Interesting offensive angle.
Even with Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan on the shelf, don’t try to tell Joe the Bucs can’t pass the ball.
They have a top-10 franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield. The Bucs also have a Hall of Fame wide receiver in Mike Evans. In addition, the Bucs have what appears to be an electric rookie receiver with Emeka Egbuka. And of course the Bucs have a very solid No. 3 veteran receiver in Sterling Shepard.
Throw to win!
That seems to be what former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland is suggesting.
For context and background, during the Chiefs-Chargers game last night (stop with the whining about Friday nights are sacred for high school football — should movie theatres be shuttered across the land on Friday nights because that’s when high schools perform plays?), Twitter was abuzz about how often Justin Herbert was throwing the ball. Why not keep running to nurse a lead and bleed the clock?
But McFarland, who loves the run game and ball control, believed running was not right at this juncture of the season, not with a superior quarterback like Herbert.
The Dixie Chicks have (possibly) two rookie edge rushers: James Pearce and Jalon Walker. Joe typed “possibly” because Joe isn’t positive the Dixie Chicks signed Leonard Floyd to have him sit on the bench on pass plays and scratch his end zone.
So why not take advantage of your strength (passing — yes, Bucky Irving can catch, too) and capitalize on this angle that pass rushers aren’t in shape?
Should Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard open it up to slice the Dixie Chicks’ secondary apart and wear out Atlanta’s defense?