PR Roundtable: What Is The Biggest Concern With The Bucs?

Sometimes the answer to getting better play on game days is not just “coach it better, play it better,” as Bucs head coach Todd Bowles likes to say. Sometimes the key to getting play is to simply get better players on the field.

Bowles was too slow in moving Luke Goedeke out of the starting lineup last year when the rookie left guard was clearly struggling with performance and confidence. The coaches waited until the seventh game of the season to start platooning Nick Leverett in with Goedeke to try to get better play at left guard. It worked, as Leverett performed better and Goedeke was benched.

The Bucs have several players not playing well right. Safety Ryan Neal, who has given up some big plays in the passing game and has not made any notable plays to offset those, tops the list. It’s time to start Dee Delaney, who played virtually the entire New Orleans game, filling in for Neal, who had a concussion. Delaney is tied for the lead with two interceptions. It’s time to see what he can do.

But Neal is not alone. Left guard Matt Feiler has been average at best this season and is coming off his worst game of the year. Let’s see if Leverett can provide a spark up front and help the running game. Or maybe Aaron Stinnie. Either younger player has more upside and athleticism than the 31-year old Feiler, who won’t be back next year.

Backup running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn has no business getting any more touches this year after averaging a paltry 1.7 yards per carry. He should be benched and made inactive on game days, or released. Play Chase Edmonds as RB2 and let’s see more of rookie Sean Tucker please.

Even inside linebacker Devin White, who is in a contract year, should be benched for just awful play on Sunday versus the Falcons. White was embarrassingly soft all day, and registered only five tackles against an Atlanta team that ran the ball 38 times for 156 yards. And he made a boneheaded decision to leave Tyler Allgeier in coverage for a 46-yard gain.

Meanwhile, old man Lavonte David wasn’t afraid to stick his nose in the action and led the way with 13 tackles. Time to start mixing in SirVocea Dennis, who could be the future Mike linebacker.

Bowles simply can’t afford to wait to pull the trigger on some of these personnel changes. There’s no harm in benching starters if the backups can play. And if they can’t simply re-insert the starters after a game or two. At least Bowles will have tried to spark the team into better play with a few lineup changes – and hold players accountable for bad play.

Matt Matera: Baker Mayfield’s Inconsistency

A glaring issue in why the Bucs have lost their last two games against the Lions and Falcons was the play of quarterback Baker Mayfield. Already through six games, we’ve seen up and down performances from Mayfield, and the inconsistency of the quarterback can only take the Bucs so far if he doesn’t play well enough.

Mayfield deservedly received a lot of praise for some of Tampa Bay’s wins, specifically in Week 1 against the Vikings and Week 4 facing the Saints. Against Minnesota, Mayfield had a clutch run on third down to extend a late drive and then made a great sideline throw to Chris Godwin to ice the game out.

In New Orleans, Mayfield threw for three touchdowns in the game, leading to a big road win before reaching the bye week with many national pundits riding the bandwagon.

But the return from the bye has told a much different story. Mayfield has missed a number of important throws, most notably against the Lions two weeks ago when he overthrew Trey Palmer twice for what would have been big shot touchdowns. By the way, the Bucs didn’t reach the end zone in that game.

There was also a tipped pass when he had a wide open Mike Evans that led to an interception. Unfortunately, those things are going to happen given Mayfield’s 6-foot-1 height trying to throw over much taller defensive linemen.

Then last week against the Falcons, Mayfield continued to miss throws that would have kept drives going. This video, pointed out by Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo, is just one example of his misfires.

What should worry Bucs fan the most, though, is some of Mayfield’s decision-making as of late. He threw an inexcusable interception during the fourth quarter when the Bucs were in the field goal range trying to tie the game up. Tight end Cade Otton was completely covered on the play and yet Mayfield still threw it with two defenders around. Mayfield was nearly picked on the next drive when the Bucs reached the red zone again, but lucked out and were able to kick a game-tying field goal.

A better run game would absolutely help out some of Mayfield’s struggles. But at the end of the day, this is a passing league and Mayfield has had opportunities to step it up. The Bucs need their quarterback to play at a high level each week, and not knowing which Mayfield will show up each week is most concerning.

Bailey Adams: Bucs Can’t Finish Drives With Touchdowns

Tampa Bay is often able to move the ball in between the 20s, but Baker Mayfield and the offense can’t finish drives with seven points. Instead, the Bucs are settling for Chase McLaughlin field goals. And it’s costing them.

Tampa Bay is scoring touchdowns on just 37.5% of its red zone trips, which has them ranked 28th in the league. Two trips inside the 20 – with one inside the 10 – against the Lions resulted in two field goals in what ended up being a 20-6 loss.

One week later against the Falcons, a first-half drive reached the 6-yard line. That one also ended in three. It got worse in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Approaching the red zone with a chance to take a late lead, Mayfield threw an ill-advised pass intended for Cade Otton that was intercepted at the 11-yard line.

And after the defense got the offense another chance, a 10-play, 49-yard drive ended at the Falcons’ 8. The Bucs had to settle for a field goal to tie, and Atlanta went right down the field to win the game with a field goal of its own.

Dave Canales, Mayfield and the rest of the offense look lost inside the 20-yard line right now. After a great red zone performance in Week 4, the unit has regressed since the bye week and is really struggling to score seven points instead of three. Mike Evans has four touchdowns this year, with only one coming in the red zone. With receivers like him and Godwin, you have to be scoring points when you get right down to the end zone.

And that’s what will hold the Bucs back going forward. Tampa Bay is one of 14 teams currently sitting in a playoff spot, but its offense is the worst of them all in the red zone. Only three other teams are scoring touchdowns at a rate lower than 50%. Two of those are at least above 40%.

If this offense can’t start sustaining drives and getting the ball across the goal line, the team won’t go anywhere. Tampa Bay is putting too much on its defense because of the red zone ineptitude, and it’s going to keep costing them games if they don’t get it right.

Josh Queipo: Dave Canales’ Insistence On Using The Run To Set Up The Pass

The Bucs have a potentially successful passing attack. It’s not perfect. It’s not top tier. But it is miles ahead of their run game.

The Bucs expected points per play when passing on first down is 12th in the NFL and their success rate is 13th. Pretty middle of the pack. Now looking at the run game the Bucs are 25th in EPA/play and 29th in success rate. They are ninth in the NFL in first down EPA/play discrepancy (the difference between their EPA/play in pass vs. run).

It’s clear they do one thing way better than the other. So, one would hope they lean into the good thing. Unfortunately, not so much.

Tampa Bay ranks 27th in the NFL this season in first down pass rate in neutral situations. Many (myself included) were up in arms last year with former offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich’s adherence to using the run early and he was Top 10 in pass rate. With an even more anemic run game this year, Canales’ heavier lean into the run game is hamstringing his offense before they even get to the starting line.

Until Canales acknowledges that his run game is in no condition to be a strong open to drives the offense will continue to under-perform as it has in three of the last four games where the Bucs have scored less than 14 points.

Adam Slivon: Bucs’ Offense Is Not Comfortable Or Consistent

Through six games this season, the Bucs’ offense has not looked comfortable or consistent within offensive coordinator Dave Canales’ system. Baker Mayfield has had its ups and downs, with more downs coming in the past two games against the Lions and Falcons. But digging deeper, the problems connect back to nearly everyone on that side of the ball.

The offensive line, specifically the interior, has been filled with below-average play from Matt Feiler, Robert Hainsey, and Cody Mauch this season. That has made it hard for Rachaad White and Ke’Shawn Vaughn to find holes to run through, but they also have not shown a ton of burst hitting them and making defenders miss. 

That combination has led to some woeful results, as former Pewter Reporter and Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema recently pointed out.

Looking further at Mayfield’s weapons, Cade Otton and the tight end group’s inexperience has shown, and none of them look like a viable long-term starter and have also struggled in run blocking. Even Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have failed to produce consistently, with Evans dropping key passes and going missing for long stretches, to Godwin not being heavily involved downfield or finding the endzone yet. 

There is no reason that Tampa Bay should be .500 at the moment with the way the defense has kept the team in every game. While the defense has given up just 17.3 points per game, the offense has averaged just 17.2, which is worse than the heavily criticized play of the unit last year. 

Yes, there are some common denominators, but I am concerned with the offense not yet finding its rhythm and being able to put together consecutive weeks of solid offense. The group has looked lost at times and not on the same page from overthrows to runs collapsing before they even begin. Play-calling has played a role, but it also extends to much of the personnel executing the game plan and making the kinds of splash plays the defense has done regularly by comparison.