Grizzard is learning on the job like Coen did last season - and he's shown promise. In the write up, Ledyard pointed out how the play design often had receivers open even though the Lions had more bodies in the passing game than we did downfield because of the protection issues. Griz absolutely abandoned the run too early, but if Mayfield found/hit the open guy the game likely turns out differently. A lot of what the offense wants to do is hampered by the injuries - Nobody touched on this in one of his posts - the o-line performance has been incredible in light of what they've had to overcome because of injuries. Almost no continuity to help build communication, trust and teamwork on the line. Also hampered by some pretty bad performances and teams taking advantage of it. Lions got healthy at the right time on the d-line, enabled them to crash the right side where we were very weak (Jordan was a disaster, impacted the play of Barton and Heck negatively). Barton's lost out on critical reps at center when he had to play LT for three games.Giving Grace & Recognizing Reality With Bucs Offense
I hear people when they say that the Bucs need to find a way to stay productive on offense when their QB isn’t amazing. The scheme of the offense has consistently aided Mayfield’s production through the first half of the season. But undoubtedly Mayfield has been special in late-game, true dropback situations too.
Unfortunately, no offense in the NFL can overcome the type of injuries the Bucs have suffered and still post dominant performances every week. It’s unbelievable they are 5-2 considering the players they’ve lost. Tampa Bay has played the majority of their games and wins without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Bucky Irving, Luke Goedeke and Cody Mauch. Their top two receivers are rookies, good though they may be, their 1st round center was playing left tackle for weeks, they have practice squad players getting reps and the offensive line has had zero continuity all season.
Because they’ve been successful, their plight hasn’t gotten the same sympathy as the Ravens, for example, who have been awful while dealing with a few key injuries (not that they were playing well before either). I just think people need to understand the reality of the situation - this is probably not going to be an elite offense this season. Perhaps after the bye week, Goedeke, Godwin, McMillan and Irving all return, they stay healthy the rest of the year and go on a run. But don’t hold your breath. They will need to be efficient on weighty downs, mistake-free compared to their opponent and continue to create splash plays at one of the higher rates in the league to stay above water.
But more than anything, Mayfield will have to have an MVP-like season. He’s been the team’s best player this year, as any quarterback would need to be in order to get to 5-2 with these offensive injuries. If they are going to win against good teams, that will need to continue. It might not be fair to Mayfield, but it’s the reality for the Bucs offense this season.
Offense still has the talent to win games for us, but they'll have to work for it harder than they did last year due to the injuries and how they have affected getting accustomed to being in a new system and the necessary o-line shuffling that needed to be done.
