The Bucs have been a big play offense throughout the entirety of the Bruce Arians-Tom Brady era. But in a loss to Washington on Sunday, the big plays down the field were few and far between. Brady only attempted a single pass that traveled 20 or more yards in the air from the line of scrimmage. Throughout the game, the Bucs had just two completions for a gain of 20 yards or more.

“Most of it was the way they played defense,” Arians said. “Everybody is playing us in a very soft, two-shell [defense]. They’re forcing the ball to go underneath and make you run with it. I think we have to protect our quarterback better early in the game and maybe we’ll take some shots down the field like we normally do when he’s protected. But if he’s being hit a bunch early, he isn’t holding onto it for very long. I don’t know one that does.”

Protection in the first half was shoddy for the Bucs, as Brady was hit several times as he released the ball. The Bucs star quarterback wasn’t sacked on Sunday, but pressure impacted a handful of throws and decisions. Pass protection was better in the second half, when the Bucs scored both of their touchdowns on the afternoon.

“There’s no doubt,” Arians said about pressure impacting the passing game. “We got whipped up front. That hasn’t happened much in our interior this year.”

Bucs LG Ali Marpet – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It was left guard Ali Marpet’s worst game of the season by a mile. He struggled with Washington defensive tackle Jon Allen on Sunday, giving up several pressures. Marpet was better in the second half, but right guard Alex Cappa struggled all game. Tampa Bay also failed to work through a few Washington blitzes throughout the game, leaving some free runners for Brady to handle.

But another aspect of the Bucs offensive approach was just adjusting to what the Washington defense was giving them. For most of the game, there were not a ton of opportunities down the field. Keep in mind, the Bucs only had 48 offensive plays thanks to Washington’s nearly 40 minutes of possession. 34 of those plays were dropbacks, and 5-6 were designed screens. That’s not a lot of opportunities to find splash plays down the field.

On Monday’s episode of the Pewter Report Podcast, Paul Atwal and I looked at the All-22 to see what ailed the Bucs passing attack on Sunday. Late in the game Brady could have made more of a few opportunities, but the first half was riddled with mistakes outside of his control. Aside from his second interception, of course.

“There were a couple, two or three, that we could have maybe held onto and thrown it down the field,” Arians said. “But in a game like that, knowing the coverage that we’re getting, throw it underneath and get on to the next play. Make sure we get five or six and play it that way.

“Everybody is trying to take [the big plays] away and we know that. It’s going to be hard to get down the field. But we have three shots [against] man-to-man and a touchdown on one of them. We don’t get much single coverage, that’s for sure.”