Todd Bowles Has Solution To Sluggish Offense
September 15th, 2022
Kick starting red zone offense.
The very last thing Joe expected to witness in Dallas last week actually came true.
And no, it wasn’t bad brisket. It was a Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense stuck in second gear.
The Bucs were one of the worst teams after Week 1 in red zone offense (the Cowboys were the worst. (Hah-hah!)
The Bucs were tied at No. 24 for red zone offense in Week 1, knotted with the 49ers, Packers and Vikings. In three trips to the red zone, the Bucs only had one touchdown.
With an offense featuring Tom Brady, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones and Playoff Lenny, this seemed impossible to pull off. But it happened. Thirty-three percent.
Yesterday, head coach Todd Bowles said he had a pretty good idea how to improve the red zone offense.
“The best way to improve that is to score,” Bowles said. “We’ll work on it and work on things.”
Bowles later cautioned that red zone offense, while important, is hardly the only rough edge the Bucs have to polish.
“It’s Week 1,” Bowles said. “The next couple of weeks while we’re figuring everything out – you have to win these ball games – but we’re working on quite a few things, so we’ll get better at that.”
How important is it to get the red zone offense into gear? Joe did a little research.
Of the teams ranking Nos. 20-32 in red zone offense last year, only three (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Las Vegas) made the playoffs. All but two of the top 12 teams in red zone offense last season made the playoffs (the Bucs finished No. 2).
So as you can see, red zone efficiency is kinda important.
September 15th, 2022 at 9:09 am
They have to give Brady more than one shot at the Endzone . Not positive on this but it seemed they didn’t throw until 3rd down in the red zone . Haven’t rewatched the game though so I could be mistaken.
September 15th, 2022 at 9:18 am
And the best way to win is to score more points than the other team. Thanks coach.
September 15th, 2022 at 9:26 am
I’m thinking he was sacked twice in the red zone
September 15th, 2022 at 9:34 am
Not having Gronk is a factor of course, but like Kentucky said, we didn’t throw until third down. The field is tighter in the red zone, so run defense isn’t quite as difficult. You have to be more balanced to make progress.
I remember this from old Tony Dungy days. We were so run-biased that we’d always need a 3rd down pass completion to have any luck in the red zone, and that’s a 50-50 proposition. No wonder Grammatica scored so many points.
September 15th, 2022 at 9:43 am
Gronk is a beast in the red zone. Probably his biggest advantage to the team
September 15th, 2022 at 9:45 am
We had a backup left tackle getting toasted by a generational (and whiny) linebacker on two third down attempts in the red zone.
Give Brady time to throw.
September 15th, 2022 at 9:46 am
Chris Collingsworth hit the nail on the head when he said that game 1 in the NFL is basically the first pre season game, for most teams.
Think about it ?
This is the first game the starters all play together, so of course we are gonna be rusty!
I am very impressed with what I have seen so far of the Bucs, and we will only get better.
September 15th, 2022 at 9:50 am
Surprised he didn’t use my favorite NFL cliche…….”We got to get on the same page”……..everyone uses it to answer most every question……
We haven’t been able to run in the red zone….need short passes on early downs…..Brady is extra careful not to turn it over……
September 15th, 2022 at 9:58 am
Joe – i have been harping on this for years now. the two most important stats in football (in order of importance) are turnovers and red zone efficiency. you win those you will most certainly win the game. go back to all the data and you will note that. FYI turnover on downs and missed field goals also count as turnovers. that is why jameis sucked for us. yeah throw 5000 yards but 30 picks. nobody winning with that.
key is dont turn the ball over against the saints.
September 15th, 2022 at 10:07 am
The Bucs didn’t have Godwin when we were in the red zone. The only real red zone threat was Mike Evans. That and we were kind of predictable in the red zone. We would run the ball on 1’st down and the cowboys knew we were going to throw the ball.
September 15th, 2022 at 10:10 am
I think we need to get the TE’s more involved in the red zone. Brate, Otton, and Rudolph all are big targets who can use their body and height to their advantage on the interior.
September 15th, 2022 at 10:16 am
It was 1 week. These types of rankings are meaningless at this point.
After 4 – 6 weeks, then we can talk. If we’re still in the bottom third of the league, then it’s time to be concerned. But I don’t think we will be.
September 15th, 2022 at 11:00 am
Not too worried. They’re not at full strength yet. They’ll get there.
September 15th, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Yes Red Zone offense is very important but you really start worrying when it happens in New Orleans or at home against Green Bay. If we break the hex this weekend against the slimy Saints with a good showing then you can understand it was Brady getting used to his new toys.
September 15th, 2022 at 12:33 pm
They doubled Evan’s and Jones, no other options.
September 15th, 2022 at 1:31 pm
Godwin actually lead all recievers in red zone targets last year. He had 20 catches on 26 targets.
September 15th, 2022 at 4:14 pm
I can not believe Byron Leftwich is not mentioned once in any comment. None of you chumps took the opportunity to blame Byron.
Its always been my belief that the main factor to show how good a playcaller you are is redzone efficiency. Thats why Ive always like Byron. He took a lousy redzone team in 2019 and solved the issue.
Losing our LT midgame for sure made Byrons job tougher Sunday Night. He has had the week to iron this out, I expect this to not be a problem moving forward. I also agree with unbelievable, this isnt a big deal unless we still have this same issue 4 weeks from now.
September 17th, 2022 at 11:29 am
Need our scamper back