4 steps for the Buccaneers to return to the Super Bowl

Set up play-action before the run

The football guys reading this are going to hate this one. Back when NFL quarterbacks were less accurate, and the run was so important, play-action was a great change of pace during an extremely run-heavy era. The strategy has shifted in recent years, but the Buccaneers have been slow to change.

While Tom Brady looks good in empty sets that are obvious passing downs, some of his best throws this season have come on play-action passes, and the Buccaneers need to play to their strengths against a stout Green Bay defense.

Instead of coming out and running the ball on first down as the entire world expects from the Buccaneers, they should come out and run play-action on those downs instead.

Setting up the run before the pass is a thing of the past, and passing on these early downs is actually backed up by the numbers far more than running.

By going with the heavy play-action approach early, the Buccaneers will set up a far more potent run game than the one that sends Leonard Fournette at a wall of bodies ten times in the first quarter to stall out crucial drives.

Once Green Bay’s defense starts keying in on Brady as a passer in these sets, the Bucs can transition to running the ball instead. The defense will get caught off guard, and the Buccaneer offense can get off to the quick start they definitely need.