All-Twenty Tuesday: Bucs’ O-Line

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/JobVh14izKbRERHfON

Though there were some blunders in pass protection throughout the game that needed work, the Bucs offensive line really moved the line of scrimmage when run blocking against the 49ers.

Run blocking is the core of football. It is a lot more about physical dominance than pass protecting is, and because of that there’s a lot less thinking going on. Run blocking is all about getting your hands where they need to be, maintaining leverage, keeping those legs moving and making a lane for your running back to get through. The Bucs have the maulers on the offensive line to get that done.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/UoMh9DZfBAOkCZIowi

What I was most encouraged with on Sunday when it came to run blocking was how well Tampa Bay zone blocked. Zone blocking is where each member of the offensive line all takes their first step in one direction, either left or right, as opposed to just forward in a simpler man blocking scheme. The reason you do this is to control the flow of defenders, hopefully beating them to a spot and sealing them out to create a running lane to the outside of where the original pocket was before the snap. Basically the thought is that trench play is chaotic, but if you can control the chaos yourself, you can have an advantage.

The play above is a good example of what that looks like when it all comes together. The steps are in unison, the double-team blocks are effective, the linemen can get to the second level and the runner can easily find their way forward. The Bucs offensive line really struggled with zone blocking and any outside run concepts last season, so to see them as comfortable as they were on the move on Sunday was encouraging.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/dBNFllgxma2Wt4yWRK

The Bucs even got a little creative in their blocking concepts, as I saw them run quite a bit of what is called split zone.

In a split zone, most of the offensive line moves in unison to either the right or left just like a normal zone blocking play. However, in a split zone play, the player off the line at the edge of the trench (usually a tight end) flows the opposite way against the grain behind the line of scrimmage to take on a blocker on the other side of the line. Usually this done to a backside defender who is left unblocked.

The reason teams do this is because it’s very chaotic. All of a sudden there are some blockers moving one way and a few moving the other. As a defender, if you have any hesitation when defending the run, you’ll usually lose your gap assignment and the running back will find his way to the open space you were supposed to be occupying.

The Bucs not only ran zone but also split zone with efficiency on Sunday, which is something all the best teams in this league do that was absent from their run game last season.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/WOYewgukj3AUfyhnfD

Getting into pass protection, as easy as it would be for me to write an article just highlighting the negatives of the offensive line – where there were some that we will get to – the day was not a complete disaster as the line allowed three sacks.

There were plenty of plays, like the one above, where the offensive line was able to create a pocket for Winston. In the NFL, plays like the one above are about as good as you’re going to get, and you better complete the passes on plays where you have that kind of pocket. The problem was the Bucs didn’t do that as much as they should have.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/Q74GxJcSf91SgQFAjL

Check out the play above, for example. First off, the offensive tackles, Donovan Smith and Demar Dotson, did a great job locking their guys up on the edge. Next, you’ll notice that Ali Marpet and Ryan Jesen completely had their double team neutralized in the middle. And on top of all that, Alex Cappa beautifully washed pass rusher Dee Ford across the line of scrimmage and was able to stay in front of him the whole time.

It doesn’t get much better than that. You have to find a way to complete that pass.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/Vhc5z4JsYIdxwiooC1

Now to the part you all love to see, me bashing the individual performances of each offensive lineman.

(That sentence has some sarcasm to it because the nature of offensive line play is not individual, and yet we love to make it out to be when it fails.)

For Smith, in the play above, I’m not looking for him to be perfect on every snap, but I am asking him not to get embarrassed by a rookie like that. And that wasn’t even the only play that left Smith blocking at air. Nick Bosa worked him twice that game with an inside move that Smith just had no answer for. Dotson didn’t have a great game due to penalties, and we’ll get to that, but he didn’t let Bosa get the best of him. Smith should not have, either – at least not like that.

Smith may not be a Top 10 offensive tackle, but even for what he is those plays happen too often. Even if he’s solid outside of them, which he can be, at times, he can’t get clowned like that – and unfortunately it feels like he does on a weekly basis.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/KzKrrcgPc0qJO0hcpW

Now, let’s bounce over to the other side.

I am afraid the Bucs rolled the dice one too many years on Dotson being their right tackle. Dotson has been with Tampa Bay since 2009, and he’s been a solid right tackle for years. But at 33 years old (about to be 34) and no young gun waiting in the wings behind him, the Bucs may be in trouble.

The play above is Dotson’s holding penalty that negated Brate’s second touchdown. Dotson actually had a pretty decent game outside of the penalties, and as stated before, he didn’t give anything to the rookie Bosa. But the penalties are often a sign that you can’t hang, and I’m not sure how much longer Dotson can.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/f5kIivTyySbZfpTuOS

Cappa was decent in his first regular season start, but he definitely has a ways to go. Cappa is strong enough to push the line in run blocking, but learning how to bring that strength into the finesse game when it comes to pass protecting is going to take some time.

Going up against the length of 49ers defensive lineman DeForest Buckner, who is 6-foot-7, 300 pounds, is no easy task. Cappa got caught missing his punch and opened himself up to a swim move in the play above. I think that play was more of an inexperience thing that a lack of talent thing. The more game action Cappa sees, the more he’ll be able to retain to know what’s coming and how to deal with it.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/fubDG9IO5SKYPPcHUy

Finally, the blocking blunders didn’t just stop along the offensive line. Tight end O.J. Howard had a terrible game for the Buccaneers. He had a fumble in the red zone, let a ball go off his hands for an interception and looked lost and overpowered often when blocking.

Howard just looked confused on Sunday. Whatever it was, he was not nearly as sharp as he needed to be. Tampa Bay needs him to be better at basically every aspect of his game this season. They’re counting on him to be a major contributor on offense with and without the ball.

Overall the offensive line wasn’t as bad as I thought it was when watching it live. The linemen did some nice things, and the run blocking was great, especially down the stretch. But it’s clear that some of those Preseason Week 3 mishaps have carried over, and they’ll need to fix that quick if they hope to be ready for this big road stretch in a few weeks.

It doesn’t get any easier starting this week at Carolina against a Panthers defensive front that is hungry after being held without a sack by the visiting Los Angeles Rams, save for one QB takedown by blitzing cornerback James Bradberry.