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Full tank mode engaged. Lets do more of what we are terrible at. Seems legit.
By Roy Cummings | Tribune Staff Published: November 26, 2014 | Updated: November 27, 2014 at 06:48 AMTAMPA — A sizeable crack has been discovered in the foundation at One Buc Place. Not in the training complex itself, but in the foundation of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense.The running game, the base upon which all the Bucs wish to do when they have the ball, is broken. Truth be known, it’s pretty much been that way all season.When they ran for just 66 yards in Sunday’s 21-10 loss to the Bears, it marked the eighth time in their past nine games the Bucs ran for fewer than 100 yards.It’s hard for any team to win with run production like that, but especially the Bucs. In the past four years, they won only four of 35 games in which they rushed for fewer than 100 yards.“A defense can just tee off on you if you can’t run the football,’’ Bucs coach Lovie Smith said. “When you can’t run the ball consistently in this league, it hurts.’’Hurting the Bucs even more is their seeming inability to solve the problem. After all, it’s not like they’re just now beginning to figure out their struggles in the run game are an issue.Tampa Bay ran for more than 100 yards in each of their first two games this year. Since then, they averaged of 73.8 yards per game and 3.4 yards per carry.That has led to an ongoing detailed examination of personnel packages, play design and execution. But the coaches can’t seem to pinpoint the root cause of their struggles.“The problem is a little bit everywhere,’’ acting offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo said. “And by everywhere, I mean we’ve all got our hands in it.’’The biggest hand might actually belong to Arroyo, the rookie NFL coach who was pressed into duty as offensive play-caller when coordinator Jeff Tedford was sidelined by a heart ailment during the preseason.Arroyo has dialed up an average of only 21.7 run plays per game, the second-fewest in the league. Only once this year has a Bucs back carried the ball more than 20 times in a game — when Bobby Rainey ran 22 times for 144 yards in a Week 2 loss to the Rams.Arroyo admits, Tampa Bay might not be running enough.“We haven’t tried that yet,’’ Arroyo said when asked if the solution might be as simple as calling 30 or more rushing plays per game. “Maybe that is the answer.’’Each of the top three rushing teams in the league — Seattle, Dallas and Houston — and five of the top 10 average more than 30 carries per game. Meanwhile, four of the seven teams averaging fewer than 25 carries per game — Detroit, Tennessee, Tampa Bay and Oakland — are also among the league’s worst rushing teams.Of those seven, only Detroit has a winning record. And losing teams typically play from behind late in games, which can drastically reduce running opportunities.The Bucs, though, have held fourth quarter leads in six games this year, and their pattern suggests they tend to abandon the run game even when they could be using it to help seal victories.During a 22-17 loss at Cleveland, the Bucs held a 17-16 lead in the third quarter. But after building that lead by running 18 times for 96 yards in the first half, they ran the ball only eight times for 17 yards in the second.“You go into a game and you have a commitment to running the football a certain amount of times,’’ Smith said. “Then you get into the game and you have to look at what’s working for you. But whenever we have 22 carries or something like that, would we like to have those numbers up? Yes.’’The running backs would certainly like to see those numbers increase. Doug Martin, whose season-high for carries is 14 (twice), said this week that running backs need a steady series of carries to develop an effective rhythm.The same goes for offensive linemen.“But when you’re not running it well you can’t keep doing something you’re not doing well,” right tackle Demar Dotson said. “The few (run plays) we get, we have to make it work. But we’re not even doing that. So you can’t ask for more when you’re not even doing good with what you get.’’There is definitely a reward factor involved. But even the Bucs admit they are at a point now where running the ball more might be the answer to running it more effectively.“We’d love to have a 30-carry game that elevates the running game,’’ Arroyo said. “I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t. If that’s what we can do to make it better, then let’s do it, let’s rock it.“If that’s the answer and we can find out that, yeah, that’s it, then let’s have at it, because we have to continue to find a way to push it forward in the running game.”[email protected]
Posted : Nov. 27, 2014 12:51 pm
