Do The Buccaneers Have A Problem On Offense?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming off a disappointing 28-23 loss to the New England Patriots. There is no shame in losing to the Patriots as they have the best record in the NFL. However, this game left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

In fact, it goes beyond just this game. The last three games have been underwhelming; at least on the offensive side of the football. It has led me to question, do the Buccaneers have a problem on offense.

More specifically, do they have a big problem that can’t be fixed? After all, the offense struggling now isn’t the biggest deal as long as it can be worked out by the playoffs. However, struggles now, in a stretch where the Bucs are playing good teams, can be a sign that they will struggle in the post season.

I went back and watched the last three games to try and diagnose exactly what the problem is. Here is what I’ve come to. 

Injuries

The Buccaneers have been perhaps the most beat up team that I can recall in recent memory. They have been without multiple pro-bowlers for months of this season. Unfortunately, most of those are on the offensive side of the football.

Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Bucky Irving, Luke Goedeke, Cody Mauch, the list goes on and on. When you’re down that many impact players, the offense will certainly take a step back. The question then becomes how good can the offense be with what’s remaining?

The answer is not that good. It’s unreasonable to count on guys like Charlie Heck, Mike Jordan, Dan Feeney and Sterling Shepard for long stretches of the season and still have a top tier offense. There are just too many mistakes made and too many better players beating them to blow up a play.

This isn’t the only issue, but it’s the elephant in the room and it has to be acknowledged. 

Rookie play caller

We knew from day one that there would be growing pains for Josh Grizzard. The first year offensive coordinator has never called plays before at any level before this season. The learning curve was undoubtedly going to be steep.

In recent weeks, we have felt some of those growing pains. At times, the offense has felt plain. Other times, I have been confused by decisions that were made in both personnel and play call sequencing. It has often felt like the offense was just running plays as opposed to implementing a plan of attack.

However, these are all fixable problems. With more experience, Grizzard may know to have a running back in the backfield on third and short. With more play calling under his belt, Grizzard will learn how to set up a defense. It has been frustrating at times, but keep in mind things should continue to get better and better in this area.

What do we do well?

Coming into the year everybody had expectations of what this Bucs offense should look like. With perhaps the most talented wide receiver room in the NFL, this could’ve been a deadly passing attack. With perhaps the best offensive line in the NFL, this could’ve been an imposing running game. Unfortunately, injuries have taken both of those from this team.

So what can the Bucs do? In truth, not all that much at an especially high level. They are bottom ten in basically all meaningful rushing categories. Baker Mayfield has led this group to a respectable passing attack, but with two rookie receivers as his primary playmakers it does feel like an uphill battle at times.

It forces the team to do the little things well. Pick up third and shorts, not commit penalties (9th fewest in the NFL) and score touchdowns in the red zone. The Bucs could be doing some of these things better, like improving their red zone touchdown percentage which is just 24th in the league.

So do the Buccaneers have a problem on offense?

They actually have many problems. Injuries, incohesive play calling, a lack of identity; none of it is great right now. The last three games are perhaps just the result of a larger sample size and this team showing you who they really are.

However, these problems are all fixable. Guys like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan are all expected back this year, in addition to Luke Goedeke who just returned for the first time in nearly two months. With them back, this team can forge the identity they envisioned in the pre-season.

The only question I have is if Grizzard can become that polished playcaller by season’s end. There are things he can be doing better even without a lot of his star players. If he can learn from his mistakes and find his rhythm by the playoffs, then this team is still very much in the hunt to win the Super Bowl. If he can’t then the Buccaneers have a problem.