No. 1 Thing That Must Be Fixed In Bucs Offense

A new Pewter Report roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Every week, a Pewter reporter will tackle a different tough question. Question of the week: What’s the No. 1 problem the Bucs’ offense needs to fix?

Scott Reynolds: Luke Goedeke’s return will definitely help

Buccaneers RT Luke Goedeke – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR

Unfortunately, this is something the coaches and players can’t fix, but the return of right tackle Luke Goedeke should be a big help to a Tampa Bay offense that has struggled and trended downwards over the past two weeks. Tampa Bay opened the season with 392 yards and 37 points in a 37-20 win over Washington, but was limited to just 20 points and 216 yards in a 20-16 win over Detroit. Then, in a 26-7 blowout loss to Denver, Liam Cohen’s team was held to just 223 yards and one touchdown.

In the two games Goedeke has missed since suffering a concussion in Week 1, replacement Justin Sukur has allowed three sacks, two quarterback hits and one rush. While it appeared Sukur allowed a sack against the Broncos, Pro Football Focus actually blamed Baker Mayfield for the sack on Sukur’s side, which was also shown on film. Not only has Sukur been shaky in pass protection, he’s been even worse in the run game, with two consecutive PFF grades of 59.7 and 48.4. Run blocking has been one of Goedeke’s strengths.

More important than improving pass protection and run blocking, Goeddeke will set the tone for the offensive line up front. Whereas Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen was the initiator and tempo dictator of the offense, Goeddeke is that role on the offensive line. The Bucs need some energy up front, and Goeddeke’s return will provide just that. With the Eagles coming to town for a big NFC showdown, Tampa Bay is eager for him to return and hopes he clears concussion testing and can play. But his recovery is out of anyone’s control right now. Time will tell when Goeddeke will return.

Matt Matera: Bucky Irving at running back

Fixing the Buccaneers’ run game isn’t a simple solution, but a simple tweak that seems obvious to many would be to start rookie running back Bucky Irving at the position or at least give him more opportunities in the ground game. At the very least, he should share more snaps with Rachad White and not end up with a lopsided 42-18 snap differential like Sunday.

Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR

What else does Irving need to do to get more handoffs? He’s a force to be reckoned with on the run, with two runs of 30+ yards this season. Irving is quick to get through holes and is good at getting around guys in tight spaces. When there isn’t a lot of room to run, there’s even more reason to use Irving, because he’s smaller, so he needs a smaller hole to get through.

Irving out-rushed White in the first three games of the season. Sunday’s blowout loss was the most brutal, with Irving rushing nine times for 70 yards and White rushing six times for 17. This isn’t to say White isn’t important to the Buccaneers or shouldn’t be utilized. He’s good in the passing game and plays a big role in the offense. Irving just gives the Buccaneers the energy they need right now. When he goes out there, the whole stadium chants the Buccaneers’ name. Todd Bowles said Irving has practiced more in the next game. I hope that’s true, because he can be the player that brings the success Tampa Bay is looking for.

Bayley Adams: Create more opportunities for backup wide receivers

Buccaneers WR Jalen McMillan – Photo courtesy of USA Today

While it’s important for the Buccaneers to keep Chris Godwin and get Mike Evans more involved in the offense, it’s unfortunate that they’ve created so few opportunities for the other receivers. Offensive coordinator Liam Cohen and quarterback Baker Mayfield obviously did a great job getting the most out of Godwin early in the year, and with Evans, there’s no doubt he’ll be great when he returns. But what about the receivers outside of Godwin and Evans? They’ve been pretty nonexistent through the first three weeks.

Jalen McMillan, a 2024 third-round draft pick, had a great offseason and (rightfully) hyped him, but he caught just six passes in three games. He caught three passes for 59 yards (19.7 average) and one touchdown. Meanwhile, Trey Palmer caught just three passes for 19 yards. The offense needs more from guys like McMillan and Palmer, especially in games where Evans is out (like last Sunday’s loss). With all due respect to Cade Otton, he’s not going to intimidate defenses with game-changing ability. Denver was happy to let Otton catch a ton of short passes on Sunday, because that’s not going to win anybody.

Who’s to blame? The blame is on everyone. Cohen needs to get better at strategizing to get McMillan (or whoever he wants as a WR3) open, and Mayfield needs to find him. And McMillan and Palmer themselves need to get more distance and take better advantage of the opportunities that exist. Building more trust with Mayfield and getting things going when Godwin and Evans are covered would be a big help for Tampa Bay’s passing attack, as it would make it more versatile. Not to mention, the more the defense cares about the other receivers, the more opportunities there will be for the top two receiver options. That would benefit the entire offense.

Josh Quepo: Rely on an effective running scheme

I wrote about this after the Buccaneers’ Week 1 win over the Washington Commanders, and it still holds true today. The Buccaneers have struggled to execute their staple mid-zone scheme. The blocking scheme rarely dominates the front side of the concept, and then, like clockwork, someone (though not always the same player) gets lost on the back side, ending any hope of a cutback. It’s almost comical at this point.

But there is a ray of hope for Tampa Bay. They can take advantage of gap concepts like counter, power and duo. When the offensive line is asked to double, displace and vertically rise, they fire the ball off and create space for the Bucs to move. Pull runs downhill and targets with precision. Things go better.

The offensive philosophy still seems to be run-heavy on first downs, and the Buccaneers can’t afford to spice up first downs with ineffective runs that set up second downs long or third downs medium. If this team really wants to get better offensively, they need to focus more on power football until they can improve their zone running game.

Adam Slivon: Mike Evans needs to be the focal point of the Buccaneers’ offense.

Where is Mike Evans? He’s missing. After a big performance in Week 1 against the Commanders, where he had five catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns, he’s been quiet. Too quiet.

Buccaneers WR Mike Evans – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR

After a series of unforgettable events, unfortunate Coming into the game, offensive coordinator Liam Cohen will need to game plan to get the ball to his star wide receiver more, and the offense will need Evans to be an active participant if it wants to improve from a seven-point deficit against the Broncos and score more points than it did last year.

Handing the ball to Evans against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL wasn’t an issue in Week 1, but it has been an issue the past two weeks. Against the Lions, Evans was targeted six times and caught all three passes from former teammate Carlton Davis III. This didn’t matter as Chris Godwin got more attention in the Buccaneers’ win over Detroit. But the bigger issue is the fact that Tampa Bay’s offense didn’t perform well last Sunday and didn’t even bother to deploy its best weapons, and that must change.

“We need to use him more,” head coach Todd Bowles said in his press conference on Monday. Quarterback Baker Mayfield said after Sunday’s game that he needs to use M1K3 because he’ll be facing a No. 1 cornerback every week, regardless of who’s covering him. “He’s a good player, but we have good cornerbacks every week,” Mayfield said.

“We’ve got to get him involved in the game early. We’ve got to have a better plan for him and get him the ball.” That has to start this Sunday against the Eagles at Raymond James Stadium. Sure, Mike Evans will be covered by Darius Slay and Quinion Mitchell, and the Buccaneers will still face a talented Philadelphia defense, but that can’t be an excuse every week.