Cody Mauch Has Cool Name For Bucs’ New Smashmouth Offense
November 2nd, 2026
Remember when Tom Brady, at the wheel of Bucco Bruce Arians’ no-risk-it, no-biscuit offense, was slinging the ball all over the field to Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, Chris Godwin and foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski?
The way the Bucs offense has morphed in recent weeks, it is the polar opposite.
You’ve heard of the Air Raid, the run and shoot, Air Coryell, the Greatest Show on Turf, right? Well, Cody Mauch gave Joe a new name for the current meat grinder offense the Bucs have used the past two weeks.
Mauch called it a “Eff You Football.”
Mauch said, yes, the Bucs planned to bludgeon the Dixie Chicks on the ground. But when it became apparent passing in the rain wasn’t going to work, the coaches just thought, “Aw, skip it” and decided to go full-blown Woody Hayes.
“Definitely, had some runs [planned] for sure,” Mauch said. “But yeah, the rain kind of forces your hand a little bit. Kind of have to run the ball. So the fact that [coaches] felt good enough to just lean on us up front, I mean that feels great.
“… Keep doing it. I mean, yeah, just keep calling the same plays until they can stop it.
“It’s kind of, you know, eff you football.”
And the Bucs’ front line sure effed up the Dixie Chicks’ defense.
No one gets off on running, and running successfully, more than offensive linemen. The fact the Bucs ran 56 times for 324 yards, Joe cannot remember the last time seeing the Bucs’ offensive line so damn happy after a game.
Maybe happier than Bucs fans seeing the Bucs pitch a shutout and return to a playoff chase.
Bucs offensive line toasts itself after bulldozing Atlanta for 324 yards on the ground. (Photo from @graham.barton Instagram stories.)
November 2nd, 2026 at 4:22 am
When I was a kid there was “Ground Chuck” for Chuck Knox.
At least it was a pun, and about a running philosophy.
Joe mentioned tags given to only air oriented offenses.
Running every play does not garner excitement, but a win is a win, so I’ll take it.
November 2nd, 2026 at 4:26 am
Going to be interesting to see how it works in Chicago next week. Bears have a tough one tonight. Maybe Seattle can soften them up for next week.
November 2nd, 2026 at 4:26 am
Running every play successfully is far more exciting than passing the ball.
November 2nd, 2026 at 4:34 am
The ingredients are all here and I’m going to advocate for one more tweak to the new Bucs.
The formations were there yesterday. The attack looked similar minus the RPO on many plays. That’s where I would love to see this evolve. I’d even love if we brought the full Rich Rodriguez offense forward. Those run plays yesterday? Lifted straight from the WVU playbook.
Baker is mobile enough. Daniels is highly capable as a backup in the RPO.
Then there is the breakneck pace of the Mountaineer offense. Let’s open Sunday night with that. Chicago is already going to come loaded for bear on defense. We might see as many as 10 in the box if we run with multiple tight ends or an extra lineman on any plays.
So, stretch the field again. Put 3 wide, 4 wide even, then let Baker make the RPO decisions. It would probably catch the Bears completely off guard. Right now, the Chicago defense has a pretty straightforward task ahead. Stop the run, stop the Bucs.
The worst thing possible would be to try to establish the run early and sticking to that the same as the last couple of weeks, IMO. I see a string of 3 and outs and a rapidly out of control scoreboard early in the 2nd quarter if we go status quo.
I think, and the Bears will prepare for this, we will see Zac Robinson toss in some play action early. Even of it is just to show we might eat yardage and clock all day, but the more you cheat to stop that, we will go over you.
There’s advantages we can press in the offensive plan after the dominating line performance for two weeks. The one which I think the Bears won’t be ready to defend is the RPO hurry up, Indy (as in Indianapolis 500) pace offense.
November 2nd, 2026 at 4:42 am
Not sure how an NFL Team can just run the ball with impunity, but keep it up! 4 pics sure don’t hurt, but let’s stop the fumbles. The feeling of watching these last two wins is very unique. I wonder how Baker feels about the new offense?