The Buccaneers should never run the football again

The Buccaneers need to be a pass-only team in 2021.

Why a team like the Buccaneers would ever run the ball on first down is beyond us. With one of the most accurate quarterbacks of all time and some of the best weapons in the league, throwing the football needs to be the sole focal point of the Buccaneer offense in the future.

In the modern NFL, the value of the run is a fraction of the value of the pass. Running plays pick up fewer yards on average and work at a much lower frequency, and the Bucs running the ball on first down is an easy way to destroy their offensive momentum.

As analytics continue to evolve, the prevalence of running the football on early downs becomes more and more confusing. While the run used to establish the pass, the opposite is the case in the modern NFL.

Teams have to throw the ball early in an analytics-savvy way, and the Bucs need to do this to a higher degree.

While it has only been one preseason game, the Bucs just showed what they could do in a pass-heavy offense. After a terrible first drive defined by a penalty, a first and 15 run, and then two whiffed passing plays, the Bucs came out in their second drive and didn’t run the football one time.

Tom Brady didn’t miss a pass, the offense moved close to 90 yards, and the offense looked like it hadn’t missed a beat from their domination in the Super Bowl. Even the Leonard Fournette was involved in the passing game, and this drive just continued to show how outdated the run is.

As the NFL continues to evolve, the vast majority of downs are best used on passing rather than running. The Bucs just showed they could sustain a long drive passing the ball as their only means of moving the sticks, and there is no reason why this shouldn’t remain the primary offensive plan in the future.

Quit running the football.

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