Tampa Bay’s offense just flat-lined, culminating in an ugly 19-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Friday’s preseason finale. Across three games, the Buccaneers showed virtually nothing on that side of the ball, and head coach Todd Bowles didn’t sugarcoat the performance afterward. He said the offense “wasn’t good enough,” pointing to their inability to protect the quarterback or run the football.
The Preseason Stats Are Just Brutal
Let’s be real, the numbers from the entire preseason slate are just flat-out depressing. Tampa Bay managed only 350 passing yards across all three games, and they scored a grand total of one passing touchdown. Their quarterbacks averaged a pathetic 4.8 yards per attempt, and they took nine sacks. That’s a killer for any rhythm you’re trying to build.
Against the Jaguars in that final tune-up, it was worse. The Bucs managed a measly 120 total yards. They squeaked out just six first downs and averaged 1.9 yards per play. They went 2-for-12 on third down conversions, which is dreadful, and they punted 10 times. Coach Bowles was right to call them out on not protecting the quarterback and failing to run the ball. Those are foundational issues.
Even the Starters Looked Lost
You might be thinking, “Hey, it’s just preseason, the starters probably barely played, right?” Well, even when Tampa Bay trotted out their main guys against Kansas City, the results were not encouraging. Quarterback Baker Mayfield played two full possessions and completed just 2 of 4 passes for 10 yards. The first-team offense couldn’t even manage to score. They were shut out for the entire first half before backup Jalon Daniels finally managed to spark three consecutive scoring drives. It’s hard to feel great when your backups are showing more life than your starters, even in a limited sample.
So, Time to Panic? Not Yet, Maybe.
Now, before you go completely off the rails, let’s pump the brakes just a little bit. The Bucs front office was apparently more interested in evaluating their roster depth than actually previewing what new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s system will look like. Mayfield only attempted four passes during the entire preseason, which is wild. He didn’t even play against the Jets or the Jaguars, and a lot of Tampa Bay’s most important players saw little to no game action. So, we barely saw the real deal. Robinson’s first season at OC will ultimately be judged by what happens when Mayfield is actually operating behind the starting offensive line and throwing to their actual collection of weapons, not what some reserve QBs did behind struggling backup linemen in glorified practice games. If injuries force the Bucs to dig into that offensive depth during the regular season, that could become a major concern. But judging the starting offense based on these three games would be like judging a unit we barely saw. The panic meter should remain relatively low, for now at least. If these exact same problems follow Tampa Bay into Cincinnati for the first regular season game? That’s another story entirely. Get ready to see what the real deal looks like when they face the Bengals.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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