Bruce Arians Says Bye-Week Talks Had A Major Focus
February 16th, 2021
This is sort of the other side to the reputable late-November report that Tom Brady was demanding better Bucs coaching.
Our beloved Buccaneers entered the bye week a tired, 7-5 team that had just lost three in a row at home.
(For those unaware, Joe’s Den of Depression nickname died on Jan. 3., following the Bucs posting their first winning record at home since 2008. It was a very low bar, you rancid Joe haters, and Joe is happy the nickname is dead.)
As Bucs legend Rondé Barber said in a recent interview, the Bucs were still all-in at the bye, but there was a feeling setting in that going the distance might be a two-season project.
Obviously, the rest is history — glorious championship history — as the Bucs are now riding an eight-game winning streak into the 2021 season.
Bucco Bruce Arians joined Inside The NFL last week and dove into what changed at the bye week. He had answered questions about that previously, but Joe never heard them answered quite like this.
“We just took the whole week off and I spent a lot of time talking to Tom about how to get him more comfortable,” Arians said of the Bucs’ Week 13 bye.
“… I think we made a better commitment to run the ball efficiently, not how many times you run it but just run it efficiently so we could use more play-action and get shots down the field that he was more with. And he did such a great job of handling the deep ball for us down the stretch.”
Joe loves that there was nothing fluky about the Bucs’ meteoric rise after the bye week. No tricks, just physical execution with more consistency from a quarterback getting more comfortable and young defensive players making strides.
One has to assume Brady is finally comfortable, so Joe can’t put a ceiling on the 2021 Bucs. The Super Bowl window remains wide open.
February 16th, 2021 at 5:22 am
Yeah it’s wide open, provided we can get our free agents back. We need Shaq, Suh, LVD, Goodwin, AB and Succop back. It would be icing on the cake to get JJ Watt on a prove it contract with incentives.
February 16th, 2021 at 5:27 am
Including Gronk.
February 16th, 2021 at 5:53 am
I hope the G.M. is concentrating on the draft. He was all world last draft.
February 16th, 2021 at 5:59 am
Very interesting, sound like Brady used his political skills to have his people in the press blast Arians and leftwhiches game planning, i.e lack of run and play action, that’s all we heard about for a stretch. Then Brady told them himself. I guess it worked, pressure on coaches from both fronts. Maybe Brady was overthrowing it deep on purpose out of spite, a true mastermind. Haha
Who cares- we won another Super Bowl. Lots of fun, the first was my favorite, having watched that evolution toward winning over many years. This was amazing in its own way.
February 16th, 2021 at 6:11 am
Excellent pic of those two together! When you finally start listening to your hall of fame qb championships are what start happening!
February 16th, 2021 at 6:18 am
Bucs obviously played ‘better’ in the 4 games after the BYE week (as in 37.0 PPG average scored vs 18.8 PPG average allowed) BUT … that had to be the most Buc-friendly December schedule we’ve had in many moons. Vikings (7-9), Falcons (4-12) and Lions (5-11) weren’t exactly defensive powerhouses (their #29, #19 & #32 defensive Points Allowed rankings kinda give that away).
Those 4 wins not only allowed us to make the playoffs as a Wildcard, but they also gave us a great opportunity to experiment & fine-tune our offense. They also allowed us to go into the playoffs with MOMENTUM, which I think is critical.
No question IMO that 2020 was a truly ‘bizarre year’ for many reasons, but from a purely football perspective the Bucs entered the playoffs in superb position. Washington actually played us tough, but they were no match for us offensively. New Orleans was hurting in several ways, but they had the lead in that playoff game until late in the 3rd qtr & very possibly could’ve won if our defense hadn’t locked them down after. Green Bay was making a desperate push to come back very late in the 4th qtr until their coach inexplicably went for a FG instead of TD (THAT was a bizarre decision IMO). And Kansas City very simply couldn’t deal with our pass rush, and when that happens it’s ‘Game Over’.
What I saw in those last 4 games AND throughout the playoffs was a Bucs’ TEAM that played awesome COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL. The offense fed off the defense AND the defense fed off the offense. THAT’S where the Bucs excelled over every other team in the playoffs IMO, and THAT’S what it’ll take to repeat in 2021.
February 16th, 2021 at 7:09 am
I remember seeing the offense stats when running the spread formation back then, was horrendous. Seemed to be a lot less spread, lot more motion after the bye.
Does ANYone have updates on OJ?
February 16th, 2021 at 7:27 am
Agree. Better mix with run game
Sending guys in motion to see if defense in man/ zone for brady
The little things. You could see when play came in that brady would say no or shake his head no. (Like this play sucks for this situation)
Only focus now is having a real offseason
You could see after a throw when brady would get upset with himself cause he did not really give his player a chance to make a play. Overthrew enough. Bucs offense could see even filthier next year.
Lets face it. The ball needs to be in a different spot on a route run by scooter vs evans vs gronk. Speed of receivers and timing of routes takes time for a qb on a new team. Brady even said “look out for next year.”
Also, watch games at beginning of season when brady would stare at arm band with plays on it almost right until snap. Toward end if season it was more natural.
Only play i think we need to work on …is throwing it 30-50 yards down field on third and one.
February 16th, 2021 at 7:28 am
Be. Not see. ^
February 16th, 2021 at 7:43 am
LOL….. TB- “stop friggin going up the gut on 1st down you morans…we can play something else”. Boom, SB. Baby!
February 16th, 2021 at 8:01 am
I can’t assign a ceiling either until FA plays out, and maybe the draft too. But however the rest of the roster looks with Brady on board, “you’re saying there’s a chance!”
February 16th, 2021 at 8:07 am
I’ll tell ya our Bucs get no respect. They have us as the 4th favorite to win it all next year??? Watch they’ll probably try to make us play on the road opening game like they did the last time we won it all lol!
February 16th, 2021 at 8:15 am
they better draft a QB!
February 16th, 2021 at 8:32 am
It’s pretty clear that Brady bided his time, but by the bye had had enough and pressured to install more of his offense: play action, less automatic running on first down, motion, fewer long passes on 3rd and 1, etc. By the SB it was 40% play action. Next year he’ll have a receiving back, he’s now co-OC, and the offense will take off.
February 16th, 2021 at 9:04 am
The offense was very frustrating, basic and predictable. Receivers and QB not on same page, lack of discipline causing penalties and the D followed in suit. I would bet Brady told BA this formula has loser written all over it. The O schemes had to adjust to Brady’s skill set or why sign him? The rest was attitude induced. Brady got familiar with receivers and vise versa. Defense also started playing in control to their strengths.
I don’t buy Defense Rules excuses why. Bucs won. I’ll give him the Lions game but the rest are all capable teams. If you want to use the GB fiekd goal as an excuse, who is to say they score of 4th down they didn’t on 3 others? As far as NO, injuries are commonplace especially going into PO’s. Other than KC’s tackles Bucs had more injuries to starting players, why did Bucs win? They came together as a team with a winning attitude and played for each other, that’s to formula for success.
Oh can BA please fix special teams in 2021? Mickens has NO chance of running one back.
February 16th, 2021 at 9:21 am
The bye couldnt had come at a more perfect time. You could tell they needed some rest and time to learn. And as much as Ive ragged on Byron, he has definately earned my admiration for his work for finding how to make Tom great in Arians offense amd the adjustments he made after the bye. Still think Brady is the one making most of the calls but Byron definately put the right personnel in at the right moments.
February 16th, 2021 at 9:36 am
Bring back Shaq & LVD And next year could be historic for the Buccaneers
February 16th, 2021 at 10:11 am
@LISTNFRMAFAR … “I don’t buy Defense Rules excuses why. Bucs won.”
Excuses? Really? Congrats on missing the point of what I wrote. Let me spell it out for you: Lots of factors came together at just the right time that led to our winning the Super Bowl. And BTW, it’s the SAME EVERY YEAR with every Super Bowl winner.
Had the Bucs been 7-5 at the BYE, THEN played 4 top-ranked teams, MIGHT our 4-win season-ending streak turned out differently? The schedule wasn’t within our control obviously, but it ended up working in our favor. That’s not an excuse; that’s a FACT. And you could say the same thing about numerous other FACTORS like injuries to opposing players, calls by the refs, etc, etc.
Even our own injury situation worked in our favor, unlike in many years past. Bucs have a tremendous starting offense, defense & S/Ts. Fortunately almost all of them stayed healthy for the season & got a LOT of playing time as a result. JPP is a classic example, ranking #3 in the NFL for average defensive snaps per game by a DE at 58.9 (barely behind JJ Watt at 63.3 and Bruce Irvin at 61.0). Same can be said for almost all of our starters on offense AND defense.
So call all of those EXCUSES if you want LISTNFRMAFAR, but at the same time be thankful that those EXCUSES worked in our favor this season.
February 16th, 2021 at 10:12 am
The Bucs turned their season around when Brady told Arians and Leftwich to abandon the 60 minutes of “No risk it, no biscuit” football. There are times that going deep makes sense, but you seize it when the opportunity presents itself. Brady is the best in the history of the game at moving the sticks, he plays a controlled, patient game and then surprises you with a deep pass. Even when the pass is incomplete, it forces the defense to stretch, setting up the offense for short to intermediate passes or runs.
It took most of the season, but once Arians and Leftwich adjusted to Brady’s strengths, the offense became more efficient. It’ll be even more efficient next season!
February 16th, 2021 at 10:20 am
The Bucs turned their season around when Brady told Arians and Leftwich to abandon the 60 minutes of “No risk it, no biscuit” football. There are times that going deep makes sense, but you seize it when the opportunity presents itself. Brady is the best in the history of the game at moving the sticks, he plays a controlled, patient game and then surprises you with a deep pass. Even when the pass is incomplete, it forces the defense to stretch, setting up the offense for short to intermediate passes or runs.
It took most of the season, but once Arians and Leftwich adjusted to Brady’s strengths, the offense became more efficient. It’ll be even more efficient next season!
February 16th, 2021 at 10:27 am
Getting tommy more comfortable means BA basically let him run the offense. They looked alot like the pats in the Superbowl
February 16th, 2021 at 1:10 pm
Ben Green I agree with you 100 percent on that statement . But you can’t tell that to no one on this site . Because they believe this is the same playbook from last year !!
February 16th, 2021 at 1:11 pm
Passing thru You are right about that bro !!!
February 16th, 2021 at 3:28 pm
Defense Rules, your not hearing me, Bucs were 7-5 because the QB could not adapt to a.offense that didn’t fit his skill set, receivers and QB had.no synergy and the entire team were playing like the guards in the movie the Longest Yard. Penalties everywhere. In that 7-5 run they pounced the #1 seed in NFC and played their worst 2 games of the year against Bears & Rams both would be inferior to Bucs if they played later in the season. KC kicked the piss out of them first half but Bucs still lost by 3. My point is other than possibly NO & KC, Bucs end of season run could match up to any opponent. They were the most complete team in the league which is why they won SB. I also believe if KC had their starting tackles the result would of been the same. Bucs were on a mission. NO EXCUSES. Bucs won final 4 games without Vea, one without White & 2 without Rojo and one no Evan’s. Those are big pieces.
February 16th, 2021 at 8:37 pm
Clean House, that’s just silly. That kind of backdoor conniving can get players in big trouble in the NFL.