Liam Coen Addresses Weird Scoring-First Streak
December 26th, 2024
Scoring first.
This is weird to Joe and Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen seconded the strange numbers.
Despite the Bucs having one of the best offenses in the league, the Bucs cannot seem to overcome 3-0 deficits like last Sunday in Dallas.
The Bucs this season are 8-1 when they score first. When the Bucs do not score first, they are winless.
Coen, in his weekly press conference today, stated he wasn’t even aware of that stat until earlier this week. He swore the weird stat is not because the Bucs panic or throw in the towel if the opponent happens to put points on the board first.
“That doesn’t mean the game is over because we didn’t start fast,” Coen said. “I don’t think our players feel that way. Guess you could say it looks that way on paper.
“But I don’t think that is the way it is. It was just one of those games [Sunday]. … It’s not something that we feel as a group or anybody panics when that occurs. It’s one of those things.”
If anything, Coen noted, this is a point that Coen can and may use to motivate his offense.
“Definitely something we can continue to hammer home with the guys and continue to be more accountable too, and diligent.
“Keep playing. Keep playing to the next play and see what happens. Play your tail off till the whistle blows at the end of the game.”
To add to the weirdness of this stat, the Bucs last year had an offense that never scored a touchdown on its opening drive — yet that team was one a cat’s whisker away from the NFC title game.
This year with a high-powered offense, the Bucs struggle to climb over a 3-0 deficit.
December 26th, 2024 at 1:57 pm
It really is bizarre. Made even more bizarre by the fact that we have been down in other games at various points, but still pulled out the win (but only when we did score first in the game). So it’s not as if we can’t come from behind, although I would say the offense definitely seems to do better when playing with a lead.
Just another weird trait of these Todd Bowles teams that look great one week and then pathetic and incompetent the next. Zero consistency at anything, except being inconsistent (and having the middle of the field wide arse open).
December 26th, 2024 at 2:32 pm
“I don’t think our players feel that way. Guess you could say it looks that way on paper.” ?????????
It is the job of the coaches to make certain the players don’t feel that way.
That statement doesn’t inspire confidence in Coen. A real head coach would make sure that his OC kept his players motivated but once again, Bowles isn’t head coach material. Joes articles today are just one indictment after another against the coaching staff. Apparently Bowles believes players are self motivating and that is one less thing for him to worry about. Bowles is not a good head coach, he is a poor team manager.
December 26th, 2024 at 3:04 pm
“Play your tail off till the whistle blows at the end of the game.”
I miss the old days when the game ended with a starters pistol being fired. Cool old school stuff right there!
December 26th, 2024 at 10:43 pm
The defense makes no stops. So, if you get behind early, you have no hope of catching up. It’s really that simple. I’d venture a guess that TB is among the lowest in terms of number of punts forced. I know the number of turnovers in our favor is very low.
December 26th, 2024 at 11:06 pm
Think it’s Mayfield. If he is behind and feels like he needs to “make plays” his decision making and accuracy plummet.