SR’s Fab 5 is a collection of reporting and analysis on the Bucs from yours truly, Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds. Here are four things that caught my attention this week, plus some random tidbits in my Buc Shots section at the end. Enjoy!

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FAB 1. Leftwich Doesn’t Inspire Confidence In Bucs Offense

Just days after Tampa Bay’s offense sputtered again in a 20-18 loss at Pittsburgh, Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich took another “L.”

This time it was during Thursday’s press conference where he fumbled his words, and failed to convert reasonable explanations as to what his holding back the Bucs offense this year.

Of course Bucs fans would rather Leftwich’s press conferences be bland and uninspiring on Thursdays, and see the offense come to life and be plenty inspiring on Sundays.

But neither is happening right now. And Leftwich’s answers – or lack thereof – on Thursday don’t convey a lot of hope that he knows how to fix what ails the offense.

This is an offense that couldn’t take advantage of a Steelers defense that was playing without its top three cornerbacks, Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt last Sunday.

“It’s easy to say – a lot of things happened in that game where I really won’t go into detail,” Leftwich said. “We just didn’t do a good enough job of executing really on any down. We didn’t play well enough as an offense and when you don’t, it looks like that. It looks like that any time you lose football games. That’s how you feel – there’s always a what if. What if we would have [done] this, what if we would have [done] that? [It’s the] same when you win – what if we would have [done] this, what if we would have [done] that. It could have been a little better here and there.

“That’s the game, we understand that. We understand where we’re at. We’re just going to keep chipping, keep working. I still like who I have, who we are, the coaching staff – same coaching staff, same everything. We’re just going to keep working and try to get this thing turned around.”

Bucs QB Tom Brady and OC Byron Leftwich – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Execution has been a big problem for a Bucs offense that has struggled to have success on first downs and second downs, and failed to execute on everything from third-and-1 situations to third-and-long situations this year. The Bucs are converting just 37.8 percent on third downs, which ranks 22nd in the league.

After scoring 30 points per game over the last two years with Tom Brady at the helm, the Bucs offense is averaging just 20 points per game this year – the biggest scoring drop-off of any team in the NFL this season from a year ago.

The Bucs haven’t had success on third downs because they have stubbornly run the ball too much on first downs, gaining around three yards per attempt on average. That leaves the Bucs’ average yards to gain on third down at 6.3 yards.

When asked about this on Monday, Leftwich spoke in platitudes and generalities when asked about the voluminous amount of first down runs by Pewter Report’s J.C. Allen.

“I look [at] what I’m doing as a play caller every week – I look and see what I’m doing,” Leftwich said. “Obviously, everybody has their opinion, has had those opinions since I’ve been here – understandable, but we’re always doing the right thing that we feel as though for our ball club. Obviously, we need to be better on first, second, and third down to be honest with you. We’re working to get that done. We’re working to get that done. We’re working to be better on first, second, and third down.”

Allen followed up with Leftwich, asking him about the Bucs’ EPA – expected points added – which is the lowest in the league when it comes to first-down runs.

“Thirty-second in the league in what?” Leftwich asked with a befuddled look.

“In expected points added – EPA,” Allen answered.

Bucs OC Byron Leftwich and RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Leftwich just laughed and seemed to shrug off the question.

“They’re stats. They tell the story – they don’t lie,” Allen said.

Leftwich looked like he had no clue what EPA was – and it was a bad look for the Bucs fans watching the presser. EPA is key analytic metric that is based off the notion that not all yards gained are of equal value depending on the down and distance.

“I’m just wondering why – I don’t want to say stubbornness – but why do you continue to run the ball on first downs when its been ineffective?” Allen continued.

“We do what we feel as though is the best thing for us to move the ball and to score points on every down,” Leftwich replied.

That was the answer – and a very uninspiring one at that.

The Steelers were so banged up on defense last Sunday that they had just one game-wrecker left – defensive tackle Cameron Heyward. And too often Leftwich left struggling rookie left guard Luke Goedeke one-on-one against the five-time Pro Bowler. Heyward dominated the game, finishing with a sack, a tackle for loss, four QB pressures and two QB hits.

I began Thursday’s press conference asking Leftwich about his instance on having Goedeke match up with Heyward without help throughout the game.

“I’ve got to do a better job of helping [Goedeke] out in those situations,” Leftwich said. “Obviously, it wasn’t that simple – but I’ve just got to do a better job of helping him out. That’s really what it comes down to.”

During the press conference Leftwich struggled to answer basic questions much like Goedeke struggled trying to block Heyward. I followed up and asked him about a key third-and-1 situation in the fourth quarter in which the Bucs left Goedeke blocking Heyward one-on-one while center Robert Hainsey helped veteran right guard Shaq Mason with a double team block instead.

The hole appeared to be in the strong side A gap between Goedeke and Hainsey. But Goedeke’s head was down and he missed the block on Heyward, who used a swim move to dismiss the rookie guard. Leonard Fournette saw Heyward in the hole the second he got the hand off, and had to bounce the play outside. He was stuffed for no gain.

“Byron on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter you opted to run at that matchup again – at Cam Heyward – with Luke Goedeke blocking him one-on-one, and that did not work out well,” I said.

“That’s not a true statement, but okay,” Leftwich interrupted.

“Tristan Wirfs is probably your best offensive lineman,” I continued. “Shaq Mason is your best guard. Why are there not more runs behind your best players on third-and-short with third-and-short situations being so difficult to convert?”

Bucs OC Byron Leftwich and QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

“We’re always doing the best thing for us – what we feel as though is the best thing at the time, regardless of if it works or not,” Leftwich said. “We’re always trying to do the best thing at that time for it to work – when it [doesn’t] work, it [doesn’t work]. We’ve got to get to the drawing board – I’ve got to coach it better, we’ll play it better.”

“Can you give me some logic – or what was happening on that play?” I countered.

“No,” Leftwich said.

“It looked like the hole was behind Goedeke and Hainsey on that run,” I continued.
“No – no logic,” Leftwich said.

To be fair – and for proper context – I think Leftwich meant to say, “No, no comment. I’m not going to tell you about my logic on that call.”

But it came out as, “No – no logic.”

Just not a good look, especially when there hasn’t been a lot of logic to what the Bucs are doing this year on offense.

FAB 2. Bucs Counting On Leftwich To Turn Offense Around

Regardless of how bad things were offensively for the Bucs in Sunday’s shockingly disappointing loss at Pittsburgh, or how bad Byron Leftwich’s press conference was on Thursday, Tampa Bay is counting on him to figure things out this week. The Bucs face an even worse 1-5 Carolina team and need to rebound from last Sunday’s debacle.

Behind the scenes, Leftwich got the message on Monday about him leaving rookie Luke Goedeke in terrible matchup one-on-one for most of the game against five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, presumably from Todd Bowles. The Bucs head coach was not happy.

Bucs LG Luke Goedeke and Steelers DT Cameron Heyward – Photo by: USA Today

“Luke is a big boy, he can take care of himself,” Bowles said on Wednesday. “At the same time, we have to help him as well. I don’t think you can line anyone up against Pro Bowlers and go most of the game and play one-on-one – I don’t care if you’re an All-Pro guard. At the same time, he’s got to use his hands more and at the same time, we’ve got to help him. We’ll do that going forward.”

Bowles talked about the offense and the needed adjustments on Wednesday.

“It’s up to us as coaches to make that happen and design plays to make that happen,” Bowles said about the offense being more explosive. “The players have to play better, but we have to coach it better. We understand we’re different and we’re making the adjustments – we’ll be fine as a staff making those adjustments going forward. It’s really not anybody’s idea or thing that we’re not doing, we just have to come together and understand who we are and that we’re not [the team we were] last year because of the people being different. We have to find different way to get explosive [plays] – that’s a coaching thing and then that’s a playing thing. I think we’re working in the right direction and we’ll be okay with it.”

On Wednesday, Bowles sounded satisfied that his message got across to Leftwich that some changes have to be made schematically. Bowles acknowledged that the team’s stars – notably Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans – has to get more than four targets, as was the case against Pittsburgh.

From what Bowles said, it seems as if Leftwich has been operating Bruce Arians’ offensive system – status quo – just like he has over the last couple of seasons. But the 2022 Bucs are a far different team on offense, missing several key stars that gave Tom Brady better protection up front and more weapons to throw to, and a better ground game as well.

“We want to score, I want big plays too – but you don’t chase them just to chase them,” Bowles said when addressing the lack of explosive plays on offense. “There are parts within the game in which you have to take them and hope they come through. Obviously, we have different players than we had last year, and we’ve got to approach things a little differently and find out what works best for us this year, not last year and two years ago. [The] lineup is completely different – ‘Gronk’ (Rob Gronkowski) is gone, ‘AB’ (Antonio Brown) is gone, [Ali] Marpet is gone, Ryan [Jensen] is down. We’ve got different people to adjust to different things so you can’t really compare and say, ‘We’re going to do what we did last year, this year’ when the guys are different.”

Bucs OC Byron Leftwich and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That seems like it’s been Leftwich’s approach this season – and it hasn’t worked. Nor has his ability to properly game plan and adjust.

Bowles acknowledged that there is some predictability to what the offense is doing, and hopes that Leftwich and his staff will make the necessary adjustments moving forward.

“I think they’ve (opposing defenses) keyed in on some of the things – we may have to change some things up here and there,” Bowles said. “Sometimes it’s the [offensive line], sometimes it’s the route progression, sometimes it’s the quarterback – but we’re changing some things around and we’ll adjust to it. It’s not about the explosive plays, it’s about sustaining drives. You want the explosive plays but you also want longevity of the drive and then finish it off at the end.”

If the offense doesn’t improve and do it quickly, Bowles may have to do more than just talk to Leftwich about making improvements.

Quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen has previous play-calling experience in Tampa Bay (2001) and in Indianapolis (2009-11) and Miami (2016-17). And wide receivers coach Kevin Garver is thought of as an up-and-coming offensive mind within the organization, too.

FAB 3. Matchups To Watch: Bucs Offense vs. Panthers Defense

Each week, you can find five matchups to watch on offense and defense in my SR’s Fab 5 column. Here are the five key matchups to watch on offense in the Bucs’ road game against the Panthers on Sunday.

LG Luke Goedeke vs. DT Derrick Brown

Brown, Carolina’s first-round pick in 2020, has started to come into his own in his third year in the league. He’s got plenty of power at 6-foot-5, 320 pounds and has become a force inside. Brown is coming off three sacks last year and has half a sack this season. But he’s already broken up six passes at the line of scrimmage and also has an interception. Brown is a good run stuffer and has 24 tackles on the season.

Goedeke has struggled mightily this season as a rookie starter. He’s the third-worst guard in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. Goedeke has faced a gauntlet of Pro Bowl defensive tackles over the past four months, including Kenny Clark, Chris Jones, Grady Jarrett and Cameron Heyward. He’s really struggled over the last two weeks and must play better against Brown this week or risk being benched somewhere down the line.
ADVANTAGE: Brown

LT Donovan Smith vs. ROLB Brian Burns

Bucs LT Donovan Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Burns, a former first-round pick, is an explosive edge rusher who has notched four of the Panthers’ nine sacks this year. The former Florida State star is coming off back-to-back nine-sack seasons after notching 7.5 sacks as a rookie. His first NFL sack came against the Bucs in 2019, but not against Smith. Burns will go up against both Smith and Wirfs, but needs to get to Tom Brady if the Panthers are going to have a chance of winning.

Smith has played well this season despite playing with a hyperextended elbow. Yet he surrendered his second sack of the season last week at Pittsburgh against Alex Highsmith. Smith will need to rebound this week with a quicker, even more dangerous pass rusher in Burns. Smith has done a very good job against Burns in the past and that needs to continue on Sunday in Carolina.
ADVANTAGE: Smith

WR Mike Evans vs. CB Jaycee Horn

Horn, whose father is former NFL wide receiver Joe Horn, was Carolina’s first-round pick last year. He was limited to just three games last year due to injury, but showed promise with one interception. Horn, who is a big cornerback at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, has four pass breakups and one interception through five games.

Evans was only targeted four times in last week’s 20-18 loss at Pittsburgh, and had four catches for 42 yards. The Steelers did a good job of double-teaming Evans and holding him to one target in the second half. Evans will need to break through and have a better game in Carolina, and hopefully offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich will do a more effective job in scheming Evans to get open.
ADVANTAGE: Evans

RT Tristan Wirfs vs. DE Yetur Gross-Matos

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Gross-Matos has not lived up to his potential yet as a pass rusher, and has just six sacks in the first two years combined. The 6-foot-5, 265-pound second-rounder has played well against the run and has 17 tackles this year. He’ll have a tough time getting past Wirfs to get to Tom Brady on Sunday.

Wirfs has been the best and most consistent player on offense this year. The All-Pro is still one of the best tackles in the game. Wirfs shouldn’t have a problem blocking against Gross-Matos – or Burns – but must be diligent and rise to the occasion in Carolina.
ADVANTAGE: Wirfs

WR Chris Godwin vs. S Jeremy Chinn

Chinn is another high-round pick (second round in 2020) that hasn’t quite panned out yet. At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Chinn is one of the bigger safeties in the league, and is a very good athlete. But he’s not having a good year in either coverage or against the run. Chinn spends most of the time at free safety, but will also play in the slot in certain matchups.

Godwin is coming back from a torn ACL and hasn’t been as explosive as he was last year. He’s got 22 receptions for 250 yards (11.4 avg.) this year in four games, but has the ability to exploit Chinn off the ball in the slot or on intermediate routes across the middle. With Evans possibly drawing double teams again, Godwin will need to come up big.
ADVANTAGE: Godwin

FAB 4. Matchups To Watch: Bucs Defense vs. Panthers Offense

Each week, you can find five matchups to watch on offense and defense in my SR’s Fab 5 column. Here are the five key matchups to watch on defense for the Bucs as they try to rebound defensively against Carolina’s depleted offense that will be without running back Christian McCaffrey and receiver Robbie Anderson, who were traded away this week. The Panthers will also be starting fourth-string quarterback P.J. Walker as starter Baker Mayfield has an ankle sprain.

ILB Devin White vs. RB D’Onta Foreman

The Panthers traded away star Christian McCaffrey, who is one of the NFL’s most electric and productive running backs. McCaffrey hasn’t been healthy since 2019 when he ran for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns and caught 116 passes for 1,005 yards and four more TDs. But he’s healthy this season and has been the primary weapon for a bad Panthers team. McCaffrey had 393 yards and two TDs on the ground and 33 catches for 277 yards and another score through the air. Foreman has just 37 on 12 carries this year, and will split time with Chuba Hubbard on Sunday.

White has had an up-and-down season to say the best. He’s made some splash plays, but has made some boneheaded mistakes, too. Two of those mistakes happened on Pittsburgh’s first touchdown drive last week, as he committed a roughing the passer foul on a third down to extend the Steelers drive. A few plays later he blew the coverage on Najee Harris’ touchdown catch. White has to cover the Panthers running backs better out of the backfield and tackle better, too.
ADVANTAGE: White

CB Jamel Dean vs. WR D.J. Moore

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

Aside from McCaffrey, Moore is the only other real threat on offense for Carolina. The Panthers traded away receiver Robbie Anderson, who was leading the team with a 15.8-yard average. That means the passing game will largely go through Moore, who is having a down year. Moore has 20 catches for 204 yards (10.2 avg.) and one touchdown. His longest reception is just 29 yards.

Dean and Carlton Davis III will both see action against Moore, who typically plays on the left side of the formation, but will also see time on the right. Dean mans the right cornerback spot and is actually the highest-graded defensive starter, according to Pro Football Focus. Dean, who is in a contract year, has an 82.6 overall grade and an 81.3 coverage grade. He leads the team in interceptions with two, and needs to get another at Carolina.
ADVANTAGE: Dean

DB Antoine Winfield Jr. vs. WR Shi Smith

With Anderson traded and Laviska Shenault dealing with a hamstring injury, Smith, the team’s slot receiver, needs to come through with a big game. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, Smith wins with quickness more than speed, but has yet to distinguish himself in the NFL. He second-year player has eight catches for 105 yards (13.1 avg.) this year, which is a new career high.

Winfield has excelled in the slot this year in nickel defense. He’s played great football the past couple of weeks, but did surrender a key third-and-long catch last week to Chase Claypool, which was disappointing. But Winfield should be able to lock down Smith with relative ease, given the fact that the Panthers’ slot receiver has only played in 12 NFL games. Look for Winfield to also record another sack from the slot on Sunday.
ADVANTAGE: Winfield

OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka vs. LT Ikem Ekwonu

Bucs OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

After a rough start in which he gave up three sacks in his first two games, Ekwonu has fared better as a pass protector. He’s surrendered just two pressures and no sacks or QB hits in the last three games. But he has been flagged for two penalties in the last two games and four through his first six games. Ekwonu, the Panthers’ first-round pick, has above average size (6-4, 320) and good athleticism. The Bucs need to force Ekwonu to have another bad game and play like a rookie – not a young left tackle on the rise.

Tryon-Shoyinka had a breakout game against Atlanta two weeks ago, and had a solid game at Pittsburgh last week. But when the Bucs needed him to come through with a sack or a pressure in several third-and-long situations on Sunday, Tryon-Shoyinka failed to deliver. Whether it’s JTS or Shaq Barrett rushing against Ekwonu, they need to get P.J. Walker on the ground.
ADVANTAGE: Push

DT Vita Vea vs. LG Brady Christensen

Christensen played some left tackle as a rookie last year, but the former third-round pick has replaced Michael Jordan at left guard this year. Christensen has a long frame at 6-foot-6, 300 pounds, but is a little light. He’s earned a fair 65.8 PFF grade with a 66.4 run block grade and a 63.1 pass block grade. If Vea plays up to his potential Christensen will have his hands full.

Vea has had a sub-par year so far. He has 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble, but outside of those splash plays, Vea has not been a consistent force as a pass rusher or against the run. As a first-time Pro Bowler who is making $17.75 million per season, Vea must start earning his big pay day. He needs to come through with a big game against McCaffrey and the Panthers’ ground game. And then play a role collapsing the pocket on passing downs.
ADVANTAGE: Push

FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• WHY THE BUCS DON’T RUN THE QB SNEAK: The Bucs finally tried a QB sneak this season, as some have been clamoring for. Predictably, it wasn’t effective – even though Bucs quarterback Tom Brady has been very successful with it in both New England and Tampa Bay in the past. So why didn’t Sunday’s third-and-1 QB sneak work? Because he no longer has a Pro Bowl left guard in Ali Marpet, a Pro Bowl center in Ryan Jensen and a 325-pound guard in Alex Cappa in front of him.

Instead, Brady has a rookie left guard in Luke Goedeke, a first-year starting center in Robert Hainsey and a lighter, 310-pound right guard in Shaq Mason in front of him. Against Pittsburgh, Goedeke and Hainsey didn’t observe the first rule of trench play in football: low man wins. Both linemen got submarined because they didn’t get low enough, and Mason got turned sideways and shoved aside. Brady had no chance to pick up the yard for the first down.

Tampa Bay wound up getting a first down on a 7-yard toss play to Leonard Fournette on fourth-and-1, but will likely retire the QB sneak for the rest of the year – and with good reason.

• WHY PULL THE PLAY-SIDE GUARD ON SECOND-AND-GOAL FROM THE 1?! Here’s another curious play-call from offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich from Sunday’s loss at Pittsburgh. Needing just one foot on second-and-goal from the Steelers 1, Leftwich called for a running play that pulled the play-side guard – rookie left guard Luke Goedeke – and forced center Robert Hainsey, who’s in his sixth start, to make a critical cut block against one of the quickest defensive tackles in Larry Ogunjobi.

The Bucs needed one foot. Plow straight ahead, hat on a hat. Instead, Leftwich called for a play that actually created a hole for the Steelers defense and invited penetration on the play side, which is dumbfounding. If Leftwich wanted to pull a guard, pull Shaq Mason from the back side to create numbers on the left. Just another mindblowingly bad play call.

CELSIUS PEWTER REPORT TAILGATE PREGAME SHOW AT WALK-ONS

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THIS WEEK’S PEWTER REPORT PODCASTS

• BUCS-PANTHERS PREVIEWS ON THE PEWTER REPORT PODCAST: The Pewter Report Podcast is energized by CELSIUS and broadcasts four live episodes each week. Next week’s schedule will feature PR Podcasts on Monday and Tuesday as the Bucs begin preparations for Week 8 against Baltimore next Thursday, followed by another podcast on Friday.

Scott Reynolds and Matt Matera discuss the Bucs’ pathetic offense in the tean’s 20-18 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Changes are needed on offense and Matera, Reynolds and Josh Queipo discuss what those changes need to be on Monday’s show.

Matera and Reynolds preview the Bucs vs. Panthers game on Wednesday’s show.

Matera and J.C. Allen discuss Byron Leftwich and Tom Brady’s press conferences on Thursday’s show.

Watch the Pewter Report Podcasts live on our PewterReportTV channel on YouTube.com and please subscribe (it’s free) and add your comments. We archive all Pewter Report Podcasts. So, you can watch the recorded episodes if you missed them live.

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