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It is not just the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 3-5 record to start the season that is a cause for concern, but there appears to be tension among the coaching staff. According to Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud, Bucs assistant head coach and run game coordinator Harold Goodwin appeared to take aim at offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich over the team’s lack of rushing attempts.
“It’s in there. I can’t control what the play-caller calls,” Goodwin said as the Buccaneers prepared to take on the Rams, per Stroud. “But it’s in there every week. It’s basically our base play. You start with that to create everything you do in the run game, from play-action passes to what we’re doing running-wise.
“We have it in there. We have a lot of runs. It’s just whether we get to them or not. It’s how the play-caller is feeling. It’s my favorite play by far because we’ve have a lot of success with it. It just depends on whether Byron is feeling like calling it that day or not. I can’t control that.”
The Bucs Rank Last in Both Rushing Yards & Attempts
Tampa Bay ranks last in several major rushing statistics including the lowest number of attempts per game (20.4) along with fewest yards on the ground (61.9 yards per contest). After Tampa Bay’s loss to Baltimore, star quarterback Tom Brady did not hold back on the team’s offensive struggles laying out a laundry list of issues.
“I think we’ve struggled pretty much at everything,” Brady explained during his October 28 postgame press conference. “Just struggled in the red area. Struggled on third down. Struggled in the run game, two point plays, short yardage. Backed up starting the first quarter, start of the third quarter. Not very good offensive football.”
Leftwich: ‘I Don’t Really Count Runs & Passes’
Tampa Bay opted not to make any changes on the coaching staff and also passed on making a move at the trade deadline. Time will tell if these decision turned out to be prudent.
When Todd Bowles was promoted to head coach, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Buccaneers signed him to a new five-year contract. This indicates Bowles has a long runway even if Tampa Bay is unable to turn their season around. Leftwich noted that rushing attempts is not a metric he uses to evaluate the offensive game plan.
“Me, personally, if you want to know how I really view it – I never count runs,” Leftiwch said candidly during a November 3 press conference. “I never count runs. I think you’ve got to score points, and however you get to runs… I see certain passes as runs. I see everything as a way to get rushing yardage. I don’t really count runs and passes – I don’t think you need to run it this certain amount to win, or pass it this certain amount to win. We’re always trying to do whatever we need to do or feel as though we need to do to win that football game that day.”
To Leftwich’s credit, some of the Bucs’ short passes to running backs essentially function the same way as carries in other team’s offenses. Regardless of rushing attempts, Tampa Bay is running out of time to find a solution for their offensive woes.
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