Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense is hard to discuss, simply because how it looked in some games is wildly different than how it looked in others. And it wasn’t just a matter of growing pains, either.
Tampa Bay’s offensive statistics are quite middling when taken from the regular season. They finished 18th in points per game, 20th in yards per game and 19th in touchdowns per game. Their third down conversion rate was very good, at 10th in the league, and they operated very well on fourth down, sitting at No, 2, but there were also a few notable hitches that prevented it from being productive offense.
The Bucs were simply awful in the red zone, coming in at 27th in the league with a 48.08% conversion rate. Similarly, the team was one of the worst running teams in football, finishing bottom three in yards per rush (32nd), rush yards per game (31st) and rush TDs per game (29th).
On the flip side, the passing game did well for Tampa Bay. The team took care of the ball overall with 1.1 turnovers per game (8th) and finished 11th in yards per pass and 12th in pass yards per game. Baker Mayfield had a good year at the helm, throwing for 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions and throwing six more touchdowns in the playoffs. When that version of the Bucs offense came out, they scored big — games like the Jaguars and the Packers matchups showed what this offense could be, but other games, like the second Panthers and Saints games, were brutal.
Overall, Tampa Bay’s offense was a microcosm of their season — sometimes it was up, and sometimes it was down. While it could improve in Year 2, we’ll settle and put it right in the middle.
