Zac Robinson finally established the Buccaneers’ identity on offense and he has to keep pushing it if Tampa Bay wants to win more games
The Buccaneers stuck with the rushing attack against the Cowboys on Thursday night and it led to the first win of the season. Zac Robinson has to make sure he keeps his foot on the gas moving forward.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football for their first win of the season, and the biggest reason why is something Bucs fans have been begging for since Week 1: Tampa Bay finally committed to the running game, and the results spoke for themselves.
Hardly anybody picked the Buccaneers to win this one. Still, the formula was simple, and now it’s on the coaching staff to stick with it.
The Buccaneers have to prioritize running the football
I’m the last guy on earth who wants to pound the rock at an unnecessary rate. However, it’s clear as day through five games that the rushing attack is the strength of this offense. It might even be the team’s greatest strength overall, although the secondary can certainly make a case for that title.
“He did a heck of a job,” Todd Bowles told reporters when asked about Bucky Irving’s performance. “I mean, (he was) avoiding tackles every way possible. The offensive line did a heck of a job blocking for him. But Bucky brought a different energy in this game, and you know he was bound to determine to make some plays, and he gave us a huge spark.”
Against the Cowboys, the Bucs ran the ball at a rate of at least 50% in every single quarter, per SumerSports. That’s 50% in the first quarter, 50% in the second, roughly 56% in the third, and over 80% in the fourth when Tampa Bay was closing out the game.
Compare that to the first four weeks, per Sports Info Solutions, when Buccaneers offensive coordinator Zach Robinson never once had back-to-back quarters running the ball at least 50% of the time, as you can see below:
Buccaneers’ rushing rate by quarter Weeks 1-4
The Buccaneers offense has been very inconsistent when it comes to sticking with the run. Below are the rushing rates over the first four games broken down by quarter:
- Week 1: 37%/33%/50%/27%
- Week 2: 43%/35%/ 50%/28%
- Week 3: 45%/23%/44%/22%
- Week 4: 55%/43%/60%/33%
That kind of peak-and-valley approach doesn’t let an offense find any flow, especially with how much Robinson likes to lean on screens and dump-offs.
Now look at what happened when he stuck with it. Tampa Bay put up 24 points, the most its offense has scored this season (factor out Josiah Trotter’s pick-six against the Bengals and the Week 1 total sits around 20). The Bucs also strung together back-to-back touchdown drives for the first time and scored on three straight possessions, two touchdowns and a field goal, to go up 24-10.
I asked Bowles about it during his Friday morning press conference, and he agreed that this is who they are. They’re a running team.
“Yeah, it’s kind of who we are,” said Bowles. “You know, it’s kind of who we are, and it leads to playing very good complementary football.”
Game script will change things on occasion, but this is the bread and butter. If Robinson reverts to that Week 1-4 clip, it would be coaching malpractice and would only add to the questions surrounding him as a play caller. Neither he nor this offense is out of the woods, but they found an identity on Thursday night.
Now, it’s about building on said identity as the team attempts to stack more wins down the road.
