“I Want Them To Run The Offense Through Chris”
November 14th, 2023
Bucs’ TV chatter.
One of Joe’s favorite Bucs players and a guy Joe feels awful about his NFL days being done, Cam Brate, is branching out these days.
Brate, who lives in South Tampa (he and his wife are expecting their first child soon), got a lot of mileage in the NFL for being an undrafted free agent. And with that Ivy League economics degree, Brate, if an NFL team doesn’t call again, should be just fine.
He was a key member of some of the most prolific offenses in Bucs history, and Brate’s now doing TV work. Sunday, he was was on a pregame show on WTSP-TV Channel 10 with sports anchor Evan Closky.
Brate said he feels Bucs fans who “gripe” about the team running so much on first and second downs, even though they cannot run.
The offense can be so much more than what it is, Brate said. So how would he fix it? Simple.
“I want them to run the offense through Chris [Godwin],” Brate said. “Get some easy passes on first and second down.”
Using a couple of plays from the win over the slimy Saints, Brate highlighted his examples on film. And he added that earlier in the season, Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales was calling plays that got Godwin matched up on middle linebackers.
“He will never lose that route,” Brate said as he broke down the play. “It’s a simple, easy throw-and-catch.
“Find a way to get the ball in Chris’ hands and good things will happen.”
It’s been almost embarrassing how little Godwin has been used in recent weeks. In the last two games, Godwin has been targeted 12 times — total!
Get the ball to Godwin on some easy throws early like on first or second downs and the Bucs won’t have so many third-and-longs.
There is no need to make this some complex puzzle. Putting the ball in Godwin’s hands early is a good thing.
Joe is very, very confident Godwin has a much better chance of getting more than three yards a touch. That’s about what the lousy, worst-in-the-NFL Bucs rushing attack is producing — or not producing.
This was one of the topics Cameron Brate talked about before the game. Having Chris and Mike in the same progression is important. It also puts stress in the defense. https://t.co/CA44Ae7kEE pic.twitter.com/pS6hUxUSMm
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) November 14, 2023
November 14th, 2023 at 4:13 pm
While I certainly agree they need to get Godwin the ball more, it’s worth noting he’s still on pace for a 1000 yard season.
Overally, they just need a lot more offense.
Mike is on pace for 1400 yards, so there’s not really that much more yardage to go around on such a dull, boring, conservative offense where 330 yards of total offense is considered a banner week.
November 14th, 2023 at 4:26 pm
Air it out. Play to your strengths. This isn’t brain science.
November 14th, 2023 at 4:33 pm
I have to agree, and with Mike having such a big profile last week it might free Godwin up.
If the Bucs get the defenses to respect the middle game, then it might even spring open a run or two as the defensive box backs up some.
November 14th, 2023 at 4:37 pm
Best thing I’ve heard or read all Day! I 100% agree wit Cam
November 14th, 2023 at 4:41 pm
Brate is sharp. Somebody pay attention.
November 14th, 2023 at 4:44 pm
But the HC and OC think it’s 1984 and run on 1st and 2nd regardless of score, qtr, or situation. Obviously the coaches don’t care enough to.change so we’re stuck with what we’ve got
November 14th, 2023 at 4:51 pm
We’re paying the guy an average of 20 million a year, so say 1.17mil a game, that means he made about 200k per target the last 2 games.
The Bucs have more money than sense in their game plan!
November 14th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
The one constant that I see in the majority of Joe’s posts, and definitely in 98% of the responses in any thread, is that everyone seems to keep forgetting Dave Canales is a first time OC. Like an rookie, there is a learning curve. He has even stated numerous times in press conferences that every game is a new learning experience for him. That doesn’t absolve him of making errors in game plans or play calling, but it is something to keep in mind.
November 14th, 2023 at 5:16 pm
sdm5821 Says:
November 14th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
The one constant that I see in the majority of Joe’s posts, and definitely in 98% of the responses in any thread, is that everyone seems to keep forgetting Dave Canales is a first time OC.
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Actually I think Canales has done a decent job considering his boss is Todd Bowles, and he’s the one giving the orders. Remember Canales was Bowles 11th pick – no one else wanted the gig.
With that said, as far as targeting Godwin goes – that’s on Baker Mayfield. I mean he had a career day on Sunday, and that was 270 yards and 2 TDs -he’s just not that productive of a QB. But Mayfield is what Bowles wants at QB, and that is someone who is ultra safe, boring, doesn’t turn the ball over. Scoring points – that’s not as important as protecting the football.
But again, as pointed out above, Godwin is still on pace to get 1000 yards, Evans is on pace for 1400 yards, White is on pace for 600 yards and Otton is on pace for nearly 500 yards. That’s pretty much the entire offense in terms of yards – there’s not really any more yards to go around unless they start passing downfield more.
November 14th, 2023 at 5:18 pm
Casual Observer Says:
November 14th, 2023 at 4:41 pm
Brate is sharp. Somebody pay attention.
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OMG, that I just looked it up and did you know that Brate went to Harvard?!?! You’d think someone would have mentioned over the course of his career.
November 14th, 2023 at 5:24 pm
BTW, on a minor note, the Jets have cut RB Michael Carter.
He’d be an upgrade over Vaughn for sure, they should bring him in for at least a look. Carter isn’t anything special, but he’s more special than Vaughn.
November 14th, 2023 at 5:37 pm
Carter is fast. Carter had a very good college career. I agree. Bring him in.
November 14th, 2023 at 5:44 pm
THIS. Godwin stretches the time/space continum to make catches that Evans would drop. Hit him and White on first down games/picks and then give it long to big daddy Evans please Mr. Canales. Godwin does things to catch a ball I have never seen (I wish we could post GIFs.) Effortlessly. He needs to be a focus. He is the man on 3rd and long since he was drafted. It’s past time he gets the chance to gash defenses on first down.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:07 pm
Rod you don’t know if Canales was 11th pick or first pick just because some other coaches were interviewed or hired by other teams doesn’t mean he wasn’t their first choice. Also how could be a bucs fan and not know Brate went to Harvard it was mentioned plenty of times during his career.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:09 pm
“3rd down conversions are highly correlated, to what you do on 1st and 2nd down”….. The Great One
November 14th, 2023 at 6:15 pm
Evans and Godwin are pretty different WRs, and I think their styles complement each other very well. Mike is the big play guy that occasionally drops easy passes. Godwin is the super dependable chain-mover with good YAC. Having both of them on the roster is so nice.
Personally, IMHO Mike is worth more and should be prioritized if we cannot keep both. But we’ve been spoiled to have both of them together for so many years. Other teams have to be jealous.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:15 pm
One key thing that used to impress me about Brady is that he was a master at distributing the ball & getting everyone involved. And he was so danged accurate that he could hit guys in stride & put them in a position to get extra yardage.
What I’m seeing in this current offense is quite different. Three players … Evans, Godwin & White … have 75% of the receiving yards. Otton & Palmer are somewhat involved (47 catches for 442 yards) but not nearly enough. Durham’s only been targeted 3 times thus far, Edmonds 5 times & Tucker 2 times. It would seem like only having 3 receivers to really worry about would make it much easier for the defense.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:21 pm
Rod Munch … ‘BTW, on a minor note, the Jets have cut RB Michael Carter.’
Carter’s an interesting prospect Rod, and the Bucs should definitely bring him in for a look-see.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:26 pm
Woodenman – While it was a lame joke, he was being sarcastic about Brate going to Harvard. Of course everyone knows that and he spends most of his time on this site.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:31 pm
I don’t think Carter makes it past the Panthers on the waiver wire.
November 14th, 2023 at 6:32 pm
Brate for OC.
November 14th, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Cam’s not wrong.
November 14th, 2023 at 7:06 pm
Rod Munch Says:
With that said, as far as targeting Godwin goes – that’s on Baker Mayfield. I mean he had a career day on Sunday, and that was 270 yards and 2 TDs -he’s just not that productive of a QB. But Mayfield is what Bowles wants at QB, and that is someone who is ultra safe, boring, doesn’t turn the ball over. Scoring points – that’s not as important as protecting the football.
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I mean, there’s a strong correlation between turnovers and losses, and almost no correlation between passing yards and wins.
That’s why Jameis warms the bench, and Mayfield is a starting QB.
November 14th, 2023 at 8:12 pm
Brate was also one of Licht’s first UDFA signings. There was a lot of noise made about him being a Harvard guy so he wouldn’t be very good. Right. Dumbazzes. I hope Canales gives Godzilla more throws, but continues to make BM spread the ball around. We’ll need it Sunday.
November 14th, 2023 at 8:58 pm
Yup
Listen to the Man Canales!
Chris needs more touches and stop wasting downs!
Go Bucs!
November 14th, 2023 at 9:36 pm
That should be on the back of every officially licensed Tampa bay Buccaneers t-shirt. This has been insanely evident from the very start of the season, Chris came in wound up, in fantastic physical condition and ready to ball! The man has the most reliable hands and route running Ability of any receiver in the NFL! His lack of involvement is down right criminal I say.
November 14th, 2023 at 9:48 pm
Rod Munch Says:
I mean he had a career day on Sunday, and that was 270 yards and 2 TDs
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🙂 🙂
It speaks volumes to the character of Traskies that they persist in such an OBVIOUS lie – But even more HILARIOUS is what it says they the think of their own collective intelligence –
Their cheerleader doesn’t even think they are smart enough to look up what the real career day stats for Mayfield are. When we say You are a clown show . Its not an insulr. It s jsut the most apt description..lolol
November 14th, 2023 at 10:54 pm
I love stories after a win! Almost everyone on here is in a good mood.
November 14th, 2023 at 11:04 pm
@DefenseRules. Brady has always been the master distributor his entire career. He also made it work with less talented players like a Chris Hogan. He didn’t worry about diva receivers. It’s why that nutty guy Antonio Brown was so mad. Baker has a cannon, but he lacks the touch that Brady had with his throws.
November 14th, 2023 at 11:09 pm
Beats could be our #2 TE right now off of the street. He was hampered by some injuries in the latter part of his career. He has had time to heal. Let’s give him a tryout at least. Cade Otton can’t play every play and what if he gets hurt. Then what?
November 14th, 2023 at 11:10 pm
Brate
November 14th, 2023 at 11:33 pm
UKBuccaneer Says:
I mean, there’s a strong correlation between turnovers and losses
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Well there’s a much stronger correlation between scoring more points than your opponent and wins.
As for yards, I was pointing out in the context of this article, where people are saying they need to get Godwin the ball more, that there’s only so many yards in this offense.
This isn’t the 5000-yards years of Brady and Winston anymore – on a 16-game pace (as a point of comparison), you’re looking at around 3800 yards. So they’re about 1200-yards compared to what we’ve grown used to seeing. That’s a ton of yards to lose, and it has to come from somewhere, and frankly it’s shocking that Godwin is still somehow on pace to get 1000 yards, albeit only 2 TDs.
November 14th, 2023 at 11:52 pm
Defense Rules – I actually dislike the socialist method of distributing the ball to get everyone involved like its a 2nd grader playground. Brady is the GOAT, and I’m certainly never going to say he should do this or that, but I would have personally liked it more if he had just forced the ball to Evans more.
Just look at how Evans has repeatedly bailed out Mayfield this year with his underthrown balls. In the last three games, Evans has caught an underthrown ball bounced off a Bills helmet, in the Houston game that was another underthrown ball on the long TD, then this last week, it was another underthrown ball that Evans made a great catch on a long ball.
Godwin is a great technical WR, very smooth, clean, does everything great – reminds me a lot of Mark Carrier, which is a huge compliment.
But Evans is a HOF WR, a completely different level. And while the Baker Bois will be mad that I pointed out he keeps underthrowing the ball – I give Baker a ton of credit for being smart enough to just keep throwing the ball in the direction of Evans and expecting him to make plays. Yes, Evans might drop one, but he’ll also make a bunch of amazing plays and score TDs and win games if you get him the ball. That, in turn, will free up Godwin.
It’s really why we need both of them going forward – and frankly, if I’m forced to choose, I’m going to take Evans, even with the age difference, as I think he’s still got another 3 ALL-PRO seasons in him, and another year of being a good starter on top of that.
November 15th, 2023 at 4:58 am
Rod Munch … ‘Godwin is a great technical WR, very smooth, clean, does everything great. But Evans is a HOF WR, a completely different level.’
Not ‘completely different level’ Rod … completely different receivers. And that’s why they complement each other so nicely. But as good as they are TOGETHER, I’d contend that they’re missing a 3rd & 4th component in this offense to maximize their talents … (1) a deep-threat speedy WR to open up the field; and (2) a dominating TE who always has to be accounted for.
Brady obviously had that in 2020 when we had Evans, Godwin, Brown & Gronk. It was a ‘pick your poison’ offense; no matter who you focused on neutralizing, there was at least 1 and usually 2 other threats to eat you alive. All Brady needed was an OLine to protect him while he sorted through his progressions.
We still have Evans & Godwin, BUT … Palmer is no Brown, Otton is no Gronk, and Mayfield is no Brady. Looks to me like Bowles & Canales are trying to compensate for that by running more (create a ‘threat’ that we really didn’t have much of back in 2020) but it’s not working obviously. We don’t have the horses on the OLine for run-blocking (yet), and we don’t have that scary-good RB to tote the rock.
I’d like to see us get Palmer & Otton (and maybe Durham) & Edmonds more involved in our offense, particularly on 1st & 2nd downs. Get the defense to play back on its heels more & run them all over the field (right now we look to be a relatively easy offense to defend, and I think that’s why good defenses have been able to hold us at bay). Would also love to see us use White in a ‘modified slot receiver’ role with a 2nd RB out there also (preferably Edmonds if he can stay healthy). And for heaven’s sake, start throwing the ball further down the field.
Oh and BTW Rod, you seem to be hung up on this ‘socialist method of distributing the ball’. You might want to bring that up with Brady who mastered that concept, right after you get through kissing his 7 Super Bowl rings.
November 15th, 2023 at 8:50 am
I have to say, the way the offense started out, is EXACTLY what I’ve been stomping for during the last few weeks as our run game just isn’t getting it done, is to win on 2nd down. You don’t need 3 downs to make a 1st Down. Win on second down, then you’re not in position where the defense knows exactly what you’re going to do. Meaning? On almost EVERY 3rd and 5 to go, Baker is going to pass, every time and the def knows this. Throwing on second down for the first is called winning on second down, great teams do this all the time. There’s more indecisive base schemes on second down than any other down in a series, THINK ABOUT IT.
November 15th, 2023 at 3:44 pm
Throbbing Rod Muncher tryna dominate the page with his “knowledge:………..must be a day that ends in Y
BTW…….Bakers “career day” vs Tennessee wasn’t even as good as THE PREVIOUS WEEK, you absolute 🤡