Todd Bowles Points Out An Issue In Run Game
September 20th, 2023
Running back Rachaad White, who had a solid game Sunday against the Bears.
The Bucs had three first-down plays in the red zone Sunday and those three snaps totalled a whopping zero yards.
Here’s the breakdown:
-2 yard run by Chase Edmonds
1 yard run by Rachaad White
1 yard scramble by Baker Mayfield
Ugly!
On another red zone trip, the Bucs arrived there after first down but were skewered by a false start by Tristan Wirfs on 3rd-and-1.
Joe does not wonder why the game against the Bears was close — too close — in the fourth quarter. Those red zone fails were a factor.
Todd Bowles pointed to the woes on the Buccaneers Radio Network last night.
“Gotta get positive yards on first down and make it second- and third-and-manageable,” Bowles said.
“You can’t go in [the red zone] and not do good on first down and have 2nd- and 3rd-and-long and try to get the touchdown. That makes it even tougher. So we gotta be more successful on first down and we’ll get better at that.”
Edmonds is now out hurt with a sprained knee and Bowles was asked if that meant Ke’Shawn “Sneak” Vaughn getting a role.
Interestingly, Bowles’ first words were “We’ll ask more from undrafted rookie free agent Sean [Tucker]” before acknowledging, “Sneak will have to come up and play, as well.”
So Joe isn’t counting on Vaughn getting a chance to spark the Bucs in the red zone. It’ll have to come from White and Tucker, who is averaging less than 1.7 yards per carry on 13 carries.
September 20th, 2023 at 7:58 am
We remain totally predictable…..1st down runs up the middle…..with our history, that’s the perfect time for play action….even a dump off to a back or TE should get us 5 yards….
September 20th, 2023 at 8:02 am
joe could they possibly go into the game with only 2 activated backs…?
it doesn’t seem feasible…
you gotta have a 3rd guy active for the game at rb…
sneak or laird…….something ain’t adding up…coach is playing it close to the vest…
and wow…sounds like sneak is so deep in the doghouse, he can’t even sniff out a milkbone…
maybe bowles makes him wallow in the dog house thru the bye week and then frees him up…
September 20th, 2023 at 8:05 am
speaking on hainsey:
hainsey has been playing well imho…
maybe feiler is a very complimentary piece to have next to him…?
and on the right side mauch is holding it down for a rook…
looks like we have our new center…for what should be a while
September 20th, 2023 at 8:16 am
We need one of those short bulky backs with tree trunks for legs on these types of down. Heck we need one in general. White looks like a safety back there and the others are shifty. We need a power back.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:29 am
A team relying on the run when they can’t run is crazy. If Bowles can’t get past that, he is doomed to fail.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:33 am
Same story different team and OC. Bowels couldn’t fix it last season so the miracle worker will now be able to figure out how to run a dive up the middle on a gialine D? If Minn & Bears two bottom ranked defenses it has to work against the defending conference champions. Sorry Todd, maybe time to consider stats, cause yours ain’t good!
September 20th, 2023 at 8:34 am
Sneak is in the doghouse. He’s on the team just until they can replace him.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:38 am
It’s not shocking that the run game is weak in the red zone. It’s been weak everywhere. And the decision to run 95% of first downs is going to continue to hurt them. Maybe until they whip out a play action in week nine and immediately score an 80 yard TD. At that point we’ll have to reconsider whether it was worth it.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:41 am
Hainsey is smart enough to be center but not strong enough to play guard…he’s barely strong enough to play center at this point. Fieler has been bad in pass protection this year and has struggled communicating with T. Wirfs imo. Hopefully that gets better as the season progresses or he is a one year bridge player at most.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:43 am
TBBF, couldn’t agree more. Please try something other than running up the middle on 1st down.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:48 am
More old school thinking. 3rd and manageable is not the goal. The goal is to get the 1st down or TD before 3rd down.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:52 am
I think we are lost in the big runs image as we attribute that to an effective running game. However, the run game is as effective as it needs to be to allow the play action to work. The running Game will get better as the season goes on and teams start game planning to stop the pass. This is the beginning of the season let’s celebrate the 2 – 0 record as we were projected to be 0 – 5 through the first 5 weeks.
September 20th, 2023 at 8:58 am
White runs too high he is more of a fit for a zone blocking scheme ala Mike Shanahan
September 20th, 2023 at 9:17 am
NE Fan what are you doing here?
I’m really starting to feel sorry for you. Dude get out and have some fun!
Stop being angry about Brady coming to the Bucs and winning his last Super Bowl.
Go get help. You deserve it. I hope everything shifts for you.
Peace
September 20th, 2023 at 9:43 am
Options are limited when you can’t run between the tackles. The defense will cover sideline to sideline and eliminate the edge. There are holes between the tackles. The Bucs’ backs just aren’t capable of hitting them for whatever reason; lack of speed, vision, timing, etc. They have no choice but to continue with White. A new back now isn’t going to help unless they find someone soon and use the bye week to get in synch. I can’t recall but only a few times in my 42 years of watching NFL football a RB coming into a new team after the season starts and having a meaningful impact…McCaffrey recently. It would have to be an elite back. There aren’t an my available or that the Bucs can afford.
September 20th, 2023 at 9:59 am
I was shocked when White scored the TD running on third down and I think the Bears were surprised by the play call. We need to be a little less predictable in the red zone. Running on 1st down is great if you can get near the goal line, but were not effective in doing it. It seems like we need to go a little more play-action or RPOs, and also target the TE’s more.
September 20th, 2023 at 10:05 am
Hainsey still gets blown up and blown back.
I hope we draft a center in the 1st or 2nd round next year.
Hainsey is a good guy.
But we need a beast at center.
September 20th, 2023 at 10:07 am
Bring back Fournette . Our OL looks solid enough this year and he’ll get through and gain some yards. White and Tucker are just meh.
September 20th, 2023 at 10:44 am
BucFanforLife Says:
September 20th, 2023 at 10:07 am
Bring back Fournette . Our OL looks solid enough this year and he’ll get through and gain some yards. White and Tucker are just meh.
First of all, no. Second of all, NO!
He asked to be released from this team. When are you people going to get that through your thick skulls? On principle, they will not sign him back.
September 20th, 2023 at 10:44 am
Saw a youtuber from Chicago complaining about Justin Fields not making good decision and holding on the ball way too long. He showed film study that scared me to death. Fields had receivers wide ass open down the field and he either couldn’t or didn’t see them. His ascks were a more of a product of him holding on to long and not hitting an open receiver than our secondary coverage or D-line pressure.
Justin Fields is a very poor NFL quarterback, so we shouldn’t take solice in our smothering defense, but know that a decent quarterback i.e. Brock Purdy or a great quarterback, i.e Jalen Hurts will pick us apart quickly. Our secondary can not allow so much missed coverages and our D-Line needs better pressure in 2-3 second rushes and not 3-5.
September 20th, 2023 at 10:50 am
Brian Baldinger had the same thing. If this YouTuber was showing the same film, it was late in the game after Jamel Dean got hurt (and also without Carlton Davis).
Context, people. Context. As Joe likes to say, backups are backups for a reason. If they weren’t backups, they’d be starters. Expecting backups to play like starters if wishful thinking if not unreasonable.
September 20th, 2023 at 10:53 am
Since we don’t have a power back, I think the Bucs need to focus their run game a tad MORE on wide zone runs. Trying to successfully run between the tackles, where most of the defenders are and everything is compressed, requires excellent blocking at point and at second level.
Right now, the O-line is barely adequate getting to second level. Mix it up some and run more sweeps/tosses and wide concepts to utilize our shifty backs. Heck, even a wide option-type play would keep defenders guessing and force them to defend every blade of grass, as opposed to mostly between the tackles.
We don’t have an Alstott or a Rathman type on the roster.
September 20th, 2023 at 10:57 am
Is an Akers trade likely?
September 20th, 2023 at 11:01 am
Sadly, no.
September 20th, 2023 at 11:12 am
There are lots of available running backs but the Bucs are still keeping Vaughn around. They need an angry inside runner for the meat grinder stuff. It’s time!
September 20th, 2023 at 1:38 pm
AbovedaLaw … ‘It’s not shocking that the run game is weak in the red zone. It’s been weak everywhere. And the decision to run 95% of first downs is going to continue to hurt them.’
Others have said the said thing, so I decided to look back at our 1st down plays in these first 2 games.
o Vikings game: 13 runs & 12 passes on 25 first down opportunities (plus 1 kneeldown on 1st down ). Of those 13 runs, only 1 was up the middle, with another 3 between the Guards (the remaining 9 runs were over the tackles or outside).
o Bears game: 16 runs & 9 passes on 25 first down opportunities (plus 1 kneeldown on 1st down ). Of those 16 runs, 7 were up the middle, with another 2 between the Guards (the remaining 7 runs were over the tackles or outside).
So over the 2 games, Bucs ran 58% of the time on 1st down (not counting 2 kneeldowns). I guess that’s pretty close to ‘95%’ for some. And only 8 of those 29 runs were up the middle (28%), plus another 5 runs over the Guards (17%). The remaining 16 runs (55%) were over the tackles or outside.
September 20th, 2023 at 3:04 pm
Well now that Cleveland signed Hunt on a 1-year deal for peanuts (could be worth up to 4mil…wow) that’s one less option.
I STILL say….Vita Vea when you need a hard yard. No FB needed. 3 yard running start on the right edge where guys have to try to get an angle on him…not stopping that!
As for Lenny….boo f’ing hoo. He wanted out and hurt our widdle feelings. After last season and knowing Brady.would be gone do you blame him? Hard to get a decent contract when your stats suck due to a bad o-line and a worse OC. He’s finding that out now. Lenny would be better than any back we currently have (if he’s in shape). Hurt feelings? It’s football. Grow a pair.
September 20th, 2023 at 4:02 pm
Lenny would be the same as white, really don’t need another one, would really like them to re-sign Rojo.
September 20th, 2023 at 5:01 pm
Give it to Vita
September 20th, 2023 at 5:20 pm
Unless Tucker can start blocking and catching passes, using him right now is working to our detriment.
Go back and watch the Bears game. Every single time Tucker checked in, the Bears sold out to stop the run. And we ran the ball every time.
At least RoJo was good at catching passes on those wheel routes.
September 20th, 2023 at 5:43 pm
Why are the fans the only ones to notice that inside the Red zone play action is the best call especially with our receivers. I know you want to upgrade the running attack but we’re last in the league. We have the best receivers in the league why are you not going to your bread and butter and getting these games done and completed and like I’ve been saying all along the passenger attack will open the running game
September 21st, 2023 at 1:07 am
That penalty on Wirfs was a BS call! He moved his head about a quarter of an inch as he was getting set. Can you say oversealous refs? Same with at least one of the holding calls! I’ve seen Jenson get away with much more on a regular baisis. At times I have been surprised he did not get a false start or IP on those.
Play calling and personel groups play in to this scenario as well. Yes we need to run better on first downs. But in the red zone you automaticaly have guys closer to the LOS. Canales can help with some different, personel, looks and play calls.
Go Bucs!
September 21st, 2023 at 12:33 pm
What are you talking about ROJO had stone hands and never put in on passing downs and when he left us and KC picked him up l don’t think
He was actived many games and he is sitting home you want to sign him do you watch much football.
September 22nd, 2023 at 7:41 am
The run game is simply the lack of good blocking up front. If they don’t improve then we are going to go downhill. Without a running game the defense is going to go after Mayfield. This will a show up on Monday.