The Bucs offense averaged 30.8 points per game last season, which was good for second in the NFL. Despite those high numbers, Tampa Bay didn’t really hit its’ stride until after the bye week, and some of that improvement can be credited to implementing more play action and pre-snap motion into their system.
Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich spoke to the media following practice on Tuesday and said the offense will be the same as last year. Leftwich also down played the idea that the Bucs will use more pre-snap motion and shifts compared to a year ago.
“We’re doing the same stuff,” Leftwich said. “I know this has been talked about and everything, but the offense is based on the quarterback. That’s what I believe in as a coach, it’s always been that way. It just took us time to have an opportunity to practice so we can try to figure things out on Sunday. We’re not doing all this motion stuff. I don’t know where you all get that stuff. We put our quarterback in the best position to have success all the time.
“That’s how we do it. We won it last year. Did we do a better job of it? We may have as we learned each other, me and Tom. As we learned from each other I did a better job of putting him in position. But we didn’t go in and start doing all this different stuff. We really honed in on what we thought we were as a team after the bye, just tried to do that. But it’s the same concept, same things we do.”
Whether Leftwich is telling the truth or not, it does contradict a statement made by Bruce Arians five days ago. The Bucs’ focus that day was on offensively and defensively communicating through different offensive movement before the snap.
“Today’s emphasis was on communication,” Arians said last Thursday. “A lot of shifts, a lot of motions, defensively making adjustments, offensively obviously executing those shifts and motions. I was really pleased with it.”
We are getting it from head coach Bruce Arians, who said this 5 days ago after practice: pic.twitter.com/VzLl16Ghue
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 17, 2021
Regardless of if the motion increases, decreases or stays the same, the Bucs’ offense is in a good spot. Leftwich is now a Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator, and any time you have Tom Brady as your quarterback with the weapons the Bucs have, your chances of winning are higher than most. Leftwich loves to be opaque with the media, while Arians is more of an open book. If you’re betting on which coach is telling the truth here, the smart money is on Arians.
Share On Socials
About the Author: Matt Matera
I think on one hand Leftwich is throwing up some smoke screens so teams can’t hone in on what the plan is, while also maybe trying to not give away too much credit for the success in the last half of the year. The reality is Brady will be more mobile this year and will be looking to run the style he has always been used to. The pre snap motion and having a 3rd down back to throw to finally while also pushing the ball vertical is all gonna define this offense. They are gonna pick up where they… Read more »
And with that my uncertainty about whether I would prefer Leftwich or Bowles as head coach following Arians, should both still be in Tampa, has been settled. Bowles by 7 lengths. Shooting straight matters and I think the habits exhibited with the press can carryover to the lockerroom. Or worse, Leftwich may feel a need to support his claim by reducing the motion and movement that ignited the offense those final 8 games.
I loathe opaque from leaders.
From all the stats I’ve read on effectiveness of pre-snap motion, it really helped buy Brady time and to give his receivers time to get open. My recollection is all three Super Bowl passing touchdowns had motion involved in some form or other. Leftwich is trying to downplay motions success methinks !
The motion doesn’t help Brady buy more time. It helps Brady diagnose the coverage the defense is using.
I hope Matt is right assuming BL is being cagey, and in fact they will “do more motion stuff”. The first half of last year was like watching Dungy Ball from the late 90s.
We will use motion because it helps the QB read the defense
Leftwich is a coordinator. He’s not a head coach. Bowels is the guy you want leading this team after Arians is gone. He got the contract extension for a reason. Leftwich imo, still has things to prove.
So let me get this straight. You want a coach who divulges his plans publicaly just so we fans in the stands can think we know something. Got it. I don’t give two hoots about anything but the end result. All teams run the same plays. The team that executes best usually wins. The funny thing is when fans who couldn’t draw up a single play and explain the concept think they know better. Stick to selling insurance.
Yup – this is just typical media masturbation, trying to get themselves and others excited by pretending there is a controversy or that someone is not “telling the truth”. Bullshit.
The media is doing their job, reporting to the fans what the players/coaches say. You are the only one “pretending there is a controversy”. It’s a legitimate question whether the Bucs will continue to use more pre-snap motion as they did towards the end of last season. If you don’t like the free media here, go live in China and let me know what you think.
Arians never stated that the offense was being changed .. he merely stated that that was what the offense was working on in that day’s practice.
Media trying to create a controversy where none exists .. apparently nothing better to do.
The media is supposed to throw out controversial concepts……the reader is supposed to read and come to their own conclusion.
Well said….But its so much easier to cry like the old man on his porch (Naples).