A Run Game Would Help

October 28th, 2017

Doug Martin

You may have read on this here website already that the Bucs have the No. 1 passing offense in the NFL, tossing the pigskin for an average of 312.3 yards a game.

(Joe never dreamed he would ever type the previous paragraph.)

The Bucs running game? Well, that’s another matter.

The Bucs stink at running the ball. They are currently ranked No. 30 in the NFL averaging a paltry 80 yards a game. Worse, the rushing attack in the red zone is pitiful.

Per data-driven, limousine-ridin’, jet-flyin’, kiss-stealin’, data-analyzin’, Bucs-film-studyin’ Thomas Bassinger of the Tampa Bay Times, the Bucs are just downright rank when it comes to running the ball in the red zone.

@tometrics: #Bucs are averaging 1.72 yards per carry in the red zone, which ranks 25th.

And without doing a deep-dive into stats, which would take Joe hours, since the Bucs have the No. 1 passing offense in the league, it’s safe to assume the Bucs have had plenty of rushing attempts in the red zone given the fact they are moving the ball downfield, through the air.

It sure would help if the Bucs could somehow wave a magic wand and get a reliable run game going.

25 Responses to “A Run Game Would Help”

  1. BradentuckeyBuc Says:

    Hard to get a running game going when your defense is giving up 25 points and 400 yards a game!

  2. Welcome Back Koetter Says:

    its GMC’s fault

  3. Joe Says:

    its GMC’s fault

    Well played. 🙂

  4. Kobe Faker Says:

    Hands of stone actally had 2 nice screen receptions for nice yardage.

    In 3 years of koetters offense, thr rb screen was ALWAYS successful. Always….dont know why we dont use it more

    Also we shouldnt be calling the 30 yard deep wheel route with the rb. Jameis isnt close with that throw presently

  5. Zach Says:

    Would sure be nice if Martin wasn’t dodging tacklers 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

  6. yrbndr Says:

    @kobe You should not post on this site as you said you would not… I agree though that gosh darn it JW needs to be more accurate!

  7. Kobe Faker Says:

    I still think marpet at center is a mistake

    Kept marpet at guard and replaced or put hawley back at center

    Sweezy sucks and should have dropped the bum

    We need to swap smith with phamile

    Donavon smith is too slow

  8. Kobe Faker Says:

    Your name looks like the words i spell

    Im here to entertain/educate

  9. Kgh4life Says:

    Bad run game in the red zone. Could it be that the Bucs never practiced any goal line running drills with live contact in training camp?

  10. StPeteBucsFan Says:

    It’s not the OL!!! We have no backs who can help the cause by creating ANY of the yardage…either there is a giant hole or there is no gain.

  11. Joe Says:

    I still think marpet at center is a mistake

    Kept marpet at guard and replaced or put hawley back at center

    Sweezy sucks and should have dropped the bum

    We need to swap smith with phamile

    Donavon smith is too slow

    Hope you were drinking tonight. Heavily.

  12. Kgh4life Says:

    @Joe

    Hawley has tenacity but was bullied too many times to count. Marpet is learning on the job, in time he will be a great center.

  13. Kobe Faker Says:

    We need marpet as guard to create holes

  14. SB Says:

    Joe Says:
    October 28th, 2017 at 9:01 pm
    its GMC’s fault

    Well played. 🙂
    ……………………….
    RotFlmMFAO! Noice!!!

  15. thegregwitul Says:

    As bad as that stat in the red zone is, it’s crazy that their are still seven teams below the Bucs in that category, because 1.72 yards is absolute trash.

  16. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    Marpet at center is going to turn out fine. He’s getting better at it, and really the bad snaps are the only issue….and the number of those is declining.

    6 games at the position, you can’t expect him to play at an all pro level. Yet.

  17. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    Kgh4life Says:
    “Hawley has tenacity but was bullied too many times to count.”

    hawley was bullied because his injuries weakened him. He is fully healthy now, so he would do fine.

    But I agree with you about Marpet.

  18. Ali Says:

    Sign rice

  19. Mr. Ed Says:

    I would like to see more power versus finesse in the red zone. Commit to a hole and go gangbusters to it, with the trend established a counter power can / should be effective.

  20. Kobe Faker Says:

    2016 last year, marpet was creating gigantic holes by bulldozing oline 10 yards backward as a guard.

    2017, our guards cant create any push whatsoever

    We put our best run blocker to learn the center position where he is struggling

    Now we dont have any running lanes…whats so hatd to understand

  21. martinii Says:

    I think the above comments pretty well some up the problem. Can’t run the ball when you’re playing catch-up. Coaches don’t have confidence in run game. It doesn’t take many TFL”s for them to forget the run. Additionally we did nothing but add Sweezy to the O-Line to enhance run game. Added DJax in FA, Howard and Godwin in draft. I think it’s safe to say we are going to focus on Passing game most of the time. It always makes me laugh when I hear Koetter say we are a run first team. Maybe we need to add a Chubb or Barkley through the draft in addition to DE. The way were going we will be picking high enough to get a top RB. Same ole crap wait till next year.

  22. martinii Says:

    Meant “Sum-up” above. Also for the sake of closure we have Winston, Evans, Brate, and Humphries already on roster. We are a Pass first team and it’s a shame our coaches don’t realize that.

  23. Rrsrq Says:

    Everybody knows when the Bucs are running the ball, the defense, the defensive coordinators, announcers in the booth and me sitting on my couch. So if everybody knows, our offense needs to know it to and blow the defense off the line, kinda like we see our defensive line being blown off the line of scrimmage a lot of the time, ijs

  24. MadMax Says:

    Um, more to the story of those passing yards…..how many of them were in the 4th quarter while fighting back from a loss where the other team’s D had had already relaxed?

    Man, what an easy way to pad a stat. I know our D needs a lot of help, but thats not the only area. Is it play calling? Slow starting QB?

  25. Bucnjim Says:

    Four loses:

    Minn/Tampa down 21-3 half
    Arizona/Tampa down 24-0 half
    Pats/Tampa down 13-7 half
    Buffalo/Tampa down 10-6 half

    This is going to effect how and when you are even able to run the ball. Also you can throw those garbage offensive stats out the window. In the four loses our offense scored a TOTAL of 16 points in the first half! That means Arizona scored more points in the first quarter of ONE game then the Bucs did in EIGHT quarters of football. This deserves a COME ON MAN!!!