Drive analysis: Looking back on Buccaneers' offense

This is the year end review of our offensive drive series for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If you have been following along the Drive Series all along, then you already know what to expect in this concluding set. If you have not been following along, then take some time to make some popcorn, get some pop, and some tissues just in case the review zaps away the joy you had at the beginning of this article.

The final statistics for the team in 2014 offensively are 30^th overall offense by producing 292 yards per game (ypg).  Its breakdown for pass and run are: 25^th in passing (206.1 ypg) and 29^th in the run game (85.9 ypg).  Finally, the points per game average for the season has Tampa ranked 29^th overall, producing a meekly 17.3 average per game.  In conclusion, the offense was beyond abysmally mediocre.

Here is the game by game breakdown of drives for the season. Similar to the Defensive Drive Year End Analysis, I will denote when the bye week occurred so that I could do a split.

TB Offense vs Opposing Defense
Team	Drive	Plays	Yards	Off Pts	40 + yard Drives	50 + yard Drives	60 + yard Drives	70 + Yard Drives	80 + Yard Drives	90 + yard Drives	Total
Car	11	55	279	14	1	1	2	0	0	0	4
StL	9	54	372	17	1	0	2	2	0	0	5
Atl	14	57	143	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Pit	10	66	365	27	1	0	1	0	2	0	4
NO	11	55	274	24	1	0	0	0	2	0	3
Bal	12	69	379	17	0	2	1	1	0	1	5
	Bye Week				z
Min	12	52	224	13	0	1	0	1	0	0	2
Cle	12	65	375	17	2	0	1	0	1	0	4
Atl	9	76	334	17	2	0	0	1	1	0	4
Was	9	48	294	20	1	0	1	0	1	0	3
Chi	15	77	317	13	1	1	0	2	0	0	4
Cin	12	57	217	13	2	0	0	1	0	0	3
Det	13	60	282	17	2	0	0	1	1	0	4
Car	13	55	273	17	1	1	0	0	2	0	4
GB	10	48	89	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
NO	10	69	283	20	0	0	0	1	1	0	2
Totals	182	963	4500	256	15	7	8	10	12	1	53
Avg	11.38	60.19	281.25	16.0	0.938	0.438	0.500	0.625	0.750	0.063
Percent of drives over total number of drives					8.2%	3.8%	4.4%	5.5%	6.6%	0.5%	29.1%

Please note that the average offensive scoring is lower than the PPG denoted in the aforementioned paragraph.  In my offensive drive stat collection, I count only the points that were accrued by the offense alone, negating any scoring created outside the realm of the offense such as a defensive pick six (an interception returned for a touchdown). The offense is actually more putrid than what the stats show. Sorry for being the harbinger of our offensive woes this past season, but it is a task I take no delight in scribing.

Offensive Coordinator

Before the start of the season, offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford had to address a medical condition that affected his heart. The architect of our newly founded spread offense that was supposed to be up tempo would be out of commission early into the season. Tedford did try to come back twice, but each time was too early as it affected his health. Finally, when Tedford was finally cleared of medical complications with five games left to play in the season, head coach Lovie Smith told him not to return.

"When I let them know I was ready to come back, Lovie felt like it would kind of disrupt the continuity,’’ Tedford said Wednesday while taking in an East-West Shrine Game practice at Shorecrest Preparatory School.

"And then they kind of let me know that they really couldn’t commit to me for another year. I don’t know if they were apprehensive because of my health or what, but that was kind of it.’

tbo.com

Lovie had decided this offense would not do into the future and decided to cut ties early.  One on hand, I am pleased to never see this offense again. But on the other hand, Lovie did leave the offense on an island as well as let us fans endure such a despicable display.  I am not sure how I feel about that as I typed that sentence.  Did our head coach really leave our team out to dry?

Offensive Line

The Bucs invested in free agents LT Anthony Collins, C Ethan Dietrich-Smith, and T/G Oniel Cousins. Drafted G Kadeem Edwards and T Kevin Pamphile, both in the fifth round.  Also, the organization traded for former Pro Bowler G Logan Mankins from New England.

PFF Rankings :

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24^th last season)

Pass Blocking Ranking: 26^th , Run Blocking Ranking: 10^th , Penalties Ranking: 32^nd

Stud: Credit to Demar Dotson who flipped between left and right tackle and maintained a positive grade.

Dud: Any time you’re forced to start Oniel Cousins it’s unlikely to go well. Suffice to say it didn’t work out for the Bucs either.

Breakdown: The decision to get younger at left tackle backfired with Anthony Collins struggling as Donald Penn flourished. Logan Mankins was a vital pickup given what they had at the guards spot but you’d be hard pressed to figure out what this line will look like next year.

Football outsiders:

Pass Blocking Ranking: 29^th, Run Blocking Ranking: 32^nd (last), Stuffed rank: 32^nd

" Stuffed:  Percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage.  Since being stuffed is bad, teams are ranked from stuffed least often (#1) to most often (#32)."

It is a quandary how PFF ranked the run game so high while Football Outsiders has them ranked last. Considering the run game got stuff more often than any other team, as they are ranked 32^nd by Football Outsiders, it seems almost difficult to have them ranked any higher than last in the league. PFF did rank the offensive line last in penalties ranking. A lack of run blocking, a lack of pass blocking, and the high amount of offensive line penalties equates to a season full of headaches, heartaches, and visual-aches. The offensive production would be a video of how not to construct an offensive line!

Running Backs

In the article I mentioned a new offense, new OC, and new offensive linemen. The Bucs already had three running backs, who each showcased the capability of big game productions last season in Doug Martin, Mike James, and Bobby Rainey. The tallest in the bunch is Mike James, standing at 5’10".  In the third round of the 2014 draft, the Bucs selected a running back, Charles Sims. At 6 feet, Sims’ catching radius is the largest out of all the running backs. That catching radius helps with the idea of a mutli-facted RB.  Sims would act like a multi-use RB such as Chicago’s Matt Forte.

When the Bucs drafted Sims, I read some scouting reports that said Sims stands up too tall for a running back, which is a bad trait for a running back, but it is a great trait for a receiving running back.  The front office and head coach believe Sims to be a three down back, to which he would switch off offensive series with Doug Martin during games.

Sim was injured in preseason, but was able to play in the second half of the season.  Was the third rounder worth the pick?  Lovie is enamored with Sims, but should he be?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2014 Rushers, RBs and QBs
RB	Games	Att	Yards	Avg	Long	20+	TD	Yds/G	Fumbles Lost
Martin	11	134	494	3.7	63	2	2	44.9	0
Rainey	15	94	406	4.9	31	4	1	27.1	1
Sims	8	66	185	2.8	20	1	1	23.7	1
QBs	Games	Att	Yards	Avg	Long	20+	TD	Yds/G	Fumbles Lost
McCown	11	25	127	5.1	16	0	3	11.5	1
Glennon	6	10	49	4.9	19	0	0	8.2	0

Rainey is the most explosive runner with four runs over 20 yards and Martin has the most explosive runs with 63 yards on one run and 45 yards for the other, both higher than Rainey’s longest run.  It was Rainey’s turnovers that lost him favors as he gave away a total of three fumbles on the first three games of the year, one rushing and two receiving.  The least effective runner was Sims.

From the stats, Sims is not the runner that he is being propped up to be by the front office and Lovie Smith from preseason reports.  Still, the organization is in love with Sims. Why?

Just for kicks and giggles, I included the quarterbacks in the rushing stat. I did not know that back up QB Mike Glennon’s average was similar to starting QB Josh McCown’s rushing average.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2014 RB Receiving Stats
RB	Games	Rec	Targets	Yds	Avg	Long	TDs	Fumbles
Martin	11	13	20	64	4.9	20	0	0
Rainey	15	33	45	315	9.5	34	1	2
Sims	8	19	27	190	10	24	0	0

In the receiving game, Sims shines as a receiving RB.  Although Rainey has put up a similar pass catching yard average, it is the fumbles stat that negates those other stats.  Rainey is a turnover liability.  Sims had great production in limited attempts.

The summary for our running backs is Rainey happened to be the most explosive running back who also happened to be very turnover prone.  Martin had his best games late in the season, both nearing 100 yards rushing or more.  Sims’ best attribute as a running back comes in as a receiving back, or best known as a third-and-long type back, not a three down back.

Yet production for the running back was still terrible.  Is it the running backs or is it the line?  Recall that stat that the Bucs were ranked worst in getting stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage, that would help explain some of the ineffectiveness of the run game.

Receivers

When the receivers get their chance, they take advantage of the situation. The Bucs put up two 1,000 yard receivers with veteran Vincent Jackson and first round rookie Mike Evans. Louis Murphy was the team’s third best receiver which earned him a three year contract extension. Although tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, ASJ, played only 9 games, he was the fourth best receiver on the team. This is one area the Bucs do not have to concern themselves about.  They also have possible depth receivers that can improve with the likes of Russell Shepard and Robert Herron.

A weakness would be the quality of tight ends Tampa possesses. Under contract, the Bucs have only ASJ, Brandon Myers, and Cameron Brate.  Stocker is an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Bye Week and QBs

Allow me to interject the bye week intervention before introducing the quarterback stats. In the Defensive Drive Year End Review, we noticed how improved the defense became. Let us inspect if the offense was simply terrible all season, despite the bye week.

TB Offense vs Opposing Defense
Team	Drive	Plays	Yards	Offensive Scoring	40 + yard Drives	50 + yard Drives	60 + yard Drives	70 + Yard Drives	80 + Yard Drives	90 + yard Drives	Total
Avg	Before Bye	59.33	302.00	17.67	0.67	0.50	1.00	0.50	0.83	0.17	3.67
	After Bye	60.70	268.80	15.00	1.10	0.40	0.20	0.70	0.70	0.00	3.10

Inexplicably, the offense regressed from mediocrity.

There is not much else to say. Now, let’s introduce the QB splits. The breakdown is separated chronologically in terms of game play by the quarterbacks. I broke down the split for the first Atlanta game between the two quarterbacks.  McCown played the first two and a half games. Glennon came into the third game around halftime when McCown’s thumb was injured. Then Glennon started the following five games. The final six games reinserted McCown back into the starting lineup.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
McCown v Glennon
QB	Drive	Plays	Yards	Offensive Scoring	40 + yard Drives	50 + yard Drives	60 + yard Drives	70 + Yard Drives	80 + Yard Drives	90 + yard Drives	Total
McCown	26	127	699	31	2	1	4	2	0	0	9
Avg	8.67	42.33	233.00	10.33	0.67	0.33	1.33	0.67	0.00	0.00	3.00
Glennon	65	346	1712	105	4	3	3	2	6	1	18
Avg	10.83	57.67	285.33	17.50	0.67	0.50	0.50	0.33	1.00	0.17	3.60
McCown	91	490	2089	120	9	3	1	6	6	0	25
Avg	11.38	61.25	261.13	15.00	1.13	0.38	0.13	0.75	0.75	0.00	3.13
Note: The breakdown is McCown's first three games, Glennon's six games, and McCown's final 8 games.

A Glennon led offense has put up the most points on average as well as have equal 80 yard drives in few games than McCown.  Also, a Glennon led offense generates more yards per game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2014 QB Comparison
QB	Games Started	Comp %	Yds	AVG	Yds/G	TD	INT	Sacks
Josh McCown	11	56.9	2206	6.7	179.2	11	14	36
Mike Glennon	5	57.6	1417	7	221	10	6	16
Stats via ESPN.com
*Note: Glennon came in after halftime for one game after McCown injured his thumb.

Conclusion

Let us recap the situation, Lovie told OC Tedford not to return for the final five games and Glennon was not reinserted into the lineup after the season was lost, in spite of producing better numbers. Anyone else get the feeling Lovie was not loving the offense like he loves his defense? The offensive line remake was an epic fail of the HD DVD would survive proportions that hurt both the passing and rushing offense. Mind you, Lovie is in charge of the 53 man roster. We drafted a RB who cannot run as a running back instead of using that pick for help on the offensive line. Our offense regressed after the bye week, but the higher scoring coincides with Glennon at the helm.

The Bucs have hired an established OC in Dirk Koetter this offseason, but the offensive outlook remains a mystery as Lovie is conjuring up a new offense. After what we fans went through with the offense last year, I do not want Lovie involved in any offensive planning. I have no confidence with Lovie being involved with the offense after realizing that he did not want Tedford to return to give the offense some kind of spark along with giving Glennon any games to play at the end of the year to see what we have in Glennon or possibly raise his trade stock. Not only that, but we did not fire the offensive line coach in charge of the pathetic performances. Instead, we fired the assistant offensive line coach.

While the defensive outlook foresees a top 10 defense, the offense is a land of confusion, which includes on what to do with the first pick in the 2015 NFL draft. What should be clear cut is very murky. There should not be a smokescreen with the first overall pick, but there is.