The Tampa Bay Buccaneers inexplicably gave away their Week 6 matchup against a 1-4 Pittsburgh Steelers squad, 20-18. This was despite the Steelers missing their top three cornerbacks, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and TJ Watt.

After watching the offense struggle to score again on Sunday, here are a few observations I had on the unit.

1. Ko Kieft Is Too Big Of A Tell

The Bucs telegraph their play calling with rookie tight end Ko Kieft. Through their first five games, when Kieft was in the game, Tampa Bay ran the ball 53 times and dropped back 21 times. While Kieft is a solid run blocker, there is no run blocker great enough to justify this big of a tell. And this isn’t coming from exclusively using Kieft in run-obvious situations. As evidenced against the Steelers, the Bucs are willing to use him on neutral early downs.

The Bucs clearly tried to break that tendency by calling a small handful of play action passes with Kieft in the game, such as on the 20-yard gain to Mike Evans during their second offensive possession. But that small handful is not enough.

And when a team has such a skewed tendency with a player, it has an effect even when he’s not in the game. That is, so many of the Bucs’ run attempts are coming with Kieft on the field. Guess what they’re therefore less likely to do when Kieft is not on the field?

The Bucs are tipping their hand, and it has to end. Either Kieft has to play less, or Byron Leftwich has to trust Kieft as a part of their regular drop-back game.

2. Pistol And Pony Show

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

As best as I can remember, before Sunday’s matchup against the Steelers, the Bucs had never used pistol formations with Tom Brady as their quarterback. By my live count, Tampa Bay was in pistol four times against the Steelers. Three of those plays were runs and one was a screen pass.

The Bucs also started mixing in “Pony” personnel this season allowing them to field both Rachaad White and Leonard Fournette. In his limited sample, White has outplayed Fournette, and the Bucs are trying to find creative ways to increase his snap share.

What should we make of all this? I don’t know.

“It’s just a different formation variety. So we’ll see if we can make some yards out of it,” said Brady.

Doesn’t sound like Brady thinks it’s a big deal. But it’s something that stuck out, nonetheless.

3. Brady Is Still Making Big-Time Throws

Despite the Bucs’ inability to win schematically, Tom Brady is still giving his team a chance with a few incredible throws every week.

One such throw came on Tampa Bay’s first possession of the second half. Chris Godwin ran down the seam against Pittsburgh’s single-high coverage with a safety directly over top of Godwin’s route. The nickel also had tight coverage but had his head turned away from Brady, thus giving Brady enough of a window to squeeze in a perfectly-placed back shoulder throw on second-and-7 for a 28-yard gain.

“Chris ran a good route and I just gave him a chance up the middle of the field,” said Brady. “So he made a good catch coming down with it. And we just got to make more plays like that.”

Brady made another great throw on what would be the Bucs’ final offensive possession. On third-and-4, Brady squeezed a bullet into the tightest of tight windows over the middle to Cade Otton for 17 yards.

The Bucs need to be better on offense in just about every facet. That includes play-calling and execution. However, Brady’s 0.19 EPA/dropback on Sunday under these circumstances is commendable. The box score numbers for the season aren’t what they should be, but so far when actually watching his play, there’s little cause for concern with the GOAT.

4. I Can’t Believe We’re Still Talking About First Downs

This has been a trend for years now. I’m sick of writing and talking about it, and I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about it. But the Buccaneers’ first down play calling is criminal. Excluding plays from inside the final two minutes of either half, the Buccaneers had a 15-to-11 run:pass ratio against the Steelers. Four of those passes came on the Bucs’ final drive.

The early down (first and second down) EPA/play figures couldn’t paint a clearer picture, either – even if we’re only looking at this game against the Steelers! Early down rushes generated -0.19 EPA/play, and early down passes generated 0.34 EPA/play.

5. Goedeke Couldn’t Play Any Worse

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

I can’t overstate how poorly rookie left guard Luke Goedeke has played. Obviously, there was going to be a drop-off with Ali Marpet’s retirement. But Goedeke has possibly been the worst guard in the NFL.

Per Pro Football Focus grades, Goedeke has been the worst pass blocking guard in the league. By overall offensive grade, Goedeke ranks fourth worst. Through the first five games, he conceded 12 hurries – the third highest figure for guards. Amazingly, through those games, he was only credited with one sack.

There’s one reason for that: Brady’s league-leading 2.21 second time-to-throw. If that were an average quarterback back there, this would be beyond ugly.

By tomorrow, Goedeke will have two sacks to his name. Goedeke got beat by Cameron Heyward on a crucial third-and-4 from the Steelers’ 4-yard line.

Sacks or not, Goedeke is killing a ton of the Bucs’ plays before they even have a chance. Just look at the 3rd-and-two incompletion to Godwin with 2:55 remaining in the second quarter. Brady turning the majority of would-be sacks into zero-yard plays is no reason to excuse Goedeke’s play.

It’s time the Buccaneers try someone else. Anyone else. Because it can’t get worse.