To put it mildly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense has not been the efficient beast we might have expected this season. Any offense led by Tom Brady ranking 16th in Offensive DVOA, as the Buccaneers’ offense did coming into Week 7, has to raise concerns.
“I look [at] what I’m doing as a play caller every week – I look and see what I’m doing,” offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said this week. “Obviously, everybody has their opinion, has had those opinions since I’ve been here – understandable, but we’re always doing the right thing that we feel as though for our ballclub. Obviously, we need to be better on first, second, and third down to be honest with you. We’re working to get that done. We’re working to get that done. We’re working to be better on first, second, and third down.”
And it doesn’t help when Mike Evans, Brady’s best receiver, drops what would have been a wide-open touchdown pass on Tampa Bay’s first drive on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. This was a failure on first down, for those keeping track.
Mike Evans nooooo
pic.twitter.com/6HWGuHJjgt— PFF (@PFF) October 23, 2022
“When the ball comes my way, it’s my job to make the play,” Evans said this week, when asked how he can get more targets — he had just 33 coming into Week 7. “I obviously want the ball as much as possible, but if it doesn’t come my way, I can’t control that. I just run my routes super hard. I feel like I’ve been running them pretty [well] this year. So, I’ll just look forward to getting the ball this weekend.”
We’re sure Brady looks forward to Evans getting the ball, as well.