All-Twenty-Tuesday: Bucs’ Offensive Gameplan

When you’re predictable, you’re easy to beat. The Arizona Cardinals knew the Bucs’ tendencies, knew what it meant when tight ends moved, knew what formation the Bucs did what out of, and because it, they were able to be very aggressive in what they did due to virtually no risk.

Because of this, to Jameis Winston, it probably seemed like the Cardinals were out there with 12 players on the field. Some of that is to the Cardinals credit, but the rest of it, and maybe some bleeding over to each side, has to be blamed on the offensive game plan for not only being predictable, but not even being efficient to being with.

I’m only going to go over plays from the first half when Winston was in the game, because that was the plan for Winston and it was that plan that failed – whatever it was they were trying to do.

With the low third down percentages and play styles in mind from the last page, let’s start there.

The play above is third-and-2 right past midfield. Now you’d normally think, “Oh, good, third-and-2, that’s very manageable.” But, it turned out not to be.

Why?

Well, dead giveaway, number one, was that running back Charles Sims was in the game. They don’t run the ball with him; they weren’t going to. The Cardinals, being one step ahead of the Buccaneers, showed all-out pressure to start, but then when Winston audible into something else, Sims went to the outside and the linebackers retreated in a manner that seemed according to plan.

Five-wide on third-and-2? Are you kidding me? You work hard to get yourself into third-and-manageable and you bail on it?

You know who can go five-wide on third-and-short? The Patriots, the Steelers, heck, maybe even the Packers. You know who can’t? A team who does not run a quick-hit offense – Tampa Bay.

The Bucs don’t even run the correct plays to be a threat for passes close to the first down line here and this was the result because of it.

How the heck do you run a five-wide, shotgun play on third-and-2 and there’s not a single route over the middle within the first two seconds of the snap? Winston is already in shotgun, yet he drops back two more steps. Tampa Bay only needed two yards to pick up the first down yet he’s dropping back seven yards behind the line of scrimmage!

That’s the kind of stuff that can’t happen, and a reason why the Bucs are as bad at third downs as they are. It’s not even just the play call – which perhaps should have been a run from the shotgun formation – it’s the play designs, too.

If the Bucs say, “Well, we’re just not that good at running from the shotgun,” either get better at it, or don’t call the formation in situations you know the defense will key on. Right now the Bucs are way too predictable because of whatever limitations they think they have in running the ball from the shotgun formation, and it’s hurting them because that’s their go-to.

If you’re passing the ball on third-and-short, it has to look something like the play above. Rams first-year head coach, Sean McVay, has done an excellent job of making his offense easier for a young quarterback Jared Goff. The Buccaneers and the Rams share a similar style of under center-centric offenses with some shotgun sprinkled in. The only difference is the Rams will go under center for all types of third downs, and have one of the best offense in the NFL because they keep their opponents guessing – and keep to their strengths.

In the play above, Sammy Watkins drops what would have been the first down catch, but it was the design that was important. Watch the Bucs play above, then watch the Rams play. Notice how long it would have taken the Bucs player on the top of the screen (who was running a similar style of route Watkins was) to get open. The Bucs player would have had to go through not one, but two “pick” players’ routes to get into some open space. For the Rams, it was snap, look, throw. It has to be that fast for the Bucs, or at least, the options have to be there, and they aren’t.

Let’s keep going with a few more examples and get into some ways that a different kind of play design may not only help move the ball better but help Winston, as well.

Watch the play above. Even though the Bucs weren’t running the ball that well, the play action got some decent hesitation from the Cardinals defenders. However, where were those routes going? The Bucs basically sent two wide receiver into six coverage players, of course it didn’t work out.

They had O.J. Howard stay in to block and had Doug Martin stay in to block? Do they really not trust their offensive line that much? If Howard would have instead released off the line into anything over the middle, he would have likely had success (with an easy throw).

Just as the Rams are a good, successful example for the Buccaneers because they run a similar style of offensive philosophies, the Jaguars defense versus the Rams offense is a good connection to the Bucs’ play against the Cardinals because the Jaguars and Cardinals play a somewhat similar style defense that stays aggressive.

The play above is similar, in thought, to the play the Buccaneers ran above that. But, the big difference was that the Rams presented Goff with a route over the middle with play action. Whether it was from the slot or from the outside receiver (as it was), that middle space would have been open. It would have been open for Howard, too, for the Bucs, if they designed it that way.

Continuing on that trend, it’s not just on play action that things seem to be tougher for Winston; it’s on throws from the shotgun.

I understand that the Buccaneers like to spread things out and use as much of the field to the sideline as they can (they have the receivers to do so). However, all of that is for naught if you don’t have routes that go to the middle to get into that stretched out space.

Look at how wide open that field is in the middle and there’s no crosser into it until more than three or four seconds after the snap. Think about if Evans (bottom of the screen) would have just ran a slant route. That’s an immediate five yards at minimum, and an easy completion. But, that stuff doesn’t really show up with the Bucs, and the Cardinals knew it, and that’s why they rarely guarded it.

Another negative about this play design in the Arizona game, even beyond not having an open receiver, is that even if there was an open receiver, when the Bucs play all of their main routes near the sideline, they are forcing Winston to move his entire head to go through progressions. There’s no easy throw or anything ready right off the bat at the snap right in front of him. Instead the play design makes him block off one side of the field as he looks at the other. That’s what we mean when we say things could be made easier for Winston; there were hardly any easy reads. Because of that, you get almost interceptions like the play above because he thinks he has to throw it there – he can’t take the time to look across the field with the sack timer going off in his head.

There’s a concept that the New England Patriots use quite often called the levels concept that has been around for a long time and has withstood the test of time.

In it, you basically have two or three players running varying levels of the same route over the middle, knowing one will likely be open – and it usually is.

Not only is this a good way to attack a variety of different coverages, it keeps progressions simple for a quarterback; it’s all right in front of them. Even if you wanted to add a sideline route to that, that could be the first read, and the quarterback has the comfort of coming back over the middle of a few options if it doesn’t work.

Not only can you use this kind of stuff in the red zone, but it can also be great for the third-and-short plays we talked about initially, if you’re going to pass. It’s this kind of concept (along with a few other kinds) that can get those quick routes open for short yards and can be quick-hit attacks that make the Rams or the Patriots or the Steelers offenses move the ball so well.

Attacking the middle of the field is a staple and one of the easiest ways to start and sustain drives in football – this is how the Patriots basically use their passing game as their running game. But, I just don’t see the Bucs do it nearly as much as they should be. If Tampa Bay is running over the middle, it’s usually a long 10- or 15-yard post to tight end Cameron Brate, or some kind of route that has a receiver run to a spot, then stop and turn.

The Bucs don’t have nearly enough drag routes, quick slants or things like that to get the ball to guys who are already going at full speed – advantage DeSean Jackson and Adam Humphries. Jackson’s longest catch of the year, a 41-yarder against the Patriots, was actually on a slant – not a vertical route.

Turn to the next page to get in on the conversation on how you think the Bucs should address any changes that need to be made and who should do the changing.