For some insight on the Buccaneers, Fran Duffy chatted with SB Nation’s John Ledyard, who has covered Tampa Bay in depth for several years. This conversation is part of Fran’s latest Eagle Eye in the Sky episode, which can be found below.
What are your thoughts on Baker Mayfield at this stage?
“I think he’s been above expectations because I think, I mean, if you think realistically, there was a time after his Panthers stint last year that was like, ‘Is Baker Mayfield going to make a career in the NFL? going?’
“He went to the Rams and he was decent, and there was always some interest, but he signed for very little money from Tampa Bay for the season, so there wasn’t a lot of interest in him. He didn’t have a lot of offers, so He came in, competed for the starting quarterback job, got the job, but there was definitely a feeling that this could be one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league and he’s been a top-half quarterback in the League I this year. Come to think of it, it will definitely be a pleasant surprise.
“The things you struggle with him are all still there. One thing that has stood out this season is he’s not a great deep ball thrower. When he’s done that, it’s been a very aggressive offense , so he’ll push the ball down.” Field. Baker, this season, is 22 of 74 on 20-plus air-yard throws. You’re talking about an adjusted completion percentage of 31 percent. That’s one of the lower marks in the league, even when you account for the drop and things like that among quarterbacks at his position who have played as much as him. So when he has games where he hits the deep ball, arm strength isn’t (the problem); It’s really just an accuracy, timing issue. When he’s had the games that he’s had, this offense has played its best of the season – the Texans game, the Packers game, all those games, like they’ve been really good. But this crime is based on it actually happening. And that’s been the struggle this season, when he doesn’t do that, he’s got to be in manageable situations.”
What gives Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales the most confidence heading into this matchup?
“That’s a good question because the Bucs haven’t really been consistent at all this season. It’s hard to pinpoint if there’s anything this team is great at. They’ve been very good at throwing the football this season, Especially late in games. They don’t throw it enough early on, that’s probably my biggest complaint, but the passing game and the concepts and the way they create things, without going into too much detail, But he’s had great route development of his play-action game, which is huge. Generally his pass concepts have been pretty aggressive. He’s found ways to get the ball down the field without scoring 989 runs every time. It’s just more variety. They’ve learned, ‘Oh, we can spread the field with Baker Mayfield, we can put four characters in the route tree, and we can make things happen that way in the pass game. We can make our running backs Rachad White, when the teams met back Week 3, most of the routes were just flat, checkdowns, things like that. Now, he’s an active part of the pass game.
“Mike Evans is running the lowest percentage go routes in his career. Still running them, but just running a lot of different things and using them vertically. Chris Godwin more on the outside Are, still playing a little bit well in the slot, but more outside. And when he’s in the slot, he’s asked to get vertical from the slot, so pass concepts are good. Route concepts in general “They are very well layered. This offense has very good spacing. I would say they know how to attack defenses.”
Same question, but where are head coach Todd Bowles and the Bucs’ defense heading into this game?
“It’s really tough because your biggest strengths are probably some individual players, so it’s not something you’re doing ideologically. Antoine Winfield is arguably the best safety in the league this year, a Pro Bowl-voting disaster. . You have (defensive tackle Vita) Vea, who is playing at a very high level this season as well. Lavonte David continues to dial back the clock. I think his performance this year compared to his last two seasons Has been better. He has been excellent.
“So, you have some pillars at every level of your defense. The rest of the players around them have been very good this season, the corners have struggled, not a dissimilar situation from Philly’s corners, where typically Carlton Davis And there are a lot of good corners in. Jamel Dean hasn’t really been completely healthy this season and then he’s had a lot of ups and downs when he’s been out there. And so that part of it concerns me a little bit.
“And then I think it’s more of a matchup like the Bucs haven’t been a high-pressure team this season. They’ve put a lot of pressure on them. There hasn’t been a lot of pressure on them. It hasn’t been as successful as the Bowles regime. ‘s second year. He’s still running a very strong offense. The encouraging thing is that he doesn’t necessarily have any pressure on him, Jalen Hurts didn’t necessarily have pressure on him when he played with him in Week 3, but Just the idea of blitzing and he blitzed 75 percent of Hurts’ dropbacks. He’s going to be aggressive.”
