Bucs: Play-calling from Byron Leftwich is only getting worse
By Rob Leeds
Byron Leftwich should be coaching for his job, but his performance yesterday did very little to inspire confidence that he should return next season.
Byron Leftwich is a great man and should get a chance at a head coaching job down the road, but his time as the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator has done little to further that notion.
The Buccaneer offense was one of the most exciting in the NFL last season, and while its efficiency was lower, this current iteration feels stagnant by comparison.
Perhaps this is not entirely Leftwich’s fault, but the stark change in philosophy from Bruce Arians has bled into the offensive play-calling, and Leftwich will suffer as a result.
Despite a decent early start to the season offensively, the Buccaneers struggle to move the ball at the worst moments, and a large part of that is due to the play-calling. Despite being a younger coach, who generally adhere more to analytics than their older counterparts, Leftwich is still coaching like it’s the early 2000s, which is unsustainable in the modern NFL.
While the fanbase is happy that the team is on the verge of making its first playoff appearance in years, a sense of unease hangs heavily over games where the Bucs fail to put it all together on offense.
If the Buccaneers want to live up to their potential, a large part of that starts with Leftwich.