Abysmal Rushing Numbers
November 16th, 2023
Missing person alert.
Find yourself a significant other who worships you the way the Bucs love their rotten running game.
The Bucs, you may have heard, have a godawful running attack yet they still try to run the ball too much. Todd Bowles apparently believes rubbing that rabbit’s foot enough will work.
The Bucs are rock bottom in the NFL at 3.1 yards per carry.
Rich Hribar of Sharp Football Analysis has a truly galling stat that sums up how terrible the Bucs are running the ball.
The Buccaneers have three rushing plays that have gained 15 or more yards, the fewest in the NFL.
Three plays! The Bucs are entering their 10th game of the season and only have three runs longer than 15 or more yards? Joe just cannot wrap his head around that.
But Joe has to be fair. It could be worse.
While Joe hammers the Bucs for running too much — 10 times is enough for Joe when you have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to throw the ball to who can at least give you a chance to score — the Bucs don’t run the ball as much as it seems.
Through nine games, the Bucs have run the ball 230 times. That’s 10th-fewest in the league. Yes, the Bucs have played one less game than a lot of clubs. However, even they had rushed 25 more times they’d still be middle of the NFL pack when it comes to rushing attempts.
Joe guesses the running is so rotten that it gives the appearance the Bucs run a lot because fans want it to stop.
November 16th, 2023 at 7:37 am
So what you’re saying Joe is football is only an illusion and we dreamed Tom Brady was our quarterback
November 16th, 2023 at 7:40 am
The only thing that matters at the end of the game is scoring one more point than the opposition. I can’t understand why fans are concerned about stats. They are basically a waste of time. Winning is the only stat that really counts.
November 16th, 2023 at 7:49 am
Ha!
November 16th, 2023 at 7:57 am
We must draft a center in the 1st round next year.
And a LG/C in the 2nd round next year.
Hainsey can be an experienced backup next year.
Extend Mayfield on the cheap.
So we can Extend Evans, Wirfs, Winfield, and David.
And wait 1 more year for Jensens monster contract to disappear.
Mayfield. 5 years. 30-40 million. Fully guaranteed.
And build the best offensive line in the NFL. And build the deepest defense in the league.
I think if we had a great running game, and a cheap QB, we could beat anybody in the NFL.
Unfortunately, we have had the worst offensive line in the history of the NFL.
Two years in a row!
November 16th, 2023 at 8:16 am
I’m perfectly happy with Stinnie thus far, 199 snaps, no penalties, no sacks, 71 PFF.
“The Buccaneers have three rushing plays that have gained 15 or more yards, the fewest in the NFL”
Well, it would have been five but for Trey Palmer
November 16th, 2023 at 8:17 am
It’s not just how many times you run the ball. It’s when you run the ball. When you run on 1st and 2nd downs and get a total of 3 yards, 3rd down conversions become increasingly difficult. It seems like Canales is finally starting to come away from that trend. Pick up 5-8 yards through the air on 1st down and then try to run on second down. Just don’t be predictable. And for God’s sake if you run on 1st down and get stuffed, don’t run again on 2nd down.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:23 am
Design of running plays is terrible. Defenses know what is coming and they stack the box. Canales needs help in the running play department. The guy is not inventive at all.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:30 am
I miss seeint teams line up with two back sets, I guess that just won’t work anymore
November 16th, 2023 at 8:57 am
Running jet sweeps with Thompkins isn’t going to cut it. He’s no Deebo or Lockett. We need more touches for Godwin. Rachaad is running with a little more urgency of late, still waiting for another Munich type stat line from him. Not going to hold my breath.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:58 am
TexasBucsFam … ‘I can’t understand why fans are concerned about stats. Winning is the only stat that really counts.’
Obviously that’s true Texas, but stats do in fact provide you an indication of how you compare to other teams. Winning teams generally tend to accumulate better stats than losing teams. IOW certain stats can provide a reason WHY you ended up on the losing side of that win-lose equation. Not every time obviously, but at least as a generalization.
Example: Turnover Differential. Bucs’ defense did excellent in 2019 when they generated 28 takeaways. Unfortunately the Bucs’ offense outdid them when they gave the ball away 41 times. One would think that a MINUS 13 Turnover Differential would lead to a losing season, and in fact it did (7-9). That despite the fact that our offense ranked #3 in the NFL in Points Scored. Bummer.
Most often, teams with positive Turnover Differentials have winning records, and the converse is true for teams with negative Turnover Differentials. The last Bucs’ team that posted a losing record with a positive Turnover Differential was the Fighting Schianos of 2013 (4-12). The last Bucs’ team that posted a winning record with a negative Turnover Differential was Tony Dungy’s 1999 team (went 11-5 with 35 giveaways vs 31 takeaways). And yup, Trent Dilfer and Joe’s beloved Shaun King were the 2 QBs of record that year.
November 16th, 2023 at 10:08 am
You might have a point where you say it might be an illusion that we run way too often. I say that because a great, great many times, just before they snap the ball while facing a well packed defensive front…I’m crossing my fingers and crossing my toes and saying ten Hail Marys a second: PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! DO NOT RUN UP THE MIDDLE!!!! And if they run anyway they get stuffed for a loss. That, usually gets burned into my memory like a scar.
November 16th, 2023 at 12:12 pm
Perhaps I’m wrong, but isn’t our current time game coordinator, the same guy it was last year? Maybe we should start with that guy getting a one way ticket out of town
November 16th, 2023 at 12:12 pm
Run game, sorry
November 16th, 2023 at 12:30 pm
It’s not just running the ball. It’s how many times we run on first down for one yard or less and then do the same on second.
November 16th, 2023 at 1:48 pm
I’m actually impressed because I can’t tremember but two of them
November 16th, 2023 at 4:37 pm
It proves Bowles is as thick as a brick.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:51 pm
Bowles is old school and looks at outdated stats that say teams that run the ball win more games. Hs is oblivious to the fact that teams that win run the ball more. It’s an important distinction. They run more because they are leading in games. They don’t get the lead by just plodding around for 2 and a half yards most first downs.
November 17th, 2023 at 1:19 am
rb1 had a 16 yard run 2 weeks ago vs the texans…
so that’s one of the 3…
and i’d venture to say baker had at least one of the other two on a nice long qb scramble…
really tho – i’m no stat man, but baker might have the other 2