers saying “Mahomes throws to a WIDE OPEN …”. When tf have our receivers EVER been WIDE OPEN? Most don’t even know what route to run. Arghhh you people make me sick!!!
September 25th, 2019 at 8:57 pm
BL said himslef two weeks ago that the offensive game plan is NOT put together based on what the opposing defneses tendancies show. Execution should win every matchup REGARDLESS of what coverages are being shown according the weak link Leftwich.
Giants defense is complete hot garbage and the entire team including Bowles defnese for unknown reasons went to sleep.
We will see non game planing, below average qb, second time playcaller, struggle to speak in full sentence weak link lefrwhichs offense on full display this week. This season is already almost 25% over. I hope this is Arians last straw this week and pulls the plug on the OC experiment because its going to be ugly.
ARIANS FOR PLAYCALLER WEEK 5!!!!!!!!!! (Hopefully sooner)
September 25th, 2019 at 9:06 pm
I’ll just leave this here. You don’t even need to watch past the 1 minute mark, heck 30 secs. If you can’t see it then just stop posting. If he’s not getting sacked as he gets to his spot then he’s getting hit as he throws.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zcnpuqYHKXI
September 25th, 2019 at 9:12 pm
OK DB55 I give up.
I feel certain when JW carves up the Rams he’ll also be able to walk across Tampa Bay to St. Pete to celebrate with us. Surely he walks on water.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:29 pm
Man I hope y’all checking out this Pennent Race.
It has been one of the more exciting races I can remember with all of these teams refusing to drop a game.
And our freaking Ray’s are setting the pace. We peaking and giving the yankee a taste of what’s to come. They can barely make half way to 1st base on us.
We may have taken our licks against that city in football but our baseball team for sure has that enire city feeling some serious panic right now. It’s a beautiful thing.
We have been the best team in baseball for the month of September. If y’all aren’t paying attention it’s time to fringe it up.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:30 pm
JimmyJack … “DR I see that you are not happy with the run/pass ratio but when I look at those numbers you posted I don’t see why.” I’m all for EFFECTIVE JimmyJack. The run/pass ratio wasn’t an issue to me. Arians denied that they took the ball out of Jameis’ hands … that was the only thing I was responding to (check the referenced quote).
There were 15 snaps to the QB after Jameis threw that INT (plus a kickoff, punt, and 2 FG attempts) … 11 were runs, 1 was a spike & 3 were passes. Point being: YES they did take the ball out of Jameis’ hands, up until we NEEDED to gain a BUNCH of yardage fast when we were losing at the end of the game. Jameis succeeded in doing that with TWO passes … a deep middle pass to Godwin for 20 yds then a deep right pass to ME13 for 44 yds. Until that series, Jameis had only thrown ONE pass after the INT at the 11:15 point in the 4th qtr. There were 9 straight runs after the INT until Jameis threw a 1-yd completion on THIRD down to Brate (that missed the 1st down by 1 yd). Once we fell behind with 1:16 to go, then they turned Jameis loose again … and he succeeded in moving the team 66 yds in 3 plays to the Giants’ 9 yd line. The rest is history.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:38 pm
Doubt very highly he’ll have any success against the Rams.
The first time he dislocated or injured his shoulder and the second time he threw like 8 picks. Heavy heavy pressure.
He won’t have to time throw and if he does the WRs won’t get any separation.
Watch the tapes SPBF. Watch the tapes my friend.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:49 pm
JimmyJack … “Other then that I don’t see where the issue is…….We were driving the ball with our running game. Why are we complaining about driving the ball?”
Forgot to mention JimmyJack, driving the ball using the run game is great. No problem. Eating up the clock IF you’re ahead is wonderful. But the Giants had pulled within 3 points of us at the 8:21 to go point of the 3rd qtr.
Our passing game in the 1st half was chewing up the Giants. 3 TDs passing plus 3 FGs in ONE HALF … 8 runs, 26 passes plus 2 sacks. We were eating them alive and they had no answer.
But then our defense AND offense let them back in the ballgame. Giants scored on their FIRST possession of the 3rd qtr, then we went 3 run plays, 1 complete pass (for a 1st down) and 1 incomplete pass (on a 3rd down) followed by a punt. Giants then returned the favor by scoring another TD. Bucs continued passing in the 3rd qtr, UNTIL the INT. After that, forget passing UNTIL we had no choice.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:08 pm
DR 11 runs & 3 passes…….A very important part of that equation is that 8 or 9 or those runs we’re very successful plays.
Ask yourself…..if we threw 11 passes to 3 runs would you complain is 8-9 of them passes were successful?
I understand you don’t want to see them play scared and not pass because they are scared. But is that what happened? Is there a chance that our playcalls challenged them to stop our run and they were not able to? I think those questions are worthy of debate. Deeming that those plays were called to take the ball away from Winston is not a fact. Only our coaches know the true answer.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:19 pm
And yes our passing game was destroying them in the 1st half no doubt…….But it’s safe to assume we did have to make our own adjustments as I’m sure they did…….Like Mike Evans for example. I’m sure somebody out there has the film study on Utube but I would guess they ran different coverage on him the second half.
At the end of the day I think you are barking up the wrong tree with your stats. Because they only focus on the Fourth quarter which has three drives…..one was a scoring drive and one was a game winning drive.
If you are trying to figure out what our offense did wrong in the second half I would focus on the 3rd quarter……The one quarter that we put a zero on the score board and barely managed to move the sticks…….And also that was likely the quarter that we instilled most of our halftime adjustments…..adjustments that failed.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:26 pm
The one whine about the Fourth quarter offense that I keep hearing and have to agree with is that 2nd and 3rd down play call just before our FG.
That was a huge part of our game their especially because we had siezed back momentum during that drive. A TD there is a nail in the coffin. We never even looked to the endzone. That was pretty brutal. Also heard that Tallahassee guy say you could have tryed to cram the ball up the guy on third and 2 and commit to going for it on 4th down in that scenario. That’s an excellent idea……..Sounds like a Jon Gruden play.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:38 pm
Expect Todd Gurley effort — to resurrect his greatness, against the BUCS D.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/09/25/sean-mcvay-says-the-hope-is-to-get-todd-gurley-25-carries/
Todd Bowles D – needs a plan/focus on Rams Run Game…..RAMS expect Bucs to focus on Passing game….
Neutralize Arron Donald – Bucs pass/run game can win the game…..with big gains at critical downs.
Just sharing – What I am reading…..And what I believe.
NET Prediction by BA Redzone – Bucs 35 Rams 32
ROAD WIN> BABY!
September 25th, 2019 at 11:26 pm
Is there a breakdown on playaction passes?
Dirk drove me nuts with the way he’d refuse to use playaction passes on first down. He’d run up the gut on every first down in the 1st half, then when he’d come out in the 2nd half and want to throw the ball, he’d got to shotgun. You literally just set up the playaction pass the entire game, and you don’t use it. That was really the thing I hated most about Dirk – what he did the worst.
In any case, outside of this staff coaching scared once we got to 9mins in the 4th quarter, the rest of the day was a pretty good offensive gameplan. They mixed it up more than the first two games, and when you have 380 yards passing and 144 yards rushing and put up 31 points, that should have been 36 points if the kicker does his job, that’s a pretty good day.