Todd Bowles: Bucs Must Block Better
October 16th, 2023
Plenty of blame to go around with putrid run game.
The offensive line haters will be dancing in the streets like the Bucs won the Super Bowl with this quote.
Joe’s tired of mincing words. The Bucs’ run game sucks! That’s not hyperbole. That’s accurate. It has since the start of the 2022 season and it sure doesn’t appear the Bucs are serious about fixing it.
(“Serious” to Joe is not signing two running backs in the offseason, one an injury-prone back who ran for 250 yards last season and this year — surprise! — is hurt; the other guy was signed off the street with a heart issue that caused him to miss a full offseason of workouts.)
Today in his day-after presser, Bucs coach Todd Bowles was asked about the league’s worst run game. He said the whole offense has to embrace the guilt, not just the lousy running backs with poor vision.
“We have to run the ball better,” Bowles said per Brianna Dix of Buccaneers.com. “We have to block it better.”
The offensive line haters are now doing shots in celebration.
In recent weeks, Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales has said the run blocking has been adequate What was left unsaid is that his running backs were shatting all over themselves, and have been since before he got here.
Joe stated this morning that unless changes are made to the running back room, the Bucs are doing nothing more than virtue-signaling they are serious about winning. Hope is not a strategy. Or at least, it shouldn’t be.
And you know what, if folks at One Buc Palace are angry with Joe’s words, guess what? The people employed at One Buc Palace have the power to fix things. Joe doesn’t.
Joe would love to be proved wrong here!
October 16th, 2023 at 1:07 pm
Bring back Ronnie Brown
October 16th, 2023 at 1:07 pm
Yes, the run game stinks. But, Baker overthrew two passes yesterday that, if on target, would have been scores.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:09 pm
I don’t get how this is shocking to the Bucs coaching staff. Any ham-and-egger in the stands with a Playstation could tell you R. White wasn’t worth his weight in rice when it came to running the ball. He’s a serviceable 3rd down back at best who can catch a swing pass in space… but he runs scared and lacks the anger to get behind his own pads and blast through openings.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:12 pm
It’s fairly obvious that Rachaad White is not good in this scheme. I was someone who thought he’d be great as a RB. He has lots of physical traits that say he should be really great. However he just doesn’t see the field and does not like contact. He’s basically Charles Sims 2.0.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:12 pm
Kareem Hunt was available, again offense is predicated on running the ball if you can’t run the offense is going to struggle it doesn’t matter who the QB is
October 16th, 2023 at 1:16 pm
N you know what’s going happen against atlanta? Same thing going run n run n run more cuz that’s who bowels is. I really thought he turned a corner this year but he turtled up yesterday again the run game is hurting this team bad. They better be ready to stop the run next week atlanta can run it. I don’t think falcons are any good but Bucs could lose this game. Let’s get to 4-2 fellas
October 16th, 2023 at 1:17 pm
Cha cha White couldn’t run behind the Great Wall of Dallas from the 90’s
October 16th, 2023 at 1:20 pm
glad I could not watch. listening was bad enough.
Trask time…and bench ME
problem solved.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:22 pm
@ Boss…
You have no idea what you are talking about!!
October 16th, 2023 at 1:31 pm
Set up the run with the pass. What happened to short / mid range passes? Shots down the field do not keep drives alive.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:34 pm
““We have to run the ball better,” Bowles said per Brianna Dix of Buccaneers.com. “We have to block it better.”
Awww yes, Todd Bowles has heard my rage about our terrible run blocking and has acknowledged it 😌 music to my ears. Now fix it!
October 16th, 2023 at 1:36 pm
“The offensive line haters will be dancing in the streets like the Bucs won the Super Bowl with this quote. The offensive line haters are now doing shots in celebration.”
Pop the champaign bottles! 😆
October 16th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Both teams shutdown the other’s ability to run the ball yesterday almost COMPLETELY so why does it feel the Lions DOMINATED the Bucs?? They dominated time of possession by EXECUTION in the pass game,SO if the Bucs could have countered with an effective passing game NOBODY WOULD BE UP IN ARMS TODAY ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO RUN AGAINST A LEAGUE TOP RUN STOPPING TEAM LIKE THE LIONS!!! Bottom line moving forward Baker & the WRs inability to execute hurt more WHILE allowing Goff and his WRs to complete passes cause to be a good team in this league you gonna have to beat teams more than 1 way PERIOD!!!!
October 16th, 2023 at 1:47 pm
Joe – so do you honestly think the running game woes have nothing to do with the offensive line? I think most fans see this is not a mutually exclusive problem between the RBs and Oline. It’s a combination, yet you seem to dedicated to pushing this narrative that it’s all the RBs fault. I do agree, Licht can’t draft a RB to save his life, but when every RB fails to run behind this same line, maybe the line is part of the problem too.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:47 pm
I thought Ronnie Brown was the most explosive rb in preseason. Bring him back. What we have is not working.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:49 pm
LOL “Cha Cha” 🙂
October 16th, 2023 at 1:57 pm
I also think it’s time to start hearing from Harold Goodwin, the man who is paid to strictly coordinate this run game. What is he doing to improve things? What changes is he making? Why don’t we see any variation in the running plays, i.e. stretch runs outside the tackles, draw plays, HB tosses, double RB sets, more help from a fullback, etc?
There are so many ways to run the ball but we seem to have 3 running plays in the playbook. Is Canales/Goodwin this uncreative..lazy..unwilling to try anything new? If we don’t have the horses to win Mano-e-Mano, then we need to win with creativity and misdirection – something this staff just doesn’t seem capable of.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:57 pm
Observing that the oline plainly cannot block the men in front of them on run downs does not make someone a “hater” or mean they are celebrating their incompetence. It is simply acknowledging lived reality and some folks around here refuse to do that. The overt protectionism that being pushed is comical. It should not be controversial to openly describe what is plain for everyone to see that the Bucs oline absolutely sucks at run blocking.
October 16th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
White has turned into a bitter dissapointment. Thought this was gonna be a break out year for him.
Nope. Oh and one more thing. Ryan Neal sucks.
October 16th, 2023 at 2:40 pm
Running game is not solely about the blocking, it’s WHEN you chose to run as well. Running on obvious downs doesn’t help at all. Also the Bucs strength and where the talent is on the offense is not run blocking or the backfield.
Lean on your good pass blocking O line and your highly paid receivers. Coaching matters and our coaches are not good
October 16th, 2023 at 2:41 pm
Has this team attempted a toss play all season?
October 16th, 2023 at 3:18 pm
Why would any fan be happy about Bowles stating the obvious?
It’s not Rachaad White, it’s the O-line, duh.
Prove otherwise.
To “Rachaad White haters”
Please present game-tapes showing/proving where Rachaad failed to hit a hole in the line on a rushing play up the middle.
Waiting…(none exist).
Make it easy for you:
Please just reference a play, so this phantom-play can be looked-up on YouTube/Red zone, etc.
Surely, with all the detailed references on this blog about all of the various plays of all the games and their plays and players, someone could point-out a play that demonstrates your claim that Rachaad isn’t hitting these (obviously non existent) “holes” created (not) by the O-line.
Odd, isn’t it? Has anyone ever seen a post where the poster described a specific play that backs-up this assertion that Rachaad has ever even, once, missed a hole created by the O-line?
Even, just one!
I haven’t.
Maybe “Joe” has.
Waiting…
October 16th, 2023 at 3:19 pm
LACK OF OFFENSE LOGIC
The Bucs cannot run to set up the pass so they should pass to set up the run. Canales has not figured that out after five games. He’s not a savvy OC.
October 16th, 2023 at 3:55 pm
Let’s take a look at our Bucs offensive talent, from a D.C.’s eyes. Two good receivers, Evans, and Godwin. Outside of them who do we have to worry about? R. White, Vaughn, Otton, D. Thompkins, Palmer? Those are our other skill players, along with journeymen Mayfield as Q.B.. Not exactly talent that keeps D.C.’s awake at night. Add in the fact we have a new O.C., and a very young O line, we’re not a threat on offense at all. Embrace the fact we’re a team that’s just above average, and hope to finish the season that way, pointing up.
October 16th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
The offensive line critic haters – led exclusively by JoeBucsFan – still refuse to acknowledge reality, and only resorts to labeling anyone who sensibly thinks Joe is full of dog doo doo is always labeled a “hater”.
None of this is to say that our running backs are great – they aren’t. But the offensive line last year totally sucked, which is why it got entirely restructured (what kind of an idiot GM totally restructures a O line that is near perfect? And completely predictably, the brand spanking new O line has not yet gelled after just 5 games. Any bonehead fan knows that rebuilt O lines take game play to learn to play well with each other … as well as to learn a brand new blocking scheme set up by the brand new offensive coordinator.
But no, Joe refuses to accept reality and is determined to blame it solely on the running backs. Anyone with even just a rudimentary understanding of football knows that ineffective run blocking produces a crap running game.
October 16th, 2023 at 6:02 pm
No Todd, do us all one favor: knock off the running up the middle on first down. You can tell Canales that simple fact: DO IT!!
October 16th, 2023 at 6:34 pm
I love that Joe thinks (pretends?) that people WANT to hate on the o-line and would celebrate hearing a coach say the blocking sucks.
No, Joe, we criticize the o-line because they’re run blocking stinks! You know it, I know it, they know it.
That doesn’t excuse the running backs either. There were about 3 or 4 plays where there actually was a hole and the RB missed it or hesitated too long. But there’s another 20+ plays where the RB is being hit behind the LOS, sometimes while he’s still getting the ball from Baker.
You can’t blame that on the RBs, not matter how much you want to.
With all that said, I have no problem with them getting a new RB. But I will have zero surpise when that doesn’t fix anything either.
October 16th, 2023 at 7:12 pm
Maybe Bowles thinks Cappa, marpet and jenson are still on the O-line, and that’s why he can’t understand why the run-blocking isn’t working.
October 16th, 2023 at 9:48 pm
I just watched “Made In America”, the first episode being about the football career of O.J. Simpson. In one game that the Bills ran, OJ got 200 yards. Another game they won, the QB only made 6 passes! I had totally forgotten what a really good RB looked like. Rachaad has no one on the team that can teach him Jack. He has forgotten, too.
October 17th, 2023 at 2:25 am
Wow someone other than me thinks it is not all about the RBs.
Amazing!
Go Bucs!