Mike Leach would approve.

Former college coach, the late Mike Leach, will be remembered for years for two things: his massive impact on innovating the passing game on all levels of football and his one-liners.

If the original Bucs coach John McKay had the internet, 24/7 sports networks and radio stations following his every move back in the day, well, that’s what Leach became decades later.

Joe isn’t sure what Leach’s lasting singular legacy will be: Developing the modern passing game, the Air Raid, or his love of microphones to offer wit and wisdom, sometimes in the same sentence.

Leach pretty much thought running plays were a waste of time. He believed you moved the ball by throwing. So when he was at Washington State, he was asked about a “balanced attack” of equal plays running and throwing.

Leach was morally offended by the suggestion and scoffed loudly, launching into a long unplanned but welcome lecture that included the joys of the wishbone offense.

“There’s nothing balanced about 50 percent run, 50 percent pass because that’s 50 stupid,” Leach growled, half-appalled at the question and half seemingly in pain from the thought.

What Leach believed was a “balanced offense” was spreading the ball to your weapons equally. And boy, did the Bucs do that yesterday against the Giants.

Joe has already gone over how Baker Mayfield — who has a direct football lineage to Leach — completed passes to 11 different targets. That’s only happened four other times in Bucs franchise history, the last when Bucco Bruce Arians and Tom Brady did it in December 2020.

But it wasn’t just Mayfield spreading the ball to all his targets. It was the ground game too.

The Bucs had four rushing touchdowns. One each by four different players (Sean Tucker, Rachaad White, Bucky Irving and Mayfield).

That’s the first time anyone in the NFL has accomplished this feat this season. It’s also the first time in Bucs franchise history this has ever happened.

So, to recap, 11 different players catching passes and four different players scoring touchdowns (albeit on the ground)?

Leach would have been proud. Sort of.