Bucs’ Offense One Of League’s Worst
December 11th, 2025
Despite obstacles, offense must improve.
OK, time to get this off Joe’s chest.
Yes, injuries have killed the Bucs. But hiding behind injuries for some of the worst offensive production in the NFL only goes so far.
Yes, the Bucs have had a lot of injuries. But they still have Baker Mayfield on two feet. They still have Chris Godwin. They still have Emeka Egbuka. They still have Luke Goedeke. They still have Graham Barton, yet they are still among the worst offenses in the league.
The Bucs have lost five of their last seven games. And during that stretch they have been at the bottom of the barrel of the NFL. Rich Hribar of Sharp Football Analysis has nuggets showing how bad the Bucs offense has been.
* Tampa Bay is averaging 4.4 yards per play over their past seven games, 31st in the league.
* The Buccaneers have gained 10 or more yards on 16% of their plays over that span, the lowest rate in the league.
* The Buccaneers have faced third and long (needing 7 or more yards) on 25.9% of their sets of downs, 29th in the league.
Good coaches, good coordinators, find a way to use the talent available to get production.
These players Joe mentioned, with the possible exception of Mayfield (who, before the losing began, was a leader for the NFL MVP award), would start for any team in the NFL. Shoot, Sean Tucker, if he had the minimum number of carries, would be tied for 14th in yards per carry (4.3). That’s top-half of the league, folks.
Joe would be willing to bet half the offensive coordinators/head coaches in the league would be able to find ways to use these talented players to produce first downs and better yet, score points.
Joe fully understands and appreciates how injuries can doom a team, but that’s no excuse for being as unproductive as the Bucs offense has been the past seven games.
December 11th, 2025 at 5:09 am
Whatever happened over the bye week will come out at some point. We haven’t been the same since. Richard Sherman foreshadowed the meltdown.
December 11th, 2025 at 5:10 am
Have to admit, not using Tucker more has been puzzling…especially in the first half. Wear folks down then give them a big dose of Bucky in second half.
December 11th, 2025 at 5:12 am
The OC needs a few more years as the third down coordinator only
Much like Todd, he was over promoted- 4 games left and his play calling is so predictable and bland it reminds me of Byron
December 11th, 2025 at 5:16 am
I remember watching an interview with him before the season started and i kept my mouth shut….i could just tell, this guy isnt it, but wanted to be nice so i didn’t say it
December 11th, 2025 at 5:19 am
it’s got to be the O line and Baker being hurt
he has constant pressure up the middle so he cant scramble
they should have committed to the run more, feature Tucker and have the others in just to give him a break and pound the rock
the pass game is a joke everybody knows whats coming the smurfs and otter cant get open
December 11th, 2025 at 5:37 am
The play book feels like it consists of about ten plays and we only run about 3 of them well.
December 11th, 2025 at 5:58 am
FrontFour: “Richard Sherman foreshadowed the meltdown.”
Richard Sherman foreshadowed NOTHING! “I know some things” means what? For all you know, he thought that Bucky, Evans, Godwin and McMillan were done for the season. Yeah, a real Nostradamus!
December 11th, 2025 at 5:59 am
The problem is clear as day. The receivers can’t get open against man coverage. I bet teams don’t try that against Evans.
December 11th, 2025 at 6:02 am
The coaches’ infatuation with Irving is ridiculous. Praying for one big burst amidst 7-8 carries of minimal gain is no way to game plan.
December 11th, 2025 at 6:18 am
Sadly there is plenty of folks to blame for this mess. The whole organization has continued down a path of accepting mediocrity instead of excellence. All we hear is excuses and misplaced praise. We continue to hear about how our roster is filled with our draft picks but truly fail to see that most of these, with a few exceptions, are not outstanding players. Could they be? Well we will never know until they change the culture and refuse to accept just ok. It is way past time to face the truth that Bowles is a nice guy but not an NFL head coach. The GM has let his ego and security blanket the owners have given cause him to continue down a rigid failing path. Past glory is just that, in the past. Until someone at the top decides to shake the foundation and culture nothing is going to change. Bucs rabid supporter for 50 years now and man sure would like to see this organization on top again.
December 11th, 2025 at 6:25 am
Just another reason why this entire coaching staff is gone at seasons end.
December 11th, 2025 at 6:29 am
The only thing that will save Bowles’s job is making a deep run in the playoffs. No matter what happens, I predict that Grizz will walk the plank. Les Steckel walked the planked only after one year, and he engineered the best offense that the Bucs had up until that point.
December 11th, 2025 at 6:33 am
Please for our sanity, please tell Baker to audible 90% of the calls!
December 11th, 2025 at 6:42 am
Do we and/or I underestimate the challenges of being an NFL def/offensive play caller? The only way I can justify hiring a rookie play caller like this, given we are in what I believe to be our championship window, is that Licht and the staff thought this guy was a prodigy that just needed a chance.
I honestly don’t think it could have gone better for us and/or him as far as seeing Grizz’s genius or lack thereof given the hurdles and adjustments he had to make due to injury, and yet Emeka, Shep, Tez, Cam, Otton, throw in 2 seasoned RBs in White and Tucker, and that’s not a bad core to get creative with to try and move the sticks and yet he has struggled to really find any rhythm. O lines struggles? Can we actually design more rollouts with Baker, it’s unusual sweat spot for QBs and yet Baker thrives in that situation. And don’t get me started on 2-pt conversions, goal line play calls and man do we not have a 5-yard slant on 3rd down to get a first!?
We keep blaming injuries as a cause for stunting his growth as a coordinator, and I say what offensive coordinator, who is deemed NFL ready can’t score 25-30 pts per game with Baker, Evans, Godwin, Emeka, McMillan, Otton, Bucky, White, Tucker, and our healthy offensive line on the field? Guys like Shanahan would have torn us up in week 6 with what Grizz was working with.
This wasn’t necessarily a Bowles selection, he had to buy off on it, but don’t think for one moment this org didn’t lean hard on what Baker wanted. Shame on Licht and Baker if it turns out we wasted an opportunity to bring seasoned experience in here for the sake of continuity for Baker.
December 11th, 2025 at 6:42 am
The drive against N.O. When they used all 3 RBs should be the way it is done. They were unstoppable, then they stopped.
December 11th, 2025 at 6:55 am
If you don’t understand defenses and design game plans based on how to expose a particular weakness, you’re failing at your job. It’s as if on both sides of the ball we ignore film study. The coaches have a “we are who we are” mindset. “These are our plays. It doesn’t matter what they do or what their weaknesses may be”. Most coaches would recognize they have a rookie at corner and design a game plan to expose him. Same with a rookie QB, design a game plan to bring pressure and confuse him. No! Not the Bucs! Rookie QBs have field days against our D, REGULARLY! 3rd string DBs, can’t shake ’em. I can see if occasionally, a rookie or 2nd/3rd stringer comes in and plays well, but it’s almost as if any player the opposing team brings in plays phenomenally against us.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:08 am
Darek Sharp stick in the eye as I sip my first cup of coffee.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:18 am
The offense is one of the leagues worst. The defense isn’t much better.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:25 am
Fail on first down, short pass on second down, short pass on third down, punt. And if at any point they try and go down field , nobody can get open so Baker has to run, or, somebody does get open and they drop it , or, somebody does get open and Baker misses them. Go Bucs, crush Atlanta.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:27 am
Fisher-Price offense
-22nd in 1st downs per game(18.6)
-24th in completion % (61.34%)
-20th in yards per completion
-21st in redzone attempts
-25th TD% in the rz
-Fallen out of the top 5 of punts avereage per game, still top 10 @ #8
-20th avg pass yards per game(199.8)
***want to have your mind/stomach blown?**
-29th in 1st qtr scoring 3.1 per game
-6th in 2nd qtr scoring 8.5 per game
-4th in 3rd qtr scoring 6.8 per game
-29th in 4th quarter scoring 4.7 per game
(yuck)
Demote/fire Grizz, hire Chip Kelly.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:37 am
People will see those offensive stats and try to tell you that the QB is an MVP and is playing well and that only the OL and WRs are bad. Some of yall need to wake up. The guy touching the ball every offensive play is not playing well and can’t throw past 10 yards accurately.
Can’t wait for ownership to blow this thing up.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:45 am
It’s the same thing. It’s the Oline. It’s all about the trenches.oir offensive line is playing terrible. Bake has no time to throw the running hole aren’t there this year.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:50 am
been saying since the DET game that Grizz is over his head….
i cant understand why bowles doesnt instruct Grizz to run Tucker at least 10times per half….he’s been our most consistent and productive weapon by far…use him
GO BUCS!!!!
December 11th, 2025 at 7:51 am
I don’t know if I can ever remember a team coming out of the bye week and having everything that they do be worse than before.
In fairness, the injuries on the offense have been borderline insane. They still don’t excuse some of the absolute ignoring of usable players on the roster. Ive never seen an offense like this that absolutely refuses to use more than one tight end as a recieving option.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:51 am
As to what Scotty said–finally had enough scotch to watch the replay last night. Play after play with 3-4 guys running out there, DB’s glued to them, no separation
December 11th, 2025 at 7:54 am
Grizzard is just not the guy. They made the wrong hire. Was a huge gamble to hire a guy who’s never called plays before. It didn’t work out.
December 11th, 2025 at 7:58 am
1) Mayfield has been hesitant, indecisive and inaccurate
2) Missed blocks or not holding blocks-limit running plays potential and pressure Mayfield
3) Dropped passes and bad route reads by receivers
4) see 1)
December 11th, 2025 at 8:02 am
“been saying since the DET game that Grizz is over his head….”
Been saying this since the Houston game
December 11th, 2025 at 8:15 am
Alas, the real problem with this team is finally exposed. The O has been suspect since the preseason. We all pointed to injuries, but if you dig deeper, you’ll find an OC that’s way in over his head. It’s so bad you really have to ask yourself if we’re even game planning for our opponents? Every week it feels like we’re running plays. There’s no rhyme, reason or rhythm to any of it. We don’t attack anyone. There’s absolutely zero flow to anything. And I challenge anyone here to highlight a single thing that we do well. This team is losing because the O is every bit as bad as the D—maybe worse.
December 11th, 2025 at 8:24 am
“No HC offers for you!!!!”
December 11th, 2025 at 8:46 am
The answer is very obvious when you look at when we started this downhill trend.
It was after the lions loss. What happened there? We lost Mike, no Bucky, no CG.
I think everyone undervalues what Mike does to the defense by just being in there. We are talking a HOF talent that can still get the job done, just pulling the defense apart and creating holes for everyone to get open.
Unfortunately I think Grizz did not handle the play design well after losing everyone, Mike especially. If this is Mike’s last year, then I fear for the offense next year if we stick with Grizz unless Mek can make leaps and bounds in his development. But the offense is looking rough for the future. The defense is awful.
December 11th, 2025 at 9:08 am
The Lions game was when some of you sobered up on the offense. Fact is, our struggles or at least signs of what our greatest struggles have become have been evident and obvious since week 1.
December 11th, 2025 at 9:37 am
Saying this is a bad offense is nonsense. This is the same above average offense we had the first half of the season, with the only MVP qualified candidate for QB at the time. We have stunk up the second half of the season, because of poor coaching, and not drafting for teams needs for the past 4 seasons, and this team simply can no longer rise above it. The Panthers and the Jags greatly improved the season after hiring former BUCS coaches. The BUCS have greatly regressed. That=? COACHING. There is allot wrong with this team. No pass rush, no secondary, abysmal tackling, schemes that fool nobody but our own young players, an old O line that is failing. That is just the start of what is wrong. Baker told us that this team had no killer instant and that is because Todd instills nothing in anybody, especially killer instinct. Licht need to be out the door right behind Todd. His absolute refusal to address team needs in the draft is the main problem. Grizzard should get another chance, but Todd and Jason have shown they don’t have what it takes to get this team where it needs to go.
December 11th, 2025 at 9:43 am
Coordinator and his assistants and Bowles are responsible
December 11th, 2025 at 9:45 am
Seems like we have a bunch of people wanting to blame Baker. The Only Guy who has stayed in the lineup despite his injuries! The guy has played in a patchwork offense for the vast majority of the year! The O-Line has not protected or Run Blocked well all year. Half the receiving corps has been out and Bucky has been out. On top of that, we have a 1st year OC who has ZERO ability to develop an offensive scheme that compensates for any of that.. Add to that a defense who can’t stop a nose bleed and gets boat raced every week..
Baker tried to compensate for all this in the first 7 weeks by playing hero ball and getting injured.. His reward has been pundits and fans questioning his ability and future with the team..
My suggestion to all the Baker doubters out there is to look at the list of walking wounded standing on the sidelines in street clothes every week.. You may find the answer to the Bucs problems standing there.. But yes, let’s keep blaming the guy who got us 7 wins and hasn’t missed a game..
December 11th, 2025 at 10:03 am
Is anyone actually excited about this game? For the first time a while – I’m dreading a Bucs game (and rest of season). Bowles has to go –
December 11th, 2025 at 10:14 am
Quote from Alanbucsfan:
1) Mayfield has been hesitant, indecisive and inaccurate
2) Missed blocks or not holding blocks-limit running plays potential and pressure Mayfield
3) Dropped passes and bad route reads by receivers
4) see 1)
#1 – difficult to be confident, decisive, and accurate when you are constantly under pressure up the middle… The only backup guard that seemed to do well was Haggard. And with two scrubs beside him, Barton is on an island. We cannot throw longer than 15 yards without getting pushed out of pocket or sacked. Early in the season we were doing much better, then Mauch went down, followed by Bredeson, and boom…
#2 – THIS – and we rely on our guards to move and execute blocks on the run… which the backups cannot do… hence, our running game sucks. Especially trying to run up the middle. Counters, reverses and outside zone/edge plays seem to be working much better… MORE of this…
#3 – timing is off because (see #1) leading to missed plays. Add in that we’re not scheming receivers open, and they seem to not be getting separation on man coverage fast enough. There was literally NO EXCUSE for Johnson quitting on the route last week and giving up an INT… NONE. Hopefully this will be better with ME, JM, and CG back.
Possible cures:
1) More play action and rollouts on FIRST down to slow down the rush, get us on the edge, and force plays. The RPO with Baker 2 weeks ago was a great call – he can and should run – though we gotta teach him to SLIDE. We are getting killed on first down, which is leaving us in 2nd and long way too much.
2) More counters, traps, and outside runs – get to the edge. Use our TEs to lead instead of the guards who cannot do it.
3) Speaking of TEs – WHY are we not using all 3 of them more? We should be using 2 TEs a LOT more, both in run and pass game.
4) More quick hitters (slants, etc) to take the blitz away.
THAT is how you deal with these injuries.
December 11th, 2025 at 10:49 am
LANshark-
On the 4th down pitch to Irving where he lost 6-7 yards, the TE ran right passed the guy he was supposed to block, looking to block the next level, and the tackler had a free lane to Irving.
I think it’s more execution issues, some of the plays are well designed if the players do their job better.
December 11th, 2025 at 1:43 pm
Silver lining is this team’s collective meltdown is what needed to happen to get this coaching regime the hell out of Tampa. Infuriating nonetheless..
December 11th, 2025 at 2:27 pm
The offense is the only group on this team that should get somewhat of a pass due to injuries.
Remember last year when we lost Evans and Godwin? We lost every single game they were both out. This year we also lost J-Mac, as well as multiple games without Wirfs, Goedeke, Irving, Mauch, Bredeson, etc. Not to mention Mayfield playing injured for at least a month or so.
With that said, some Grizz’s playcalling has been absolutely atrocious in critical moments. All. Year. Long.
December 11th, 2025 at 2:53 pm
Last year we lost Godwin and Evans in the same game. Both our top WRs and Mr unreliable carried the team mostly but we still produced. Totally grizz fault
December 11th, 2025 at 3:07 pm
This coaching staff is inept from top to bottom.
No one is even talking about how putrid the Special Teams is.
If they don’t fire Bowels, I will not even watch this team next year, much less pay for tickets.
How do you ruin this team? I mean Ed Orgeron won a Championship at LSU.
I could have won a championship there that year.
These Buc’s coaches are bordering on gross negligence!!!!