Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Can Byron Leftwich save his job?

The offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers, Byron Leftwich, is in more hot water than it would appear with a seven and five record.

The coaching staff for the Buccaneers has experienced a massive fall from grace. Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich, and Todd Bowles have seen massive highs and lows this season, and the recent string of games falls in the “low” category.

The coaches under the most fire this season are Arians and Leftwich, and Leftwich could be out of a job at the end of this season given the current results.

The Buccaneers are sitting just above .500, and their offense has been mostly non-existent against any slightly talented competition. Sure, the Bucs dominated the Panthers and the Raiders, but the team doesn’t live up to billing when the rubber meets the road.

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Bruce Arians has a hand in some significant mistakes this season so far as well, but Leftwich’s play-calling has been downright inexcusable at times.

The first down runs, the third and short deep shots, and the questionable scripting at the start of games should be enough to have the Buccaneers looking into other candidates for the role.

While there have been mistakes, Leftwich is young, learning, and in an excellent system to grow. Tom Brady is still an extremely talented quarterback, the offense is good enough to stand on its own at times, and the players have the talent to overcome poor coaching.

All the pieces are there for success, and Leftwich’s age is another major plus, but the Buccaneers need to determine if improvement is possible. Some of the game management decisions have cost the Bucs in major ways, and Tampa Bay could decide that an analytics-savvy option may be the better direction to go.

If the Bucs do round out the season with three or four wins, which should be entirely possible, Leftwich will likely stay in his role for at least one more season. The run game has improved, the offensive efficiency is better than last season, and things are looking up. Still, the Buccaneers need to decide how they will handle their final season of going all-in on a Super Bowl and if that includes a young/growing offensive coordinator.