Today marks the second time offensive coordinator Dave Canales will face a defense for the second time. The first such instance was a success for the young play-caller. After his red zone offense faltered multiple times against the Falcons in week seven against the Falcons in a 16-13 loss, Dave Canales was up to the challenge of learning from those mistakes in week 14, where his squad put up 29 points in a late shoot out. That second Falcons matchup started a three-game scoring explosion that has seen the Bucs offense average 31 points per game.

Now Canales and the Bucs offense will face a familiar foe once again. But this time with a new twist. In week four the Bucs came back from a tough loss to the Eagles on Thursday Night Football to beat the Saints in convincing fashion 26-9. That game was the first real glimpse into what Canales’ offense was capable. It was the first-time all-season Tampa Bay would score more than 20 points. In that game the Bucs’ passing attack took center stage as I detailed in this YouTube video.

The running game wasn’t a world beater that day, but it wasn’t as ineffective as it would become over the following month. But Canales, quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Bucs’ receiving weapons provided plenty of explosives to help the team generate plenty of points while Tampa Bay’s defense had one of their best performances of the year.

Dave Canales Will Have To Prepare Differently For Saints Than Falcons

Bucs OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In the re-match of Bucs vs. Falcons Dave Canales was able to look at what went wrong overall (and specifically in the red zone) to create counters that would hopefully (and did!) work. This follow-up will present a new and different challenge. When he looks back at the week four film, he will see a whole lot that went right.

The impulse will be to push the envelope with those personnel matchups, passing concepts and play designs. But across the field, the Saints defensive brain trust, led by head coach Dennis Allen will be doing the same. And much like Tampa Bay’s OC did against the Falcons, they will be trying to have counters ready for what Dave Canales put on tape in their previous encounter.

The key for Dave Canales will be to anticipate those counters and be ready with builds and evolutions from that original game script. He mentioned that evolution in his press conference on Thursday in a round-about way after being asked about potentially having two receivers go for over 1,000 yards receiving along with a running back eclipsing 1,000 yards rushing (emphasis mine):

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I think it just speaks to the balance of what we’re trying to build here. From the first press conference – it’s this attacking style of offense that has a run game that’s viable, that has play-action plays that come off of it, the screens that come off of it, and then the timing and rhythm of the pass game. It’s taken us all season to really get the whole thing working on all cylinders. I think that it’s really cool. Again, for me, I just want to build something that we can be proud of.

“That’s where my heart is, to say that we’re not a laughingstock – we’re not out here just throwing the ball around and doing those things or searching for the next big play. It’s something that we can hang our hat on, to say, ‘This is our system, this is how we do things, and here’s all the stuff that comes off of it.’ We’re continuing to expand, even now, as we solidify some of the things that we want to be consistent for us.

“There [are] plays off of plays that are starting to come alive for us. To have that kind of productivity coming out of the quarterback, the skill players that we’re trying to get going – to make the focal point of the offense – means that we’re doing a great job of putting them in a spot to be successful.”

The Bucs will need to expand the offense. And throw in new wrinkles. Because as good as their game plan in week four was, the Saints will be ready for it. Dave Canales will need to find new and innovative ways to get to concepts that can hit, similar to how he was able to use a unique look to get to four verts against the Packers.

Very cool @Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/N6ZHvb3fNy

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) December 20, 2023

Based on his recent evolution as a play-caller I am cautiously optimistic that he will once again be up to the challenge against a defense that is still better than league average.