Running Man Liked What He Saw
November 13th, 2022
Enjoyed the run game.
Make no mistake, Bucs coach Todd Bowles, while he says he likes points, is a running man.
One main reason Bowles doesn’t want the Bucs to emulate Bucco Bruce Arians’ no risk it; no biscuit offense is he thought the defense was worn down last year and it cost the Bucs a possible Super Bowl.
There are other elements to that including no foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski and no headcase Antonio Brown.
Prior to yesterday’s run-heavy win against Seattle, the Bucs were on pace to have the worst rushing attack since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. That’s over a half-century. And yes, that’s brutal. So when the Bucs racked up 161 yards rushing Sunday, Bowles was as relieved as he was happy. Finally, the Bucs had a strong running attack for the first time since opening day.
“It felt great to run the ball,” Bowles said. “Rachaad [White] and Leonard [Fournette] got off to a good start. Rachaad ran the ball. Leonard got hurt.
“Rachaad got his carries, and he’s a slithery guy. He comes to play every day. Seems like he’s always falling forward. The offensive line played well, and they blocked for him.”
And that’s all you need to know. The offensive line and the running backs physically took it to Seattle, which is also a physical team.
It was as if the Bucs came into the game with a mindset that it was their turn to be the bully in the neighborhood.
Early on, Ko Kieft was proof of this. Two plays in a row Kieft and the same defender went at it after the whistle, and Joe could easily tell the Seattle defender was so frustrated with Kieft he was about to do something dumb.
If Kieft does something to get under a guy’s skin, it had to be good. It seemed that mentality was embraced by the whole offense.
November 13th, 2022 at 10:46 pm
Winning is what it’s about. There will come a time again, soon, where in order to win the Bucs will need to pass 75% or more of the plays. Do what is necessary to win. They probably won’t until it’s too late,
Thankfully the run game worked today because the OL actually executed some double team blocks and gave our RBs enough of a crease. Considering that Leftboob is still calling the plays, a regression to ineptitude is inevitable..
Too bad the head coich is more interested in “balance” than winning.
November 13th, 2022 at 10:47 pm
When you run effectively, nobody complains about running the ball.
150 on the ground and 250 through the air will win most weeks.
November 13th, 2022 at 11:03 pm
LOL, Seattle fell to our Blitzkrieg in Germany!
I think they still wonder what hit them today ?
Our Team that played today can play with any team in the NFL, if we continue to play like we did today.
The score did not have too be so close.
November 13th, 2022 at 11:05 pm
Still looking for some German Bierhall drinking stories, Joe!
November 13th, 2022 at 11:08 pm
I thought he was patient, a bit like Laveon Bell and exploited holes that he had to pick his way through.
November 13th, 2022 at 11:10 pm
I’ll bet there were a lot of exploited holes picked through on that trip.
November 13th, 2022 at 11:22 pm
i love the fact that Wirfs manhandled anybody in front of him. hes like a bulldozer, he floored that number 10 guy
November 13th, 2022 at 11:47 pm
Great way to go into the bye week. Two game win streak, atop the division..playing better football
November 13th, 2022 at 11:58 pm
Looked good until letting Seattle back in it like the Atlanta game . Probably was more tough for Seattle to adjust to time zone so im still cautiously optimistic . Hoping godwin and otton continue to improve .
November 14th, 2022 at 12:58 am
When you’re not playing on that awful turf, where no one can get their footing, they’re going to realize their run game didn’t magically fix itself.
It’s 2022, you win by scoring points, you do that through the air. Chicago ran for like 270 yards today and lost. That’s what running gets you.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:20 am
Well todd without that no risk it no biscuit superbowl offense our defense isn’t even in those playoff games to get winded…
November 14th, 2022 at 2:56 am
@Rod Munch. Too much box score watching with this run game. It’s still below average. The YPC still sucked! This will only make BL continue those first down runs about the gut
November 14th, 2022 at 6:18 am
very proud of both lines in this game. It was apparent early in the game that the bucs were dominating the line of scrimmage in both phases. go bucs!
November 14th, 2022 at 6:53 am
Mitchell Schwartz last night on the Football Show said that due to his “severe misunderstanding” of modern NFL offense, Leftwich probably won’t realize it was play action that won yesterday–and will just keep running against stronger defenses.
November 14th, 2022 at 6:57 am
Can’t say enough about Ko. Dude came to play.
November 14th, 2022 at 7:09 am
I’m afraid it will give BL more of a reason to run, run, run. Hopefully each week’s game plan attacks the opponents weakness and not a one size fits all approach.
November 14th, 2022 at 8:09 am
I noticed we had quite a few play-actions, Brady could have eaten a plate of sauerkraut while he waited for receivers to get open
November 14th, 2022 at 9:20 am
The game often is won in the trenches! That is what happened yesterday! The coaches and TB12 hounding the team about effort, or lack thereof, got the desired result!! 😊
November 14th, 2022 at 9:31 am
Not sure who called plays, not sure it truly matters, but the play-calling was much better and balanced. Some creative calls sprinkled in there like the PA’s, a fake screen, and oh yeah, a double-pass to a very immobile 45-year old QB.
Much better game, and it all started in the trenches: The O-line was much better and the D-line was good too.
Great to see some sort of team identity: Physical. Or at least somewhat more physical than the previous games, sans Dallas.
Good win!!
November 14th, 2022 at 10:32 am
Kieft has that same soulless ginger attitude that Jensen has. It’s nice to have a couple guys like that on a team that love picking fights.
As far as the running game goes, let’s see if Bowles puts his money where his mouth is. White is obviously the superior runner for this team. If the hole is huge Fournette can get through, if not he dry humps his offensive lineman to death. White can slip through cracks and has much better balance. The competition is over.
Hell, Lenny almost didn’t even make the flight because he wasn’t on top of having his passport ready for this trip. How long have they known about this Germany trip? As soon as White started breaking nice runs Fournette magically has a hip injury? Probably taped himself. It was either manufacture an injury or pout on the sideline I guess.
November 14th, 2022 at 2:08 pm
Complementary football! Imagine that!
You HAVE to have, at a minimum, the threat of effectively running the football. Without it, you are predictable, and predictability can lead to losing.
November 14th, 2022 at 5:00 pm
Love me some kieft!