44 Drives, 4 Touchdowns
November 8th, 2022
Team Glazer knows it, fans know it, Todd Bowles knows it and the screaming talking heads know it.
The Buccaneers offense is broken.
ESPN has been trumpeting to the nation the bad news. The Bucs have four touchdowns in their last 44 drives. That’s the worst stretch in the NFL.
Tom Brady, playcaller Byron Leftwich and Bowles were going to repair the offense after the Steelers game, and then during the Panthers game. Then it was going to happen against the Ravens and surely after a bunch of self-scouting for 11 days before the Rams game on Sunday.
It hasn’t happened.
The Bucs can’t run (worst run game in the NFL) and they struggle to move the chains despite a top-10-ranked defense and plenty of weapons for Brady.
Joe is still fired up by Sunday’s thrilling win against the Rams. However, nothing really was learned about the offense other than Cade Otton can be trusted in crunch time, Nick Leverett is solid and Brady still can be legendary with cool and precision in the final seconds of a game.
That’s something to build on, but the offense still needs to take a giant step forward in order to be competitive.
November 8th, 2022 at 1:53 pm
We’re at the halfway mark. Can things get a little better in the run game? I guess, but I wouldn’t expect some huge improvement.
November 8th, 2022 at 1:53 pm
One of the issues is when they should get a TD on some of these drives. We have a receiver have a horrific awful drop when they just cannot have.
Russel Gage robbed this team blind.
November 8th, 2022 at 1:54 pm
Everyone knows what the problem is and Everyone knows what needs to be done — the longer this drags on, this about Bowles, not the clown calling the plays.
No one needs anymore “Leftwich cant get it done stories”
November 8th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
Did anyone else hear Brady’s podcast?
His remarks about the effort level on game days are enlightening and disturbing.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:03 pm
Way too many 3 and outs.
But maybe we should start calling them 2 and outs, since Leftwich wastes every single first down by calling a Fournette run for no gain (or even a small loss) ?
Then when they do finally start moving the ball, which they can do with ease between the 20s, they stall out in the opponents red zone.
And literally everyone is making mistakes- o-lineman missing blocks, getting penalties, receivers dropping balls, running backs missing the hole, etc. Even Brady has missed a few.
Ultimately, it’s Bowles and Leftwich who are failing to discipline this team and fix the problems.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:06 pm
Sunday’s win can go a long way towards restoring confidence; but greater effort, better execution, and less predictability will be required.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
We have the WORST running game in the NFL – perhaps the worst running game ever in the history of the NFL.
TB12 is still solid but when there is zero running game it severely limits what we are able to do on offense.
TB12 thrives in an offense with a strong run game paired with the play action pass…
The Bucs need to find a way to run the ball or else we should have TB12 just sit back in the shotgun and let him throw it 65 times per game.
What I would recommend is spreading out the offense then run the ball out of the spread formation. Every time the defense sees Ko Kieft on the field they know it is a run play @ 90% of the time.
So predictable that some random dude with a laptop who hasn’t played in years can figure it out… What are highly skilled/paid defensive coordinators in the NFL able to do.
BL is not an NFL caliber OC.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
We should have drafted Dameon Peirce and maybe our run game wouldn’t be so bad.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:12 pm
@ SB
Agreed 100%.
I really wanted D. Pierce in this draft and he was still available when we picked White…
Oh well.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
Speaking of predictability, how many times did the Rams try to jump a slant or screen on Sunday? This offense is tipping their pitches big time. It’s time to start using that to their advantage by running counter plays. Take a weakness and turn it into a positive. Simple.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
Even Romo was critical of Leftwich which is very telling. Bowles doesnt care it’s like he only watches the defense and can’t see the offense
November 8th, 2022 at 2:18 pm
@MarineBuc. I would love for them to spread it out and go empty. Let Tom diagnose the defense. I think Bowles is directing Leftwich to run the ball more. He said on the broadcast on Sunday that he wanted screens and run?! This offense has no identity. Harold Goodwin the OL run coordinator complained that we were struggling in the run game because the RBs weren’t getting go enough attempts. Well, they had 20 carries for only 51 yards. You can’t have your 45 year old QB throwing 60x a game. His arm is probably tired and it may affect his performance Sunday.
This offense has so many limitations that if Brady isn’t playing well this team can’t win. Brady has to put on his cape and become Superman. Every inaccurate pass by him seems to devastate the team because they feel like they only have so many chances to succeed. Bowles said before the season that he didn’t want to put the whole offense on Brady’s shoulder.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:26 pm
Still amazed Brady only has 1 int this year. Just looking at the stats you would think the QB has 10+ picks.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:31 pm
Russel Gage and Julio were/are disasters for this team and a huge loss if cash; Whitehead is a huge need on the defense and then the interior line to protect the GOAT is abysmal. Priority one should have been to protect Tahmmy. Not by going with that scrub #67. If Bowels has had enough why has the offense not changed one bit. And dunderhead Licht should have been active on the trade deadline; give up Lenny for a trade for some WRs, go get Claypool or someone from the Colts or whoever was selling
November 8th, 2022 at 2:31 pm
@ Bucsfan13
Agreed.
How about spread out the offense and run a freaking draw play?
Remember draw plays? When you appear to be passing and you run the ball?
It’s a thing that offensive coordinators do when they have at least half a brain…
If BL’s hand is being forced by Toad Bowles then shame on him.
Maybe both should be gone soon.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:32 pm
Jmark, I heard it, and am as disturbed as you
November 8th, 2022 at 2:35 pm
Up tempo is the way to go.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:40 pm
Marine, I like draws. And traps. And counters. And sweeps. And 21 dives.
Naw, scratch the 21 dives. We’ve seen enough of those.
November 8th, 2022 at 2:53 pm
Bucs offense is really pitiful, and it pains me to say so. Predictable, slow, weak and undisciplined. Gone are the days of 30 points a game. Now we are fortunate to get 18-20. You’re just not going to win many games with that kind of offensive production. I was happy to see Scotty get some reps because we need more speed on the field, and also glad to see Otton becoming more involved in the offense. That has to continue.
November 8th, 2022 at 3:01 pm
Glazers…. Fire Leftwich and Bowels
November 8th, 2022 at 3:07 pm
It is insanity to continue to call predictable run plays when they have repeatedly failed. Leftwich must stop wasting downs.
November 8th, 2022 at 3:14 pm
@ D-Rok
Nah. Just thow another worthless WR screen for minus 4 yards…
This is a typical Buc offensive three and out.
1st dwn – run off left guard for 1 yard.
2nd dwn – WR screen for minus 3 yards.
3rd dwn – breakdown on the O-line causes TB12 to throw the ball at someone’s feet.
4th dwn – punt.
Rinse-Wash-Repeat
November 8th, 2022 at 3:26 pm
7 to 9 possessions per game
it’s one thing to kick 5 FG’s (still grossly unwatchable) it’s yet another to have so many of those non-scoring possessions end with 3 and out
it’s almost a miracle to win 1 game during this stretch
this kind of production has the potential to produce double digit losing streaks
November 8th, 2022 at 3:27 pm
They are doing better than I predicted this Preseason.
And I am a Buc Fan, not a Hater.
O-line, Gronk.
You replace Marpet with a Rookie. Our Backup center has never started a game.
You replace Cappa with a new a Guard, never played a down for the Bucs.
O-liine need experince, and time together.
NO QUICK FIX
We should have signed another experienced guard. We didnt.
Then you cant run. You cant pass protect
We replaced Gronk with a Rookie. The greatest TE in NFL history.
Nope
We replaced JPP with young player with nothing but potential.
Nope
We replaced Suh with a guy who is always hurt, and a bad rookie.
Nope
And these arent hindsight. I posted that this would be our dowwfall in July.
These are the facts. We can sign every superstar WR and RB in the league.
We cant block. We cant rush the passer with out blitzing.
That again is the facts
November 8th, 2022 at 3:36 pm
Tony Romo was calling a better game from the booth which is sad just because they won shouldnt save leftwich because most of that game was horrendously called. I’m glad they won but we watched two very bad teams play against each other. It was almost unwatchable to be honest get rid of leftwich sooner you rip that bandaid off the better.
November 8th, 2022 at 3:38 pm
Didnt they get four sacks? They didn’t blitz very much this game so I dunno about that one bud getting hicks back was huge for vea.
November 8th, 2022 at 3:41 pm
One word: “UNACCEPTABLE”!
November 8th, 2022 at 3:43 pm
Leftwich is an anchor dragging the offense down. There is no other excuse for this offense to be so awful.
November 8th, 2022 at 3:44 pm
Bowelswich are totally clueless. Ask Tom Brady? Naa why would Leftboob do that? Let Tom run the hurry up to start both halves and switch to it when things seem to be bogging down? Leftwurst stares catatonic into space while Toad just stares.
Done with the boobery.
November 8th, 2022 at 4:11 pm
If we keep running on every first down, any team we play will find it incredibly easy to hold us to the 1-2 yards we always get. Get some short to medium passes on first down and the run game will open up a bit. Might even not be worst ever.
November 8th, 2022 at 4:14 pm
@2022 return…
The Glazers don’t have the minerals to fire Todd Bowles and BL.
It isn’t going to happen for another year – maybe two…
They have no choice. They bought the ticket and now we take the ride.
I actually think Todd Bowles is a somewhat competent Defensive Coordinator. If he was paired with a somewhat competent Offensive Coordinator we would probably be OK.
Frank Reich or Josh McDaniels would be nice replacements for Buy-a-win Lefty…
November 8th, 2022 at 4:31 pm
Yes it needs to be repeated. Leftwich was given a Ferrari and he turned it into a Sebring
November 8th, 2022 at 4:42 pm
We all know the definition of insanity. First down play calls in Tampa. Second and third too while we’re at it. Still time glazers! Do it!
November 8th, 2022 at 4:43 pm
Naw, Pewter – Leftnut was given a Bugatti and he transformed it into a lime-green Gremlin. But hey, at least he put dice on the mirror! LOL
November 8th, 2022 at 4:53 pm
Lol I didn’t use that because these young boys don’t known anything about a gremlin
November 8th, 2022 at 4:53 pm
Take away his play card and let Brady take over.
November 8th, 2022 at 4:55 pm
Maybe they could promote Leftie to the office or something. They would not lose social credit that way.
November 8th, 2022 at 5:04 pm
Marine Buc … ‘The Bucs need to find a way to run the ball or else we should have TB12 just sit back in the shotgun and let him throw it 65 times per game.’
The first half of that I’m all for; the second half will end up being a prescription for losing the season IMO. Bucs MUST find a way to run the ball, period. There are no alternatives. And the sad fact is that it’s not nearly as difficult as everyone’s making it out to be.
Bucs need to COMMIT to running it more. Just for kicks, I looked at the 5 years after Tony Dungy took over as the Colts’ HC. Guess what: with a masterful Tom Moore as Indy’s OC, with Peyton Manning as their star QB, the Colts ran the ball A BUNCH, and ultimately won the Super Bowl in 2006. They stayed COMMITTED to the run, and never deviated (BTW, it wasn’t Tony Dungy; Tom Moore was committed to what was essentially a BALANCED ATTACK long before that).
o 2002: Run-Pass ratio: 41.4% … runs 3.6 YPC … 21.8 PPG
o 2003: Run-Pass ratio: 43.5% … runs 3.7 YPC … 27.9 PPG
o 2004: Run-Pass ratio: 44.1% … runs 4.3 YPC … 32.6 PPG
o 2005: Run-Pass ratio: 46.5% … runs 3.7 YPC … 27.4 PPG
o 2006: Run-Pass ratio: 43.4% … runs 4.0 YPC … 26.7 PPG
The Colts running game wasn’t spectacular by any means, but they stayed committed to it. Right around 43%-45% run-pass ratio. And they were scoring right around 14-15 TDs average per season via the run.
Bucs are only running it on a 30% run-pass ratio, and then we whine because we suck at it. To FIX IT, we need to address several issues simultaneously though …
First, our OLine needs work & it needs help. So work it & help it. If our TEs can’t run block effectively, bring in an extra OLineman or 2 & use more heavy packages, to include adding Vea in there if needed.
Second, we’ve got 3 RBs, one of which can git ‘er done. Find out which one & ride that pony. Hopefully the other 2 will get the message.
Most important though, FIX play design & play calling. That’s totally on our OC. What BL is doing now clearly isn’t working (I know, that’s an understatement). It doesn’t look to me that he has a ‘feel’ for the run game (maybe that was BA’s influence, not sure). I seriously doubt that Tom Moore, at 84 years old, would agree to be OC even for the rest of 2022, but I bet he’d agree to AGGRESSIVELY MENTOR BL (or Clyde), with instructions from Todd Bowles that they do what he says. I’ve got a suspicion that Tom Moore knows better how to FIX this thing than anyone in Tampa Bay.
Tom Brady’s no fool (again, understatement). He knows full well that a strong OLine is his best friend, and that a strong running game is a real close second. The last thing TB12 wants is to throw it 58 times like he did in the Rams’ game.
November 8th, 2022 at 5:22 pm
Happens all the time in sports. One Game, One Moment things just start to click. Teams/players can go hot and cold in the blink of an eye.
With the players we got on offense I expect that last drive vs Tams be be a key turning point of the season. Dont care if we are playing in Gremany, UK or on Mars……I expect nothing less from this offense to come out firing and producing starting this Sunday, from start to finish. 3 TDs isnt enough.
If that Rams win cant spark our offense its time to make a big change. I think Byrons got it figured, if not hes hust gonna have to het out of the way. His offense has been completely unacceptable in all 9 games so far. Hes lucky to get 10 games now its time to produce or get off the pot.
GO BUCS!!!!!!
November 8th, 2022 at 5:23 pm
Typos*
November 8th, 2022 at 5:46 pm
Every time we get 1-2 yards on first down is a future 3 and out
November 8th, 2022 at 6:06 pm
Our BUCS team looks like a group of men struggling because they are playing undisciplined football.
November 8th, 2022 at 6:36 pm
LOL, Pewter. I could have said Pinto also.
November 8th, 2022 at 7:16 pm
For those who feel we need to go fast, Evans is hurt on every other play, down the ground and pulling him self out of the game taking away the flow. Some of the other receivers don’t know the plays half the time Brady’s always wasting time getting him into the right spots. It’s a disaster what do they do all week?
November 8th, 2022 at 7:20 pm
@ DR
I agree with – Fix the play design…
My goodness. How many times are you going to waste one out of three downs running straight up the gut with negative results?
The first week – I saw reverses, I saw jet sweeps, I saw runs off tackle and I thought to myself… ” Wow – BL has learned something”…
Then he resorted back to the same old lame BS we are accustomed to.
Like I said in prior posts – what happened to spreading things out and running a draw play?
I play high level poker – and I can tell you right now with 100% confidence. If I had BL at the poker table – he would leave without a shirt on his back.
Sooooooo bad.
Sooooooo predictable it’s sad.
How many times have the Bucs offense passed with Ko Kieft on the field?
If a random dude with a laptop has figured it out – what have highly paid and highly skilled defensive coordinators in the NFL are doing?
November 8th, 2022 at 8:14 pm
Marine Buc … Look at the Dallas game and we racked up 152 rushing yards on 33 runs. That’s a respectable 4.6 YPC. We passed only 27 times in that game, plus took 2 sacks. So the run-pass ratio was 53.2% in that game. Oh and we controlled the clock for almost 33 minutes which probably helped our defense.
That was the ONLY game this season where we got over 75 yards rushing. And the starting OLine was Smith, Goedeke, Hainsey, Mason, Wirfs. So WHY did that OLine do so well in the run game against Dallas, but they’ve floundered in the others.
On our first FIVE possessions in that game, we ended up settling for 4 FGs and missed another. Fournette got most of the workload (21 carries for 127 yards), and got us 6 first downs in the process. If you look at his advanced rushing stats, he averaged 3.9 yards BEFORE CONTACT, plus another 2.2 yards AFTER CONTACT. I think the reason was that they found a real weakness on the left side & they worked that weakness to death. Every other game his YARDS BEFORE CONTACT were WAY DOWN. Kinda tells me that (1) the holes aren’t there (blocking?); and (2) play-calling isn’t finding the weaknesses in the opposing DLine.
November 8th, 2022 at 8:22 pm
DR spitting Truth as usual.
Truth is unsettling for most ‘fans’.
November 8th, 2022 at 8:55 pm
@ DR
Exactly… We are both speaking of the same game.
“The first week – I saw reverses, I saw jet sweeps, I saw runs off tackle and I thought to myself… ” Wow – BL has learned something”…”
The “first week” I speak of is the “Dallas” game you speak of right?
Why did we stop running around the edge and off tackle after week #1?
I believe we are asking the same exact question bro…
This doesn’t make any sense to me. Maybe we should be making millions of Glazer dollars to do this.
Goodness gracious. It ain’t rocket surgury…
November 8th, 2022 at 9:36 pm
@Marine……….or ‘brain science’.
My 15yr old son sits down and watches the game with me and calls 85% of the Offensive calls.
That is bad!
November 9th, 2022 at 9:20 am
I still find it funny that the fingers being pointed are always at Leftwich and never Brady or Fournette. When we were the best offense in the league two years in a row, Brady got all the credit, Fournette’s praises could be heard for miles. So what about now? With Arians gone, Brady’s fingerprints are more on this offense than the two other years. This is the New England horizontal shallow cross, slant, hitch, and screen offense… and it blows. Fournette is exactly the same plodding, severely lacking in quickness and explosion running back whose feet go dead at contact runner he has always been. In 2020, our most dangerous and reliable weapon WAS a running back…and it was Ronald Jones. The dude averaged 5.1 YPC that season… Fournette was under 4 yards. The guy that replaced Fournette that year in Jacksonville ran for well over 1000 yards and had a YPC that Fournette has never come close to approaching. The dude plays hard… he can catch and block… but he is severely limited as a runner and as a receiver. He’s a dump off option, nothing more. This offense stinks because WE AREN’T going downfield more and we have no threat of a run because our annointed running back is average at best. Fournette needs to ride the pine unless on 3rd down… that’s it. He isn’t even an effective short yardage back. He reminds me of the typical Big 10 RBs from the 80’s and 90’s… great when there’s a hole big enough to drive a truck through but can’t find space or create space on his own.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:48 am
Todd and Lefty trying to slow the game down with an anemic rushing attack is a joke. Just stubborn and dumb. No guts no glory.
November 10th, 2022 at 12:51 am
This is the original BUC Fan since 19976, Yes I been through the Good, Bad and the Ugly. However, Like of creativity is missing this season, how about – I an occasional reverses, I few jet sweeps, Now that there’s NO Gronk use those Tight Ends more and runs off tackle and I just believed that BL had learned to separate himself from Average Play Calling, when your playing with a Deficient OL creativity is a must, by the way I certainly appreciate TB 12 goal line suggestion against the Ram, which proves that a little creative playing calling during critical Game Situations will turn a Teams Season Around, see you in Munich. GO BUCS!! ”…