“At His Best” In Crunch Time
September 10th, 2025
So what’s the report card look like for rookie Bucs playcaller Josh Grizzard after his first game as Tampa Bay offensive coordinator?
The man in charge of grading him weighed in.
Head coach Todd Bowles gave a positive but balanced review of Grizzard yesterday. It mirrored what fans were able to see clearly, and Bowles emphasized Grizzard was a force under pressure because his instincts overtook any first-day jitters.
“When the game sped up in two-minute, I thought he was at his best,” Bowles said of Grizzard on the Buccaneers Radio Network. “That’s when he was the calmest because he didn’t have to think. So he was just calling the plays right off the top of his head that he knew he wanted, and knew that would work against them. He called the game great. I think we started out slow, a little butterflies there. But I think after the first quarter, he really picked it up and I think he called a solid game.”
Joe can’t wait for Grizzard to get more experience. He’s very likely to improve in a hurry.
As for the Bucs’ sputtering run game in Atlanta, that’s very hard to gauge amidst the major shuffling of the offensive line.
September 10th, 2025 at 10:53 am
Another tough road game! Looks like Griz is up to the task!!
September 10th, 2025 at 10:58 am
We need to lean into the run game to negate that Texans front next Monday. They’re good at all 3 levels of that defense, so letting them chase Bucky, Rachaad & hopefully Tucker around for the first quarter and a half can soften them up. Would be a great way to shut the crowd up early too.
September 10th, 2025 at 11:06 am
Never been a huge Rachaad fan, too much dancing, but O do believe they need to use him more.
1-2 carries is not enough for any RB. Especially one with a 7 yard average.
September 10th, 2025 at 11:06 am
GRIZZARD is a Yale graduate. It’s a top 5 school in the nation. He’s got to be smart to get in there. He’s not a geak like the guy in Miami.
As our first team players start returning in the next few weeks, this team should be a Super Bowl 🏆 contender. Management, Todd Bowles and coaches. Players, our opposition and many fans feel the vibe.
GO BUCS
September 10th, 2025 at 11:14 am
First game, on the road, divisional game, shuffled line..
Hard to judge. Some good things, it was not terrible.
I believe Grizz will be a good play caller.
September 10th, 2025 at 11:20 am
I think this offense will improve every week. What MUST improve immediately is the defense getting stops on 3rd and long. Way too many times ATL converted to keep long extended drives alive.
September 10th, 2025 at 11:25 am
Joe … ‘As for the Bucs’ sputtering run game in Atlanta, that’s very hard to gauge amidst the major shuffling of the offensive line.’
I’ve long said that the quality of the OLine is THE critical element in how well the running game performs. NFL running backs are ALL good, although some like Travis Henry & Saquon Barkley certainly do stand out more than others.
Bucky Irving had 14 opportunities to rack up some yards, but ended up with only 37. That 2.6 YPC average certainly won’t cut it for the year, but the ‘excuse’ is valid: he was running behind a revamped OLine, and one that he wasn’t familiar with for the most part (the chemistry thingie?). Even more puzzling though is that he was targeted 4 times in the passing game, caught all 4, and ended up with a whopping … 8 receiving yards.
Interestingly Rachaad was only targeted 1 time; caught it and ended up with a whopping … 2 yards. So our 2 RBs were targeted 5 times, and ended up with 10 passing yards. Average Depth of Target (ADOT) for Bucky was -1.3 yards, while ADOT for Rachaad was -3.0 yards. Last year those dumpoffs worked GRRREAT; Sunday they were horrible & yielded nothing. Is Atlanta’s defense that good? Was our play design faulty? Did our play execution suck? Anyone’s guess.
September 10th, 2025 at 11:31 am
I posted this in a different thread, but seems more appropriate here…
My grade for Grizz’s playcalling in Week 1: D.
Especially in the run game.
1st downs need to be for playaction and passes a majority of the time (like last year) to keep the defense off-balance.
September 10th, 2025 at 11:34 am
I agree Defense, I mentioned it to my son at least 10 times!!! Atlanta defenders were tackling amazingly and not missing to many tackles and wrapping up.. something we need to learn to do!! Go Bucs
September 10th, 2025 at 11:36 am
” GRIZZARD is a Yale graduate. It’s a top 5 school in the nation. He’s got to be smart to get in there. He’s not a geak like the guy in Miami. ”
You might want to check what college Mike McDaniels went to…
September 10th, 2025 at 11:40 am
Agree with WBS, needa mix in run game and screens.
Hopefully one week of prep helps this O line
September 10th, 2025 at 11:57 am
Looking forward to seeing Grizz picking it up as the season progresses.
Btw, this picture looks like young Gruden back in the day.
September 10th, 2025 at 12:10 pm
Only giving Rachaad one target was a mistake.
September 10th, 2025 at 12:10 pm
he did good and we got the W!
September 10th, 2025 at 12:27 pm
Shaky start, but promising. Even without the full squad, they were just one overthrown Mayfield-to-Otton pass away from dropping 30 points on the road against a tough division rival.
September 10th, 2025 at 12:29 pm
DR – that one catch by White was ALMOST a big play. Kudos to the defender for getting him down with the shoestring tackle – but White was very close to breaking that short pass for a 20+ yard gain.
September 10th, 2025 at 12:39 pm
Take it from someone with several college degrees. The Ivy League schools get too much academic hype. They’re no better than Stanford, UCLA, the Huskies, etc. I don’t know a lot of about college ball, but I do know those 3 institutions have produced extremely talented NFL players. I just want to see Grizzard bloom with this Offense. And if he does, will he kindly give it more than 1 year? Atlanta sure ain’t no cupcake anymore. Raheem has got some serious talent on that squad like Penix.
September 10th, 2025 at 1:40 pm
You grow up playing Madden, it’s no big deal to call plays. Heck, put me in charge and I’ll put up 50 points a game, wait and see.
September 10th, 2025 at 10:24 pm
So…the play caller performs best in 2 minute offense…..so, it might occur to a head coach to run more 2 minute offense, even if it’s the 2nd quarter. But we only have a half timer at that position so…….
September 11th, 2025 at 6:32 am
He did alright & he is gonna get better as he gets more experienced like all the rookies on the TEAM. But for a 1st game on the road against a hostile crowd in a divisional game with alot on the line he was fine. He came thru in the clutch for sure..Grizz gonna be a good one IMHO. GOOOOO BUCS!!