The Bucs need to be more consistent on offense this week

Against the Atlanta Falcons, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense put 31 points up on the board. Let us delve into the numbers to see what else they can tell us.

Just from looking at this chart, the Bucs' offense is in feast or famine mode with respect to scoring. They can sustain long drives and have too many short drives, specifically three-and-outs.

In 2015, last season, the Bucs' offense ranked third overall with the least amount of three-and-out drives with 26. The average of three-and-out drives per game would be 1.625. For this game, the Bucs' offense had four, two that came in the second half when holding a lead. The team could have added an extra three-and-out on its first touchdown drive, but they were bailed out with a defensive offside penalty by former Buc Adrian Clayborn.

Explosive Plays

Head Coach Koetter has his 10 game stats for offense to help him increase his chances of winning games. Explosive plays are 12 yards or more for running plays and 16 yards or more for passing plays.

In five out of the 12 offensive drives, there were explosives plays within the drives. Out of those five drives with explosive plays, four of them resulted in a touchdown.

Unfortunately, the ensuing three drives after the last touchdown scored (we are not including the 12^th drive because it was a couple of kneel downs to secure the win), the Bucs were not able to generate much. Those last three drives had two three-and-outs, with all three drives resulting in punts.

Receiving

In the post game interview, head coach Koetter noted how Mike Evans was not targeted much in the first half. He was correct. Evans was targeted twice: Winston overthrew Evans by a mile for an easy touchdown and a short pass for 4 yards to help Winston get into a rhythm. In the second half, targeting Evans proved to be fruitful.

Rushing

Although the run game did not break 100 yards, it was not for the lack of trying. Pro Football Focus (PFF) had recorded 8 missed tackles generated by Doug Martin.

The offensive line still does not have enough push to its game. Out of 28 carries, seven opportunities were stopped at the line of scrimmage or behind it. That is a fourth of the running chances that are thwarted from any positive gain.

It is difficult to play smash mouth football when your offensive line cannot dominate the line of scrimmage. Having Martin as your running back, he masks the deficiencies of the offensive line. There is a silver lining -€” JR Sweezy is still recovering. Sweezy is more known for his run blocking prowess than pass blocking. The team may improve the run game after the bye week.

Team Stats

Turnovers:                          1 turnover (INT)

3^rd down efficiency:       3 out of 10 (30%)

Red Zone efficiency:      1 out of 2 (50%)

Passing:                               281 yards

Rushing:                              90 yards  (3.2 yards per attempt)

The Red Zone efficiency could have been 100%, but we can chalk that up to early game jitters as Winston missed two opportunities in the first quarter to score a touchdown in the Red Zone.

That third down efficiency is problematic as it ties into an increase in three-and-out drives. Last season, the Bucs were at 41.6% conversion rate, 10^th overall in the league.

Conclusion

The team got hot in the middle of the game -€” Winston got hot in the middle of the game. We do not have an offensive line to muster a running power game to close the game dominantly. Maybe that is why the team signed Jacquizz Rodgers, another back who can catch out of the backfield. If you cannot power through the middle, then add weapons that can round the corner fast.

Scoring 31 points is a great start to the season. After further review, the offense could have done better to secure the win in a more boring fashion. If Matt Ryan does not have the ball, then the Falcons do not have the chance to score or make a comeback a possibility.