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

QUESTION: Is the Bucs season dependent on the health of the team’s elite receivers? Without them the offense looks bad.

ANSWER: Yes, the Bucs offense is wide receiver-driven. The value of the position is illustrated via the salary cap, as Chris Godwin makes an average of $20 million per year, Mike Evans averages $16.5 million per year and Russell Gage makes $10 million per year. Just those three total $46.5 million in average per year earnings. Throw in Julio Jones’ one-year, $6 million contract and the top four Bucs receivers account for $52.5 million in average per year earnings, per Over The Cap.

The reason those players are paid so handsomely is their talent. Jones and Evans are future Hall of Famers. Evans has been to four Pro Bowls with the Bucs, while the 33-year old Jones made seven Pro Bowls with the Falcons. Godwin has two 1,000-yard seasons and has been to one Pro Bowl. Not having that trio on the field severely limits what Tom Brady and this offense can do. Gage stepped up in Sunday’s 14-12 loss to Green Bay with 12 catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. But he only averaged 7.9 yards per catch because he’s still dealing with a hamstring injury that limits his explosiveness and ability to separate.

The Bucs were playing without Evans, who was suspended, while Godwin and Jones missed the game with hamstring and knee injuries, respectively. That’s a lot of firepower on the sidelines. It didn’t help that Gage and Breshad Perriman, who had three catches for 44 yards, both fumbled in the game. Tampa Bay’s longest pass play of the game was a 25-yard catch-and-run by Jaelon Darden. Perriman’s 24-yard catch on the game’s first play was the only other play that traveled past 20 yards in the game.

Right now, the Bucs offense lacks the explosiveness that Evans, Godwin and Jones can bring when healthy. That’s a big reason why the Bucs have only scored three touchdowns on offense in three games and are only averaging 17 points per game. That’s about two touchdowns less per game than the team scored last year when it averaged 29.9 points per game, which ranked second in the NFL.

QUESTION: Tom Brady is killing my fantasy team, but besides that do we need to be worried? Are we looking at Peyton Manning 2.0 with a massive drop off in stats his final season?

ANSWER: Tom Brady hasn’t been the problem with regards to the Bucs’ struggling offense. Brady is just the trigger man in an offense that is firing blanks right now without three of the team’s top four receivers. That’s not an excuse, that’s a valid reason. Brady has completed 65% of his passes for 673 yards with three touchdowns and one interception through three games. Despite the injuries at wide receiver, that’s good enough for the Bucs to be three points away from a 3-0 start. But it’s nowhere near the numbers Brady and Tampa Bay’s offense put up last year when he threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns – both of which led the league.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

So far, there is not the noticeable drop in Brady’s physical talent that there was in Peyton Manning’s final season in 2015. He is playing with a swollen and sore ring finger on his throwing hand, but he said after Sunday’s 14-12 loss to the Packers that it is not affecting his passing. The fact that Brady completed a season-high 73.8% of his passes (31-of-42) for a season-high 271 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions backs up that claim.

What’s holding back the Bucs offense is the lack of weapons the team has at its disposal right now, in addition to the loss of some players from a year ago. Tight end Rob Gronkowski and Pro Bowl guard Ali Marpet retired, and Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen is injured, as is stalwart left tackle Donovan Smith. Those are four stud players that Brady and the offense is missing from a year ago – not to mention not having Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Julio Jones out on the field, too.

Football is just as much about the Jimmies and the Joes as the X’s and the O’s. It’s a player’s league, and right now Brady is not playing with high-quality players around him. The results have been subpar stats for him and the offense. We’ll see how much the offense improves this week as Evans returns and Jones is expected to play. And perhaps the Bucs will get Smith back at left tackle too when the Kansas City Chiefs come to town for Sunday Night Football.

QUESTION: I understand the injuries make it tough, but at what point is Byron Leftwich held accountable? His play-calling has been as predictable as can be. The elite talent on offense the past two years has made up for his shortcomings as an offensive coordinator, but not the case so far this year.

ANSWER: Although he was not as run-heavy and predictable with runs on first down as he was a week ago at New Orleans, Byron Leftwich’s play-calling left a lot to be desired on Sunday. The Bucs threw the ball 17 times on first down as opposed to just six runs for 20 yards. The three most explosive plays of the day – Jaelon Darden’s 25-yarder, Breshad Perriman’s 24-yarder and Cameron Brate’s 19-yarder – all came on first down. Brady did have five incompletions on first-down passes, but he still completed 70% of his passes on first down. He was 73% for the game. Five of those 12 completions on first down resulted in a first down.

But where the Bucs have struggled all year has been on third down, and Sunday was no exception. Tampa Bay couldn’t get the ground game going, as Leonard Fournette rushed for just 35 yards on 12 carries (2.9 avg.). That didn’t help, as the Bucs were held to 18.2% (2-of-11) on third downs.

With the Bucs offense lacking three of its top wide receivers, and not having Donovan Smith, Pro Bowl guard Ali Marpet and Pro Bowl Ryan Jensen up front, it’s been difficult for the team to convert third downs and score points. Yet, it’s Leftwich’s job to get creative and scheme some plays open.

Right now, it’s just as much about the lack of execution – protection/run blocking up front, dropped passes, receivers not getting open – as much as it is Leftwich’s play-calling. But make no mistake, his play-calling isn’t helping – otherwise the Bucs’ third down conversion percentage and point production would be much higher.

QUESTION: Missing WRs or not, this offensive scheme is terrible. Byron Leftwich isn’t doing anyone any favors. Can we go back to 2020 when there were rumors that Tom Brady was running the offense?

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

ANSWER: Tom Brady probably has more say-so in this offense than he has ever had. This is Brady’s third year in Bruce Arians’ system and working with offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. He’s the greatest quarterback of all time and coming off a season in which he led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Brady and Leftwich collaborate on the game plans prior to the game, and Brady certainly has the authority and gravitas to suggest plays on the sidelines. He also has the ability to change the play in the huddle or call an audible at the line of scrimmage.

It’s probably a coincidence given all of the lack of star power on the Bucs offense right now at wide receiver, tight end and the offensive line, but it’s worth noting that Bruce Arians retired. While Arians has given Leftwich just about all the credit for the team’s success on offense, Arians did have the power to veto a play call or make a suggestion over the headset to Leftwich in years past. Now, it’s all on Leftwich without Arians looking over his shoulder.

There are 14 more games to go, and we’ll see how this offense functions when star receivers like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Julio Jones return and Russell Gage gets healthy. And perhaps the offensive line improves with a healthy Donovan Smith and more experience up front from Luke Goedeke and Robert Hainsey. It’s too early to make a snap judgment like Leftwich being on the hot seat. But his play-calling certainly isn’t helping the Bucs much on third downs or from a point production standpoint.