There’s a weird trend happening with the Bucs offense but the good news is it’s easy to stop
The Bucs don’t need to overthink this one.
Professional football is one of the hardest sports to play, period. However, there are plenty of moments where common sense and simplicity are the driving force behind success.
Take 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 situations, for instance. Yes, the NFL lives on the mantra of it’s a game of inches, but one yard to go should basically be a gimme for the guys trying to move the ball downfield.
History has shown the best way to get that crucial yard is through the quarterback sneak. Per FiveThirtyEight Sports, the league-wide conversion rate “from 2001 to 2015 on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 plays that are not QB sneaks is 65% — on sneaks, that success rate jumps to 84%.” Per CBS Sports, QB sneaks have worked 85.9% of the time in these situations from 2017 – Week 8 of the 2023 season, while all other plays worked 69.1% of the time.
It seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, not so much. Per Sports Info Solutions, there are five teams that have yet to call a QB sneak in 2025 and one of them is none other than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bucs need to call QB sneaks a lot more often
It’s a weird trend. Per NFL Pro, the Bucs have been in 3rd and 1 and/or 4th and 1 situations a total of 16 times over the course of eight games (not including punts, obviously). Not once have they tried to sneak the ball with Baker Mayfield and as it turns out, they’ve converted just 56.3% of the time, which ranks 23rd out of 32 teams.
It’s clear calling more sneaks can help up the conversion rate, which is sorely needed for an offense that struggled for two games before last week’s bye.
Is this going to magically fix everything or is it something earth-shattering? No, but process is so crucial when it comes to winning games on a consistent basis in the NFL and if the Bucs are overlooking something like this, then what else could Josh Grizzard be missing? It seems like this would be an easy option to identify when it comes to converting key moments such as these, but that’s clearly not happening.
QB sneaks are the most effective play in NFL history and that was long before the Tush Push came along, as the above stats showed. The Bucs need to get on board with this as soon as possible or else there’s a good chance their struggles will continue.
This article was originally published in A to Z Tampa Bay as There’s a weird trend happening with the Bucs offense but the good news is it’s easy to stop.
