LeSean McCoy Reveals Major Change To Bucs Offense

August 31st, 2021

A look inside the Bucs’ surge

Now this is an eye-opener.

One of the great running backs of all-time was a backup on the Bucs last season, LeSean “Shady” McCoy, who ranks 22nd in career rushing yards in the NFL.

McCoy is looking for work and also is dabbling as a fantastic guest on various media outlets.

Recently, McCoy checked in with The Herd With Colin Cowherd and was asked to take the audience behind the curtain and inside Tampa Bay’s revival/explosion late last season.

Joe was at the edge of his Big Storm beer-stained seat.

Brady talked to the team about how it would gel after the bye, per McCoy, and it came to fruition.

“I think a little bit that really helped out also was more just I think Coach Arians gave [Tom Brady] a little bit more control of the offense,” McCoy explained. “You see Tom Brady, he’s so humble. He’s such a great player, man, he’s so humble. And there’s times as a player, ‘Hey Tom, you want this play. Tell them.’ His thing is more, ‘Hey, they’re the coaches. I’m the player. That’s how it works.’ I think it’s more of the Belichick the Patriots thing over there.

“So, after the bye week it changed up a little bit and he got some of his plays, got his tight ends involved and some more play-actions, you know, taking shots down field but also managing the game and it changed after the bye week.”

Prior to that quote, McCoy talked about how Brady prefers the short-passing game and taking fewer shots than are called for in the Bucs offense.

Joe finds this all very interesting. It blows a hole into those who think Brady was making demands when he arrived in Tampa and the Bucs were tailoring things to Brady desires out of the gate.

It also makes you wonder if Bucco Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich felt their offense was underperforming and then turned to Brady for help entering the bye week.

Does this mean, Cameron Brate and Rob Gronkowski are sneaky special value in fantasy drafts this year? Joe would mention Giovani Bernard, but Joe was a little spooked by his drops the other night.

Regardless, hearing this from McCoy makes Joe even more certain that Brady should have won league MVP last season.

44 Responses to “LeSean McCoy Reveals Major Change To Bucs Offense”

  1. Coburn Says:

    Was pretty clear to me after the bye they were working in more things Brady liked. I noticed less go go routes where the defense just played two deep and they ran themselves into double coverage. Was more quick throws to sideline, screens, etc. It resulted in bringing a safety up a bit more and thing soorning up for their shots

  2. Medicated Pete Says:

    When TB12 took over as GM & Head Coach, this organization finally turned around after 20yrs

  3. Bradinator Says:

    League MVP?! He didn’t even make the Pro Bowl! Unreal. All the guy does is win and do things nobody has ever done. Not special at all (insert eyeroll here).

  4. Hodad Says:

    There were times in this offense whether it was Jameis, or Brady where the play called for the long ball on a 3rd, and 2. Great trying to catch the defense off guard, but the smarter play would’ve been a short pass to pick up the 1st down. Kudos to BA, and BL for letting Tom do what he does best, move the chains. This offense became much more dangerous when they let Tom pick his spots. The shots down field would still come, but let Tom keep getting 1st downs, and let him choose when it’s time to fire it long.

  5. PassingThru Says:

    This isn’t news for all but the most stubborn who insist that the offense didn’t change after the bye week. Kind of a strange contention.

  6. Lamarcus Says:

    This is old news. If anyone who watched Bucs games since Arians been here knew Brady installed his offense at point or another. There was no more ints because Brady was on pace for about 20 and then the short passes came about and more wins

  7. Buc1987 Says:

    Brady’s running the show!

  8. PassingThru Says:

    I don’t know if I like this move. Maybe it would have worked if Brady wasn’t the 6th best QB.

  9. Cobraboy Says:

    The league-wide Brady hate/jealousy was on full display last season.

    In the history of the NFL, how many QBs come to a team cold, with no preseason, and lead a team to the Lombardi? How, exactly, is that NOT MVP material?

    And why is the MVP voted on BEFORE the end of the SB?

    Primadonna Rogers can’t carry Brady’s jockstrap.

  10. DavidBigBucFan99 Says:

    This proves what I’ve always said when you look at what Arians has done on other teams 1) QBs always throw lots of ints their 1st year 2) He makes little use of TEs other than blocking and 3) Makes little use of rbs. Last year it’s obvious Brady had to learn a new system so he struggled, but Arians was trying to pound a square peg into a round hole and things didn’t get consistently better until HE changed his mentality and stubbornness and made plays that suited Brady more without giving up on the aggressiveness of the offense. I personally believe Brady loves the aggressiveness of this offense, but needed some of what he knows succeeds.

  11. DavidBigBucFan99 Says:

    Joe tell me if you don’t want me posting on you site anymore instead of putting me in your moderation list for no apparent reason other than my political and racial ideologies. There are hundreds of commenters in moderation, or who have moderation triggered based on what they typed. Joe is legally responsible for every word published here, not the commenter, so like any small business owner, Joe exercises caution and discretion with what is published. Joe deletes 100s of comments daily, even entire posts at times. After all, this site is the only product Joe has to sell. Also, Joe doesn’t invest a lot of time in the comments, and Joe doesn’t like to mislead advertisers. Joe’s partners are paying to be on a football site, not a political or medical one. Thank you for understanding how Joe embraces the American way of doing business. –Joe I’ve been in moderation all of today even though nothing I’ve posted is inflammatory that deserves this level of censorship. This mess happens on regular so be men about it. You have my e mail address so let me know and I won’t bother

  12. gotbbucs Says:

    The teams record and performance prior to the bye reflects this. I just hope Arians and Leftwich realize that this guy is a king maker and they get the hell out of the way for what he has left in his career.
    Like I said before, the only thing that can conceivably slow this team down on offense is a rash of injuries or coaching. That’s literally it. As long as Brady is healthy and he is allowed to do what he likes to do on offense they won’t be stopped.

  13. SB Says:

    DON’T TAKE ANY BUCS’ PLAYERS ON OFFENSE IN FF EXCEPT BRADY!!
    Too many mouths to feed and only one ball to go around.

  14. lambeau Says:

    I agree with Hodad–let Tom move the chains–he is not averse to the long ball when it’s open, as he demonstrated when he had Randy Moss.

  15. Bucsfanman Says:

    I love how people make it sound as though BA’s (and BL) offense was this putrid sputtering train-wreck before Brady’s arrival. What is the single biggest difference on this football team? The man under center.
    It’s more a statement of what the previous QB couldn’t do, IMO.

    Of course a coach worth his weight in salt is going to adjust. Remember, this team was learning each other.

  16. The Red Mirage Says:

    Props to you Joe, for having the fortitude to sit through an episode of The Herd. That guy is absolutely terrible.

  17. Alanbucsfan Says:

    The whole team improved as the season went on, especially with addition of AB and dominance of front 7 (the 2020 Bucs version of “7 blocks of granite”), but Brady’s greatest asset is his decision making – his internal clock about when to get rid of the ball is uncanny- more than makes up for his lack of mobility.

  18. rrsrq Says:

    So glad we got Brady, the straw that stirs the drink. Those clamoring for 1st team all-pro, pro bowl, ranked higher in the top 100. Everything was based on last year regular season – the Bucs won the Super Bowl as a Wildcard team, yes the offense started humming, second half of the Chiefs game, but it was the defense that also started humming after getting embarrassed in the first half of the chiefs game. Brady was a catalyst, but so where the coaches and the other side of the ball and Succop (how about not worrying about the kicker for once)

  19. ModHairKen Says:

    TB may prefer the shorter passing game, but down the stretch he seemed to really take advantage of the longer throws. Miller in GB playoff game.

  20. Marine Buc Says:

    Good thing Brady took over. Leftwich is a very lackluster play caller…

    How many times do you run on first down for negative yards before you pull your head out of your rear end and try something different. Good grief.

  21. Dusthty Rhothdes Says:

    This year, offensively for Tampa could be special after an offseason of Byron and Brady syncing together the playbook and situational football of what Tahmmy likes; cannot wait

  22. geno711 Says:

    No doubt Brady has the ability to influence what plays were working for him and the offense. But go read Brady’s own quotes. Read todays quotes from McCoy that Brady got a “little bit” more control.

    Not sure how some then get to it was a Brady fully controlled offense after the break with none of the plays BA’s or Leftwich’s.

    But this is a losing battle to all the hot take guys on national media and apparently on this Joe Buc’s fan site.

    It is too simple for this fan base now to say that if a run play does not work or a long pass play does not work that it is BA or Leftwich’s fault.

    Let me ask anyone this?
    How many better offensive seasons did Brady have in his 20 year history with NE than his 1st year with Tampa Bay? 1 for sure. Maybe not 2. Certainly not 5.

    But for some reason we do not want to give any of the offensive coaches credit for any of it.

    Last year Brady had his:
    1. Highest completion percentage ever.
    2. 2nd highest TD passes ever.
    3. 2nd lowest sack percentage ever.
    4. 3rd highest yards ever.

    This was all without a preseason.
    Feel like this coaching staff deserves a lot of credit.

    I prefer to pile a ton of praise on Brady and a ton on the coaching staff.

    Appears that the majority on this site want to give 90 percent to Brady.

  23. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    You have to focus on Bernard’s entire body of work…..not just a couple of passes in a preseason game.

    I’m quite confident everyone will be happy we have him…..Just ask Tom….

    He gets who he likes…..Tyler Johnson, Scotty Miller, Jaelon Darden, Gronk, Lenny & Gio…..
    He probably sanctioned the jettison of Huddy…..although, I think he liked him.

  24. geno711 Says:

    Marine Buc.

    The Bucs ran the ball on 1st down the 3rd lowest of all NFL teams last year.

    What is your sweet spot on how few times the Bucs should run on 1st down?

  25. BigPoppaBuc Says:

    No risk it no biscuit turned into no compromise no ring after the bye. What we saw during the Super Bowl run was a beautiful blend of offensive schemes. That bomb to Scotty too hotty against the Packers showed the aggressive approach can put teams away at the right time. The Brady way resulted in longer drives, more first downs and a rested defense that took full advantage. 17 games of this formula should make for a very, very fun season.

  26. August 1976 Buc Says:

    Brady was in the Shot-Gun in Houston, THAT IS HUGE, BA would never do that, But Brady thrives in the Gun. Joe you brought up here on JBF in the offseason about the Shot Gun being installed, and we all saw 7-7 drive ending in a TD and the other Drive, 2 90+ drives. Again Brady and the offense is going to explode this year, and historic numbers will be posted.

    Maybe they score 50+ 3 times this year. We shall see, but “Little D” Cowgirls are going to be hurting, not a good night for their Defense to get any confidence, lol

    GO BUCS!!!!

  27. Marine Buc Says:

    @ bigpoppa

    Agreed 100%. Watching film from the first half of the season and compare it to the second half of the season. I noticed a difference after Brady was allowed more influence. Play action on first down is a good thing rather than lame runs up the middle that constantly go nowhere…

    Thank goodness for Brady.

  28. SlyPirate Says:

    HILARIOUS

    Two years ago we’d all be hating on TB12.

    Now we’re all defending him.

    Crazy times.

  29. Chesapeake Bay Bucco Says:

    “…Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich felt their offense was underperforming…” well, if they did it was because of the inability to practice due to Covid, not because there is anything wrong with their offense….which is keyed upon the ability of the QB to read the D and exploit favorable matchups….an offense which took some time for TB12 to learn and master, as would be expected.

  30. geno711 Says:

    I prefer more play actions.

    It does not work for Aaron Rodgers or Big Ben but it works for Tom Brady.
    But that also means we have to run at least as much as we did last year on 1st downs. They will not all be great runs that lead to 1st downs but it will set up the play action for the rest of the game.

  31. geno711 Says:

    Maybe some armchair football coach will find that you never have to run the football to be successful at play action passing.

    Apparently, we can just do play action every time and totally eschew any running according to some.

    I will go with the coaching staff that ran the football the 3rd fewest amount of times on 1st down and produced what visually to me appeared to be the best Buc’s offense ever.

  32. Wild Bill Says:

    I was shocked at Giovani’s drops! That’s supposed to be his speciality! Hope he settles into the consistent player he has been all career. Maybe he ate a greasy Itallion sub just before game time?

  33. Tackleblockwin Says:

    The way I see it is that before the bye week Brady was learning what everyone else on the team already knew. He obviously had a lot to catch up on. During and after the buy week, little by little, the Bucs added some plays Brady thought would help the team. The coaches and Brady did it the right way.

  34. Anonymous Says:

    This is just part of the story of the 2020 Bucs. I think the common thread for all these stories is people putting their egos aside to make themselves and their team better.

    Just focusing on Brady, just think of the egos involved with all the teams that had a chance to land Tom but didn’t even pursue him. And whether Tom brought up changing the offense or the staff did, bravo to the staff and players for being practical and making the necessary changes to bring home the Super Bowl in our own stadium.

  35. DoooshLaRue Says:

    No way guys.

    BL is the Master Mind!
    🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣

  36. firethecannons Says:

    DavidBigBucFan99 Says:
    August 31st, 2021 at 10:29 am
    Joe tell me if you don’t want me posting on you site anymore instead of putting me in your moderation list for no apparent reason other than my political and racial ideologies.

    I have been in moderation on Joes site, every comment, since I was permanently banned from twitter, (political comments did me in), they both happened within a month. Twitter banned me first then came the moderation on Joes site.

    Not a big deal just comment anyway

  37. David Says:

    Why are you so many of you have to make it a fight?
    Why you so many of you think it has to be BL or Brady or BA?
    If you take everything we’ve read for the past year- it’s blatantly obvious the three of them are actually working together.
    It’s why the offense Has not even performed at its peak yet!
    Like BA and Brady said ALL YEAR, it’s a process!
    They’re getting used to each other.

    Brady with receivers, the o line blocking, BL and Brady on the same page calling plays etc.

    It was the highest scoring office in Bucs history and we STILL have people bitching and complaining. 😂
    I for one am ecstatic and optimistic.
    They have the potential to be one of the highest scoring offenses in history!

    L. F. G.

  38. TOM EDRINGTON Says:

    Brady’s fake action to the running back on the play-action passes is the best in the league……he really sells it, better than anyone else!

  39. SufferingSince76 Says:

    DavidBigBucsFan99, every comment I make goes into moderation and, as far as I know, I’ve never posted anything controversial.

  40. M. Steelman Says:

    I’ve watched Super Tom for long enough to tell you he isn’t a no risk it no bisquit kinda QB. I’m sure you wouldn’t believe he would just as soon throw under 200 yards a game and hand it off and let Jones and company take over.

  41. JeffreyLane77 Says:

    Brady has been successful with play action for years. He likes to use play action around the 40yd line. On 2nd or 3rd down and 2-5yds togo. The play action sometimes will draw the safety in and leave a receiver deep one on one with a DB. If the safety bights Brady throws it deep. The DB will sometimes be extra aggressive in his coverage knowing he doesn’t have any help drawing a pass interference flag. If the safety doesn’t bight Brady throws it to a tight end or the running back for the first down. It’s a low risk high reward play.

  42. PassingThru Says:

    @DavidBigBucsFan99

    For what it’s worth, I believe I’m on the dreaded moderation list as well. I guess that qualifies me as a troublemaker.

    As a general rule, longer posts result in your message being held in the moderation queue.

  43. Ne+ bucs fan Says:

    Joe,why don’t you like me,, LOL

  44. JoJo Says:

    Hey Joe:
    Thanks again for keeping this page about football and not about political issues. I have other pages for that if I feel the need.
    Otherwise it’s like mixing lasagna with an ice cream sundae on top.