Bucs Offense Looked Ugly Yesterday, But Was It A Mirage?
December 9th, 2024
Baker Mayfield got yards.
Picks. Fumbles. Punts — ugh, the punts! After the Bucs jumped to a 14-0 lead, much of the next 2 1/2 quarters was painful to watch.
The non-production was enough to get one nauseous thinking of letting the lowly Raiders stay in the game and nearly take a lead in the third quarter. Thank you, Tykee Smith!
But was the production in the second and third quarters really that bad? The offense performing badly in the second and third quarters might be a mirage, per the Bucs’ media relations team.
How so? Joe saw the punts, the picks and the fumbles. How was that not bad?
Well, the Bucs racked up yardage and moved the ball on the Raiders. They just weren’t finishing very often. The Bucs had 420 net yards of offense. It was the seventh time this season the Bucs reached such a feat.
Aside from the Commandos, no other NFL team has had at least 400 net yards seven times.
Tampa Bay averages 379.3 yards of offense per game – the third-highest average in the NFL in 2024.
So, yeah the Bucs offense may have looked really sluggish, almost like 2013 in the second and third quarters yesterday. But the first and fourth quarters were a different story.
December 9th, 2024 at 4:48 am
Seemed like a lot of penalties too. Those really helped stall drives
December 9th, 2024 at 5:32 am
They were done early on. Then, seemingly on cue, after they built a 14-0 lead the OC or HC decided it was time to go ultra vanilla. It’s happened nearly every game. What’s the deal? Why go away from what’s working to a different style? Instead of out the foot on the gas, they slow down and allow opponents to catch up. Am I the only one who sees this?
December 9th, 2024 at 6:12 am
Baker has regressed. He’s has more turnovers this year than last year. Plus Baker can’t throw deep or over 15 yards accurately. Didn’t run the ball enough in the 2nd qtr. Lots to improve on.
December 9th, 2024 at 6:40 am
Baker also going to surpass the 28 TD from last season.
Not a perfect QB, but does one even exist?
December 9th, 2024 at 6:52 am
Interior line was getting blown up again, especially Mauch. It’s a given the tackle is gonna steer his guy in a wide arc, so then the QB just had to step up, but several times he couldn’t do that, couldn’t escape either
December 9th, 2024 at 6:53 am
Punts happen because the QB and the offense fail to make plays Joe. Baker/Coen had a lovely first quarter but seemed to let it go to their head and went entirely away from the stuff they started with and started looking for the long ball. Was he trying to get Mike his yards? He failed. Bad calls from Rogers boys did not help. Holding Wirfs?!? Geez
BTW STFU Mike Pereira! I don’t give a Rip what anyone from the officating office says! Retired or not!
Go Bucs!
December 9th, 2024 at 7:17 am
That’s what the offense looks like when white is in all game. Bucky out and Tucker got 3 carries (for over 15 yards a carry)
December 9th, 2024 at 7:41 am
Tucker is a hammer.
December 9th, 2024 at 8:12 am
If baker didn’t have all these dumb turnovers we would of crushed panthers and raiders by even more . And I say dumb because they have all been dumb throws. No pressure. First or second down. And him just making an unnecessary throws instead of running or checking down…Hopefully he can get out of his own head gonna need h I m next week.
December 9th, 2024 at 8:21 am
Defense needs to wake up and make stops sooner
December 9th, 2024 at 8:28 am
I did not see a vanilla offense. I saw mistakes. There seems to be a trend that when teams do not score points, they want to say the offense is vanilla.
If the Bucs offense were vanilla then at the end of the 2nd quarter, when it was 4th and 4, they would have either punted or tried the 57 yard field goal. Instead, they went for it.
Then they were in field goal range, with a 2nd and 1, they would have been just trying to run the ball instead of throwing the interception in the end zone.
And my gosh, White averaged 5.3 yards per carry. Which is right at Irving’s season average.
December 9th, 2024 at 8:37 am
Joe you fell for the PR Spinmeisters.
December 9th, 2024 at 8:43 am
The OL struggled and were inconsistent in both run and pass blocking. I remember a few plays where our interior OL guys got manhandled. Some DL guys rushing right into Baker’s face – he should have thrown the ball away more. Coen should have called more rollouts. On to the Chargers!
December 9th, 2024 at 9:16 am
Browning is not the answer.
December 9th, 2024 at 9:49 am
Baker started hesitating later on in the game. He’s done it before. Is it due to injuries? Some of his turnovers are just plain stupid! And does Coen realize QB rollouts and bootleg options actually exist? Sometimes I wonder. Even with all the injuries, he’s got the players to pull them off, and the OLine is jelling. Coen needs another year as OC. I’m not wasting anymore time beefing about the refs. On to LA and let’s win #4, Bucs! You can do it!
December 9th, 2024 at 9:55 am
The game does not seem to me quite so ugly after a good night’s sleep. Winning ugly is O K. Of course we do not look like a playoff team. Too many injuries.
Go Bucs!
December 9th, 2024 at 9:58 am
WTF The other team gets paid too. Crosby is a handful. The Buccaneers won with four free agents playing on defense. KC has not looked good all year but has 12 wins.
December 9th, 2024 at 10:18 am
keeping pressure on the other guy is good, finishing is better
December 9th, 2024 at 10:52 am
For all the whiners about turnovers, Bucs got 1st pick back in exactly one play when Raider QB fumbled snap. No change in field position. No harm done. On fumble, Mayfield was mauled by 3 defenders who came right up the middle. Second INT was a bad throw under heavy pressure. That one cost a scoring opportunity. There is more to any football game than turnovers. Bucs pass defense was weak and/or receivers were not getting open. Coen should have called more quick slants and out routes to slow the defense down. Pay of the game was dart Mayfield hit ME13 with on 3rd and long for 32 yard gain.
December 9th, 2024 at 12:34 pm
Baker’s turnovers are a direct result of Mauch getting manhandled up front. Even the broadcast announcers pointed out that on the one INT he couldn’t step up into the throw. Baker was pushed off his spot and improvising a LOT this game… he just didn’t escape as well as he had in some previous games. Our pass pro is still a work in progress.
We needed to stop trying to throw the longer routes, and maybe more rollouts and play action to freeze the rush a bit.
December 9th, 2024 at 1:01 pm
Someone needs to remind Coen that Mayfield is very proficient with the ball no matter what side he rolls out on. Quit leaving him like a sitting duck in the pocket on third and long situations. Good gawd, use some imagination.
December 9th, 2024 at 4:50 pm
The issue was Baker played like complete trash in the 2nd – nearly single handedly lost the game. Thankfully he finished OK – and hopefully that carries over, but Baker just standing there holding the ball endlessly is ridiculous and it’s what Baker does when he’s having his every few week meltdown (although he was also terrible last week). Hopefully Bakers inconsistency, which will always keep him from being a legit franchise QB, will work in his favor vs the Chargers and he’ll be Good Baker instead of Trash Baker like we just watched for most of this past game.