When Bucs Want To Move The Ball, They Go To The Air (Or Should)
September 22nd, 2024
Killing defenses with his arm.
Joe just doesn’t understand the run-the-ball people.
Hey, running is great — if you can run. The Bucs can’t. Haven’t since 2021. And no, Joe doesn’t want to hear this utter nonsense about “balance.” As the great Mike Leach once said, “Fifty percent passing and fifty percent running is 100 percent stupid.”
In other words, get the ball into the hands of your playmakers — 100 percent of the time.
While Rachaad White cannot run the ball, he is dynamite catching the ball. And of course, the Bucs have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Throw in a talented, growing Jalen McMillan and the Bucs can hurt defenses through the air.
Rich Hribar of Sharp Football Analysis documents how the Bucs are so effective through the air.
The Buccaneers have a 52.7% success rate on passing plays through two weeks, the highest rate in the league.
So why lean on the league’s worst run game the past two seasons and one of the league’s worst this season when you are so effective putting the ball in the air?
Joe’s not saying every play should be a pass. But driving to something Neanderthal-like such as “establishing the run” is a total waste of time for the Bucs offense.
Through two games, establishing the run is setting yourself up to get beat.
Ira Kaufman’s Talks Broncos-Bucs Matchup, Dissects Liam Coen Comments, Running Game Future, Game Predictions & More
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:23 am
Passing game should establish the run not vise versa. With modern defenses playing two safeties deep to stop deep passes, it is an invitation to run the ball but only after showing defense a willingness to pass. Coen is smart enough to know this and will not try to endlessly grind it out on ground like Canales.
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:44 am
Joe … ‘And no, Joe doesn’t want to hear this utter nonsense about “balance.” As the great Mike Leach once said, “Fifty percent passing and fifty percent running is 100 percent stupid.”
MAYBE that’s where you diverge from so many others Joe. BALANCE to most of us doesn’t mean 50% run, 50% pass. Quite the contrary. It means having enough ‘diversity’ in your attack that your opponent has to respect BOTH the pass AND the run. It means being unpredictable & keeping the defense ‘off-balance’.
There was a good article on Yahoo Sports about a year ago about HC Kevin McConnell & the Vikings entitled ‘Kevin O’Connell wants to balance offense by running the ball wisely’. In it the author (Tyler Forness) wrote …
‘The idea of a balanced offense is something that you hear about frequently. Some believe a balanced offense is about running and passing the ball 50% of the time, but that’s not how it works.
Having true balance is making the defense have to defend both simultaneously and the offense keeping them guessing on what is coming next. Being able to both run and pass the ball successfully is key to having a great offense. Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell wants just that but wants to do it wisely.’
He appears to be succeeding thus far this year since the Vikings are 2-0. Interestingly the Vikings have run the ball 50 times & passed it 50 times (and taken 5 sacks in the process). That’s a run-pass of 48%. Hmmm, very similar to ours (we’re at 49%). Also interestingly their offense is ranked #8 & their defense #3. Bucs’ offense is ranked #4 & our defense #6.
September 22nd, 2024 at 6:45 am
In addition to what DR said, the beauty of having a decent run game is being able to eat up clock and keep the ball away from your opponents at the end of close games.
September 22nd, 2024 at 7:08 am
I agree Gipper
September 22nd, 2024 at 7:44 am
Gipper … ‘Coen is smart enough to know this and will not try to endlessly grind it out on ground like Canales.’
Through the first 2 games last year, the Bucs ran the ball 67 times in 128 offensive plays … 49% run-pass. Thus far this year they’ve run it 53 times in 108 plays … 49% run-pass. Even though we ran it significantly more times in those first 2 games last year, the run-pass ratio is still the same.
HOW we’re running the ball (and WHERE) has certainly changed significantly under Coen. Are we getting better results? Well, 3.4 YPC this year versus 3.4 YPC last year would suggest No, but I think it’s really Not Yet. We’ll get there.
September 22nd, 2024 at 8:35 am
Without the starting 5 getting some reps together it’s impossible to know if we’ll get better, seems logical we will. Watched the all-22 of the Lions game last night, and I didn’t see many places too run, although Bucky DOES hit the micro-hole better than White
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:06 am
You have to keep the defense honest
You have to keep them guessing
You can’t become a predictable offense
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:19 am
No run games equals sacks, Detroit could just ignore the run which makes pass blocking more difficult.
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:25 am
With the way Aiden ate up our right tackle, you might want to run every now and then to confuse guys like him. It’s crazy to not have the play calling as close to 50/50 as possible. 55/45 is fine. Nothing ridiculously predictable like a 60 and above, especially with our right tackle issues.
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:30 am
Run/Pass… I’m happy with whichever delivers a W when the clock hits 0:00.
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:52 am
The “micro hole” 😁 good one
September 22nd, 2024 at 10:06 am
It’s not about “balance”, it’s about keeping the defense OFF balance. If they know you are going to pass a vast majority of the time they will just churn out a dime defense the entire game and set the board in their favor, just as they would stack the box with 8 or 9 if a team did nothing but run the ball. Getting that slight edge of unpredictability is so important in today’s NFL. Not to mention being able to establish a ground game is important to controlling the clock and controlling the LOS. It matters.
September 22nd, 2024 at 10:22 am
One of the most important factors in having a decent run game is eating the clock when we have a lead. Just last week, vs the Lions, the Bucs tried to do that and could not. Fortunately the defense held their ground, when the Bucs, as usual, had to punt. But if we can’t run the ball when we have a lead, it is going to come back and bite us in the a$$ eventually. We MUST get better running the ball.
September 22nd, 2024 at 10:55 am
If we could run more successful run plays would be the key. We are good at running gap run plays and suck at zone run plays. Which ever running back gets the ball on gap runs will have the better stats.
September 22nd, 2024 at 11:00 am
Rachaad White is one of the best 3rd down backs in football. Use him the screen pass as a run play. It runs the clock, protects the QB and utilizes our RBs strength.
September 22nd, 2024 at 11:09 am
Being able to eat clock Gives your defense a rest.
Running about doesn’t have to be hand off it could be pitches and swing passes.