FAB 5. SR’s BUC SHOTS
• Dallas may be one of the NFL’s most average teams on third down, but the Cowboys are the league’s best on fourth down in terms of conversion percentage. Dallas is 8-of-9 on fourth down conversions this season (88.9 percent). By comparison, Tampa Bay is just 4-of-8 (50 percent) on third down conversions.

• Have you ever wondered why the Bucs don’t run the quarterback sneak – even in third-and-1 situations? That was the question posed to head coach Dirk Koetter this week and what ensued was a lively exchange.

“Depending on the quarterback,” Koetter said. “At one point in Jacksonville, David Garrard had 38 in a row, conversions How many a row does Jameis have? [Laughter] I guess we’re not much of a sneak team then.”
 
So why doesn’t Koetter trust Winston to run the sneak?

A penalty wiped out a Jameis Winston fumble – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

“That’s a hard play to practice because you really can’t practice it live,” Koetter said. “Some guys, just, they were good at it in college or they were good at it earlier in their career. Right now, we just prefer to let the professional runners run it and the professional passers pass it. That’s kind of how we’re looking at it right now.”
 
What about some of Winston’s highlight scrambles? Doesn’t that prove he can run the ball?

“Well, Jameis makes some really good runs, just not on that play.”

• After racing out to 5.5 sacks and three forced fumbles in the first 10 games of the season, Bucs rookie defensive end Noah Spence has had a quiet two weeks without a quarterback capture. Is Spence hitting a rookie wall? Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith doesn’t believe so.

“I think that he’s getting some more resources put his way and that’s a compliment,” Smith said. “Now the next step you take is okay, now that they may be turning the protection to you or giving more resources, now the great ones, the challenge is to come and make those plays. And we’ve got to do a better job and we’ve got to help him in some of the things that we can do schematically.

“But we’re very pleased with the progress that he’s made. That was a huge play on the pass deflection there [against New Orleans] when we had them backed up after we were able to punt them down and our special teams did such a great job getting us inside the 10-yard line.”

• If you’ve read by SR’s Fab 5 columns over the past two years you know how much appreciation and admiration I have for head coach Dirk Koetter. But I call it the way I see it, and that’s what PewterReport.com readers have come to respect about me and expect from me. I’m not picking the Bucs to beat the Cowboys, even though I think they can on Sunday Night Football. I’ll go into my reasoning more in PewterReport.com’s Predictions And Previews article tomorrow, but Koetter’s play-calling has me the most concerned heading into Dallas.

Koetter has called some conservative games lately due to the prowess shown by the Tampa Bay defense. The Bucs haven’t needed to score a lot of points to win their last five games due to the defense and the exceptional punting by Bryan Anger, general manager Jason Licht’s best free agent signing (and that’s saying something). That’s actually good head coaching by Koetter – knowing how the games are unfolding and doing what is necessary to win.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston and head coach Dirk Koetter – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

But Koetter wears two hats – head coach and offensive play-caller. His role as offensive coordinator has been lacking in recent weeks, especially after the scripted plays in the first quarter run out. The last two home games against Seattle and New Orleans are prime examples.

The Bucs raced out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter against the Seahawks and didn’t score another point over the last three quarters, yet won 14-5. Against the Saints last week, Koetter’s offense dominated the first quarter and had 10 points on the board early in the second quarter, but could only manage two more field goals the rest of the way in a 16-11 victory.

I’m not picking on Koetter, who has acknowledged he has to step it up several times this season, most recently on Sunday night after the Saints game.

“The main reason we’re leaving points on the field is the play-caller is not going a good enough job,’’ Koetter said.

After halftime it seems as if Koetter doesn’t know if it’s better to come out and try to establish the running game or whether it’s more important to get Jameis Winston back into a rhythm. One drive it’s the running game, the next drive it’s about Winston and oftentimes that leads to inconsistency, too many punts and not enough points.

In order to win in Dallas, a lot of Bucs players need to step it up, but Koetter needs rise to the occasion, too. And that means Tampa Bay needs to continue to light up the scoreboard in each and every quarter without a lull. If the Bucs don’t get 24 points out of Winston and Co., I don’t think they’ll win in Dallas. The Cowboys are a different team at home – a much better team than they’ve shown the last two weeks on the road.