It doesn’t take an expert to see that the Bucs offense is going downhill. For the last four weeks Tampa Bay has scored fewer and fewer points. Tampa Bay scored 31 points against Kansas City, 21 points against Atlanta, 18 points versus Pittsburgh and 3 points at Carolina over the past month.

What’s been the issue? According to Todd Bowles it’s not anything that the opponent is doing. It’s just the Bucs offense getting in its own way.

Panthers coach Steve Wilkes and Bucs coach Tood Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

“[We’re] shooting ourselves in the foot,” Bowles said. “Our objective is to score more points than the other team. When we don’t do that and we lose ballgames, it’s critical. It’s critical from that standpoint. We are trying to get this thing going. We will get this thing going – I believe that, and they believe that as well. We own what we have; we built it. Like I said, nobody’s coming here to save us. Nobody’s feeling sorry for us, neither are we feeling sorry for ourselves. We understand what we have to do going forward and we’re down in the pit and we’re going to start digging.”

Third down efficiency has been a big reason for the lack of success. The Bucs were an abysmal 4-of-14 on the “money down” in their loss to a previous one-win Steelers team two weeks ago. They were even worse last Sunday going 2-of-12 in the game’s most pivotal moments in another loss to a then one-win Panthers club.

“I don’t think it has been well on third down the past few weeks,” Bowles said. “It’s something we work on all the time, execution-wise. You can say some false starts, you can say some lack of route progressions, you can say some all of the above. It’s everybody-inclusive. We have got to find ways to get better at that and I know we are. I’m looking for ways and I know we’re trying to find those ways, but we’ve got to get solutions and we’ve got to get them fast. There’s nobody coming in here to help us and save the day. We built this and we own it and we have to get us out of it.”

Bowles’ Comments On Bucs QB Brady

Outside of the calamity of play-calling that Byron Leftwich has come up with, there are other questions about quarterback Tom Brady. He has been playing through a shoulder injury and a ring finger injury, and while his production is still at a solid level, something just doesn’t seem completely right. Brady hasn’t been able to elevate the players around him as he has previously and he threw many footballs away on Sunday to avoid either getting hit or turning it over.

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

Although Brady has a good ratio of eight touchdowns to one interception, there haven’t been enough touchdowns all season. The Bucs have failed to reach the end zone in the first quarter of any game this season, and even scoring in any quarter feels like it’s been at a premium.

The Bucs have lacked explosive plays this year. Does Brady have to push it even more down the field if it causes more of risk on the play?

“That comes as an offense as far as not just him making plays [but] everyone else,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to call it right, we’ve got to block it right, we’ve got to get downfield and we’ve got to get open. There’s a lot of variables that go into that right there, and every time it’s something different, so it’s just not Tom’s fault. We commend him for not throwing picks but we need more big plays on offense, more consistent plays from everybody.”