The Run Game Meltdown
December 14th, 2021
“Cloudy,” says Bruce Arians.
Tuesday morning is a great time for tough talk.
The ecstasy of Sunday’s overtime win has faded a little and it’s an ideal time to ask how the game even got to overtime.
The Bucs led 24-3 at halftime — at home. That’s when to turn to your run game more to hopefully milk the clock and put critical points on the board. At that point, field goals are golden. You’re more than happy to trade threes for sevens with the other team.
So the Bucs got the ball at the Buffalo 42 yard line after stopping the Bills on a fake punt on the first drive of the third quarter. What a gift and a golden opportunity.
Instead of pounding the rock, moving the chains and setting up a score. The Bucs ditched the run after a two-yard push by Leonard Fournette on first down. Passes on second and third down failed, and rather than try a 52 yard field goal on 4th-and-2, Tampa Bay went for it through the air versus having Fournette hammer out two yards.
Buffalo responded with a touchdown and the Bucs tried to run the ball on the ensuing drive, but Ronald Jones got just eight yards on the ground on the first three snaps.
The run game sputtered more, but on back-to-back runs early in the fourth quarter, Fournette rumbled 7 yards and 21 yards to the Bills-14 with 13 minutes remaining. Then the Bucs gave up on the run and settled for a 24-yard field goal.
Of the Bucs’ final 12 runs against Buffalo, only four went for four yards or more.
Bucco Bruce Arians told Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV that there was “cloudy running game stuff” in the second half that kept the team from putting the game away.
“The plays were there we just hurt ourselves… We should have iced that game early,” Arians added.
Joe is all in favor of passing, but there’s no reason Lombardi Lenny and one of the great offensive lines in football can’t move the chains a bit in the fourth quarter to eat the clock — at home in pristine conditions.
Another thing the 10-3 Bucs need to work on.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:18 am
Maybe the Bills figured out the BUCS and made adjustments in the second half. However, BA thought that we have it in the bag and became complacent.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:22 am
O love Lenny but i think ROJO is faster getting to the outside.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:25 am
Brady clearly missed some easy throws in the blah 2nd half, if he connects then drives stay alive.
The Bucs stopped the Bucs overall in the 2nd half,
not any “Figuring out the Bucs” by Buffalo
GO BUCS!!!!
December 14th, 2021 at 9:26 am
Far from complacent. We’re still airing it out.
Thought we would run the ball more but it is what it is. No risk it no biscuit. That’s why on 3rd and 2 Brady throws a bomb…
Go Bucs
December 14th, 2021 at 9:28 am
I’m still wondering if more runs were called, but Brady checked into throws?
I’m not second guessing Brady based on the D he saw, but it would at least make me feel better about the play calling.
Its almost the Bucs have to be reminded again & again to be balanced vs throw too much.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:29 am
There were clearly times in that game that Rojo should have been the running back but for whatever reason, he does not get many snaps in a game. Fournette is a great back, but Rojo is very good and needs more runs because he is QUICK.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:32 am
After watching the game again I can see what BA is saying. The plays were there for the running game. I just saw running backs taking the wrong angles or holes. Many times it seemed that Lenny and Rojo were running into the tackles or just forcing a hole.
But that is my humble opinion. I wasn’t thrilled with all the passes either.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:37 am
When your up by two scores it used to be normal to use running the ball to run out the clock and use time of possession to as part of your defense. Used to be standard in the NFL. When your team has a Qb like Brady your probably going to stick with what got you the lead in the first place.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:39 am
Two things that disturb me with our offense…..
We should never run a play with an empty backfield except for 3rd & long. It keeps us from play action….
We seem to go downfield with 3rd down and short-medium…instead of trying to just move the chains…..low percentage passes instead of short high percentage passes.
We don’t seem to be able to run when we really need to.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:43 am
Tbbf
Agreed. If Rojo could give us any good snaps, we’d be in much better shape. Lenny looked worn out at the end of the game. Rojo is a quick, hard runner. His head is always messed up.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:44 am
The root of the second half’s problems lies with the coaching staff. They told Buffalo exactly what they were going to do, and that was to run the ball on first down. Buffalo knew the Bucs love to bleed the clock, and when they saw RoJo out there, they knew that the Bucs were going to run it on first down as RoJo is an unsatisfactory receiving option and poor at pass protection. It translated into poor first down yardage, necessitating passing plays on second and third down. Brady also fell out of that rhythm he enjoyed during the first half and began delivering throws (some catchable) with less accuracy.
This team could get better at the ground game; it’s frustrating because the talent is there on the field. The Bucs have a good, strong, and athletic offensive line, and yet they have only marginally improved at creating holes for the RB.
The coaching staff also needs to examine their strategy on bleeding the clock; they do it way too early. The defense is highly suspect, so launching into early clock bleeding was nearly disastrous.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:47 am
Yeah I’ll admit, it’s a weird offense that we run. But really can’t complain when we lead the league in scoring. I’ll take it.
20-0 when we score 30 or more with Brady.
Go Bucs
December 14th, 2021 at 9:50 am
Lately our offense does better in the hurry up mode. Which is not the preferred offensive when trying to protect the lead and run out the clock.
December 14th, 2021 at 9:50 am
It felt to me like Fournette was getting stopped for 1-2 yards most of the second half. I felt like we tried to run more in the second half but weren’t successful. I remember thinking these runs are just causing 2nd and 3rd downs with lots of yardage.
December 14th, 2021 at 10:00 am
#8 enjoys a large sach
December 14th, 2021 at 10:00 am
@”..Rojo is a quick, hard runner…”
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When/where, with nobody in front of him, like in empty field??? Actually even with empty field, was week 2 as I remember, he ran out of bound with no reason!!!!
RoJo just can’t see/find “tunnels”, I’m afraid he is a bust.
December 14th, 2021 at 10:15 am
Idiaznet is exactly right. Lenny and Rojo are power runners, they don’t delay and find a hole then burst through it. I am surprised the oline doesn’t have flap jackets on because of all the times Lenny runs into them. Don’t get me wrong Lenny is awesome in open field and has the heart of a lion but he does have trouble finding holes. As far as Rojo, I just don’t think he gets enough carries. When you watch Taylor, Conners, Cook, Jones, Pat’s backs, these guys find the holes. Again I love Lenny but if Conners was on this team with his running and receiving ability Bucs would be undefeated.
It doesn’t help that 70% of the time Bucs run on first down and most all there runs are right up the middle, very predictable. In the Bill’s game I saw both Lenny & Rojo get knocked back for losses, now Bucs are in 2 & 12 passing situation. Listen Brady is not perfect, bad pass to Gronk and low but catchable ball to Godwin and all downfield passes at least hit their finger tips so not that far off. Like someone posted it’s a bit ironic a coach whose tag line is no risk it no biscuit is complaining about not running? Fair weather coach.
December 14th, 2021 at 10:23 am
#8 makes decisions on frontal and backside pressures every day
December 14th, 2021 at 10:24 am
What happened to some of the reverses and sweeps that worked so well last week? I know opposing team review film and prepare for them, but it’s good to mix things up now and then.
December 14th, 2021 at 10:40 am
Mike Evans won the “Angry Runs” segment today on GMFB for trucking the Cameraman.
December 14th, 2021 at 10:45 am
In situations like being up 27-10 with less than 9 minutes, the running game is your best friend. It is the only sure-fire way to keep the clock moving.
If the clock is moving in that 4th quarter, Buffalo doesn’t have time to pull even.
It’s BALANCE and situational football. It’s far too easy to be enamored with the passing game when you have Brady but, situations sometimes dictate otherwise.
December 14th, 2021 at 10:48 am
Brady has to do a better job of not snapping the ball until the play clock is under 5 seconds when the game clock is running and we have a big lead in 2nd half. That adds up to minutes real quick when you are snapping with 15 or 16 still on play clock while the clock is running.
December 14th, 2021 at 11:13 am
@”…Mike Evans won the “Angry Runs” …”
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HILARIOUS!!
Kyle B, what a character, fantastic.
December 14th, 2021 at 11:35 am
BucsFan, that is true but if you take the time to notice Brady mixes it up quite often and doesn’t snap it many times with over 6 seconds on the clock. Two reasons for this so D line doesn’t jump the ball and so he can scan the field. It is not uncommon for Brady to snap the ball with 2-3 seconds on the clock.
Bucsfanman, I agree 100% but once you run 2 plays and get stuffed on both O’s back is against the wall. Also keep mind one of those series Bucs were backed up on their 10 and got stuffed, they had to do something to get out of the zone. The offense had the ball with 2 min left in 3rd and held it until they kicked FG with 11:20 left in 4th. That’s a LOT of time for D to rest. Unfortunately they let Bill’s score in less than 2 min. So how could they be gassed?
The bottom line Bucs do NOT have a good consistent running game, ya they show signs from time to time and BA & Staff know it. I doubt it’s about feeding Brady’s ego.
December 14th, 2021 at 12:16 pm
Every team we have played has tightened up their play with half time adjustments.
The Bucs seem to loosen up during halftime and don’t wake up until halfway through the fourth quarter.
I would really like to see RoJo run the first half and give the defenders sore ankles; then put Lenny in for the second half, to pound the ball.
December 14th, 2021 at 2:58 pm
Situational running! Byron still has not figured this out. When we come out on first down with heavy formations and then try and pound the rock up the middle, it almost never works. Yet Byron keeps calling it, so much that I have dubbed it the “Leftwich special”.
If you want to run on first down, disguise it! Try running out of shotgun, draw plays, spread formations. It’s a numbers game, and if the box has less defenders or there are less big defenders on the field, you have a better chance at run success.
Also, if you throw a high success rate pass for a 4-5 yards on first down, you can open up the playbook on second down for run, pass, or play action. It’s not rocket science! In fact, it looked like Byron finally figured it out with a beautifully called first half, only to go back to his tendencies feeling like he had a safe lead. What happened? We almost lost.
I hope you see this Byron! It’s not a huge adjustment, you can do it! GO BUCS!
December 14th, 2021 at 5:45 pm
Stop complaining! Their 10-3 tied for the best record in The League. Gee whiz you sound like a Jet fans. GO BUCS!
December 14th, 2021 at 7:26 pm
“cloudy running game stuff”
“Dean got foggy”
……
Me thinks Mr. Arians is mixing up his weather and football.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:57 am
You know Brady and the offense can’t always score 34 plus points against the better teams. 27 with no Pics should be enough. To get through the playoffs, it comes down to defense which needs improvement against the pass. Fast.