After yet another lackluster performance from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense in Sunday’s 20-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s understandable for fingers to be pointing in every direction.
Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is taking his share of criticism from fans, after his unit settled for four field goals before finally scoring a late touchdown in the final minutes Sunday.
Speaking to the media Monday, head coach Todd Bowles was asked about his level of satisfaction with Leftwich and his play-calling up to this point, and he made sure to divert the blame equally across the board instead of singling out one of his coordinators.
“I’m dissatisfied with a lot of things, you know,” Bowles said. “Winning is number one. It’s not about the play-calling, it’s all-inclusive. Players have to execute what the coaches call and coaches have to make sure that the players are in the right position to call them. We don’t throw blame anywhere; it’s all-inclusive. It’s offense, defense and special teams when we have a bad game. It’s not even about play-calling, it’s about team.”
On one hand, it’s clear Bowles isn’t happy with the offense’s current output. On the other, he’s clearly aware that his team isn’t pulling their weight on the other side of the ball either.
The Bucs have plenty of questions to answer moving forward if they want to make another deep playoff run, and Leftwich’s offense isn’t the only problem right now.
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