Zac Robinson And Kevin Kelley
November 10th, 2026
Worse than high school?
How bad is the passing attack of the Bucs? Even a high school coach mocks it.
Well, sort of. Please let Joe set up the scene.
Failed Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson just loves to throw short passes — often behind the line of scrimmage.
Oh, Robinson will call for a bomb to be thrown from time to time. But intermediate routes? They simply do not exist in his offense. But boy, can he dial up a mean pass for four air-yards to a running back.
Joe’s seen just how dynamic that is.
Anyway, enter Kevin Kelley. An Arkansas high school coach, Kelley is well-known for being a data-driven innovator in part because of his math background. Kelley rarely punts, and that’s no exaggeration.
(You can read some background on Kelley here.)
Kelley has become so well known for not punting that even the great Bill Belicheat flew him up to Boston once to pick his brain on his offensive philosophies.
Kelley briefly coached in college but proved to be too much of a Lincoln Riley disciple. His offenses were electric but his defenses were soft and horrid.
Well, Kelley is back coaching Arkansas high school ball and recently, he was interviewed at halftime of a televised game and it was funny to see him crash out. Amid Kelley’s rant was an indirect blast at Robinson.
Kelley wasn’t talking about Robinson, but he may as well have been.
“You can’t give up a freaking 60-yard [pass play] when your defensive back knows [a receiver is] standing on the sideline and we’re jumping the out route.
“The guy faked it [to the] out. We tell [the defender] all the time he’s not going to throw an out to a two-yard sideline [pass].”
Joe finds this hilarious. Even Arkansas high school coaches know throwing two-yard passes to the sideline is a waste of time and energy.
Joe looked at Baker Mayfield’s passing chart from Sunday night at Chicago and saw Mayfield (Robinson) threw 11 passes that were either behind the line of scrimmage or within four yards of the line of scrimmage, most of them near the sideline.
Even high school coaches know better than to do that! But an NFL offensive coordinator thinks that’s the way to roll to the playoffs.
And apparently, the Bucs are good with that because Robinson is still working for the Bucs.
This franchise’s problem(s) is clearly higher up the food chain than the quarterback and offensive coordinator.
Maybe Kelley’s wonderful rant will lighten your mood today.
November 10th, 2026 at 12:11 am
I find the passes behind the line of scrimmage to be exhilarating.
It really opens up the possibility of making first downs. Especially on 3rd and long.
The defense never sees it coming and you score practically every time.
3-6 feels divine. The NFL has been put on notice. Mike Evans knows!
November 10th, 2026 at 12:13 am
If Baker doesn’t singlehandedly lose the game by throwing multiple awful interceptions, the Bucs win.
It’s the same thing over and over and over again. Baker, when the game is on the line, screws up and makes awful plays, the Bucs lose, and everyone wants to blame the receivers, the line, the running game, the coaches – everyone but the person who had the ball in his hands and lost the game. Baker Mayfield, who is now 2-12 in primetime and playoff games while in Tampa.
November 10th, 2026 at 12:24 am
Pulaski Academy, baby!!! LOL
November 10th, 2026 at 12:26 am
am I late to the party ? Apparently Rod Munch doesn’t like Baker Mayfield
November 10th, 2026 at 12:29 am
Is it Robinson or did Bowles tell him to stick to the run and short passes?
November 10th, 2026 at 12:37 am
you know what would be cool ? some sort of crazy 3-way trade where Kyler Murray goes to the Cardinals and Kirk Cousins goes to the Vikings and maybe Gardner Minshew goes to the Raiders – also cool would be a swap between the Bucs and Browns of Deshaun Watson and Baker Mayfield – the passing game would probably still suck but it would be cool
November 10th, 2026 at 12:57 am
Mike Smith of the Offense
November 10th, 2026 at 1:14 am
you know , if Jason Licht wasn’t such a ladyboy (his next gig will be working in a bar in Thailand) he would trade Baker to the Vikings and play Jalon the rest of the year
November 10th, 2026 at 1:35 am
Rod Munch…don’t you ever get tired of the same old post.
Find something new to b!tch about…for real.
November 10th, 2026 at 1:40 am
Munch, in case you missed it from the previous post:
Munch, to use your vernacular, Baker is literally a qb1. As in literally. You might not like it, but it is what it is. And dude, you’ve lost your fastball. You offer nothing anymore other than the same tired recycled Baker hate. You must have essentially made the same post literally hundreds of times by now. Literally. You single-handedly are unable to comment about anything else. Plenty of blame to go around, including Baker who sucks at the moment and has for a while. But let’s not pretend this is a one-man team.
November 10th, 2026 at 1:40 am
1987, hilarious, I was creating My previous post before I saw yours.
November 10th, 2026 at 1:43 am
Munch, one more thing. I find it hilarious that you say ” it’s the same thing over and over and over again”. Pot, meet kettle. Looks black to me, haha.
November 10th, 2026 at 3:06 am
Baker is absolutely trash 🗑️ and the reason this team not where it could be.
Pathetic in every aspect
November 10th, 2026 at 3:48 am
The defense did what was needed to win the game, and the play calling still lost the game.
There are two problems with the play calling.
First, there were 28 runs averaging a fine 4.5 yards per carry, and there were 32 passes.
That is a run rate under 50%. The Bucs wins have come when the Bucs ran on 60%, 80%, and 90% of plays. When you are averaging 4.5 yards per carry, Run The Ball!
Second, when the Bucs passed, there often was no one in motion, the play often looked like an obvious pass, and the pass protection was usually pretty obvious which let the defense attack the weakness of the offensive line – which is pass protection.
This offensive line must be protected on pass plays. Every pass should be run from a set that is also used to run the ball with motion and pulling linemen to disguise the pass and to disguise the protection. And, where were the 12 and 13 personnel in the passing game?
Just a couple of tweaks on offense and the Bucs would have beaten one of the best teams in the league.
The way the Bucs played against the Bears, with just a couple of tweaks on offense, the Bucs could win out the season.
Why don’t they see it?
November 10th, 2026 at 4:53 am
Thank you! Amen
November 10th, 2026 at 5:33 am
Love me a good rant, they never get old. Bobby Knight, Lee Elia, Denny Green, Jim Mora…
November 10th, 2026 at 6:14 am
WillieG … ‘Is it Robinson or did Bowles tell him to stick to the run and short passes?’
Just for kicks Willie went back & looked at Zac’s college years as a QB at Oklahoma State (2006-2009). He played in 45 games (mostly as the starter). Not tremendous, but good enough to get drafted in Rnd 7 by the New England Patriots in 2010. Didn’t stick there, but ultimately spent 3 seasons with the Bengals before exiting playing to focus on coaching. Spent 5 years with the Rams (Sean McVay) almost all as his QB coach (with 2 yrs experience as the Passing Game Coordinator) before becoming Atlanta’s OC in 2024 for 2 yrs then ours.
As a QB in college, Zac had a 61% completion percentage & threw 66 TDs in 45 games. What’s interesting is that in his 2nd & 3rd year he threw for an average of about 3,000 yards in 13 games each year (quite good). That was good enough to rank #1 in the Pac 12 in Passing Yards per Completion BOTH YEARS … 14 YPC in 2007 and 15 YPC in 2008. IOW Willie, Zac wasn’t ‘brought up’ in a dink-and-dunk offense.
That’s not really what he used as Atlanta’s OC in 2024 & 2025.
o 2024: Falcons passed 559 times (ranked #14), completed 364 for 4068 yds (ranked #5). Net Yards/Attempt was 6.9 … that’s very good (ranked #7). QB Cousins was the starter in most (14) of the games.
o 2025: Falcons passed 545 times (ranked #19), completed 332 for 3523 yds (ranked #19). Net Yards/Attempt was 6.2 … that’s quite middle of the pack (ranked #15). The big difference I think is that QBs Cousins & Penix split the season.
o 2026: Bucs have now passed 240 times (ranked #31), completed 146 for 1277 yds (ranked #32). Net Yards/Attempt is a woeful 4.8 … that’s horrific (ranked #30).
What I see in those 3 years is Passing Game regression, but WHY? Zac Robinson knows how to get the ball downfield (look at his background). I thought maybe he was being poorly advised, but I don’t think that’s it (Todd Bowles isn’t telling him to throw the ball behind the LOS; Todd would just say ‘Hand it off’). Zac’s had Ken Zampese (30 yrs with NFL offenses as a coach) as his Offensive Assistant for the past 3 years, so you’d think the 2 of them could figure this out. Apparently not.
There’s something more going on here. I think it focuses on our QB more than on anyone else, but that’s just a gut feeling at this point. Something’s wrong in Mudville.
November 10th, 2026 at 6:39 am
The WRs are not open. The TE can’t catch. Hurst can’t catch. Tez can’t catch.
No check downs. Poor blocking.
A QB with a broken thumb who is pressing too hard.
It’s not all scheme. It’s not all QB and it’s not all poor WRs and TEs.
It’s all of the above.
But just like the Defense, they will get it together. They can’t get worse.
November 10th, 2026 at 6:41 am
toopanca … ‘That is a run rate under 50%. The Bucs wins have come when the Bucs ran on 60%, 80%, and 90% of plays. When you are averaging 4.5 yards per carry, Run The Ball!’
Excellent analysis toopanca. What drives me nuts is when Todd kicks FGs close to the goal line. If we’re averaging 4.5 YPC rushing, I’d run the ball if I had 4 or less yards to go (well, unless a FG would put me ahead). Look at Sunday’s game:
o 2nd Qtr: Bucs (behind 14-0) had the ball at the Chicago 3-yd line with 2nd down – Baker incomplete to Otton. On 3rd down, Gainwell over LT for MINUS 1 yd. On 4th down, Baker drew a Delay of game penalty & we kicked the FG. Go back to 2nd down: Bucs had 3 downs to gain 3 yds … RUN THE FRIGGIN BALL EVERY DOWN and go for the TD
o 2nd Qtr: Bucs (behind 17-3) had the ball at the Chicago 3-yd line with 1st down but only 3 seconds until halftime … we kicked the FG. I understand why Todd did that, but I still would’ve RUN THE FRIGGIN BALL and go for the TD.
o 4th Qtr: Bucs (trailing 24-13) had a 4th-and-4 at the Chicago 1yd line. Baker drew a delay of game penalty (again) and we kicked the FG (to move within 8 pts of tying it up). Again I understand why Todd kicked the FG, but all 3 of those were 4 yards or less. McLaughlin is a sure thing, but it’s still only 3 points. Against teams like the Bears, winning the FG competition usually means losing the game.
November 10th, 2026 at 7:03 am
DR. You do have the sense to know that both of those delay of game penalties were called? Coaches decisions to try to draw the Bears offsides. And I think I saw you mention Zac and the PAC-12. Come on DR. It’s early but it’s getting light outside.
November 10th, 2026 at 7:14 am
DR. Why don’t you tell us how an OC and QB don’t have to adjust a game plan when your team is down 14-0 8 minutes into the game? Or how with 5 minutes left in the first quarter nobody has gotten their hands on the ball- except Bucky? Yeah, that’s what happens.
Defenses smell blood when your sieve defense rolls over on their bellies and takes it willingly like ours did. And when we tied it with 3 minutes left? Any fan of this team knew we were gonna have a duncecap broken play, we would lose the game, and we darn sure would make sure our opponents didn’t leave 1 second on the clock- in other words, it’s a team game. And your analysis is just that- your analysis.
November 10th, 2026 at 7:40 am
Kenton … ‘You do have the sense to know that both of those delay of game penalties were called?’
Of course they were both ‘called’. Todd was going for the FG. Uhhh, that was my point …
Make a TD instead of a FG and you’ve got 4 points in the bank. We lost by 3 points. Do the math.
November 10th, 2026 at 7:48 am
Kenton … ‘Defenses smell blood when your sieve defense rolls over on their bellies and takes it willingly like ours did.’
I doubt that’s what you meant to write. Defenses don’t play other defenses. OUR defense isn’t a ‘sieve’ and it certainly didn’t ‘roll over on its’ belly and take it willingly like ours did’.
Bucs’ defense held the Bears to 72 yards rushing on 22 carries (roughly 3.3 YPC average). Bucs’ defense generated FIVE takeaways (‘sieves’ don’t do that). Could go on but you get the point.
November 10th, 2026 at 8:32 am
Sometimes you’ve got to poke the bear (DR) to get to the bottom of things. We all have different viewpoints. You and I probably agree on alot, DR.
Football wise, almost everything. Your view has always been that most losers(teams) beat themselves. Ding, ding, ding! I couldn’t agree more. I know we agree that defense wins championships and a strong, clock eating run game is the gold standard. Ding Ding again!
Where we don’t agree- bashing our QB. You read Joe every morning no wonder you think it’s cool to bash Baker. I want to remind you, DR. and Joe while I’m at it. You are firmly entrenched with MelvinJunior, and Oneilbuc, and, yes, Munchesmoretoesthanrexryan.
It’s a strange world that we live in. Isn’t it?
November 10th, 2026 at 8:49 am
Kenton … ‘Where we don’t agree- bashing our QB. You read Joe every morning no wonder you think it’s cool to bash Baker.’
Yes we do agree on a lot of things, but I disagree with you that I’m ‘bashing Baker’. Players perform, and if they don’t perform well, that’s not bashing, it’s just reporting the facts.
In that Chicago game, Baker was 18-of-32 (56%) for 243 yards passing, ZERO TDs, and TWO INTs. One of those INTs was a Pick-6 that was returned 67 yards. That’s PERFORMANCE and what I consider to be FACTS.
Bucs offense was given FIVE takeaways to play with, and they scored a total of 10 points off them (1 TD & 1 FG). Perhaps the defense needs to gift-wrap them next time?
I’ve said before that I like Baker, but I just don’t see us winning the whole enchilada with him as our QB. He’s INCONSISTENT, and always has been if you take an honest look at his career. He can be absolutely great in some games, and then not qualify to be the team’s waterboy in some others. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in other words. If you consider that BASHING BAKER, take an honest relook at his career PERFORMANCE.
November 10th, 2026 at 9:11 am
I have yet to ever see Baker play a Mr. Hyde game in his career, DR.
3 fumbles against Cincy? 3 turnovers against the Dolphins last year? (2 interceptions, 1 fumble)?
That’s not inconsistency DR. That’s football. You’re about to find out that all Baker has been looking for in the NFL is the right team. We have the right team. Watch and learn.
November 10th, 2026 at 9:46 am
I repeat for all the idiots out there:
Tom Brady 3 fuill regular seasons in Tampa 8 fumbles lost, 33 INT’s
Baker Mayfield 3 full rgular seasons in Tampa 8 fumbles lost 37INT’s
Point is even if you are the GOAT NFL QB’s will thropw interceptions and fumble the ball. That’s the way it is. The marching band members on these pages would know that if they ever played the game.
November 10th, 2026 at 10:27 am
“Point is even if you are the GOAT NFL QB’s will thropw interceptions and fumble the ball. That’s the way it is. The marching band members on these pages would know that if they ever played the game.”
The only metric you can use to try to sell a bridge of comparison to Brady & Midfield, how many times are you going to post this same exact thing?
Get a new argument, we’re tired of reading this BS
November 10th, 2026 at 10:44 am
Brady and Mayfield both were at 197 TD passes after 8 years in the league, WBL. So there’s another metric for you.
Probably was a greater feat doing that with 4 different teams, wouldn’t you say, WBL?