Bucs Only Need To Look In The Mirror To See Why A Run Game Hasn’t Developed
September 25th, 2023
Profound dud Monday night (again).
UPDATED: The season is not over. It’s still September. The Bucs still have a winning record. The Bucs are still in first place. The world has not crumbled.
But one thing is clear to Joe: against good teams, establishing the run this season means running to lose unless there’s a drastic change.
Joe wrote time and again since the draft that in a running back-rich draft, the Bucs — with the league’s worst run game in 2022 — chose not to draft a (cheap) running back.
Instead, the Bucs signed an injury-prone running back who ran for less than 250 yards last year. And guess what happened? Chase Edmonds got hurt. Who could have guessed?
Folks, Rachaad White likely isn’t it. Joe’s not ready to give up on the kid but in no way can Joe trust this guy. No way. He stinks as a running back. He’s averaging 3.1 yards per carry this season, worse than last season. That’s all there is to it.
Man, the way folks tried to twist numbers last week and claim White had some franchise-changing game on the ground, you would have sworn Eric Dickerson was toting the rock.
Sorry, one good game and one OK game out of 21 — what is the point now exactly? Have the Bucs become a minor league team where results no longer matter, that it’s all about two years from now?
Three games into the season, there isn’t much the Bucs can do about the lack of a running game unless someone pulls Sneak Vaughn out of Todd Bowles’ doghouse. Sean Tucker has done nothing — certainly less than White. But “this Joe” is giving Tucker a mulligan because he missed so much time in the offseason due to his heart issue.
Is that fair? Maybe not.
You want to know what also isn’t fair? Pretending White is Bijon Robinson. White can catch the ball just fine out of the backfield. White is not a running back that can be counted on. And Joe isn’t holding his breath, either.
Joe hopes Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht is closely scouting running backs both in college and guys in the league who may be available.
If Bucs coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Dave Canales are so damn determined to run the ball, get these men competent runners.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:13 pm
Once AGAIN, and i REPEAT. The reason why Mike Evans isn’t mentioned as an elite WR was on display tonight…he may have had good stats but when it counted he was NOT ELITE! Bucs played a good game tonight, lots of mistakes on our end and we can’t have that against good teams in this league…overall I’m not mad at where we stand in this league. GO BUCS
September 25th, 2023 at 10:13 pm
Logan Hall and JTS are garbage.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:14 pm
Should have thrown a lot more on early downs. Passing game never opened up until the touchdown drive. If that opened up earlier, the run game might have been a little better. Agreed, White is not our guy for the future.
Also, Baker made a couple mistakes but overall he was solid. He certainly didn’t lose it for us. Eagles lines were just way better.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:14 pm
Rashaad White ain’t the guy. He’s a ballet dancer in the hole.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:15 pm
Agree. White just doesn’t stick his foot in the ground and get north and south. He hesitates and hopes the hole develops instead of running to whatever daylight there is and breaking tackles. Just not a power back.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:15 pm
It’s not our running backs…it’s our line…..all you had to do is watch how the Eagles opened up holes for their backs all night and we didn’t.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:16 pm
All you had to see was their RB’s and ours. We don’t have any.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:16 pm
R. White is JAG.
Horrible ground game here for 2023.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:17 pm
TBBF, you mean lineS … both lines for Philly dominated both of ours.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:19 pm
“It’s not our running backs…it’s our line”
This is such a LAZY BS excuse….White runs with 0 power, dances around the hole and is slow, not to mention a costly fumble.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:19 pm
White is a mediocre player. Period. End of story.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:20 pm
Our secondary sucks and has for a long time. This team just thinks they should pay large contracts for players that have a history of not being able to stay on the field.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:20 pm
Oh wait wait… so it wasnt leftwich after all.. it was rashaad white.. lol… this is like clockwork.. blame the coaches until they get replaced, then once they get replaced, start to blame the players lol.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:20 pm
LOL until that last drive where Philly took their foot off the gas Baker was 10-19 for 87 yards and a TD.
HE AIN’T THE GUY – HE’S A FRAUD AND YOU WERE ALL WELL WARNED
September 25th, 2023 at 10:21 pm
AND A INT SORRY
LOL
10-19 87 1 INT through 3 quarters.
HE’s NOT THE GUY.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:22 pm
Bucs failed to get a competent back and if offensive line will continue to get exposed when you play against big time players, I’m sorry Cody and company don’t do it for me, the only players that played against elite competition is the guy from Iowa. This will happen again next week, with Cam Jordan and company
September 25th, 2023 at 10:22 pm
WE TOLD YOU BUT YOU DIDN’T LISTEN
September 25th, 2023 at 10:22 pm
He can’t play
Period.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:22 pm
White is bad, no doubt about that – but Barry Sanders couldn’t have run behind that o-line tonight
September 25th, 2023 at 10:24 pm
White has the vision of Mr Magoo and all the speed/power of a marshmallow. The OL (save 78) is lousy at run blocking—BUT—White simply can’t make anything happen. It’s criminally negligent how this team can’t find a legitimate back.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:24 pm
Can’t run up the middle because – get this – HAINSEY SUCKS!
September 25th, 2023 at 10:24 pm
Bring back the fan poll that had a win for the Bucs!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Bowels is hot garbage as a HC.
2 wins vs teams that are 0-6 collectively.
4-13 tops. Fire the whole squad.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:25 pm
No one is doing much behind this line.
We don’t have Marpet and Jensen holding down the interior anymore.
We have essentially backups in there now.
SOUNDING LIKE TMAX MY GOD.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:26 pm
oline was garbage too
September 25th, 2023 at 10:28 pm
Mike S. We were aware you Trask boys would be out if there was a game like this. But make sure you also don’t look at everything. How many interceptions did their QB throw? He should be replaced. Idiot.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:28 pm
Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t place the lions share of the Bucs’ running ineptitude on White, as I did not see any holes opening up for him to run through.
Philly opened gaping holes in the ‘vaunted’ Bucs running defense. So large, in fact, that a not football fan could easily see them.
Did you see any daylight created by the Bucs offensive line the entire game? I didn’t. Is it the blocking scheme that simply doesn’t work?
Or, is it the lack of talent on the offensive line. As far as I can tell, they have one offensive lineman that’s worth paying. His name is Wirfs. The rest… I’d be looking to trade them now for draft picks that can be used to get real offensive lineman and, perhaps, a quarterback and a couple of defensive backs who know how to play the game.
As has been the case for the Bucs defense for the last year, or so, they simply can’t get off the field…
September 25th, 2023 at 10:28 pm
Makes me 🤢 history tells us that the front office is going to sit on there hands and we the fans are going to suffer the whole season with white and the terrible run game we have. I smell 8-9 again, we will be able to beat bad teams but when it comes to good teams we won’t be competitive unless something changes.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:28 pm
Bijon Robinson wouldn’t have done too much better behind this oline. Not to make excuses for R White because he has no vision and no burst but please, this line is a shtshow
September 25th, 2023 at 10:30 pm
White would of ran foe 100 yards if he had the same holes to run through that the Eagles RB had
September 25th, 2023 at 10:30 pm
“Bijon Robinson wouldn’t have done too much better behind this oline”
NONSENSE!!!
September 25th, 2023 at 10:32 pm
We need a guy that will hit the hole hard and run behind his pads. That dude is available. Ronald Jones. White does too.much tip toeing, Tucker runs with no power. Vaughn is the best runner on the roster and I know Jones is better than him.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
Trade R.White, and a second round pick to Indy for J.Taylor.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
Death, taxes, White fumbling and ME with crucial drops!
September 25th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
Nonsense?
Did you see that interior attempt to pass/run block?
Starting to give me flashbacks to 2014.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:34 pm
NONSENSE??? Stop lying to yourself homer. It’s a function of lack of comparative talent in the trenches. That’s the game
September 25th, 2023 at 10:35 pm
The OC Called a HORRIBLE game tonight. No tempo until the last TD drive and where were all those Rollouts and Waggles we saw and heard about in the off season and in the first two games?!? Getting Baker outside of the pocket would’ve helped getting away from the pressure and bought him more time to throw or run. The defense played decent when you consider how poor the offense played.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:35 pm
The scariest part is that these are all recent Licht draft picks. They are all 1-3rd round selections that should be emerging into their primes in their 2nd-3rd years, yet none of them are progressing…
Hainsey
Hall
JTS
Trask
RWhite
Vaughn
September 25th, 2023 at 10:36 pm
Watch and see Baker is the guy. Every quarterback in the league is the guy if they have time. Tonight the loss falls squarely on the defensive and the offensive lines. If you or anyone else can’t see that give up your football card NOW.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
It’s a copy cat league and Canales now has a lot of tape to see how to run the ball.
Bucs only needed 16 yards of offense per points scored.Eagles needed 19 yards per point scored. Bucs just needed a bit more than 174 yards of Offense.
Even if Philly put up 70 it’s one loss. On to New Orleans.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
White straight up sucked tonight. Can’t break a tackle and can take more than 1 step before trying to dance around. If he would have put his shoulder down and run forward, that safety doesn’t happen. Hell he couldn’t even take the ball from the 1 in for a score. Straight garbage.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
Funny watching these takes after the Bucs get clobbered up front as if a better RB1 would have been the difference! The wishful thinking deserves a non-profit
September 25th, 2023 at 10:37 pm
Eagles RBs had options for which hole to run through because they have a great O line. Then look at our RB who tries to tap dance and side step when he needs to lower his shoulder and drive forward. We need a better Oline (won’t get this season but the current group could improve) and we need a big smash mouth RB.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:38 pm
Should have known this nonsense was coming. You do realize eat kind of defensive front the eagles have right? You do realize the offensive line sucks right.
What rookie was going to burst through that defense
Better yet did you watch b bijan Robinson or whatever his name is? He was totally useless on Sunday. That’s what happens when you play good teams. Give it a rest Joe
September 25th, 2023 at 10:39 pm
I’m sorry but the Eagles were living in our backfield all night long.
At worst, they were at the line of scrimmage with multiple bodies ready to take down whoever had the ball.
Calling a run play when we were on our own 2 yard line was the absolute dumbest play call possible, and I called the safety 30 seconds before the ball was even snapped cuz I knew they would run.
That said, White definitely dances too much too. But him being more decisive would have only resulted in an extra 10 yards at most tonight. Philly simply destroyed our o-like in the run game, as expected by anyone who can see our o-line for what it is.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:40 pm
What ever you want to say about our RBs (and I agree with much of what has been said), why are there not more serious questions about a coaching staff that has such a firm commitment to running the ball while paying 3 receivers like $50 million total a year?? 20 per for Evans & Godwin and 10 per for Gage. This team is not built to be a run first team, and that’s just looking at skill players without even mentioning the o line. Plus the eye test shows we suck at it. If you had 3 highly paid receivers and you somehow drafted a diamond in the rough RB that was so amazing, I MAYBE see building your offense around him. That is not what we have with this team. Leftwich AND BOWLES are some of the most stubborn coaches of the modern era.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
Tojo to the rescue after his suspension.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
RoJo
September 25th, 2023 at 10:46 pm
He runs to pressure and stops. He sucks. I’m sorry but he sucks.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
our trench guys simply couldn’t hang with their trench guys on any level tonight…
it all funneled out from there…a disaster from the lines to the rest of the skill positions on offense, and to the defensive backs on defense…
it was like college lines trying to play pro lines…at least it looked that way tonight…
oh well…
move on – beat the saints – cruise into the bye 3-1 and this will be old news
September 25th, 2023 at 10:48 pm
Yeah, the line isn’t the greatest at run blocking and this was a strong defensive line, but you got to be able to hit the line and fall for one yard or two. The indecisiveness with this line, is going to result in a loss every time.
As to why didn’t the Bucs do anything about this? Well, any of the free agent backs that were available, none are doing well, it would have been wasted money. Should they have drafted? Definitely.
In the end this is a team that didn’t want to commit to players because we weren’t sure what we really have. By season’s end we will either see the holes we need to fill and try and cut loose the dead weight. I think we will be an good team, but not good enough to compete for the championship. But maybe we will see some guys we want to keep and figure out what we need to lose.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:48 pm
We have talented and proven WR. Our RB are fair at best. Let’s run the ball, Stupid
September 25th, 2023 at 10:49 pm
They’re literally the best run defense in football.
Here’s an idea, look at a calendar, it’s 2023, you don’t need to run the football to win. Here’s another idea, stop wasting offensive downs in the stupid pursuit of running the football when those downs could be spent trying to, instead, score points.
The dopes who think you need to meet a run quota are outdated by about 40 years.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:50 pm
If my memory is correct, Mike Evans has dropped 3 potential td’s this year.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:50 pm
Baker is a bad QB teams can just stack on the run. How is that whites fault?
September 25th, 2023 at 10:53 pm
White is almost as bad as the OLine – it’s literally a joke – we watched us barely eek out yards against two very bad teams
We beat two powder puffs and now begins the march to 6-11
September 25th, 2023 at 10:54 pm
So many excuses for a flat out bad running back, I seem to remember similar excuses for ROJO for many years before fans started to realize he was just bad
For the lazy crowd to just blames the Oline, can y’all name 1 redeeming quality that Rashad White brings to the table? Outside of being an OK pass catcher, he does nothing special.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:56 pm
In addition to all the idiots saying we need to run the ball vs the NFL’s best run defense, we have all the idiots that don’t know a thing about how blocking works, saying the run game would work if White just run up the back of his offensive lineman on everyplay.
It’s like stupid+retarded in the comments.
White actually got a bunch of yards that weren’t there by being patient, it’s just incredibly how dumb peoples takes are when they literally have no idea what they’re watching, and instead scream, ‘GO RUN FAST HARD’, like the low IQ dullards they are.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:59 pm
This offense is predicated on being able to run the Ball. That’s what they do in Seattle we need angry physical runner’s and that’s not White.
September 25th, 2023 at 10:59 pm
Nah, you guys blamed Brady and Leftwich all last year because the OL couldn’t run block. That’s why Leftwich was calling up screens! It’s we couldn’t run the ball. It was used as a complement. We would have had better success throwing smoke screens to Palmer.
Baker over threw Thompkins deep on the first drive.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:00 pm
Throw a donut Lenny’s way and see if he wants to come back. The really need a back that will hit the hole full speed. They don’t have that change of pace guy and all that dancing gets them no where. There were some good holes for the backs but, they closed down quick when you’re spending more time hope stepping everywhere. Run the dang ball full speed to the hole!!
September 25th, 2023 at 11:01 pm
LOL Rod Munch
Is 38 yards a “bunch of yards in your book?”
You gave pretty low standards for NFL running backs if you still think White is good.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:01 pm
White isn’t an NFL starting running back. He couldn’t even make the Eagle squad as a backup running back. I’m seeing a RB that doesn’t have the instincts to make anyone miss.
There are many backup and practice squad players all over the league that can average more than 3.0 ypc, even behind this OL.
White, JTS and Hall all second and third year disappointments.
Licht isn’t finding talented offensive players the past 3 years.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:02 pm
This game has been since the beginning has been about the trenches and a physical attitude.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:04 pm
Our offense runs best on hurry up, quick slants and outs, and occasionally a long ball. We did that on one series, and scored a TD. Maybe we should pass to open up the run game, since clearly we cannot run to open up the pass game.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:06 pm
Did anyone notice the massive holes the Eagles backs were running through? Did you see any holes open up like that when the Bucs were on offense? The Bucs got manhandled in the trenches, White maybe an average back but if your lines are losing in the trenches it’s an uphill battle.
The Eagles run QB sneaks for first downs in short yardage situations, after the Delaney interception the Bucs tried to pound it out from inside their one yard line and took a safety, that’s called poor offensive line execution.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:10 pm
It sounds like folks thought we should have beaten the NFC champ when we haven’t proven we are ready to do that.
New QB, new offensive coordinator, and 4 out of 5 offensive linemen in new positions. And we knew our running game was our weakness and on a rainy night, you need the run more. We are playing 2 undrafted rookies and brought in a lot of youth.
The sky isn’t falling …. The team is still over performing what most people thought they would do in basically a rebuild year. Just need to take a deep breath.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:13 pm
Joe. It seems like you’re blaming white. The Oline can pass block but they CANNOT run block. Doesn’t matter what RB you put back there. Even the A-train him self would have a tough time running. There were no wholes to run through. Hit multiple times behind the line. There was no where to go. At least tonight there wasn’t
September 25th, 2023 at 11:19 pm
Lets point the finger at our genius GM who thinks he can keep drafting these small school players to compete against real grown ass men who play for legit colleges… Why Wirfs is an AllPro, bc he played against real competition.
It goes for both sides, Philly has monsters playing on DL and we have who??
We have 2 rbs in the same backfield that are busts, how does that happen???
Why didnt we sign Hunt? Or trade a 6th for Ackers?? Anything??
Licht gets too much credit for Brady and that team, but his seat should be on fire with all the misses..
September 25th, 2023 at 11:25 pm
Licht has a tendency to stick with his draft picks too long…like a lot of GMs I suppose. The “stable” of Bucs running backs is slim & none…feeble.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:30 pm
He doesn’t run with any kind of nasty. Compare that to Swift on the other side.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:32 pm
DBS Baker is trash. This is only the beginning. We’re going to let you know about it after every game until this fiasco insult ends.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:34 pm
Rod Munch your takes are usually decent – but White ain’t the guy. We need a shake up at RB. Need to see Vaughn in N.O.
September 25th, 2023 at 11:36 pm
Tbbucs3. And Baker Mayfield is trash 🗑️🗑️ he’s now about to show why he’s on his 4th team in 6 years!!! I rather see Trask but we stuck with Baker Mayfield!
September 25th, 2023 at 11:42 pm
The offense started good. Not great but good enough to stay in the game. When Mike dropped those 2 passes, especially the TD, the excitement left the stadium and didn’t come back until the 4th. By then the defense was too tired to get the ball back.
We will beat the ‘aints!
September 26th, 2023 at 12:03 am
Tucker has done nothing because he’s gotten nothing.. 2 carries tonight.. that’s not much of a difference between vaugns 0 carries
September 26th, 2023 at 12:06 am
Bucfan1988 FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, can someone please slap these coaches to tell the corners to stop giving 10 YARD SOFT COVERAGE CUSHIONS to A J BROWN!!!
WTF????
Every freaken 3rd down play!!!!
Secondary coaches should be fired for this garbage…
Felt like I was watching Lovie Smith / Mike Smith zone defenses….
PATHETIC!!!
No wonder you were out on the field the whole night!!!!!
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Please JBF no more posts about off coverage blah blah
Scared football, manifests itself by positioning your selves to give up first downs by idiotic alignment.
People can pretend its a wise way play, but giving up first downs because of alignment is scared PUZZY way to play defense.
September 26th, 2023 at 12:16 am
The Eagles are the better team. They barely lost the super bowl and both lines returned fairly intact this year. Are the Bucs a bad team ? No, just currently working thru O line issues and trying to figure out how to run the ball. The next game and how the Bucs play will setup how the rest of the season goes.
September 26th, 2023 at 12:25 am
I haven’t Rachaad White run a bad play yet if there was a hole to hit.
I can count the holes this O-line has produced in the last two years on my right hand; actually I’ve never seen one, but there must have been five; never mind anything as advanced as “good blocks” assisting a running-play.
It’s hard to believe anyone could mention the Buccaneers’ running-game and not realize the O-line is the main problem & not even.mention it.
It was almost funny watching Brown hit these gigantic holes for big yards tonight, emphasizing what the Buccaneers’ RBs -don’t- have.
September 26th, 2023 at 12:41 am
10-3 when Rashaad fumbled. After that the Bucs had the ball for 15 plays more the rest of the game
Reminds me of last year, he fumbled the opening kick off against KC and it was history after that
September 26th, 2023 at 1:42 am
Find some rookie big school o lineman on practice teams around the league and sign them and cut that garbage you got that you call an offensive line
September 26th, 2023 at 5:58 am
It’s NOT the RBs fault, Maybefield needs to play better and stretch the field. Those check down passes are hurting the running game.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:23 am
K_bassuka Says:
September 26th, 2023 at 5:58 am
It’s NOT the RBs fault, Maybefield needs to play better and stretch the field. Those check down passes are hurting the running game.
Our run game was bad last year too with Brady plus we had Fournette. White had one good game running all last season. I keep hearing people say he’s good but it’s not showing up in games. Bad running is on the line and the RBs.
September 26th, 2023 at 9:51 am
Mac Jones and Patriots had more success than we did last night. Mac isn’t mobile and doesn’t have the great receivers we had. Minnesota also put up 34 points against the Eagles. Cousins has a bad OL and he’s not mobile. Stop the excuses for Baker.
September 26th, 2023 at 10:39 am
Oline does not run block well. You can’t run into a brick wall and expect to get good results. There is absolutely no push at all. From what I can see, it’s weak from the center and left guard spots. Hainsey does not show much strength and Fieler does not seem to move great. He’s slow and seemingly stiff.
September 26th, 2023 at 1:38 pm
I really can’t stand all these haters on this blog. I understand venting your frustrations of the players, but damn do some of you even like this team?! They have things to work on moving forward, but for some of you to completely s*** on the run game and White is ridiculous. One minute the writer says don’t panic it’s only September, but then says White isn’t the answer a few sentences later?! I love this team, and haven’t lost hope yet. There’s still time for them to make adjustments and BE BETTER WHEN IT MATTERS. I bet these folks giving us their take on how horrid our run game is will have to eat their words later down the road. You’re probably the same people who jumped ship when Baker got the job and he’s definitely got you all quiet the way he’s played these past three games.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:43 pm
Oh, I almost forgot, because it came toward the end of the game: the O-line did have one play where they managed a hole; and Rachaad White hit it hard for 12 yards. It was “explosive” and impressive.
That’s the point in vivid color: If there’s something to work-with, Rachaad does the job well.
But the fact is, there’s rarely anything opened-up from which to sustain “a running-game.”
Watching the games, not just the stats, the Buccaneers have an excellent #1 RB but without O-line support, leaving no actual, sustainable “running-game.”
This is getting to be like broken record, but the criticism of the running-game keeps being “brought-up,” with the reason for it being widely ignored.
Rachaad had 73 yards-rushing against the Bears (and that’s with a final rush for a backfield loss of 12 yards). Not bad at all; and counting screen-pass-receptions for first-downs, just over 100 yards in total offense.
The coaching is going to be a liability with the continued “forced-running-game” against teams with the best D-lines in football.
Try to be more like Belichick, and use your strengths appropriately: Baker Mayfield had enough time to pass the ball throughout the whole game.