When it comes to the Bucs losing to the Falcons, 31-26, on Sunday, the offense wasn’t the problem. Sure, Baker Mayfield threw for two interceptions, but the big question after the game was can the Tampa Bay defense can stop anyone? If the offense did have any questionable elements it revolved around running back Sean Tucker – and why he was used so little.
Sean Tucker had just two rushing attempts for three yards and made one catch for 12 yards in the game. The rushing statistics are undoubtedly poor but the most egregious thing of all was that Tucker was only used on seven snaps throughout Sunday’s game. That is a ridiculously low and makes it difficult to overcome a slow start like Tucker had.
Why Did Sean Tucker Barely Play vs. The Falcons?
In Monday’s press conference Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles tried to explain why Sean Tucker wasn’t involved much, and admitted that they needed more of him.
“I think it’ll change every week,” Bowles said. “You know, when we got behind, that was probably less Tucker’s thing. But he’s going to get more touches, he’s going to get more plays and more reps.”
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
What made it more odd was how the situation going into the game and then how everything unfolded. On the first drive, Rachaad White fumbled the ball on the second play of the game, which was recovered by the Falcons and they scored a touchdown shortly thereafter to immediately put the Bucs in a 7-0 hole. Understandably, Tampa Bay didn’t want to give up on White that early, but wouldn’t that present even more of a reason to bring give Sean Tucker an earlier look?
Then we have to consider what was going on with Bucky Irving. It took until Friday in the week to find out whether Irving was going to play because of a toe injury that Bowles described as an injury that Irving has dealt with dating back to his college days. If a player had to do miss two practices just to be ready by game day, wouldn’t the team want limit the reps he gets in a game to keep him healthy for the rest of the season?
What’s also scary is the precedent that the Bucs are setting in this running back room. It was described as a three-headed monster by Bowles just three weeks ago, but that can’t be said anymore if this is going to be the rotation. Three weeks ago Sean Tucker accounted for 192 yards of offense and two touchdowns in a win over the Saints, which won him NFC Offensive Player Of The Week honors.
The Bucs are showing that no matter how well a player play, that’s not going to give him more snaps in the following weeks. What else does Tucker need to do to earn more handoffs and targets in the passing game?
Out of those three running backs, Tucker is the only one to win that award. Does his production mean anything if Tampa Bay just reverts right back to hardly involving him in the offensive attack? That can’t be the case moving forward.
What Happened To The Bucs’ Game Plan Of Running The Ball?
Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today
In fairness to Rachaad White and Bucky Irving, they did have solid games in terms of production against Atlanta. The Bucs, as a team, rushed for 102 yards. White had 29 rushing yards on six attempts (4.8 avg.) and made five catches for 38 yards while Irving was the best of the group, having nine rushing attempts for 44 yards (4.9 avg.) and receptions for 40 yards in the passing game.
What was very surprising is that Tampa Bay sort of abandoned the run even while the game was within reach. In a tie game at 14-14, the Bucs got the ball with 7:19 to go in the second quarter. For the rest of the game, the Bucs ran the ball nine times.
This included a kneel down by Baker Mayfield at the end of the half, the failed fake punt rushing attempt by Tavierre Thomas and a scramble by Mayfield. The Falcons didn’t build a two-score lead until 14 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Tampa Bay could’ve stuck with the ground game.
“Some of the things they started doing kind of got us away from it a little bit,” Bowles said. “And we started altering to some of the passing game.”
Tucker was not used in the fourth quarter either as the Bucs try to come back. The weakness of his game is pass blocking, so Tampa Bay started with Irving at the beginning of the quarter and White finished the rest of the way. Regardless, it’s inexcusable to not get the ball to someone that’s shown flashes of high-level speed and high-level production this season.
Hopefully Todd Bowles is true his word about the team using him more down the stretch.
