Data Magnifies Bucs’ Pass Blocking Woes

September 15th, 2020

One hidden ugly on film of Sunday’s Bucs-Saints game was LeSean McCoy getting blown up badly in pass blocking on a blitz up the gut.

But official NFL NextGen Stats data shows it wasn’t McCoy struggling.

In the NFL, if your quarterback is getting pressured steadily, then you’re typically in for a long day that includes turnovers. (Especially if your run game is subpar.)

NextGen stat technology tracks exactly where pass rushers are in relation to quarterbacks during each play, and then the computers add up the “pressure rate” allowed by the offense.

On Sunday, the Bucs were eighth-worst in the NFL at allowing QB pressure (29.7 percent of the time). And every team that allowed more than the Bucs also lost its game.

Coincidence? No.

One point of note, the Panthers attempted 34 passes against the Raiders on Sunday and Teddy Bridgewater was sacked just once and only was hit three times, twice by former Bucs pass rusher Carl Nassib.

43 Responses to “Data Magnifies Bucs’ Pass Blocking Woes”

  1. Go Bucs 72 Says:

    Have they cut 76 yet?

  2. Hodad Says:

    McCoy is way past his prime. Should’ve kept Dare over him who was a ST capt. Did our ST’s look bad Sunday? As long as Rojo, and Fournete are healthy, don’t see the need for any other back to be in the game. Vaughn should whatever snaps are left over, and McCoy can go. Also Davis needs to play over O’Conner, and take snaps from Nacho.

  3. HeyItsAdam Says:

    ….but but but ditching Jameis was supposed to FIX that!!!!

  4. Sarasota Garey Says:

    Its Donavan Smith, he is who we thought he is. Weve seen it for years now, and we still act surprised when he gives up big plays.

  5. Kobe Faker Says:

    “Leftwich doing Leftwich things

    Running up the gut 1st and 2nd down and making the QB convert on 3rd and long in front of the blitz

    Same playcalling equals same result

    Turn the Goat into the white Jaboo

    What do you get when you put Byron Leftwich and Dope Smith together?

    Leftover crap”

    Kobe Faker

  6. Darin Says:

    And Carolina didn’t get a single qb hit week one. We know what that means. DSmith’s gona give up the hattrick

  7. TheBucsAnthem Says:

    Byron Leftsuck is the #1 problem

    Bruce Arians for letting Byron Leftsuck is the #2 problem for letting him run the offense

    Donovan Smith is the #3 problem for just flat out being average to sucking for years

    NOW IS THE TIME FOR JASON LICHT – to make a move at LT………..cause we can’t continue with Donovan sucky Smith sucking it up!

    NOW IS THE TIME FOR JASON LICHT – to give Bruce Arians the ultimatum to strip Byron Leftsuck of OC duties and demote him to QB coach and then Bruce Arians become the OC.

    CMON!!!!!!!!!

  8. ocala Says:

    If Donavan Smith does not improve substantially the Bucs are going to have to bench him.
    I am hopeful the criticism will motivate him to play much better, but I have a concern he is weak minded.

  9. TheBucsAnthem Says:

    Donovan Smith will definitely give up the booty against Carolina

    INFACT…….the Defensive Coordinator for Carolina is praying that the Bucs will leave Donovan Sucky Smith at LT so they can BLOW HIM UP again this week.

    Yall watch…………………..BRADY has ZERO confidence in Donovan Sucky Smith

  10. TheBucsAnthem Says:

    @ Ocala

    Donovan sucky Smith is nothing more than a paycheck player

    has looks like a lazy sloth out there ………….

  11. Darin Says:

    On another note you people who wanted relevance should be happy. The Bucs are 9 pt favorites today after opening at 6. People are betting on em. More people than ever. That’s a big jump for an early weekday

  12. TheBucsAnthem Says:

    Odds making & betting will not improve Donovan sucky Smith’s poopy play

  13. Rico 210 Says:

    While I’ll agree to most of the comments, I won’t tear him down any further
    C’mon Smith! Get it together young man. We need you. Your intricate to our plans.
    Go Bucs

  14. Sarasota Garey Says:

    We should trade Smith, maybe we can get a 2nd for him?

  15. Allbuccedup Says:

    But BA and JL signed him to that 3 year 41 mil contract he was going to be the next pro bowler. No eye for talent just BS to sell tickets but sorry no ticket sales this year.

  16. chummaster01 Says:

    Come on yall lets just admit the obvious that Jameis Winston was a STUD QB that just needed some second year guidance from the QB whisperer thats right STUD the GOAT just proved that Sunday!! Jameis threw 30 INTs behind that Garbage line !! OH but dont forget led the League in passing!! And yet a washed up Retired coach who was on his last chance at glory sacrificed the forseable Buccaneer future by giving away the only QB in the League that can function behind THAT Line!!With the blessing of the Glazers and a lot of Yall who never played a competitive sport in your life beyond little League This cant be fixed TommyBoy is done . Yeah he may have some games where he puts up decent stats , but lets face it the Bucs trusted a guy that should have stayed retired ,remeber he didnt leave Arizona willingly!!

  17. Destinjohnny Says:

    It always goes bCk to Jason’s drafting
    If we had a good line, we’d win 11 games
    As it stands 9-7

  18. Bucfan81 Says:

    Need a rebuild on the line. The only 2 people on this offensive line that need to be kept is Marpet and Wirfs. Maybe Jensen but probably not at his salary. Even Barry Sanders couldn’t run behind this offensive line.

  19. Erik Hesson - Fine Artist - City of St Pete Says:

    D Smith looks so fat/flabby/out of shape too… Even for an offensive lineman.

    That man is LAZY AF.

    Looks like we seriously need to move Wirfs to LT and Haeg to RT

  20. adam from ny Says:

    i wish there was a way to see the rate difference from 1st half to 2nd half…

    we might top the list at 45% in the 3rd and 4th quarters…

    brady was getting heat, and if he was on grass instead of turf, that white jersey would have been all dirty

  21. adam from ny Says:

    one week in and a fly on the wall in the jeter mansion overheard:

    brady:

    “ya know giselle, maybe we shoulda just stayed with the hoody”

  22. Oneilbucs Says:

    Bucs Anthem I thought Jamies was the problem ? It’s funny because I was saying the same thing the past 4 years and all yall was saying that’s just a excuse for Jamies . But now that we have Brady It’s a problem now .

  23. Dano407 Says:

    If D Smith doesn’t drink some coffee pregame, he’s going to get Brady hurt.

  24. 813bucboi Says:

    BL is the problem?….folks are even more clueless than i thought…lol…

    BL wasnt playing LT….
    BL wasnt playing ST….
    BL wasnt playing defense when Dean gave up a huge gain….
    BL didnt jump offsides on 4&2….

    BL had a good game plan….BUT THEN TOs & penalties started to happen….

    yall str8 clowns….had we won and put up 40+ yall wouldve said it was because of Brady and BA….we lose, its BLs fault….

    i wouldve liked him stick to the run but thats hard to do when we’re turning the ball over….

    its 1 game folks…R-E-L-A-X!!!!!!!

    GO BUCS!!!!!

  25. Kobe Faker Says:

    “What do get when you put 813bucboi, Dope Smith and Bryon Leftwich togrther?

    Apologetic sh!t sandwich”

    Kobe Faker

  26. Jmarkbuc Says:

    Ocala

    Don’t know if you saw my response in a post from a few days ago… but I was asking you if having Brady would change the Buc’s eternal bad luck/general wackiness….

    I think they showed that on Sunday.. if DS can’t get motivated having the Goat as QB… nothing is gonna.

  27. Pewter Power Says:

    You are on drugs, you want people to admit Winston wasn’t the problem after one game with no real offseason? Winston is trash which is why he threw the most interceptions when NOT under pressure. Yea he’s more mobile but get over it we have 5 years of tape.

    Leftwich doesn’t block, how is it possible to improve the o line by benching or cutting the best left tackle on the team? You can’t cut him or trade him we are stuck with the guy this year. Let Brady call him out and go from there. I hope he struggles this week to and forces the front office to do something drastic

  28. JayWill Says:

    Winston had flaws but he covered for a lot of mistakes made by the oline and lack run game. He has been top 3 qb on 3rd down. Brady threw the ball away at times when Evans & Godwin were open deep because of pressure in his face to avoid hits where Winston, Luck and Palmer would make the throw and take the hit.

  29. Jmarkbuc Says:

    Bottom line is… we beat ourselves.

    Vea
    Dean
    Blocked FG
    That crazy muffed KO return
    Brady’s TO’s

    Strongly believe if Dean pulled his head out of his… and makes the play on Jared Cook pass ( maybe even picks it) that game was ours. Defense was playing lights out until then.

  30. BucsNation08 Says:

    Wasnt Bradys quick release suppose to fix this? Wasnt it always jameis fault and he made the o-line look bad? This is what ive been hearing for a few years now

  31. Bellingham Bucs Fan Says:

    Remember, if it had been up to Donavan Smith, there would be no season. That was your red flag right there and the cancer should have been cut out in the Spring. Bum.

  32. 813bucboi Says:

    what do you get when you put kobe and realist together?

    everything BUT the TRUTH!!!!!

    go find another scapegoat!!!!!!!…BL aint the one!!!!!!

    news flash….it was week1…lol…

    GO BUCS!!!!!

  33. Buc4ever Says:

    So now we get to admit that Jameis wasn’t the problem after all. In fact he kept plays alive with no blocking and no running game. Brady is too old to do the same.
    Sad organization with bad coaching, bad management, and a gullible ownership.

  34. Defense Rules Says:

    @813bucboi … “BL is the problem?….folks are even more clueless than i thought…lol”

    Bucs ran the ball on 40.0% of their plays (still too low IMO). On 1st down in the first half, they ran it 7 out of 11 times; ran it 8 of 15 first down attempts in the second half. So altogether on 1st down, they ran it 15 times out of 26 opportunities (57.7% … almost the reverse of the amount they ran it for the game overall).

    That makes them fairly predictable IMO, even to us fans. How much more-so must that seem to the Saints’ DLine, which is probably one of the best in the NFL? As I watched our OLine Sunday, I didn’t see a huge number of holes being created during run-blocking. How much of that do you think was due to the Saints’ DLine having a decent idea about what was coming Bucboi?

    Our OLine isn’t exactly overpowering on their best days against even average teams, but they always seem to struggle against elite teams. IMO part of them has to be on coaching, another part on play-calling and certainly another part on the players themselves. This is not new for the Bucs.

  35. 813bucboi Says:

    DR

    the only thing that was “predictable” is the fact that we werent going to look like a SB team in our first game vs a very good team…..

    how much of the playbook do you think brady knows Defense?….obviously, we know just like the saints knew the offense wasnt going to have the full/entire playbook open to them….bucs were going to stick to what they did best last year and see what works for them this year….

    throwing on 1st down makes you more predictable if you’re not hitting on those throws because it puts you behind the stick….which forces you to keep throwing…..and obviously, BL doesnt trust the timing brady and the WRs have just yet which was evident by the INT to evans and on a sack where the 2 players where crossing in the same area….

    if you take out the TOs, penalties, ST play and loafing plays, the play calling was fine….but when you have ALL those things going on, the play calling has to be perfect…..and even brady aint perfect….

    GO BUCS!!!!!

  36. Jeebs the Honey Bear Says:

    Ditch Leftwich and let Brady call the plays. I guarantee we will be MUCH better.

  37. OldBiscuit Says:

    Carolina +9??? Lock it in. No way this Bucs team will beat anyone by that number.

  38. Mike Says:

    Bucs made some bone headed plays and didn’t seem ready to go like the Saints were. Hopefully this loss will light a fire and get them focused for the rest of the season.

  39. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    Hire Coach Jim Caldwell – He an excellent communicator.
    An he knows this offensive like the back of his hand.

  40. Wsj 63 Says:

    So this is what we are doing now Last season Winston was getting his head ripped off but it wasnt the O Line then but now we have the LAMB its the Bad Play by the O Line man get out of here they know that they Made a bad Investment and trying to Cover it up

  41. Anonymous Says:

    Smith needs 2 go he sucks

  42. Rod Munch Says:

    Stop with the sky is falling nonsense. You people here are like women on their periods, all you dopes saying the season is over after one game were last week saying the Bucs were about to win the SB.

    The Saints are one of the better defenses in the NFL, and it wouldn’t be a shocker if they were the best unit in the NFL. Said that before the game, and what we saw was a really good defense. Still, had the special teams not completely f-ed over the team, the Bucs would have still been in it at the end.

    This Sunday, against the Panthers, I fully expect the Bucs to beat them down – just like I fully expected an ugly week 1 game against the Saints. If the Bucs look terrible on Sunday, then we can start the panic, a little.

  43. Kobe Faker Says:

    “IF

    BA/BL twins run 1st and 2and down and give Brady 3rd and long to convert, why will the outcome change

    Brady needs to be in shot gun 90% of the time and pass on 1st down

    Cant the sheep see what Kobe sees

    Brady is still very good but when in position/system to succeed like in new England

    Brady is terrible and will not last under Leftwich deep passing system

    It’s that simple

    If the Bucs offense looks like bradys Pat’s, we win

    If the Bucs offense looks like last week and last year we lose

    EOM”

    Kobe Faker