I think you need to be aware of tendencies, patterns of plays, etc., but there’s not a lot of alignment with the type of offensive talent he’ll be working with, and Atlanta. We know McVay’s mantra is “Jimmy's & Joe’s over X’s & O’s” - so his background & training is that the talent dictates the plays.
We also know that the offense run by an inexperienced Pennix.
I don’t hold anything against the guy.
Until proven otherwise, I still expect him to be more like El Serpiente.
We’ll see. He’s got more talent than his last stop.
I have put down my gauntlets and so has SR. Lets see who is right in the end.
😎
Definitely not a wishy washy take on Robinson lol. You'd think it was personal!
Robinson is in the doghouse until he proves otherwise.
Thats as strange a take as Badabing suggesting Mayfiled may suck because of the second half of 2025. The similarity is completely ignoring external factors.
Not sure what you gain by being against someone before they even begin, but so be it.
Robinson is feast of famine as a play caller but once a team figures out his play calling tendencies a 3rd and 28 conversion is not possible. Other problem is that Mayfield is a better QB under center using play action and isn't really shotgun QB. To really sell those screens you need play action under center. Yeah Mayfield can play out of the shotgun and he has the WR talent to do it. But that kind of tips of defenses and negates the Bucs strength which is their OL. Fortunately KG and Irving can run from draw options and but it really negates the Bucs other strength which is their blocking TEs.
Robinson didn't have the WR talent to make his offense work but he did have the OL and RB duo and all he could come up with was a yo yo performance. One week the Falcons dropped 30+ and the following they were shut out or didn't even hit double digits. With a RB like Bijan that should never happen and their interior OL was basically intact. Also Robinson was a beneficiary of a better defensive unit than the Bucs will put out in 2026 unless Licht does a miracle.
Robinson didn't have the WR talent to make his offense work but he did have the OL and RB duo and all he could come up with was a yo yo performance.
Now talk about their QB situation. Especially, as it pertains to how much they played out of the gun.
alldaway you called this early. Looks like maybe a little less than total use of the pistol, but its there
New Buccaneers offensive coordinator Zac Robinson faced some criticism with the Atlanta Falcons due to his heavy usage of the pistol formation, where the quarterback lines up off center and the running back sits behind him. It was likely some basic install on Day 1 of OTAs, but the pistol was decently featured in offensive drills.
It was mostly pistol and under-center plays for the offense before the team period, and during the team period, that trend continued. It will be interesting to see if Robinson continues this trend as the playbook gets more complicated during training camp.
Robinson didn't have the WR talent to make his offense work but he did have the OL and RB duo and all he could come up with was a yo yo performance.
Now talk about their QB situation. Especially, as it pertains to how much they played out of the gun.
Well is not fair to say Cousins bailed him out with his performances against the Bucs because it could be argued Cousins did a better job performing his best for this offensive system despite not being ideal for a pistol offense.
alldaway you called this early. Looks like maybe a little less than total use of the pistol, but its there
New Buccaneers offensive coordinator Zac Robinson faced some criticism with the Atlanta Falcons due to his heavy usage of the pistol formation, where the quarterback lines up off center and the running back sits behind him. It was likely some basic install on Day 1 of OTAs, but the pistol was decently featured in offensive drills.
It was mostly pistol and under-center plays for the offense before the team period, and during the team period, that trend continued. It will be interesting to see if Robinson continues this trend as the playbook gets more complicated during training camp.
We will see because it could be a base offense they work on and they add wrinkles to that or go in a different direction. The problem is not that Robinson uses pistol offense it is when the pistol offense is used based on down and distance and pass/run situations that is not congruent with what is needed to counter defenses.
To be determined.
My main concern with Robinson is Red Zone. His Atlanta unit outperformed Tampa's last year in every phase except scoring. They had more passing yards, rushing yards, and total yards, but less (22.4 to 20.8) points. I don't know why they struggled in the RZ, but it could be on Robinson - but not necessarily.
Good insight.My main concern with Robinson is Red Zone. His Atlanta unit outperformed Tampa's last year in every phase except scoring. They had more passing yards, rushing yards, and total yards, but less (22.4 to 20.8) points. I don't know why they struggled in the RZ, but it could be on Robinson - but not necessarily.
My main concern with Robinson is Red Zone. His Atlanta unit outperformed Tampa's last year in every phase except scoring. They had more passing yards, rushing yards, and total yards, but less (22.4 to 20.8) points. I don't know why they struggled in the RZ, but it could be on Robinson - but not necessarily.
They struggled RZ early but turned it around late, so whatever it was (negative plays, according to Robinson) they turned it around in season
"Over the first eight weeks of the season, Atlanta scored touchdowns on just 45% of its red-zone drives, finding the end zone nine times on 20 trips to the red area."
Since Week 9, however, the Falcons have flipped that script, posting a league-best 92.9% red-zone touchdown rate and a 100% red-zone scoring rate. Atlanta scored touchdowns on 13 of 14 red-zone drives over the last five games, including 10 straight between Weeks 9 and 12.
The recent success has vaulted the Falcons to a 64.7% red-zone touchdown percentage overall, which ranks eighth in the NFL this season."
FWIW that change in RZ performance roughly matches up to Penix early and then Cousins late. Not exactly and more to it than that, but some of it definitely on Penix inconsistency early
Penix inconsistency early
Listening to the local hacks here in Atlanta, it’s clear it’s Tua’s job to lose.
They are saying Tua has looked head and shoulders better than Penix. Can’t say I’m surprised.
Penix inconsistency early
Listening to the local hacks here in Atlanta, it’s clear it’s Tua’s job to lose.
They are saying Tua has looked head and shoulders better than Penix. Can’t say I’m surprised.
When Tua is on he is one but he is has problem being consistent. Penix on the other hand needs everything to go right which is Tua's edge right now. Tua can still perform if everything is not perfect and with that WR core the Falcons have he will need to some sandlot play. But the Falcons have a TE collection of Pitts, Hooper and Woerner that off sets their issue with WR somewhat. The real key for the Falcons is not QB and it hasn't been for a while because it comes down to what happens with the RB room. Bijan is still there but they picked up Robinson on the cheap and also picked up Tyler Goodson.
If the Bucs offense is a sum of all parts then the same can be said of the Falcons. But the Falcons OL has been overrated for a while now and it looks like the Saints and Panthers have built up Olines that is on par or better than what the Falcons are putting on the field. And the Falcons invested a lot on that OL for the results they are producing too.
"I haven’t seen any pistol formation, which Robinson ran a bunch in Atlanta. As Pewter Report has reported often this offseason, the Falcons had to run pistol because of the mobility issues that rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had with his previous knee injuries, and that veteran QB Kirk Cousins had coming off an Achilles injury at age 36 during the 2024 season."
"Baker Mayfield is quite mobile and operates very well under center, so there’s no need to run pistol in Tampa Bay. When Mayfield is under center, he can operate the play-action drop-backs as well as the rollouts and waggles. And that’s what Robinson wants to do – like Coen did – and that is get Mayfield involved in play-action from under center. Mayfield has also operated out of shotgun quite a bit.
There’s also been a good deal of motion and bunch formations, which are staples of a McVay-Rams-based offense. I would also say that Mayfield is going to see his completion percentage climb from last year’s 63.2% closer to where it was in 2024, which was a franchise-record 71.4% – and I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what that means."
The only pistol we need to worry about is the 6i from 191 for an ace today at Cabot.
Cheers, gents!
The Van Winkle is flowing…
Always nice when an OC knows enough to give a QB, and his beleaguered offensive line, a chance with a quick passing game. Interesting tidbit from JBF last week showed Grizz didn’t use quick pass option much last season, if at all.
Looking forward to a healthy o-line, a plethora of receivers, a healthy and available group of running backs…and oh yeah, an average defense.