Bucs Film Room: 2nd Half Drives vs. SEA

A few days ago, we looked at the Bucs offense’s first half play-calling last week against Seattle. We will now finish up by evaluating the second half. To set the stage, let’s remember where the Bucs stood coming out of half-time. Things had gone pretty well for Tampa Bay overall in the first half.

They had mounted two touchdown drives, while the defense had not allowed Seattle to score at all. To start the second half Tampa Bay had to kick off to the Seahawks, who then mustered their first scoring drive of the day in the form of a field goal. Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich now had the opportunity to put his foot on the gas with an 11-point lead and 27 minutes of game clock remaining.

Drive Seven: What Was That?

For the first drive of the second half Leftwich called what was becoming a staple of the day: a first down run. As I detailed in the first half-analysis, the probability of this being a successful play is low. And it was not a successful play, netting just two yards. Running from a shotgun look with the offense more spread out was a very small step in the right direction though.

This put the Bucs in 2nd and eight. Throughout this season and prior this had been a more pass-obvious look with Leftwich leaning on quick hitters to make-up a chuck of the yardage needed to reach the line to gain. Screens and speed outs were call of choice. However, in this game the Bucs offense had gone with a bit of a tendency-counter by doubling down on run calls against Seattle’s light boxes.

It would be interesting to see what Leftwich called here. From shotgun in 12 personnel, he opted for a quick developing route combination known as “hoss” where Mike Evans ran a quick hitch from the outside while Chris Godwin attempted to clear out any underneath defenders by going vertical from the slot. The result was a five-yard gain to Evans setting up third and three.

Third and three can be tough for defenses because they legitimately have to defend both the run and pass. The Bucs did Seattle no favors by staying in shotgun, where they had established they were willing to run out of during this game.

After starting in a 2×2 look, quarterback Tom Brady motioned tight end Cam Brate to the left, setting up a 3×1 look to the running back’s side. This left receiver Julio Jones isolated to the boundary side against cornerback Mike Jackson. Jones was able to get leverage on Jackson running a speed out for an easy completion and a first down.

It was at this point that the Bucs decided to introduce a new wrinkle. Tampa Bay opted on first and 10 from their own 41 to run a wildcat look with running back Leonard Fournette lined up as quarterback in shotgun and Brady lined out very wide to the field as a receiver. Fournette took the direct snap and felt his way up field for a modest two-yard gain.

It was an interesting look that was designed to feel out how Seattle might handle something they most likely did not prepare for. Cornerback Tariq Woolen opted to stay tight to the box and left Brady wide open. If Fournette had so chosen (assuming he had the option) he could have flicked the ball out to Brady for a potentially decent gain.

The Bucs followed up this trick play with two more runs. The first from shotgun for seven yards, followed by one from under center on a toss sweep needing one yard that converted for a new set of downs.  At this point in the drive Tampa Bay had first and 10 just on Seattle’s side of the 50.

They had run six plays. The four runs had netted 13 yards (3.25 avg.), while the two passes had resulted in 10 yards (5.0 avg.). The Bucs weren’t calling plays designed to be explosive and weren’t getting explosive results. They were two-for-two on third downs which is an unsustainable rate. You could tell this drive’s strategy was designed to eat clock and so far, the execution was allowing that to happen.

On the next play the Bucs went heavy with 13 personnel as Josh Wells checked back in as an eligible tight end. This was the fourth play that Wells had done this for in the game. On all three previous plays the Bucs had run the ball, so it was a nice change-up that they opted for play-action in this situation.

Flooding the left side of the field by bringing tight ends Brate (on a medium crosser) and Cade Otton on a short drag with Evans going vertical over the top, Brady was able to get the ball to Otton for an eight-yard catch and run. This was one of the cooler plays of the game from a scheming standpoint as the Bucs set up a tendency and then ran a fun counter for a solid gain.

Tampa Bay followed this up on 2nd and two with a pass from shotgun for 18 yards. Brady hit Godwin running a fade with a beautifully thrown back-shoulder pass. It was one of the Bucs many explosive plays on the day.

The Lenny Pass

On one hand there has been a large call all year for Leftwich to become more creative in his play-calling. So, technically this is an example of him evolving right? Well not really. At least not for me. The creativity I am looking for rests within the Bucs traditional offense. The play-action pass to Otton is a great example. Finding counters to previously established tendencies. Layering of ideas and concepts to prevent the defense from feeling confident that they know what’s coming next. Great examples from this game in addition to the Otton play were the 2nd down runs (for a single game change-of-pace), the fake screen to Julio, and the shotgun runs.

But I just can’t get behind this call at this point in the game. The Bucs were in field goal range with an opportunity to go back up by two touchdowns. Brady was 4-4 for 36 yards on the drive. And they had just shown this look five plays prior. If the original wildcat look had been early in the first half and the Bucs tried this as the first play of the series, I might have been able to get behind this. But not at this point in this situation.

Drive Eight: A Third Touchdown

After the defense got the ball back via a turnover, Brady and the offense would take over for the eighth time of the day with about two-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter. Still up 11, the game was far from out of reach for Seattle. This was especially true after that last drive where they had marched down field and were threatening to score before Devin White made perhaps the play of the game with his forced fumble of Seattle quarterback Geno Smith.

Backed up on their own 13 the Bucs started with a run from under center. The personnel package was another heavy 13 with Josh Wells in as an extra blocker. This was the first play Wells was in on since the Otton catch. The run was more successful than previous ones in the same spot because a) now the Seahawks had to think about the possibility of play-action, and b) the Bucs ran counter and caught the Seahawks selling out to what they thought was the play-side. Kudos to Chris Godwin with a fantastic block to seal the edge and spring running back Rachaad White for a solid seven-yard gain.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

For me personally, there were aspects of this play-call that I liked (namely the variation in run design), but I still was not a fan of the call of a run at all in this spot. Again, consider the circumstances. Up until that point the Bucs had run the ball 24 times for 79 yards (3.29 avg.). It wasn’t that their running game had been very good, and that was even more apparent on first down.

The following play was a toss sweep that got blown up behind the line of scrimmage. On 2nd and three I am totally fine with the call for a run here. The Seahawks did a great job of reading it and linebacker Jordyn Brooks made a great play. Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.

On 3rd and 7 the Bucs went to a 3×1 look out of shotgun. And as for the play-design they decided to go back to a theme for the day, picking on Brooks. With Godwin in the slot, Brooks was tasked with covering him underneath backed by cone coverage from the deep safety.

The Bucs sent Godwin on a simple hitch/curl where he was able to turn in front of Brooks for an easy first down. It was clear throughout the day that the Bucs thought the key to having a successful passing attack was finding Brooks in coverage and sending the ball that way. And it worked.

The next play featured White’s angry run for 29 yards. The variation in running concepts was a huge boon for Leftwich in this game and this play in particular. And that was followed up by a more traditional Bucs running concept that netted two yards. On 2nd and eight the Bucs caught Seattle with a blown assignment to get Otton a 25-yard completion where he was wide open running a seam route.

This was followed by another first down run that yielded little (1 yard). On 2nd and 9 the Bucs then went back to a counter of a counter. During the first half the Bucs had run a fake screen to Jones that worked off of a tendency that they had developed throughout the season of running screens on 2nd and medium-to-long. The result was an 11-yard completion to Evans.

In a scene very reminiscent to the initial play of this drive, Leftwich decided to run back to the initial tendency after giving Seattle something to think about.

Back to the screen. And the Bucs put the Seahawks defenders on skates. Multiple defenders pull in on the play-action fake, drop hard to make up for it, before trying to come back in on the screen. Kudos to Leftwich on this call. That’s great sequencing.

A third and short run to convert a first down and the Bucs were now set up with 1st and goal from the four. The final play of the drive was one I really enjoyed. It featured two different route concepts designed to pick defenders and give Bucs receivers easier looks to get the ball, rather than their traditional mantra of winning one-on-one in standalone route concepts.

Up top of the screen Brady has an option to get White the ball in the flat with both Brate and Otton acting as picks/screens. Underneath Evans and Godwin are running tiered out routes that allow Evans to become interference for Godwin. Brady ultimately opts for Godwin for an easy six.

Drive Nine: An Interception Invites Seattle Back In The Game

Up by 12, the Bucs took over following a Seattle touchdown and failed two-point conversion attempt. With just over eight minutes left on the clock, the idea at this point is clearly run-down time. Although I would argue that in a day and age where offenses can seemingly score multiple times at will in the last two-minutes of play it may not be the best strategy to just try and burn clock over scoring points.

The Bucs started out with an under-center run for Keyshawn Vaughn. The play was blown up for no gain due to Cade Otton failing to secure a block against Seahawks edge Bruce Irvin. On 2nd and 10, Brady attempted a pass to Jones on a dagger concept where he ran a dig from the #1 underneath a clearout by Evans from #2. The play-call was sound, but the pass fell incomplete.

Facing third and long Brady had to navigate a difficult pocket before eventually checking down to Vaughn who made a great play to get just enough yardage to convert the first down. But let’s go back to the play design, because Vaughn was an option of last resort there.

It looks to me like this play was designed to get Evans the ball on the crosser from the closed side. With Jones going vertical and both safeties following Godwin’s crosser from the opposite side, the Bucs had set up a wide-open hole for Brady to lead Evans on where he had a good shot of securing the catch with good positioning on Woolen. I like the play call as a continuation of successful calls featuring crossing routes.

The Bucs opted for another first down run that netted two yards before what ended up being the final play of the drive.

From a concept perspective this could have created an open look to Julio Jones underneath. Unfortunately, Brady would never have been able to get to this read because Nick Leverett lost his one-on-one pretty quickly and Brady had to get the ball out quick. He sees Evans is releasing to an open window and tries to get the ball over linebacker Cody Barton. It wasn’t a great read, but I don’t think Brady just didn’t see Barton.

Barton makes a fantastic play on the ball though. The Bucs ran this concept earlier in the game when Brooks bit down on the underneath route. If Brady was expecting this, the window he was throwing into would have been a lot bigger. Seattle may have gotten one over on Leftwich and Brady on that one.

Drive Ten: Closing It Out

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs got the ball back after a Seattle touchdown with 3:55 left in the game. Tampa Bay started with another gun run on first down that yielded a single yard. With 2nd and 9 looming, Leftwich then went for a pass, which statistically is the right call for the situation. Brady hits Godwin on a trailing angle route where he had to fight through a pressing double-team off the line of scrimmage. That secured the Bucs a first down and really put the pressure on Seattle.

With the new set of downs, they ran again for three yards, making Seattle use their first timeout. Now with 2nd and 7 upon them the Bucs elected to go back to a shotgun run. Over the past few 2nd and long’s, the Bucs had gone back to their pass-happy ways and the run in this situation is one that I like. White got 12 yards, a new set of downs and forced Seattle to use their second timeout of the half. At this point the Seahawks best hope was to get the ball back with about 70 seconds left in the game and no timeouts.

This set up another great call that effectively killed all of Seattle’s hopes. From under center Brady goes play-action and finds Jones over the middle on an easy crosser.

Despite center Robert Hainsey getting beat quickly, Brady deftly throws a perfect pass to Jones for 17 yards and the game-sealing first down. Given the game situation when you definitely would expect the Bucs to run. This is especially expected given that the Bucs have been running like it’s the only thing they can do on first down throughout this game.

After the two-minute warning the Bucs go to another run that White breaks for 18 yards before going to the ground and officially sealing the game.

Leftwich Added Some Positive Things, But A Lot Is Still Left To Be Desired

I think I highlighted quite a bit in this game that the Bucs added dimensionally in terms of counters. From a macro view, they ran out of shotgun and passed from under center more. They also had a much higher percentage of play-action. I will also concede (although many others won’t) that I liked the 2nd down run calls as a one-game tendency breaker. The Bucs diversified their running concepts which led to more success as well.

On a more nuanced level you saw more counters in terms of the fake screen, followed by the screen to Brate later in the game. Similarly, the play-action pass to Otton from heavy 13. here were some cool things to like about the overall gameplan and specific play calls in this game. But you still have to come back to the overlying strategy to run the ball 24 times on first down for 88 yards (3.67 avg.) while generating a -0.193 epa/play. It didn’t kill them in this game, but you can’t expect it to not be detrimental to the team’s success in the future.