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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: How do we fix the run game? Week after week we struggle and continue to try the middle of the line. How, even after switching the scheme, have we not had success?

ANSWER: How do the Bucs fix the run game? It’s quite simple in theory. Better sustained blocking up front, better reads from the running back and more acceleration and less hesitation, and less predictable play-calling from the offensive coordinator. Easier said than done against the Eagles’ top-ranked run defense, though. Philadelphia has the league’s most talented front seven without question. We saw that in Tampa Bay’s 25-11 loss to Philly on Monday Night Football, when the Bucs’ ground game was grounded with just 41 yards on 17 carries.

Bucs LG Matt Feiler – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs did switch up their blocking scheme by bringing in Dave Canales from Seattle. But this is going to be a work in progress. With two offensive linemen switching places in left tackle Tristan Wirfs and right tackle Luke Goedeke, two newcomers in veteran left guard Matt Feiler and rookie right guard Cody Mauch and a mediocre center in Robert Hainsey, there are going to be some growing pains.

Then throw in a rookie play-caller in Canales, a new starting running back in Rachaad White and a new quarterback in Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay’s ground game was not going to be good overnight.

The Eagles defense was a big test that this offense failed on Monday night. But Philly is also the class of the NFC and has a defensive front that has seven first-round picks. A more appropriate measuring stick for the Bucs’ run game will come on Sunday when they face a more even opponent in the Saints, who have the league’s 10th-ranked rushing defense, allowing an average of 99.7 yards per game on the ground.

There are still 14 games left to be played. Let’s see if the Bucs’ run game can improve as the season goes on – and by how much.

QUESTION: What can be done to help this terrible running game? Looks like it wasn’t all Byron Leftwich as some had hoped. And why keep running up the middle when it doesn’t work? Run behind Tristan Wirfs. Try a toss or something. Maybe just maybe … the running back room is part of the issue.

ANSWER: It’s late September and there are no saviors on the street right now to help Tampa Bay’s offense. The Bucs aren’t going to trade for Jonathan Taylor for a couple of reasons. Tampa Bay hasn’t seen enough of Rachaad White to make a determination as to whether he can be a feature back or not, especially behind an offensive line that is still coming together.

Bucs RB Rachaad White and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

We’ll know by midseason if White has improved into a better runner or if he’s just a guy. And we’ll have a better idea about whether Cody Mauch is in over his head as a rookie right guard, if 31-year old Matt Feiler can still block effectively and if Robert Hainsey can be anything more than average at center. Remember, the Bucs were hopeful that Ryan Jensen could make a comeback this year. But hope isn’t a strategy, is it?

It gets slightly easier for the Bucs over the next two games when it comes to running the ball. Tampa Bay couldn’t move the line of scrimmage against Philadelphia, the league’s top-ranked rushing defense. We’ll see if the Bucs can play more physical against the Saints and their 10th-ranked run defense, followed by the Lions after the bye week. Detroit just shut down Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier and Atlanta’s ground game and owns the league’s fifth-ranked run defense, allowing just 72 yards per game.

I know offensive coordinator Dave Canales wants to establish the run, but that doesn’t always mean to run the ball first predictably. Perhaps the Bucs should attempt to pass first to soften up a defense and then attack with the ground game. Head coach Todd Bowles alluded to that on Tuesday morning.

“I think people load up when they see certain things,” Bowles said. “Maybe we start out passing a little more and open it up a little bit later, but we’ve got to block it better. We’ve got to continue to grind it. You don’t want these guys [pinning] their ears back and trying to come after Baker [Mayfield] like that. We’ve got to do a better job of executing – it’s really that simple.”

QUESTION: Why would anyone run the ball on their own 1-yard line while getting no push the entire game?

ANSWER: Totally agree with this premise. In fact, when cornerback Dee Delaney intercepted Jalen Hurts at the Tampa Bay 1-yard line I said to my fellow Pewter Reporters in the press box: “Cue the safety.”

Bucs OC Dave Canales and run game coordinator Harold Goodwin – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It didn’t make any sense to run the ball up the middle in that situation against a Philadelphia defensive front that had dominated the Bucs offensive line from the start. A safety was the likeliest of outcomes as center Robert Hainsey and right guard Cody Mauch were overwhelmed by Fletcher Cox, Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter for much of the game.

That was perhaps Dave Canales’ worst play-call in his first three games as offensive coordinator. It was predictable and safe, and it cost the Bucs two points and possession. I realize there is the danger of a pick-six with tight coverage in the shadow of a team’s own end zone, but it’s probably worth the risk at that juncture of the game with the Bucs trailing. Throwing the ball might even result in defensive holding or pass interference and result in a cheap first down. Running into a loaded box was just foolish, and let’s hope Canales learns from this mistake.

QUESTION: What’s the way forward for this team? Sure the NFC South is still in play, but after seeing that performance last night, who cares? If you can’t stand toe-to-toe with the big dogs, the playoffs are nothing more than a meaningless endeavor. Feels a lot like the 2010-19 years again.

Eagles DT Fletcher Cox and Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: You’ve got to reset your expectations for this team. Winning the NFC South and perhaps one playoff game is the likely ceiling for this year’s Bucs team with a rookie offensive play-caller and so many new faces on the offensive side of the ball. Tampa Bay is not a Super Bowl contender this year, and the sooner you and other Bucs fans realize that, the better.

No one on the Pewter Report staff predicted the Bucs to beat the Eagles. They aren’t in Philadelphia’s class. I predicted a modest 9-8 record for the Bucs this year and I wasn’t even sure if they would make the playoffs before the season started. Given all the new pieces and the reliance on so many first- and second-year players, that is a realistic expectation for this 2023 Tampa Bay team. Remember, the Bucs won the division last year with an 8-9 record and Tom Brady under center. The three other teams in the NFC South all finished 7-10.

Winning the NFC South again while the young players improve and get much-needed experience seems like a worthwhile endeavor. It certainly beats the alternative, which is not making the playoffs or winning the division, which happened from 2008-19.

QUESTION: Is it buyer’s remorse with the Jamel Dean and Carlton Davis III contracts? They don’t get interceptions and seem like they’re always hurt. Davis’ toe seems like a problem. Seeing practice squad-type players at cornerback versus good wide receivers is getting old.

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith and Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: There is no doubt that the Bucs are frustrated with Carlton Davis III and Jamel Dean’s injury situations. Davis has a history of getting banged up, but his toe injury isn’t his fault. It’s not like he didn’t properly stretch or anything like that. And for cornerbacks who have to run, plant and drive, toe injuries are incredibly tough to overcome and come back from in-season.

Dean injured his shoulder against the Eagles and his status – along with Davis’ – is in question for Sunday’s big game at New Orleans. It’s disappointing that Davis and Dean are injured to start the year. Dean missed two games last year, while Davis missed four due to injury.

On a night when Ronde Barber’s enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was honored at halftime of the Bucs vs. Eagles game, Tampa Bay could only hope to find another great, durable cornerback like Barber, who didn’t miss a single start in 13 straight seasons to end his career from 2000-12.

Davis and Dean combined for three takeaways in the fourth quarter of last year’s 20-10 win at New Orleans last year. It would be a shame if the Bucs had a combined $27.8 million in cornerbacks sidelined with injuries in Sunday’s big divisional game against the Saints.

QUESTION: My question is why is everyone a bunch of haters? The Eagles are a good football team. The Bucs just had a bad night. That’s going to happen.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: In my preseason SR’s Fab 5 column, I had the Bucs winning the first two games of the season followed by losses to the Eagles and the Saints en route to a 9-8 record. Heading into the bye week at 2-2 is right on schedule, although I do believe the Bucs can actually win at New Orleans and improve to 3-1 before the week off.

The NFC will very likely come down to Philadelphia and San Francisco again. Those two teams are the class of the conference. The Bucs lost to the Eagles and they will lose to the 49ers later this year. Just accept that this is where your team is right now, Pewter People.

Tampa Bay is reloading after a three-year run with the now-retired Tom Brady. I can appreciate Bucs fans rooting for their team and hoping for an upset against the Eagles. But expecting an upset – and then getting mad when it didn’t happen — tells me that the expectations that some fans have are simply too high for the 2023 Bucs. Enjoy the wins when they come, Pewter People. They won’t come every week.