Keys to keeping this ship above water
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When Bruce was hired as the head coach back in January, many were excited about the possibilities. 2019 has been full of inconsistencies. The defense has been highly inconsistent, minus Shaq Barrett gaining 9 sacks in 4 weeks. But, this isn’t about the defense, this is about the offense. Take away Chris Godwin playing in beast mode with his 33 receptions for 511 yards, and 6 TD, the offense has failed to be consistent.
The play calling of Byron Leftwich needs to be a lot better. The coaching staff needs to do a better job adjusting to the game and not just lock their playbook to certain plays. There were opportunities to use the tight ends, the dump-offs to the backs, etc. At some point, Arians has to step in and help his OC out. Maybe call plays for a half, a quarter, hell even a series just to show the student how the teacher has been successful in the past. The Bucs currently have 13 different receiving options (included are the running backs), that can help open up the game in half a dozen different ways.
As for the offensive line, they need to step it up another notch (if it’s possible) to give the offense time and opportunity. The Bucs are 18th in rushing, 9th in receiving, and 11th in passing yards. Yes, it was nice to have the 3rd ranked passing attack in 2018; but in order to be successful, we need to run the ball a bit more and quit going for the long ball every passing attempt. We all wanted balance on the offensive side of the ball. Well, that includes balancing out the deep passes, with the short and intermediate routes as well. And for the love of God, can we get some damn pass blocking from someone other than Ryan Jensen and Alex Cappa?
As for the defense, this will be short and sweet. Dial back the blitz a tad. Fake the blitz here and there. If not dial back the blitz, at least quit sending your entire front 7 after the QB and leave 1 or 2 to drop back in coverage because we all have seen what happens when teams throw the ball against us. We are the team to go long on if you want to stay in or win the game. Those days need to stop and stop immediately. We have a talented group in the secondary, it’s time to allow them to play to their strengths and quit putting every bit of the pressure on them to succeed or it’s going to continue to be a long season, and we’re going to give us historical numbers in the passing game.
