FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• Tampa Bay has the league’s third-ranked offense, averaging 402.5 yards per game, and the top-ranked passing attack, averaging 310.1 yards per game, but a very lackluster ground game – ranked 25th in the league and averaging just 92.3 yards per game. However, Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich isn’t concerned about the lack of production in the running game because it’s productive enough to make Tampa Bay’s play-action passing game work.

Bucs RB Ronald Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I never feel as a play caller as though we’re deficient there,” Leftwich said. “I think sometimes when you get in games – especially when we were healthy, when you’ve got Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin] – sometimes your best option is to throw Mike and Chris the ball. Sometimes your best option is to throw two of the better guys in the league the ball [and] to throw Cam [Brate] the ball, to throw O.J. [Howard] the ball.

“I don’t know if you have that personnel if you [can] ever just be a smash-mouth team where you’re lining up with two tight ends [and] a fullback. I don’t know if we’ll ever do that when we have this personnel. I think we can be more efficient in the run game and I think we will better at that. I really have no issues with that. We will get better with that once we get an opportunity to have an offseason and correct what we need to correct. Those are things we feel as though [and] I feel as though we’ll get corrected.”

• The Bucs offense has reached new heights in Bruce Arians’ first year in Tampa Bay with the team producing a franchise-high 436 points, which is the third-most in the league. The Bucs are averaging 29.1 points per game and fielded a pair of 1,000-yard Pro Bowl receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Leftwich feels like the Bucs offense is just scratching the surface.

“I think any quarterback that gets that opportunity in the second year of an offense – what’s the big talk of a rookie quarterback? Going into their second year and now they have an idea of what it is – that’s where they take the biggest leap,” Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said. “He’s a veteran guy. Me – I’ll be a better coach for him. Each year you’re with a guy, everything gets better, so I think all players [will be better]. I think RoJo (Ronald Jones II) will be better. I think Mike and Chris will be better. I think everybody will be better going into their second year of the system.”

Bucs OC Byron Leftwich and QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Quarterback Jameis Winston set a new team record for passing touchdowns with 31 and is less than 100 passing yards away from topping 5,000 passing yards, which would make him just the eighth QB in NFL history to accomplish that feat.

“That’s crazy,” Leftwich said. “I always say anytime you can do things that very few people [have done] in this league – [with] as long as this league has been going on – it speaks for itself. You allow everybody else to judge it, but any time you start speaking, ‘No one else has ever done this. Very few single amount of people – six or five people have done this,’ I think that’s a beautiful thing for any player. Any player that has played in this league long enough to have the ability to do that – there are a lot of good football players in this league that never have those type of opportunities or those type of things said about them.”

• BUCS VS. FALCONS PREVIEW PODCAST! – Tampa Bay’s 2019 season ends on Sunday against Atlanta, and the Bucs have the chance to finish Bruce Arians’ first year with an 8-8 record by sweeping the Falcons. What do the Pewter Reporters think of the 2019 campaign and Tampa Bay’s chances of winning its season finale? Find out in the latest Pewter Nation Podcast.

Pewter Nation Podcast 172: Bucs’ Final Chance To End Year On A High Note

The Bucs’ four-game winning streak was snapped in last Sunday’s 23-20 loss to Houston – a game in which quarterback Jameis Winston threw four interceptions, including his sixth pick-six of the year. Things got heated in an exchange about Winston between Mark Cook, Trevor Sikkema and yours truly. Click below to hear the fireworks.

Pewter Nation Podcast 171: Winston’s Season Of Giving (The Ball Away)

There is no better time to listen to a new Pewter Nation Podcast, which is presented by Chris Garrido of Westshore Financial, than on your drive home from work on Friday or early Saturday morning at the gym before college football begins. The next Pewter Nation Podcast will be recorded Sunday following the Bucs vs. Falcons game.

The popularity of the Pewter Nation Podcast continues to grow. In addition to listening to the Pewter Nation Podcasts on PewterReport.com you can also subscribe to the free podcasts at PodBean by clicking here and on SoundCloud by clicking here. And of course the Pewter Nation Podcast is also available on iTunes. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode.

• One player that really wants to see veteran right tackle Demar Dotson return for a 12th season in Tampa Bay is right guard Alex Cappa, who credits Dotson’s tutelage for aiding his development as a first-year starter.

Bucs RT Demar Dotson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Demar’s freaking tremendous, man,” Cappa said. “He’s the type of guy where sometimes to learn from him you’ve just got to watch him and then you’ve got to try and get stuff out of him because he’s got so much knowledge. When you play for 11 years you’re going to have knowledge. Sometimes I have to go to him to get that knowledge out of him, but you can learn a lot from Dot.”

Cappa has played well at right guard despite dealing with a broken forearm and an elbow injury this season. If Dotson, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, doesn’t return to Tampa Bay next year, Cappa could get an opportunity to replace him if the team doesn’t draft a right tackle in April. Cappa played left tackle at Humboldt State, but switched to right guard during his rookie season last year and also cross-trained at right tackle in the offseason.

• PEWTER REPORT HAS REACHED 34,000 TWITTER FOLLOWERS! One of our company goals this year was to reach 34,000 Twitter followers on the @PewterReport Twitter account and thanks to you – Pewter Nation – we accomplished that feat this past week. Thank you for your support!

If you aren’t already following our Pewter Report Twitter account, please follow us today. Nobody covers the Bucs offseason better than the PR staff cover, whether it’s East-West Shrine practices, Senior Bowl practices, the NFL Scouting Combine or NFL Owners Meetings in advance of free agency and the draft. Make sure you are following our @PewterReport Twitter account this offseason to keep up with all the action as we climb towards 35,000 in 2020.

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: PewterReport.com

• The Bucs are among five teams that have a 7-8 record and currently hold the 17th overall draft spot in 2020. Whether they move up or down in the draft order depends on whether the team wins or loses to 6-9 Atlanta on Sunday. Tampa Bay’s most pressing needs are along the offensive line at right tackle and right guard where the team could use upgrades, and also at running back where the team could use an upgrade over pending free agent Peyton Barber.

• All good things must come to an end, and that is the case for PewterReport.com’s partnership with Discount Garage Doors, which has been the sponsor of the SR’s Fab 5 column for the past three years. I’d like to thank Discount Garage Doors for their support and wish them well in their future marketing endeavors.

I am also thrilled to announce a new two-year partnership with Edmonson Electric • AC • Security that will make them the new title sponsor of my weekly SR’s Fab 5 column. I’ve become good friends with Edmonson Electric • AC • Security president Kevin Edmonson, and thank him and his team for supporting our efforts at PewterReport.com.

In addition to sponsoring the SR’s Fab 5 column, Edmonson Electric • AC • Security will also be sponsoring PewterReport.com’s Bucs draft coverage once again in the month of April. An official announcement will be made on the PewterReport.com home page just after the first of the year.

• And finally, as the Buccaneers’ 2019 season draws to a close, professional football lives on in Tampa Bay just after the new year in 2020. I’m talking about the debut of Tampa Bay’s XFL team – the Vipers.

For love of football.

That is the mission, that is the purpose, and that is the reason to believe in XFL 2.0 launching in February 2020.

Raymond James Stadium will play host to Tampa’s latest professional franchise, the Tampa Bay Vipers, one of the XFL’s eight teams. The football league is divided into two four-team divisions, East and West. The XFL East features the Vipers, DC Defenders, New York Guardians and St. Louis BattleHawks. The Dallas Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats, and Seattle Dragons comprise the XFL West. Each XFL team will host five home games and will play a schedule that features a home-and-home series against division rivals and one game against each team in the other division.

Boasting a faster and more efficient game – referred to as “Less Stall, More Ball” – the XFL will stay true to the core essence of America’s beloved sport. Official rules are expected to be released mid-month, but some tweaks include a running play clock, no extra-point kicks after touchdowns, and the potential for two forward passes behind the line of scrimmage. These innovations are evidenced through the recently released game ball, of which each team has its own unique color scheme, and refinements to ensure easier tracking for receivers and a patent-pending grip to allow for a tighter spiral.

In addition to tweaks to the game, the XFL is focused on revolutionizing the fan experience and ensuring affordability for individuals and families. Fans can purchase Vipers season tickets and single-game tickets at XFLVipers.com/tickets. Lower level season tickets start at just $20 per game single game tickets start at $26 each.