The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were missing several key members of their defense in a Week 3 loss to the Denver Broncos — on the offensive side of the ball Tampa Bay didn’t have that same excuse.
Aside from right tackle Luke Goedeke, who was out with a concussion, all hands were on deck for the Buccaneers in the 26-7 loss in which they mustered only 221 yards of total offense
From Bleacher Report: “The Buccaneers face a difficult stretch, and they’re unlikely to emerge with a winning record with a leaky defense and a one-dimensional offense.”
The Buccaneers’ offense has very much been one-dimensional so far, with a stout passing game and no rushing attack to speak of — and when the passing game went away against the Broncos there wasn’t much meat left on the bone.
Buccaneers Gave Up 7 Sacks Against Broncos
The Buccaneers turned in arguably the worst single-game performance by any offensive line in the NFL through the first 3 weeks when they allowed quarterback Baker Mayfield to be sacked 7 times against the Broncos.
“…playing without tackle Luke Goedeke, Mayfield was sacked a whopping seven times,” ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote on Sept. 23. “He was pressured quickly on 10 of his 40 dropbacks, which was the second-highest rate for any quarterback in the league behind Daniel Jones. His 18 dropbacks under pressure produced a total of nine net yards.”
While Goedeke’s absence hurts, it shouldn’t be something that makes the entire line collapse like it did against the Broncos. Especially considering there’s still All-Pro talent up front with left offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.
Wirfs signed a 5-year, $140.5 million contract extension on Aug. 1. It was the largest contract for an offensive lineman in NFL history.
“Yeah, it sucks,” Wirfs told Pewter Report following the loss to the Broncos. “…we signed up to protect (Mayfield). That’s our job and we’ve gotta do our best to hold up. It’s never fun (to give up seven sacks).”
Buccaneers Running Game Falling Flat Again
Through 3 games, the Buccaneers have 1 rushing touchdown — from Mayfield. Tampa Bay’s running backs have shown almost no signs of life and have yet to reach the end zone.
Rookie Bucky Irving leads Tampa Bay with 154 rushing yards and is averaging 6.2 yarrds per carry. Last year’s leading rusher, Rachaad White, has 33 rushing yards through 3 games and is averaging 2.1 yards per carry.
Before the season, PFF’s Trevor Sikkema ranked Tampa Bay’s running backs No. 20 out of 32 teams in their position group.
The Buccaneers drafted Irving in the 4th round (No. 125 overall) of the 2024 NFL draft out of Oregon after he had 1,593 yards of total offense — 1,180 rushing yards — and 13 touchdowns in 2023 on the way to earning All-Pac-12 honors.
“Rachaad White quietly generated the eighth-best PFF wins above average figure among running backs last season (0.16),” Sikkema wrote. “Though his yards per carry average was below 4.0 for the second year in a row, he amassed 900-plus rushing yards and 500-plus receiving yards as an all-purpose back. The Buccaneers drafted Bucky Irving in the fourth round, a player with a similar skill set. I am bullish on this young running back duo in 2024.”
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