Buccaneers coach backs himself into a corner with latest comments
Undoubtedly, the heat is on Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to figure out -and fix- the ailments that are holding the offense back. And while the players have certainly had their collective hand in the pot of dysfunction and inefficiency – it all starts with Leftwich. He's the one who draws up the […]
Undoubtedly, the heat is on Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to figure out -and fix- the ailments that are holding the offense back.
And while the players have certainly had their collective hand in the pot of dysfunction and inefficiency – it all starts with Leftwich. He's the one who draws up the plays and sends them in on game day.
After that it's up to the players to execute the play call.
Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, the execution hasn't been there.
But the play-calling hasn't done the offense any favors, either.
Just take a look at the three clips, below. If left guard Luke Goedeke simply just holds his block, then the first play is a touchdown. However, he whiffs miserably and Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward is able to stop running back Leonard Fournette just short of the goal line.
The next play call is a miserable one. For whatever reason, Leftwich forgoes a power run or even a quarterback sneak and decides to call a play that pulls Goedeke.
From inside the 1, nonetheless.
And the final third down play is Goedeke getting blown up by Heyward, again. This time it's a sack that kills the drive and forces the Buccaneers to take the field goal.
The above sequence is the perfect example of how both play-calling and execution matter.
And Leftwich realizes he has to do better when it comes to helping out his rookie guard.
"I’ve got to do a better job of helping [Luke Goedeke] out in those situations," Leftwich told reporters Thursday. "Obviously, it wasn’t that simple – but I’ve just got to do a better job of helping him out. That’s really what it comes down to.”
But it's hard to say whether or not Leftwich realizes the mistakes he's made when it comes to his in-game decisions, aka his play-calling.
And that's because he refuses to go into any detail about why he makes the decisions he does.
Case in point: Leftwich was asked about his extremely questionable decision to run behind the struggling Goedeke, an injured Donovan Smith, and rookie tight end Cade Otton instead of running behind All-Pro right tackle Tristan Wirfs and Shaq Mason (who's the arguably the second-best OL on the team) on a crucial 3rd and 1 in the fourth quarter.
"That's not a true statement, but OK," Leftwich said Thursday.
It was in fact a true statement, as you can see below:
When offered to explain the logic behind the decision, Leftwich declined.
"No logic," said Leftwich.
That wasn't the only case where Leftwich declined to give insight into the workings of the Buccaneers offense. Many were curious as to why the offense didn't attack the banged-up Steelers secondary in Week 6, which is completely logical in its own right.
"A lot of things happened in that game where I really won’t go into detail," said Leftwich. "We just didn’t do a good enough job of executing really on any down. We didn’t play well enough as an offense and when you don’t, it looks like that. It looks like that any time you lose football games. That’s how you feel – there’s always a what if."
Sure, people will always look at things differently in hindsight. But, that's the whole point of hindsight: looking back at what happened and trying to figure out why the call was made and how it was executed.
By the time Thursday rolls around, everyone has seen the game multiple times and even some have watched the tape. How does having a tough, but honest, conversation work against someone after the fact? We know Leftwich isn't brushing things off in meetings, so why not give some non-coach-speak/non-clichè answers that allow people to see things beyond surface-level?
The ones who are tuned-in know what's going on. They can see the same things on tape that Leftwich is watching.
So why not do himself a favor and let people know why he's making the decisions he's making? Laughing at reporters, calling true statements false, and simply blowing off honest, legitimate questions won't remove any pressure or get anyone off of his back.
It'll only turn up the pressure. And it's easy to see why the pressure is up even more on Leftwich after Thursday.
Granted, Leftwich doesn't owe anyone any answers. He doesn't have to go into detail about his decisions and what happened during a game that created the context for his decision.
But at the same time, if he's not going to give answers in press conferences, then he needs to deliver answers on the field.
Because right now, the Buccaneers offense isn't good enough. The deficiencies and inefficiencies are costing this team games.
And without concrete answers from the guy running the show, the questions will only get bigger and tougher as the season rolls along.
You can check out Leftwich's full presser, below:
Featured image via Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
