Warren Sharp Lambastes Byron Leftwich
January 6th, 2023
Stats can bite you in the arse.
So it was wild yesterday seeing failing Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich suddenly embrace what he has mocked all year.
Whenever a reporter in Leftwich’s weekly snoozefests press conferences would bring up a disparaging stat — there are so many to choose from with his failing offense — Leftwich would scoff and wave the information off as “fantasy football” then chortle how he deals with real football.
Yeah, real bad football.
So yesterday, flush with a growing ego how his offense — in Week 17! — finally broke out, at least for one quarter, Leftwich claimed his offense was damn good and the offensive setbacks were nothing more than exaggerations by the local pen and mic club.
Then Leftwich cherry-picked a category he would ordinarily, derisively mock as “fantasy football.” That is average yards per game.
The Bucs are 11th in the league, and he crowed about it.
Of course, Leftwich, since he was in the mood to throw around stats, failed to mention how he is directing and fully responsible for an offense that dabbled near a historic plunge in scoring.
Learning how Leftwich was on his high horse yesterday, handicapper turned stathead Warren Sharp was morally offended and couldn’t sit on his hands. He took to Twitter and torched Leftwich.
@SharpFootball: it’s 2022 and we have OCs being proud about ranking above average in total yards? fwiw, even if you like “yards” as a stat… the Bucs rank #24 in YARDS PER PLAY which is the absolute least bit of context you could add to volume based “yardage” stats
Of course, leading the NFL in average plays per game (69.1) might have something to do with the total yards. Still, the Bucs’ yards-per-play is No. 24 in the NFL, right behind the Malik Willis-led Titans.
Funny, Leftwich didn’t mention those stats either.
Hopefully, the Bucs will have a new playcaller in a few weeks.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:10 am
such a punchable face he has
January 6th, 2023 at 8:14 am
Fire.Him
Joe — next time ask what his plans for a new career outside the NFL are following the season.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:16 am
First of all…kudos to The Joe’s for taking False Bravado Byron to task…and the effective use of the underrated word chortle. He may be one of the biggest benefactors of The Brady Effect…riding his jersey tail to perceived success.
Brady & Evans bailed him out with 3 beautiful bombs…plain and simple. Without those…Byron’s last day would no doubt be Black Monday.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:23 am
He’s a clown a faker a pretender evennnnn, he wasn’t any good as a QB and now a OC. His play book is so small and predictable its a shame.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:23 am
Smug is the face of ignorance
No better example on the planet than this tool
January 6th, 2023 at 8:25 am
Last Sunday he did be, he be gave the calls to Brady in don’t be huddle. Most Sundays he been don’t. We probably see he be don’t against Falcons.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:26 am
This horse is beat to death. Pointless. We have what we have. Get ready for the playoffs.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:30 am
He has had such a horrible season that he doesnt know if he is coming or going. A season off would likely improve his perspective. He is not good at working with younger QBs and struggles with the GOAT. Definitely not a HC, and maybe even not likely an effective OC in the NFL. Will have to go back to the drawing board and reinvent himself. He was given the keys to a BA no risk it offense, and one year removed, seems to be asleep behind the wheel.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:30 am
He be gettin ready, he been getting ready, he do what he do and be what he be, some days he be, most days he be don’t, but he be don’ting less now, you know, than he be doing.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:35 am
if the Bucs want a chance to have TB back, Leftwich MUST GO
January 6th, 2023 at 8:38 am
The yards per play is bad because the running game is the worst in the NFL.
A healthy Jensen with an upgrade at Guard and depth and a returning Gronk for 1 more season fixes that and a fixed running game makes the passing game that much more lethal.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:39 am
Someone tell the genius Sapp that it’s actually 2023. And also Air Jordan shoes are more expensive thanks to inflation.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:40 am
We be gonna askin the Glazers to ask Brady what he need to be do in 2023. He might gonna be sayin he be wantin play calls that be making points be do for the offense, so what he really be sayin is he be needin someone he can understand .
January 6th, 2023 at 8:42 am
Goat, sadly that sounds like an authentic sound bite. Not to belabor the point, but getting into the professional coaching ranks should have come with a couple of classes on presentation and sound English.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:44 am
Winning or getting to the SB is , IMO, the only thing that should save the HC and his staff.
Simple as that
January 6th, 2023 at 8:48 am
“Failing OC Byron Leftwich”. Says it all. Only way to beat the zones the Bucs are playing against is to run when they think you’ll pass and pass when its a running down. The predictability of the script tips off the defenses.
Zone defenses have holes, being in the jumbo packages on first downs is tipping off the running plays and having only a couple of receivers out on routes isn’t creating any confusion in secondary.
When they go no huddle the secondary has to cover more receivers and its not predictible. Brady knows how to carve up a zone if the right players are on the field and the zone is flooded with 4 or 5 targets crossing and slanting instead of running vertical routes.
I’m no coordinator but I can see these issues where the receivers are not in the right positions to be open 2 seconds after snap.
Only Brady can call the right plays in no huddle and he knows what he is doing. Leftwich doesn’t and the run game isn’t going to get better unless the passing game is hot and opponent is playing pass coverage.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:52 am
A little humility goes a long way.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:54 am
I’m torn here. I what him fired for dereliction of duty. I have since mid season. I want the Bucs to win the Super Bowl more. That’s, still possible. If that happens, I don’t see anyone being fired. So, for now, I’m pulling for leftwich. But the second we get eliminated this year, if we unfortunately do, I want him fired.
January 6th, 2023 at 8:55 am
Hopefully Todd Bowels lets our Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator go back to playing no risk it no biscuit football. This is a passing league and Byron Leftwich is leading the NFL’s #2 ranked passing offense. We lost a lot of talent on offense like Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, and injuries to the O-line–plus Todd Bowels changed our philosophy on offense so Leftwich deserves a pass.
January 6th, 2023 at 9:03 am
Brady gets what Brady wants. If Brady says he will stay if we bring in his choice of OC then he will get his pick of OC. I don’t know if Josh McDaniels will be available but I am sure that he would be near the top of Brady’s list,
January 6th, 2023 at 9:11 am
Bucs fans if you’re lucky the Bucs go deep in the playoffs or better yet win the SB. If that happens there becomes the chance BL does get a HC job somewhere like Houston or Indy, that’s pretty much it.
Brady and Bowles obviously do NOT like each other so Bowles stays Brady goes unless Glazers go for the money and remove Bowles to retain Brady. Brady still sells tickets, Bowles NOT so much.
January 6th, 2023 at 9:14 am
So….this is how things should work.
Glazers to Tood Bowles…..”Todd, we are evaluating you going forward. Tell us what you plan to do about your offensive coordinator position.”
Folks….it is assumed that Leftwich will be jettisoned…..but if Brady leaves before Leftwich is canned….all things are still possible.
If they are forced to go with Trask or Gabbert in 23, they may want to keep the same offense for them. (TBBF doesn’t support this)
January 6th, 2023 at 9:22 am
Idk, while I blame Leftwurst for the unimaginable play calling, I sort of understand that he has very little to work with on the OLine and the TE’s are not good blockers and not good route runners. What I don’t understand is why he keeps calling the same plays that don’t work. This is not a team that can use the run to set up the pass and can not sustain 15 play drives. He better go no huddle this week in Atl and in the playoffs if he expects to keep his job next year.
January 6th, 2023 at 9:25 am
I’m not a math major. But I do know that if you take an offense that scored 30 points per game and get them scoring only 18 point per game that is a drop in productivity of 40% !!! In any profession that drop in productivity would get you fired!!! FIRE HIM ASAP!!!
January 6th, 2023 at 9:28 am
Clyde was fired after a horrible year under Dungy that ended in the playoffs. So if phony Leftwich thinks he is getting a pass, he must not be a student of history.
This is a historic fail on Offense. A historic fail of a team. This was one of the easier schedules they’ve had. How many teams above .500 have they beaten?
One. The Cowboys on opening day.
They lost to the Browns. The Steelers when they were reeling. The Panthers when they were reeling. They barely beat the Falcons. Had to comeback — meaning Leftwich was NOT calling plays — against NO, Ari and Atlanta, and last week.
Leftwich is a joke. And that he would even act like the 4th Quarter is because of him is embarrassing.
Bye bye By. Go be a position coach in college.
January 6th, 2023 at 9:32 am
NEfan Says:
January 6th, 2023 at 9:11 am
Bucs fans if you’re lucky the Bucs go deep in the playoffs or better yet win the SB. If that happens there becomes the chance BL does get a HC job somewhere like Houston or Indy, that’s pretty much it.
I would love to see Joe kiss Byron Leftwich’s second ring 🤤
January 6th, 2023 at 9:43 am
I don’t have the stats but how many of those 69 plays avg per game are up the gut for less than 2 yards
January 6th, 2023 at 9:53 am
it is worse when coaches say these things as if fans are stupid instead of taking ownership. they do know way more than any of us by a million when it comes to football but coaches build graves for themselves when they chastise and condescend fans with this stuff as if what we are watching is ok.
January 6th, 2023 at 9:54 am
Sorry Jack, any other decent OC has this team in the playoffs a month ago.
January 6th, 2023 at 10:31 am
He’s got to remain confident in those interviews but he’s literally like the Jameis Winston of OCs. Incredibly lacking in awareness of the reality we all see plain as day.
January 6th, 2023 at 10:39 am
List, which head coach did Tom love again? Yes, he had and probably still has great respect for Belichick. But it’s clear that they had a strained relationship. No love there. Arians? The narrative says that their strained relationship is what ended up in his early retirement from coaching. I don’t see him having a measurably better or worse relationship with Todd who I’m sure he respects as a coach. It’s his relationship with Byron that is puzzling. He has more overt seeming affection with him than anyone else. Very strange.
January 6th, 2023 at 10:45 am
Really don’t think Gabbert (a free agent) would be that horrible. He was OK the few snaps he did play in 2020 and 2021.
If Trask plays, it’s time to become familiar with Drake Maye (don’t think Bucs will suck bad enough to land Caleb Williams, though.)
January 6th, 2023 at 11:04 am
First off, @Goatfarmer, you’re posts are unreadable. 2nd, @ Joe, that’s a ridiculous take on Trask. He’s never even played in a meaningful game. Oh yeah, Jamemis and Johnny.
January 6th, 2023 at 11:19 am
Jack Clark … ‘Todd Bowels changed our philosophy on offense so Leftwich deserves a pass. Hopefully Todd Bowels lets our Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator go back to playing no risk it no biscuit football.’
Jack, I’ll ask you the same question I’m asked multiple times before, and have yet to get an answer. EXACTLY HOW did Todd Bowles change the offensive philosophy? WHAT SPECIFICALLY is Byron Leftwich & this offense doing differently than it did in the previous ‘No Risk It, No Biscuit’ philosophy?
When I compare PRODUCTION in our 2020 season vs our 2022 season (through the same 16 games), I see this:
o Team Record: 2020 – 11-5 … 2022 – 8-8
o Total Points Scored: 2020 – 492 … 2022 – 296
o Average Points/Game: 2020 – 30.8 … 2022 – 18.5
o Total plays: 2020 – 1017 … 2022 – 1105
o Runs Attempted: 2020 – 369 … 2022 – 366
o Rushing Yardage: 2020 – 1519 … 2022 – 1222
o Rushing Avg Yards/Attempt: 2020 – 4.12 … 2022 – 3.34
o Passes Attempted: 2020 – 626 … 2022 – 717
o Passes Completed: 2020 – 410 … 2022 – 477
o Passing Yardage: 2020 – 4626 … 2022 – 4450
o Passing Avg Yards/Attempt: 2020 – 7.14 … 2022 – 6.02
o Passing Avg Yards/Completion: 2020 – 11.28 … 2022 – 9.33
o Sacks: 2020 – 22 … 2022 – 22
o Average Run-Pass Ratio: 2020 – 36.3% … 2022 – 33.1%
o Brady Passing Completion: 2020 – 65.7% … 2022 – 66.6%
o Rushing TDs: 2020 – 16 … 2022 – 5
o Passing TDs: 2020 – 42 … 2022 – 24
I just included those to make it easy for you Jack. It’s obvious from those numbers that our productivity is WAY DOWN in 2022 vs 2020 (as in ‘Almost 200 FEWER points scored?), even though we’ve had almost 100 MORE offensive plays in 2022. We’ve also rushed slightly FEWER times this year than in 2020 (which is opposite what most fans expected of Bowles), and we’ve passed almost 100 times MORE than in 2020 (again, opposite from what most fans expected of Bowles). Brady’s completion percentage is HIGHER this year, but our average yards gained per pass is DOWN considerably.
I’ll ask the same question, but in a different way: WHAT SPECIFICALLY did Bowles instruct BL to do that caused this dramatic change in productivity? OR … was the drop caused primarily by the change in talent level within our offense?
January 6th, 2023 at 11:19 am
Joe, interesting. Wasn’t all that familiar with him. Not quite the same size, but aside from that I see a bit of Josh Allen in him. Real quick escaping pressure from the pocket and obviously can run. But more importantly seems to have a very live arm and good accuracy. Will keep my eye on him.
January 6th, 2023 at 11:40 am
When the only time in two years (not counting Sunday) a guy was allowed to dress for a game is when the NFL forced a team to do so, that really should tell you something.
January 6th, 2023 at 12:20 pm
DR, it’s pretty obvious when you look at rushing td’s there is quote the void. Yards after the catch and both rushing and receiving td’s. If anyone doesn’t see the value of Gronk and AB, DR’s post should open your eyes. In 2021 every game AB played in was a W. Chase out the talent, bring in the crap coaches.
January 6th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
DR, quick question, it is documented Bowles stated the O will NOT follow the risk no biscuit system. Isn’t it obvious by the lack of scoring, yards per attempt and yards after catch? Also over a yard less per rushing attempt doesn’t seem like much but that’s a LOT.
January 6th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
Show Me — you must never listen to our offenseless uncoordinator ever try to explain something or answer a question.
These are basically direct quotes from him. Don’t hate the messenger.
January 6th, 2023 at 1:14 pm
I think the constant drum lambasting of Leftwich will run Brady off this off season.
January 6th, 2023 at 1:16 pm
@Defense Rules
Nice work on those stats!
What I’m wondering is if it comes down to “play predictability”.
Maybe in 2020 the opposing defense was kept off balance, not knowing what play was coming.
This year, the plays are so predictable, they know whats coming and shut it down.
At least it would explain the drop in production.
January 6th, 2023 at 1:41 pm
I am so happy that after years of pointing out what a POS and awful OC Leftwich was, how Arians was the only thing that was keeping him employed, people have finally came around on him and realized how useless he is.
BUT, if Brady is gone next year, and we’re Tanking with Trask ™, then him and fellow loser Bowles are the perfect guys to get us the top pick in 2024. So don’t be so eager to get him fired once the season is over.
Of course if they can somehow bring Brady back, then put him and Bowles into a rocket and shoot them into the Sun.
January 6th, 2023 at 2:01 pm
NEfan … Lots of fans (and media types too) have used the term ‘No Risk It, No Biscuit’ in describing BA’s offensive philosophy without having the slightest clue what it actually means in practice. Some seem to think it means ‘Throw deep on every opportunity’ while others believe it means ‘Pass as much as possible & run as little as possible’. Plenty of others ascribe their own definitions to his philosophy, but most IMO had no clue what it meant as BA actually employed it.
Example: our 2020 Super Bowl year. During the regular season, Bucs’ offense had a run-pass ratio of 36.3%. Our run game averaged 4.1 YPA, ranking us #24 (not that great IOW). Yet during the playoffs our run-pass ratio increased to 39.9% while retaining the same 4.1 YPC average. So when it REALLY counted, BA ran more, passed less … and won 4 straight playoff games. Why didn’t anyone accuse HIM of abandoning his own ‘No Risk It, No Biscuit’ philosophy?
I’ll tell ya why: because we won. BA knew that you did whatever it took to win. THAT’S ‘No Risk It, No Biscuit’ in a nutshell. The RISK was in doing whatever it took to win. Just as an example of risk acceptance, Todd Bowles has actually gone for it considerably MORE than BA did on 4th downs. This year we’ve gone for it on 4th down 26 times (and made 15 of those for 57.7%). In 2021 BA went for it on 4th down only 16 times (and made 9 for 56.3%). In 2020 he went for it only 14 times (and made 8 for 57.1%). So who’s the bigger ‘risk-taker’ in those 4th down situations, BA or Todd Bowles?
Reality IMO is that this year’s crappy productivity had very little to do with Todd Bowles ‘offensive philosophy’ (IF he even has one). It had everything to do with an OC who was given almost total control of the offense but was in way over his head because the talent level had changed tremendously … but he didn’t know how to adjust or compensate. Bowles biggest failing was in accepting BL as a condition of taking over as HC in the first place. BA’s Red Pen was real.
January 6th, 2023 at 2:05 pm
If tom comes back that’s a big if leftwich might have ruined a year four for Brady in Tampa what a frustrating season it’s been almost mad at arians for selling the glazers on fools gold.
January 6th, 2023 at 2:18 pm
AKicknTheBucNuts … I agree with you about predictability of our offense, but I also think it goes much deeper than that. To me our offense looks to be VERY VANILLA. Mike’s 3 TDs Sunday were a classic example. All 3 were a flat-out foot race that ME13 won … vertical routes. The OLine held their ground long enough to let the route develop, TB12 threw the perfect deep balls and voila … 3 TDs. Sadly that’s how most of our plays look to be run IMO, and most of the time they haven’t worked because our OLine couldn’t hold their ground long enough for TB12 to let the routes develop, whether they were deep or intermediate.
The other tremendous factor is defensive takeaways. Remember at the start of the year how the Bucs’ defense was gonna get 50 takeaways? FIFTY. We’ve got 19 this year. Yup, NINETEEN. Our TO Differential went from a PLUS 8 in 2020, to a PLUS 10 in 2021, to a MINUS 2 this year. That represents a monstrous difference in scoring … for both ourselves AND our opponents (takeaways stop drives, and thus scoring opportunities, for opponents as well as give the ball back to our offense, often on short fields, and increases their scoring opportunities).
And yet, regardless of how we got here, THE PLAYOFFS AWAIT. A new day is dawning. Well, HOPEFULLY it lasts longer than 1 day. One-and-done doesn’t excite me.
January 6th, 2023 at 2:33 pm
@Goatfarmer. Lol. OK, Good one. I didn’t realize.
@Joe. What Trask not dressing for a game tells me is he was drafted as a prospect, #1 QB is the GOAT and #2 QB is a veteran. We still have no idea how Trask will perform when the bullets start flying.
January 6th, 2023 at 3:52 pm
So many of you must not have heard Tom say, “I love you” two times to Leftwit. He must know more than we do. Tom would not lie in that moment and the winning touchdown WAS a great play-call. I don’t know what happened to the Bucs, but Tom certainly does not think it is Leftwit’s fault.
January 6th, 2023 at 4:09 pm
DR,
2020 20+ passing attemps 63
40+ passing attemps. 12
2022 20+ 50
40+ 5
Looks like 2020 risk it no biscuit to me. Since most other stats are relatively close other than scoring both on the ground and in the air, the above numbers are pretty telling.
January 6th, 2023 at 4:10 pm
Those above are 20yds and 40yds.
January 6th, 2023 at 6:05 pm
He has taken no responsibility for the impotence of this offense scoring points. That’s what pisses me off.
Find whatever little glimmers of hope you can in the stat sheet and feel good about them, but take some onus on the lack of everything else.
No good coach comes out and jokes about their failures, but then doesn’t make changes to fix them. By all accounts, and obviously, it came straight from his mouth, he thinks they’re doing good out there. He thinks everyone else is just blind to the stunning steps of improvement that they’ve made throughout the season.
Listen, I know this isn’t the same team as last year, and they weren’t going to be able to do exactly what last years team did, but welcome to the NFL moron. Adjust the scheme and find a way to score points with Brady, Evans, Godwin, Julio Jones, Russell Gage, Cade Otton, Leonard Fournette, and Rachaad White. Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid have an entirely new recieving group and they’re still setting the NFL on fire.
At the end of this season Leftwich should be allowed go into his office to get his peewee football trophies off his desk and then everything else that’s in there should be thrown out the window and burned immediately. I don’t want any of it to fall into the hands of any unsuspecting flag football coach that could mistakenly reincarnate this offense again to doom the future.
January 6th, 2023 at 6:06 pm
Saw a tweet response from Leveon Bell today about his time with Adam Gase and the Jets, regarding his performance dropoff
“I was a better player … it’s just hard to get off when Adam Gase is your coach calling dives on 1st & 10 … he had dives in his first 10 plays”
January 6th, 2023 at 7:08 pm
NEfan … ‘Looks like 2020 risk it no biscuit to me.’
Not so fast. How do you know that those stats aren’t telling you that the OLine did a much better job in 2020 at buying time for the receivers to get downfield? And time for Brady to set up & let the play develop?
We’ve all seen the same thing this year: the Oline isn’t providing the pass protection it was able to in 2020 or 2021 and Brady is being rushed a lot more in his progressions. He needs at least 3 seconds of protection for those 40+ routes to develop; he’s not getting it. Mike’s routes against the Panthers were all close to the 40-yard mark downfield. On the 1st, Brady released it at 2.87 seconds after the snap; the 2nd at 3.64 seconds (it was longer downfield); and the 3rd was released at 2.34 seconds (it was shorter).
January 6th, 2023 at 7:16 pm
Yet the completion rate is higher in 2022 throwing more passes. Keep trying your putting up a decent fight. How do you know the increase wasn’t from throwing on 1st downs rather than force the run?
January 6th, 2023 at 7:27 pm
DR, unfortunately I could not see the game live but I was able to get it on the radio. During the game BA game BA was interviewed about his Bucs acknowledgment. Evan’s scored his first TD and how that was lacking for most of the season. His reply was short & sweet, ” I prefer to play more aggressive!” And left it at that. Was that a shot at Bowles or BL? Not sure since they are both his protégés.
January 7th, 2023 at 1:19 am
The only way he should not be fired is if the offense puts up 30 a game and makes it to the Super Bowl. Show real change for more than just one quarter of football.
January 7th, 2023 at 3:15 am
I gotta stop reading these comments! Fire yourselves already lol
January 7th, 2023 at 3:19 am
NEfan … ‘His (BA’s) reply was short & sweet, ” I prefer to play more aggressive!” And left it at that. Was that a shot at Bowles or BL? Not sure since they are both his protégés.’
Interesting quote, and odds are we’ll never know who the shot was at. Might’ve even been at Brady, although my gut feel is that it was at BL. That whole ‘BA’s Red Pen’ thingie from last season tells me that there was a disconnect between BA & BL in terms of offensive approach to the games.
Reality to me however is that BA set this whole thing in motion by ‘retiring’ as late as he did (31 Mar). It’d be hard to convince me that he didn’t wait that long intentionally, so that ‘his guys’ (the entire coaching staff) could stay together. Glazers options were very limited at that point … as were Todd Bowles (who I think was so happy to have another HCing opportunity that he just said YES to everything & marched on). IMO Todd made 2 critical mistakes right at the front-end:
1 – Not designating a DC (Larry Foote would’ve probably been a good choice), and instead dual-hatting himself as HC & DC. That only works if you have a strong OC who can operate the offense with minimal HC interaction.
2 – Accepting Lefty as his OC (without BA’s Red Pen being available to direct him). BL has demonstrated IMO that he’s OK at ‘scripting plays’ (to start the game?) but when it comes to play design & making adjustments after the first 15 (or less) he needs help.