Arians Discusses Play-Action
November 30th, 2020
Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians.
So the narrative of the day for the Bucs is play-action passes.
Why? Because it was set and discussed early this morning on a hollering show on the four-letter largely aimed at the infirmed, unemployed, avoidant and virgins.
Noted quarterback whisperer Dan Orlovsky of BSPN took to the airwaves of “Stay in Bed” to holler that Bucco Bruce Arians is a failure, in part, because he doesn’t run enough play-action.
As Joe pointed out earlier, Orlovsky is correct. In a vacuum. Park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, jet ski-losing, handshake-stiffing Bucs quarterback Tom Brady is most effective when under center using a play-action pass.
To do this effectively, there has to be a threat of a run. When a team is down three scores right away to the best offense in the NFL, play-action loses its luster. Teams know you are likely not going to fool with a run when you don’t have the time to do so.
(One of the few coaches who haven’t grasped this is Chargers fool Anthony Lynn.)
So today in his day-after-game presser, Arians was asked point-blank if he would like to run more play-action plays.
Arians busted out laughing.
“I’d love to if we are not 17 down early,” Arians said.
And there you have it.
Now Arians said he would “love” to run more play-actions. He also has said Ronald Jones needs 20 touches a game.
It sounds like Arians needs a sitdown with his offensive coordinator, Bryon Leftwich, and (alleged) play-caller Brady and get this hammered out.
Who is the head coach here anyway?
November 30th, 2020 at 2:06 pm
The Bucs needed to run a lot more play action last year as well…
Is it Arians or is Leftwich? I know in Arizona when Arians was calling his offensive plays I didn’t really hear all the calls about the running game not working.
With that said when your defense is the same defense that Winston had for 5 years and is putting you down 17 points by the 2nd quarter, that sort of kills the running game all by itself. But with Dirk, like with Leftwich, both generally telegraph when you’re running and when you’re passing. Dirk, in particular, would love to run up the middle on every first down in the first half, then to open the 2nd half on 1st down he’d go to shotgun to show everyone he wasn’t going to run it up the middle – thus ruining any surprise at a 1st down pass.
But, with all that said, Leftwich did mix it more than he had been doing. Barely, but there was some progress in not being 100% predictable. Also remember early in the game that Brady was getting killed by drops or guys just not catching the ball – like Brate on 3rd down early when he wiffed on the ball. Also Evans had what looked to be a nice deep ball he didn’t get and someone else dropped another 1st down. If any of those are catches, and they normally are, it might have changed the early flow of the game.
But when you’re down by 17-0 in the 2nd, you’re not getting back in the game by just running up the gut for 1.8 yards and a cloud of dust.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:08 pm
Hahaha…….Hey boys they are setting up in blanket prevent. So lets playaction to gain a step on the safety who is 20 yards back. Hahahahaha. You gotta be some dumb spit.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:08 pm
Basically non existent in this scheme.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:16 pm
Sorry Rod Munch but Winston and Brady are big reasons why we keep getting down so big.
You gotra be able to put up points. Heck at least move the stinkin ball. 3and outs are not good enough and defenitly shouldnt bd happening on every drive for a entire half. You cant just keep goving the ball back to an explosive team like KC and expect to win. Not with this team. Thats not how we are buikt to win
November 30th, 2020 at 2:19 pm
JimmyJack…except Winston gave it back with INT’s and not so much all those 3 and outs that were driving me bonkers yesterday.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:21 pm
If you can get two long drives in the first half you can probably limit KC to 4 posessions.
Look what KC did in their first 4 posessions. 10 points. You could literally cut KCs points in half in them first two quaters. If you can just move the freaking ball.
Consistency on offense is what we have been looking for for too many years. Still waiting.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:24 pm
87 the three and out were driving me nuts. Waiting for years to see this elite offense to watch and honestly we are garbage. For long extended periods of time.
The really annoying part is its the passing game thats killing us. And the core of our offense Brady/Evans are the biggest culprits.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:25 pm
So 45 minutes of play clock doesnt allow you to make up a 17 pts with a bit of running? Just passing is what got ya there and many 3 and outs.. if anything you need to be MORE efficient with drives, not less. Sure if you just pass you can go 3 and out that much more quickly and out the defense in an even worse situation. Everyone gets same about of drives (except turnovers) any time you fail to score you give them a chance to do the same. If you score on 60% and they score on 70% doesn’t matter how fast either team made those scoring drives
November 30th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Not when your defense can’t stop the other team.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:32 pm
The Bucs need to do a much better job of moving the chains and keeping drives alive early in games. Multiple 3 and outs are just about a guarantee of failure. Sure, establish the run and use play action, but more importantly, call plays that will give you a chance to move the chains and keep the opponents offense on the sideline. Several plays early in the game seemed very high degree of difficulty like with little chance of success. You want to take your shots and you want to mix things up, but progress from 1st down chain moving to chunk plays. It’s too much feast or famine. I know Brady wants to be efficient with the offense, but it seems like the play calling does not allow for that.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:35 pm
The best defense for us would have been long, time consuming drives but due to poor execution and play call a, obviously we were not able to keep the Chiefs offense on the bench.
November 30th, 2020 at 2:39 pm
Where was the play action before it was 17-0?
November 30th, 2020 at 2:50 pm
Hard to play action using an empty backfield….
Our defense stops the run and opposing teams use play action against us very successfully……the Rams used it on almost every play.
We could use play action on 1st down no matter what the score because teams know we almost always run on 1st down….especially in the red zone….
And, please…..pass once in a while when it’s 2nd and 1 or 2…..we never pass
November 30th, 2020 at 3:51 pm
Here’s the thing with the 17 point deficit……its so early in the game, you can still run the ball and put together solid drives. Its not like it was the 4th qtr….it was the 1st. It makes no sense to assume we must throw because the opponent put up quick pts…..if the opponent maintains that pace, you have no shot of catching up regardless. So why not run some clock and keep your offense on the field while keeping the opponents high flying offense on the sidelines. No matter how you slice it or dice it, bailing on the run game in the 1st qtr is terrible play calling.
November 30th, 2020 at 4:47 pm
I know its your thing…but this makes your articles super hard to read “joe”
park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, jet ski-losing, handshake-stiffing…….
ha ha funny for awhile but gets old after weeks and months.
November 30th, 2020 at 4:52 pm
Actually Joe, you don’t need the run to be a threat to run playaction. In most modern offensive schemes, including the Chiefs, they call playaction just because it works. Teams have can have 20 yards rushing but will still call up playaction 20 times a day because it makes the defense hesitate.
November 30th, 2020 at 4:56 pm
@Rod … “when your defense is the same defense that Winston had for 5 years and is putting you down 17 points by the 2nd quarter, that sort of kills the running game all by itself.”
I’m glad that several others took you to task for that one Rod. Take a close look at the first 15 mins of yesterday’s game.
Bucs had the ball FOUR possessions in that qtr. Result: 14 plays (with ONE 1st down) PLUS FOUR punts … ZERO pts. After Bucs defense held Chiefs to FG …
o RoJo run (5 yds)
o Brady short to Evans (12 yds … 1st down)
o RoJo run (4 yds)
o Brady deep to Evans (Incomplete)
o Brady short to Evans (Incomplete)
o Pinion PUNT … total TOP: 2:00 mins
Bucs’ defense holds Chiefs to a 3-and-out & forces a PUNT, then …
o RoJo run (1 yd)
o Brady short to Gronk (6 yds)
o Brady short to Brown (Incomplete)
o Pinion PUNT … total TOP: 1:18 mins
Chiefs score on their 1st play with a 75 yd TD to Hill (score now 10-0 Chiefs). After the Chiefs kick off …
o Brady short to Gronk (6 tds)
o RoJo run (2 yds)
o Brady short to Brate (Incomplete)
o Pinion PUNT … total TOP: 1:27 mins
Chiefs score on their next series (6 plays) with a 44 yd TD to Hill (score now 17-0 Chiefs). After Chiefs kick off …
o Brady short to Godwin (2 yds)
o Brady short to Brate (6 yds)
o Brady short to Godwin (Incomplete)
o Pinion PUNT … total TOP: 1:32 mins … END OF FIRST QUARTER
So it looks like the Bucs had the ball for a grand total of 18 plays and for 6 mins 17 secs out of the first 15 mins. We ran the ball 4 times (all RoJo) for 12 yds, passed it 10 times (9 short & 1 deep) and punted 4 times. Score at end of 1st qtr: Chiefs 17 , Bucs 0.
Easy to point the finger at the defense, BUT … they had virtually no rest in between each series. Bucs’ offense did NOTHING to help them, and the Chiefs hardly even bothered with the run (ran it 3 times in the 1st qtr out of 20 plays) ; they just kept firing the ball all over the field. Obviously those 2 long deep pass TDs were the killers, but they didn’t come until the Chiefs 3rd & 4th possessions when our defense must’ve been exhausted & we had zero pass rush.
Not a big one for excuses Rod, but it seems that the Chiefs initial game-plan was to run our defense ragged by passing all over the field, short & deep. Mahomes is the perfect QB to accomplish that for sure, and he did it with precision. Even in the 2nd half, Bucs’ offense only had the ball for ONE series (9 plays … 4:09 TOP), and thankfully we scored a TD thanks to RoJo catching that short pass & taking it 37 yds to paydirt.
Bucs defense did better in the 2nd qtr despite being on the field for almost 11 mins in that qtr. Forced a fumble on Chiefs 1st possession in that qtr, and held them to a FG on the Chiefs 2nd possession. Yes it was 20-7 at the half, but I’d say the Bucs defense fought a LOT harder than the offense did in that 1st half. BA needs to stop pointing fingers at the defense, and start getting this offense into gear a LOT sooner in games.
November 30th, 2020 at 5:10 pm
Thank you DR and JimmyJack.
Don’t have to add anything else.
November 30th, 2020 at 5:13 pm
“Lol! Look at Grandpa Smurf new innocent picture
Where is the tough guy condescending know it all look
Looks like he knows he has few games left in Tampa
He is finding out that the backstabber is being back stabbed
TB12 runs 1Buc place and the Tampa bay future
Kobe Faker has inside info
The whole Glazer family always hated everything about Arians personality and lack of class
*Jenna Laine talks in her sleep”
Kobe Faker
November 30th, 2020 at 6:01 pm
So if 45 mins isn’t enough when your defense can’t stop the other team then how does giving it back to them even faster help the defense? Cause ir the defense truely can’t then it doesn’t matter how quickly you score.. but even worse if you go 3 and out again you’re not even giving your defense a chance.. I’d argue putting them out there again and again made them look even worse than they are
November 30th, 2020 at 6:02 pm
Given the fact we closed it as much as we did with a few more 3 and outs I’d question that as well
November 30th, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Running the ball has nothing to do with successful play action. This is old football thinking that perfectly encapsulates how an offense stacked with more talent than any team in recent memory could avg 18.3 points against the best coaches in the NFL.
Coaching matters, and we have a staff that is ten years (at least) behind elite the elite coaches in the NFL.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:30 pm
Coach Kilmer needs to retire.
Let Jon Moxon run the oopty oop.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:47 pm
They were never down 14+ points in the 1st quarter last year with Winston.