The Bucs Are At Their Best When Fast
Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL in Week 3, they bounced back in a big way against the Philadelphia Eagles. Their defense made the stops, which was a relief, but the real key to victory was the offense putting up 33 points.
Baker Mayfield completed 30 passes on 47 attempts for 347 yards and two touchdowns, with Mike Evans catching eight of those for 94 yards and a touchdown. The stats were impressive, and it was mostly due to one big change that made it all possible: the time it took for Mayfield to release the ball.
Against the Eagles, Mayfield’s time to throw (TTT) defines it, was only 2.08 seconds. Back in Week 3, when Mayfield was sacked seven times, his average TTT was 2.97, which was his highest mark of the season.
The Buccaneers offensive line has had issues keeping Mayfield up. In 2023, Mayfield was sacked 40 times, which was sixth-worst in the NFL. His average TTT last season was 2.74. For context, Sam Howell was sacked the most, 65 times to be exact, and his TTT during the 2023 season was 2.84 seconds.
Now, getting sacked doesn’t always come down to how fast a quarterback gets the ball out of their hands, but with the offensive line struggling the way it has, holding onto the rock doesn’t help. By prioritizing a short TTT, the Bucs had the perfect game plan against the Eagles, which they should employ moving forward. Even after the Denver Broncos game, Mayfield admitted he was at fault for some of those seven sacks, thanks to him being slow to get rid of the ball.
“There were a few pressures today that are actually on me,” said Mayfield. “There were some, when we get into some of these tempo drives, [like] the two minute-ish thoughts, there’s a mindset of trying to fix the protections when there’s pressures. And there’s also the mindset of, snap the ball, get it out of your hands. So, not all that’s on the O-line…
“… I’m going to take a lot of ownership of this. The ball needs to be out [and] delivered to the right damn people.”
Mayfield took his self-criticism to heart right away in Week 4. Early in the first quarter, with the Buccaneers already up 7-0, Mayfield made a quick throw behind the line of scrimmage to Chris Godwin, who broke a tackle and went for 28 yards. Instead of trying for the home run plays, Mayfield was taking what the defense gave him, all while helping his offensive line.
Even with this faster-release strategy, Mayfield’s yards per attempt went up from 4.9 last week to 7.4 against the Eagles. He also solved the problem of needing to get Mike Evans more involved in the game in the process. Even though the pass was getting out quicker, Evans still averaged 2.44 yards per route run, which was his second-highest of the season.
The overall result was that Tampa reaped the benefits of fixing the offensive line without actually having to fix it. Mayfield was still pressured 11 times, which was his second-highest number of the season, but more importantly, the QB was sacked just twice.
In a perfect world, the offensive line would be better, and Mayfield would have more time to air it out downfield. But Tampa recognized that this isn’t a perfect world, and the team needs to play to their strengths and patch up their weaknesses. On Thursday, the Bucs will face off against the Atlanta Falcons, who are dead last in the league with only four sacks, but that doesn’t mean there should be a game plan change. It’s already proved that they are at their best when emphasizing quick passing. The sky appears to be limit for the offense, so long as Mayfield gets the ball out quickly.
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