In case you haven’t noticed, HBO’s long-awaited prequel to Game of Thrones dropped this week. “House of Dragons” seems to be quite the hit if Twitter is to be believed. One character that has certainly caught my eye is Rhaenys Targaryen, or “the queen that never was.” Now if you will indulge me, I’d like to draw a parallel between that character and Bucs quarterback Kyle Trask had against the Titans last week.

Targaryen had a legitimate claim to the iron throne. Just as Kyle Trask had a legitimate claim to a good game Saturday night. Now I know most of you may be a little shocked to see me write that. Let’s not forget the Bucs offense generated just 174 yards of offense and Trask completed less than 50% of his passes with two turnovers and no touchdowns. I am well aware of all of this.

But looking back at this Bucs game, it becomes clear that many of the issues the office faced were not Trask-related. In fact, it could be said that Trask was the victim of the rest of the offense. So, allow me to take you on a revisionist history of the Bucs-Titans game where we examine Trask’s performance and give him credit for the game he could have had. We will look at one play from most of the drives Trask was in on that could have changed the drive’s outcome and try to assign proper credit for the play.

First Series

Second-and-9 TB 10

Trask’s first opportunity came deep in his own territory on second-and-9 after a short running play on first down. In 12 personnel from shotgun, Trask had his receivers bunched to his left.  As his receiving options get to the top of their routes, Trask ends up under siege. Right tackle Fred Johnson gets beat handily, and Trask has little room to step up into the pocket.

However, he was not without options. Hesitation on his part prevents him from throwing a low ball to running back Leonard Fournette for a possible dump off. And Trask did not display the pocket awareness and feel for the pass rush to leak out to his left, where he could have tried to make a play out-of-structure or thrown the ball away. The result was a sack that left the offense back at their own 4 after a declined holding penalty on left tackle Josh Wells.

Second Series

Third-and-6 TB 24

This time, Trask has 11 personnel with tight end Kyle Rudolph split wide to his left on third and six. Most likely the play called for Trask’s progression to be to the right where he had three receivers. However, it looks like Trask saw a matchup with Rudolph on his left that he liked. Theoretically, this makes sense. Trask correctly read blitz and new Rudolph would have single coverage with wide-open space. Rudolph’s route was designed to get beyond the sticks.

The only problem? Rudolph couldn’t beat the jam, create enough separation at the top of his stem, and get his head around fast enough to be ready for the pass. Trask made the right pre-snap read. He made a good throw with solid ball placement. He played on time. His receiver just couldn’t get there. But what if he had?

Trask Adjusted Final Stat Line: 12-of-24 for 115 yards, 0TDs, 1 INT

Additionally, the drive continues…

Third Series

First-and-10 TB 39

To open Trask’s third series with the Bucs, he had an opportunity to pass on first down. This was something that was not afforded to him on his first two drives, putting him behind the sticks in each instance. But here the Bucs ran a play-action pass out of 12 personnel with both receivers lined up to Trask’s right. The play fake did not fool the Titans linebackers as both immediately dropped into their zones. Both Bucs receivers get past the underneath coverage with decent separation from the over-the-top defenders dropping to cover three.

Trask sees Jaelon Darden, lined up outside break in on his part of a double-in and throws for the open area Darden is about to occupy. Unfortunately, the Titans linebacker is able to make a good play to deflect the ball as it sails over his head to prevent the completion. There is nothing inherently wrong with Trask’s decision-making on the play. Darden was open and it was a good pass. The defender made a good play. But … Darden is 5-foot-8. And Trask had to thread a needle to get that pass where it needed to be. He had to get it over the underneath defenders while still making it a catchable ball for a guy who I can literally see eye-to-eye with.

Now take a look at Bucs receiver Tyler Johnson working from the slot. He ran the same in-route as Darden. He gets over the top of the linebackers as well. It would have been a tighter pass technically, but with Johnson’s superior size and catch radius Trask could have had more margin for error.

Third-and-10 TEN 44

After four plays that netted the Bucs 17 yards, they were facing the possibility of a stalled drive. Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich dialed up a play where all three receivers run hitch routes to the first down marker. The Titans countered with Cover 1 with a safety buzzing down to the middle of the field to provide extra leverage on slot receiver Johnson. Trask really doesn’t have much to work with here. All three receivers are covered tight. He opts to try and throw to Darden working against Caleb Farley and Darden can’t hold on. Ball placement wasn’t terrible but could have been better. C’est la vie.

Fourth Series

First-and-10 TB 25

Now we start to get into some fun “what if” territory! First play from scrimmage the Bucs dial up a deep nine concept to give Scotty Miller an opportunity to do what he does best. Against Cover 3 Miller is given a cushion by Farley off the line. I’m pretty sure Farley underestimates Miller’s wheels because he comes soft out of his backpedal. This allows Miller to get several steps of separation on him. Trask does a great job of holding the deep safety by initially looking to his left. Then he uncorks a beauty of a throw, leading Miller right through his route.

This is in stark contrast to the week before on a similar play where Trask underthrew Miller resulting in a pass that was broken up. This should have been a 40-yard gain that got the Bucs into field goal range at the least. The ball just went through Miller’s hands. Oh, what could have been …

Trask Adjusted Final Stat Line: 13-of-24 for 155 yards, 0TDs, 1 INT

Sixth Series

Second-and-10 TEN 19

How many of you are coin collectors? Well, if you are pull up a chair because I want to show you this dime. Trask and the Bucs are finally deep in Titans territory. From the 19 he is in shotgun with one receiver right and two stacked to his left. Despite Wells getting worked like my 11-year-old trying to save up for a new video game, Trask stands tall in the pocket and holds the deep safety to the left with his eyes. He then throws Kaylon Geiger open on his right with a gorgeous pass on a crosser into the end zone. Props to Tennessee’s secondary, because the corner had tight coverage and the safety chews up a ton of ground getting back over. But the throw was legit as Trask put it right on Geiger’s front shoulder. Watch from the end zone angle.

Chris Godwin makes that catch. Mike Evans does as well.  Russell Gage and Julio Jones make that catch. Geiger didn’t. And that missed play can make a world of difference in the grand scheme of things.

Trask Adjusted Final Stat Line: 14-of-24 for 174 yards, 1TD, 1 INT

Seventh Series

First-and-10 TB 48

Now not all things were rosy when evaluating Trask. While the interception he threw was due to his arm getting hit on his throwing motion, here is a non-interception that should have been one. On a play-action pass from under center Trask hurries a throw due to immediate pressure off of his blind-side. He decides to target Jerreth Sterns running a crosser from the right slot. The thing is, Sterns is never really open. He is never able to separate from the dropping linebacker and the safety comes in from over the top to nearly pick the pass off.

If Trask had bypassed Geiger (as he should have) and come back to his right, he would have seen a hole the size of Montana in the middle of the field that Geiger was moving into on a deep in-route. So, the adjusted stat line will remain the same as this incompletion becomes an interception and negating the actual interception.

Trask Adjusted Final Stat Line: 14-of-24 yards for 174 yards, 1TD 1 INT

Eighth Series

Third-and-9 TB 21

Third-and-long was a common theme throughout the night for the Bucs. That was partially on play-calling being largely conservative on first down, partially a lack of execution as you can see here, and partially penalties on the offensive line. But here we are again. This play was designed to clear out the right side of the field to allow Sterns to get open on a crossing route. Unfortunately, he never does. The safety drapes all over him at the top of his stem and stays in phase right across the field.

The breakdown of the line pocket forces Trask to throw before he can go through his progressions. Running back Patrick Laird and right guard Sadarius Hutcherson get pushed into Trask’s lap and affect the Bucs signal-caller’s throw. This causes the pass to float and allows the safety to break up the would-be difficult catch. 

Trask Adjusted Final Stat Line: 14-of-24 for 174 yards, 1TD, 1 INT

Ninth Series

Second-and-4 TB 20

Trask tries to deliver a hole shot on an out route by tight end Bug Howard. His throw isn’t affected much, but he just doesn’t put enough juice on it. This allows the safety to pinch down on the pass and break it up. From a mechanics standpoint it appears Trask just didn’t step into the throw enough. This one’s on him.  

Trask Adjusted Final Stat Line: 14-of-24 for 174 yards, 1TD 1 INT

Now, this “adjusted final stat line” is not a world-beater. But a 7.25 yards per attempt mark is respectable and world’s better than the paltry 4.4 Trask ended with. And when you look at some of his peripherals you see he was trying to push the ball down the field. He was just the victim of some poor receiver play. Was Trask perfect on the night? Certainly not. He had two turnover-worth plays and displayed some questionable decision-making at times, including holding on to the ball too long.

However, he was much better than you, I, or most thought he was in the moment. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after the game when Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds asked him if Trask had taken a step back with his performance in Tennessee: “You can’t say he took a step back. Sometimes it was the pressure. Sometimes they had the routes covered and he was sitting in there. You’ve got to look at the tape to say whether he played efficiently enough. Nobody played efficient on offense. We only had three points. So, you can’t just put it on the quarterback. There’s a lot of factors involved in that.”

Well, Coach. Looking at the tape, I couldn’t agree more. Ten points were left on the board due to other players’ inefficiencies. And while, again, Trask was not a world-beater Saturday night. He was a lot better than any of us might have thought initially.

After one episode we do not know what the future holds for Rhaenys Targaryen. She may end up sitting on the iron throne (although if Game of Thrones has taught us anything it may not be for long). And fittingly, after now five career preseason games we still do not know what the future may hold for Trask. There isn’t enough good to definitively say he is the quarterback of the future, but there is enough good to say he might be in the mix at some point. Perhaps he ends up sitting on the Bucs’ version of the iron throne (QB1 status), but not for long …