Josh Grizzard Has A Tall Task
March 25th, 2025
Improvement?
In a way, Joe feels sorry for new Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. It’s hard to believe he can elevate the offense.
That’s not a knock on Grizzard. Instead, if anything, it’s a salute to the job that former coordinator Liam Coen pulled off.
Last year, per the Bucs’ media relations department, the Bucs accomplished a feat Joe would have never, ever guessed would be possible. Here are the numbers that Grizzard will try to equal, if not surpass:
The Bucs were the only team in the league to rank top-five in the following four categories: total yards per game (399.6, fourth), rushing yards per game (149.2, fourth), passing yards per game (250.4, third) and points scored per game (29.5 – fourth).
This happens about once every two or three years.
And, as Billy Mays (Ryan Day) would say, “But wait, there’s more!”
In 2024, the Bucs became the first team in NFL history to have a 70 percent completion percentage and average over five yards a carry in the same season.
Can Grizzard lead the Bucs to equal or better an NFL record?
Then again, if the Bucs did it once, returning the same offensive personnel means they can do it again.
Nah, no pressure on Grizzard.
March 25th, 2025 at 1:00 pm
His main task/assignment was 3rd downs, which I believe we finished top 5.
March 25th, 2025 at 1:05 pm
Again it’s not the Offense we need to worry about Fix the Defense Bowles!!!
March 25th, 2025 at 1:22 pm
Wow! Billy Mays, OxiClean. Blast from the past.
Reading on here about Grizz, feeling good that he will do well. He will strive for an even better record.
March 25th, 2025 at 1:27 pm
Awesome numbers, but a better season = win more games and make it to the NFC championship games = better season.
Going to have to limit the injuries on both sides of the ball and win the close games. I still say that to make it to the next level and win a title TB needs to hire a defensive coordinator and be the HC everyone hopes he is. Maybe someone could also suggest that our roster works better for a 4-3 defense than a 3-4.
Just my humble opinion.
March 25th, 2025 at 1:28 pm
<game
March 25th, 2025 at 1:37 pm
The much taller task is for the existing coaching staff to coach up the players on defense to not resemble a broken plastic sieve when defending the pass. The defense has been in precipitous decline ever since the Cooper Kupp cover zero-nobody fiasco.
March 25th, 2025 at 1:39 pm
bucs hiring in game game manager from jags. licht for s smartening up.that being said our next coach should be snoop dog and just hire these assistants
March 25th, 2025 at 1:40 pm
If the Swiss cheese defense is shored up we won’t need the offense to be more potent.
We’re refusing to focus on the real issue here.
Bowles has lost the ability to put an effective scheme in place.
Everyone knows that you just need to throw on this defense and you will succeed.
We couldn’t force a punt from a team with a rookie QB in his first playoff game.
Bowles must go for us to reach the next level.
March 25th, 2025 at 1:45 pm
Kid has a high IQ. Our QB has a high IQ .That spells nothing but trouble for Buc opponents. Case closed. Sit back and watch. Baker and Mike and Chris and the rest of the guys got this! The longer they play together the better they will get. I think they are about ready for a championship. Go Bucs!
March 25th, 2025 at 1:55 pm
The Bucs offense will be Top 5ish again this year.
Mainly because it almost wouldn’t matter who the OC is… Licht has stacked this offense with talent at every single starting position. When average to average plus (last year) Ben Bredeson is the weakest link on your entire starting offense – that is really saying something.
Top 5 OLine
Top 10 QB
Top 5 WRs
Top 5 RBs
Top 15 TEs
What young offensive coach wouldn’t drool all over themselves at the idea of having an offense like that to work with for your first shot at playcalling in the NFL???
Grizz will do great – and we will all be singing his praises – and he will get head coaching offers next year…. its all too predictable….
BECAUSE we have Mike Evans and Tristan Wirfs and Baker Mayfield and Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving and Luke Goedeke and Cade Otton and Graham Barton and Cody Mauch etc on the field – WITH nice depth behind at skill positions in JMac, R. White and Tucker….
March 25th, 2025 at 1:58 pm
grizzards BIGGEST TASK is to keep baker under 12 INTs during the regular season and zero TOs in the playoffs….
if baker leads the league in INTs again, we’re fried lol…doesnt matter if we’re the #1 offense & #1 defense….TOs are the key!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
March 25th, 2025 at 1:59 pm
I think Grizz can work on more consistency with the O. And being able to deal that knockout blow versus letting them hang around and keep the game close. I know this falls a LOT on the D. Or maybe it’s because the 2 games I went to last year were Denver and Playoff game (the 2 lowest scoring games of the season) and they still sting!
March 25th, 2025 at 2:02 pm
We couldn’t force a punt from a team with a rookie QB in his first playoff game.
LOL…..
how about not having a 100million dollar veteran QB turn the ball over in yet another playoff game lol
that was the difference in the game…the vet turned the ball over….the rook didnt…
GO BUCS!!!!!
March 25th, 2025 at 2:02 pm
Those numbers are nice but if he gets them to NFC Championship and to an SB berth no one will care if their rankings are not up to thos4le.
March 25th, 2025 at 2:05 pm
813BUCBOIS, you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. That’s who you are and what you do. Lollygagging around in an ignorant bliss. And you have clearly reached your ceiling.
March 25th, 2025 at 2:15 pm
10 of the top 11 teams leading the league in points made the playoffs. 4 got bounced in the first round.
Bucs scored 37 against the Commanders week one and looked like the 1981-1982 Denver Nuggets (highest per game scoring average in history @126.5). Denver got bounced in the first round when Phoenix slowed the game down and Nuggets averaged 12 points less.
In the Wild Card Round Commanders slowed the game down Bucs scored 20, had to earn their points, lost, and were left with what ifs.
When defenses are playing soft and up by 3 scores the Bucs racked up the points .
In the Playoffs when possessions are limited and failed drives are penalized a team needs a superstar running the offense. Brady would have won that game. He may not have thrown for 70% but but he would have racked up more than 185 through the air and he definitely wouldn’t have tried to squeeze the ball between McMillan’s butt cheeks on a failed jet sweep.
Coen may have gotten Mayfield to rack up more yards but he could have been better served holding on to Canales’ demand to protect the football. But then Coen was more of a Jameis Winston Type when he played and far from a Tom Brady.
Bucs will have success and be better than most but the few will continue sending them Home early. Although an extra 50K a man and the Home Playoff Game reevenue for ownership is always a good thing.
March 25th, 2025 at 2:24 pm
How did we not win a few playoff games last year?
March 25th, 2025 at 2:40 pm
Wowzers..first team in NFL history to have a 70% completion percentage and average over 5 yards a carry in same season. Interesting nugget. Buccos 2024 impressive.
Ravens just got Awuzie on a 1 year deal. No financial terms yet but dang we could done that.
March 25th, 2025 at 2:43 pm
Won’t matter much what the offense does in terms of rankings if the defense doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain. So tired of seeing a pathetic excuse for a defense that collapses in the biggest games.
March 25th, 2025 at 2:46 pm
I wish for him no team injuries.
No one knows how much he and the other coaches we retained actually contributed to our success last year. Since Coen was in his first year calling plays, it makes sense that he had a lot of help. Grizzard hid under the radar. If he is good, he may want to stay with the Bucs instead of bolting for a head coach job somewhere where the culture is not close to what we built here.
March 25th, 2025 at 2:52 pm
Opera coming back, there’s our interior Oline Depth
March 25th, 2025 at 2:53 pm
*Sua Opeta welcome back
March 25th, 2025 at 3:18 pm
Last year , Bucs averaged 26 points per game offense vs teams NOT in the NFC South.
Panthers, Saints and Falcons should all be improved this year after the draft and FA.
Bucs once again face a 1st place schedule.
As Grizzard himself has said, reducing offensive turnovers needs improvement
March 25th, 2025 at 3:22 pm
Grizz will be better than Coen even if the stats aren’t better.
I’m thinking we’ll see more creative use of motions and a more diverse playbook than Coen’s.
As others have mentioned, reducing turnovers should be a priority. That alone could be the difference between a good season and a great one.
With an improved defense, improved turnover differential, and steady play on offense we’ll be in shape to have a great season…..
March 25th, 2025 at 3:32 pm
813Bucboi
Spot on with your takes.
For a while I felt like the only one pointing out the obvious. Baker’s TOs have killed 2 postseason runs in 2 consecutive years.
Look at what happened to Baltimore, and to Washington in the NFC Championship. You turn it over, you lose. Your other stats don’t matter.
Can the OC stop the TOs? We’ll see….
March 25th, 2025 at 3:35 pm
Fan Of The South
All facts there my man
March 25th, 2025 at 3:45 pm
Does it matter if it’s an interception or a fumble if it’s a turnover? Some fumbles are turnovers, some aren’t. Interceptions are always turnovers but when we get picked then you’d like Baker getting a chance at the tackle-he’d be pissed enough to knock it loose once in awhile. Fumbles for turnovers were very rare for us this year. All you guys screaming about turnovers would be surprised to know we weren’t above average in total turnovers this year. Buckys fumble lost us a game and Rachaads fumble I think lost us the Dallas game. Interceptions never cost us a game. Not being able to create turnovers hurt us the most though. Of course Baker has to bring down the interception numbers. But some of you knuckleheads forget it’s a team game. I’m here to remind you.
March 25th, 2025 at 3:49 pm
If we can build a nasty defense, we can win a Super Bowl.
We have the type of offers that can score 4 straight TDs to start a game.
Imagine a defense that can start a game with 4 straight punts?
We’ll be unstoppable.
We need to improve our defense FAST
March 25th, 2025 at 4:03 pm
Bee you’re way off. I went to Detroit for that playoff game. Goff carved our secondary a new one. Baker got us tied early in the 4th. His 3rd td pass. Then Detroit held the ball and dinked and dunked us- our secondary was helpless- and held the ball for 12 minutes of the 4th quarter. So we get the ball with under 2 minutes, 90 yards to go, and down 8 points. I watched the Washington game on TV. Washington got the ball with almost 6 minutes after we’d driven to tie the game. We never got it back. You’re not the only “one” pointing out the obvious Bee. There are a few more like you that don’t know football. Football guys reading this will know I’m not defending turnovers Bee. I’m defending the fact that football is a “team sport”.
March 25th, 2025 at 4:13 pm
KENTON
obviously you’re mrs mayfield lol….
tell hubby to NOT LEAD THE NFL in INTs and we’ll be in the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!
March 25th, 2025 at 4:19 pm
Fan of the South/ how the heck does Brady “win the Washington game?” In his entire playoff career he never threw as effectively as Baker did that game. Our beloved Coen took the ball out of his hands. 18 pass attempts? Brady would have thrown it 18 times in a quarter much of his career. We better never forget that our passing game is our bread and butter and it sets up our good running game. That’s why we lost to Washington. If we want to be a run first offense let’s let Trask take over. I’m pretty sure that Baker would make better trade bait than Kyle.
March 25th, 2025 at 4:36 pm
813BUCBOI “ Not lead the league in INTs and we’ll be in the NFC Championship Game”. Something that noone in the Front Office, on the coaching staff, or on our team has ever had enter their mind. You must be a genius 813BUCBOI.
March 25th, 2025 at 4:45 pm
One thing that gets me is every time this or that happens it’s the end of the world. I wonder who’s running the show, the people writing these articles or Jason Licht. I guess it’s anything one thinks they write and some of it is good but they gonna do what they do and we hope for the best. The best has been happening for a few years and I’m happy with it. All you can really do is nothing except kill yourself writing for no reason.
March 25th, 2025 at 4:59 pm
grizzard has been blessed…
what an offense…!
don’t F this up now young man…lol…
grizzle to the sizzle…
the makings of a top 3-5 offense with all these pieces in place
March 25th, 2025 at 7:22 pm
Off topic. The new game manager will fix the holes in the dam. Todd had mentioned the Bucs intention in this regard. Love his name, Zach Beistline.
March 25th, 2025 at 9:58 pm
Baker’s turnovers are much less a problem than our pass defense. Imagine what our offensive numbers would have been if the defense could’ve forced more three and outs and minized time of possession on some of the teams we lost to? We’d have been ranked first and second in a lot of those same categories
March 25th, 2025 at 10:06 pm
The NFL is always evolving. But, Grizzard doesn’t really need to invent anything new so long as he has someone watching other teams to steal anything new that works.
What Grizzard needs to do is watch the games from last year and plan how he will avoid the blunders in play calling and execution that really hurt the Bucs last year.
Baker is the heroic type. Where Brady would see that the a play was a bust and fling the ball out of bounds or into the ground behind a blocking RB or TE, Baker still tries to make the play. If it is third and long and field position and the distance to gain mean that it is make it or punt; or if it is make it or lose; by all means let Baker be Baker. Don’t try to change the guy. But, change the situations you put him in unnecessarily.
On second and one in the red zone trying to score a go ahead TD late in the fourth quarter, run the ball three times if that is what it takes to get a yard. If you are going to pass, use play action or a rollout – anything rather than sitting Baker in the shotgun for two incomplete passes and kicking a field goal to tie the game.
In a tight game with a quarter to go and you are in field goal position with second and nineteen, do not put Baker in the shot gun with no play action or rollout waiting for slow routes to develop with a hot read that is executed half-assed. Have Baker and Otton study film of Brady and Gronk. Sure, the play call was for Otton to chip the DE and drift down the line to the right – but when you see that the ILB is blitzing leaving you with an opening and leverage, you take the first down you are given and to blazes with the called play.
And, then there are the penalties.
If Grizzard just keeps the good from last year and gets rid of half of the bad, the Bucs will have a twelve win season.
And, seeing as how this is the second year in the system with all of last year’s film to watch, that should be very doable.
And, it seems like an area where Bowles’s new strategy guy should have a roll. He should study the same film and have a deck of index cards for such situations so he can say, when we tried that last year, it went to Hell in this particular hand basket. Let’s do what works instead.
March 25th, 2025 at 10:50 pm
KABucs and Toopanca. Couldn’t have said it better.
March 26th, 2025 at 2:29 am
“In 2024, the Bucs became the first team in NFL history to have a 70 percent completion percentage and average over five yards a carry in the same season.”
I know I am not a big stat guy but…That is a WOW stat Joe! I immediately started thinking about Csonka, Kiick, Griese, and Warfield. Better than those dudes? WOW!
Go Bucs!
March 26th, 2025 at 12:30 pm
Keep in mind 813, Baker is the reason we are even in the playoffs in the first place, according to Bowels. I too hope Baker can cut out some of the interceptions this year. I am certain he will since it was the highest he has ever had. I would rather Baker continue to play at the level he played last year than cut out a few of his interceptions and end up playing like the other half of the NFL quarterbacks. Just a reminder in case you forgot Baker had the second best passer rating and THE best completion percentage of all quarterbacks.