Bucs Mailbag: What’s Wrong With The Run Game?

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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: What were the initial impressions of the offensive game plan called by “The Human CELSIUS,” Dave Canales?

ANSWER: Well, the start of the game certainly seemed rough, didn’t? It’s not a good thing when backup tight end Ko Kieft has three targets in the passing game before Mike Evans or Chris Godwin has his first catch. I think we can all agree on that.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Not that Dave Canales was necessarily calling for all those shots to go to Kieft, although the second one did look like he was the intended target. Kieft had a step on the defender, he just turned around way too soon for the ball and mistimed it. That was due to the fact that Kieft is an unexperienced receiver. Kieft was just part of Baker Mayfield’s progression, and Kieft was actually open and could have had a touchdown on his third target had he and Mayfield connected.

In general, the offense as a whole looked like four offensive linemen – with the exception of center Robert Hainsey – playing new positions in a new offense with a new quarterback and a new running back running plays from a new offensive coordinator. All of this while simply not getting enough snaps together in the preseason.

It was glaringly apparent that the Bucs offense should’ve gotten more work together than just the three drives in the preseason finale. That led to five inefficient drives that produced just 30 yards and zero first downs in the first half.

Having said that, Canales really shined right before halftime in the two-minute drill, which produced a game-tying touchdown. In the second half, I thought he outfoxed defensive coordinator Brian Flores, whose blitzes and checks in the first half really stymied Tampa Bay’s offense. But once quarterback Baker Mayfield settled down and got into rhythm as a passer, and Canales settled in to a rhythm as play-caller, the offense did enough to pick up first downs and put the final 10 points on the scoreboard to secure a Week 1 win.

QUESTION: We saw a good, balanced attack from the offense, which I’ve been craving since 2015, but the YPC (yards per carry) is still troubling. How is it teams like Dallas make running the rock so easy with lanes open for days and Tampa Bay can barely keep a lane open?

ANSWER: The best is yet to come for the Bucs offensive line and rushing attack. As previously stated, this new offensive line is a work in progress, and Rachaad White is a relatively new starter. White had just five games during his rookie season with double-digit carries. Four of those were less than 15-carry games, and the most attempts he had was 22 carries, which came in Germany against Seattle in which he had a career-high 105 yards. White had 17 carries for 39 yards (2.3 avg.) at Minnesota on Sunday.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles made the decision to rest his starters and not risk injuries in meaningless preseason games. Fine, but there were some consequences for that decision. A running game takes time to gel and for the offensive line, tight ends and running back to get in sync and find a rhythm. At times, the tight ends were the culprit for some blown blocks and missed assignments, too. It wasn’t just all on the offensive line.

There were two other things at play in Minnesota on Sunday. First, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores was brought in to fix Minnesota’s leaky run defense from a year ago. Like Bowles, Flores is a high-pressure play-caller, who brings safeties and linebackers on blitzes against both the run and the pass. He’s not going to make it easy to run the ball just with how many bodies he’ll bring into the box.

Second, Rachaad White was tentative as a runner in the Bucs’ season opener. That was pretty apparent. There were times when White needed to hit the gas pedal and accelerate through the hole instead of tip-toeing. I think White will learn from Sunday’s game and improve as the season goes on with more carries. If not, the Bucs have Sean Tucker waiting in the wings.

You mentioned Dallas, and the Cowboys offensive line has been together in generally the same system for several years now, and starting running back Tony Pollard is in his fifth season. There is no substitute for experience.

QUESTION: Without the All-22, what did you think of the O-line? Also it seemed like there was a lot of low snaps, is that an area of concern?

ANSWER: The run blocking needs some work for sure. But in pass protection I thought the offensive line was pretty good, especially in pass protection. Baker Mayfield was only hit twice the entire game and sacked just once. That came from Danielle Hunter, who also had one of the QB hits. Hunter is the Vikings’ best pass rusher and a three-time Pro Bowler with four double-digit sack seasons.

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke – Photo by: USA Today

Right tackle Luke Goedeke actually did a solid job against him for much of the game. Goedeke got flagged in the first quarter for a hold on an outside speed rush. Then he gave up a sack on a third-and-5 situation, also in the first quarter. But on that sack, the Vikings rushed three and dropped eight into coverage and Mayfield held on to the ball too long. Mayfield also bypassed two escape lanes during the play and instead backed up deeper into the pocket and right into Hunter. That sack was just as much on Mayfield as it was Goedeke.

I think Goedeke and the rest of the line settled in well against the Vikings pass rush as the game went on, and the game tape and the final stats bear that out. The times when Mayfield was really pressured was from the outside, and that was more on the tight ends when it came to pass pro than the offensive line. Most of the pressure that Mayfield received came off the edge in the form of blitzes designed to neutralize QB rollouts and bootlegs.

As for the low snaps, there were a few by Robert Hainsey, and that should get cleaned up moving forward. As long as the offensive line makes some strides in the running game, I think the unit could turn out to be a team strength as the season progresses.

QUESTION: When was our last field goal from 55+ yards?

Bucs K Chase McLaughlin – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Matt Gay nailed a 58-yard field goal in 2019 during his rookie season in Tampa Bay. That kick came in a 55-40 win over the Los Angeles Rams at the L.A. Coliseum. Former Bucs kicker Ryan Succop nailed a 54-yard field goal last season in a 20-18 loss at Pittsburgh.

New kicker Chase McLaughlin’s 57-yard field goal at Minnesota proved to be the game-winner. It was also tied for the fifth-longest field goal in Bucs history. That 57-yarder tied his career-long field goal, which came in 2021 when he was the Browns kicker in a 26-6 win over the Bears.

McLaughlin, who is coming off a perfect preseason in Tampa Bay, made all four of his kicks in his Buccaneers’ debut. He is now 18-of-22 in his career on field goal tries of 50+ yards.

QUESTION: This might be more than a Bucs Mailbag question, but I am curious how Todd Bowles and the defense adjusted to limit Justin Jefferson and the Vikings off in the second half.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I haven’t seen the All-22 film yet to really get a bead on how Todd Bowles and the Bucs defense slowed down Pro Bowl wide receiver Justin Jefferson. So my analysis will be from the TV version of the film, and a big assist from Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo, who helped me analyze the second half of the game defensively. Jefferson took advantage of zone coverage in the first half and had seven catches for 138 yards with the game tied 10-10.

But in the second half, Bowles made an adjustment to a different zone, likely Quarters (Cover 4), to limit his ability to go deep. Once I can see the All-22 film, I’ll have a better read of exactly what type of zone slowed Jefferson down. He had just two catches for 12 yards in the second half as the Bucs outscored the Vikings 10-7.

The other thing that limited Jefferson was Kirk Cousins and some of the Vikings’ play calls. Minnesota had 17 pass plays in the second half, and Jefferson was only targeted on two of them – a quick, speed out on the second play of half and a quick hitch on final drive. Minnesota consciously called plays away from him.

There was a screen to Alexander Mattison, and a play-action bootleg near Tampa Bay’s goal line with Jefferson running the cross away from the boot. There was a swing pass to Mattison for a touchdown, and a tight end screen to T.J. Hockenson, etc. There were also some effective pressures by the Bucs defense that disrupted Cousins’ throws or caused him to check the ball down.

QUESTION: How bad is Calijah Kancey’s calf injury?

ANSWER: The good news is that it seems like Calijah Kancey didn’t really re-injure his calf in the first quarter of the Minnesota game. Rather, it tightened up on him and the training staff took the precaution of ruling him out for the rest of the game. The Bucs’ top draft pick played just 11 snaps before leaving.

Pewter Report provided an injury update on Sunday afternoon, and Bucs head coach Todd Bowles might have more of an update when he speaks to the media at 12:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon.