Buccaneers’ Offense Needs to Be More Falcons Than Seahawks
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense has a blank slate, so it’s important they start off on the right foot. After hiring Dirk Koetter to be the team’s new offensive coordinator, head coach Lovie Smith expressed his excitement for a well-balanced attack. Is that the right mindset for this team, given their current strengths and weaknesses? Yes and no.
While it is crucial to keep the defense guessing, the Buccaneers’ offense looks like it has the potential to be more of a high-flying squad, similar to the Atlanta Falcons, with the receiving duo of Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson. If the Bucs were to implement a more balanced attack, similar to the Seattle Seahawks, who does this team rely on to be their Marshawn Lynch and carry the lion’s share of the workload?
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Do they
honestly
trust Doug Martin to be their lead back after another up-and-down season? Is it Charles Sims’ time to shine even though he never really seized the moment when given the opportunity? And as much as I like Bobby Rainey,
the Bucs just don’t seem to trust him
. In theory, the idea of a three-headed monster is great. But the reality is going in that direction prevents each of these guys from getting into a rhythm.
Think of a guy like Lynch, who can be a slow starter. After only five carries, he may only have 10 or so yards. Does that mean Robert Turbin or Christine Michael should come and assume a bulk of the work? Absolutely not. Now, think about how the Buccaneers would potentially attack this situation with two equally talented backs waiting in the wings.
If Martin is getting stuffed early, Lovie may want to see what he has in Sims. However, by doing so, Smith is abandoning any hope of seeing the Muscle Hamster possibly break out a big gain, building his confidence a little bit and putting together a nice rushing performance from there on out. If the Bucs are aiming to be more like the Seahawks, as some speculate, they need to figure out who is their main back and stick with the decision.
If they are unable to confidentially do that, they need to seek an alternate route, like resembling the Falcons’ offense. After all, the Buccaneers already have very similar pieces to that of Atlanta in place from their wideouts to a big, strong tight end to a slew of running backs with varying skill sets. All they are missing is a Matt Ryan-esque pocket passer with good accuracy and an ability to pick up some rushing yards if need be. That could be on its way though.
The writing is practically on the wall, but it’s up to Lovie to let Koetter do what he needs to do to see the Bucs’ offense succeed. If that means being a more pass-happy attack, then so be it. We just cannot have another year where Tampa is the 30th-ranked team offense.
Next: Dirk Koetter Discusses the State of the Buccaneers Offense