Bucs kicker Ryan Succop is the best player on the offense now.

Joe continues grasping to try to be positive while awash in negativity after that horrific botched display of ill-prepared offense Joe and all Bucs fans were subjected to yesterday.

One of the very few bright spots, along with Jamel Dean, came from the foot of Ryan Succop.

In Pittsburgh, their version of the Bucs’ dreaded south end zone field goal attempts is their south end zone, where field goals used to die. Maybe not so much any longer.

For the longest time at Agriculture Stadium (nee: Heinz Field), the longest field goal made was 51 yards. (Don’t ask Joe why he remembers this.) The reason place kickers struggled at the south end zone was winds coming off the Allegheny River through the open part of the stadium, Allegedly, the wind effed with kicks. The north end zone is not open.

The stadium in Pittsburgh has sort of a horseshoe shape. There are limited end zone seats in the south end zone, similar to The Licht House before the Bucs added new seating this summer.

Kickers have been better in recent years in the south end zone, and locals tend to believe that’s because the Steelers replaced the scoreboard there with a larger, state-of-the-art HD scoreboard. So now the stadium is almost fully enclosed and more wind is blocked.

Joe brings this up because Succop tied his personal best by booting a 54-yard field goal into the south end zone to end the first half to pull the Bucs within 10-9, his longest kick with Tampa Bay. Succop is now 15 of 16 on field goals this season and the 54-yarder was his first 50-plus field goal since 2020.

Succop told Joe he was hitting the ball well in pregame warmups and so he was pretty confident he could connect from 54. But he wasn’t sure if he was actually hitting 54-yard field goals in warmups.

“I really don’t hit a ton of balls in pregame,” Succop said. “I hit 10 or 11 balls and that’s really about it. I don’t know exactly where I went back to but I’m sure it was right around there.”

Succop had kicked at then-Heinz Field four or five times in his career and he really never noticed winds affecting kicks in the south end zone. Succop didn’t doubt the possible wives tale of winds off the river holding back long attempts.

Prior to the game, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell and Succop were warming up kicking at the same set of goal posts (south end). Joe had never seen that before. Joe thinks that’s partly because so many folks were on the field pregame, including a color guard.

Also, when it appears the Bucs will attempt a field goal in a close game, if there is a timeout, Succop runs onto the field to shadow kick without a ball, like practicing a golf swing without a club.

Succop did that again yesterday and Joe was able to record a brief clip.

Joe thinks it is fair to say Succop is the best thing working on this Bucs offense. And no offense to Succop at all, but that’s a sad thing to type.