Week 1 2024 vs. 2025.
OMG, the sky is falling. The Bucs will collapse. The season is doomed!
Hold on, not quite. Joe’s having a little fun with readers.
One of the reasons the Bucs decided to hire Josh Grizzard this past winter as Liam Coen’s successor as offensive coordinator was his work with the third-down offense.
That was one of Grizzard’s responsibilities. Last year Coen often gave Grizzard credit for the third-down calls. Grizzard was high up in the coaches’ box and was Coen’s eyes from up above.
The Bucs last year converted a league-best 50.9 percent of third-down plays. That is exceptional no matter how you slice it.
So how did Grizzrd do on Sunday on third downs since he’s in charge of the Bucs offense? Not quite as good. As in barely.
The Bucs converted 7 of 14 third downs. 50 percent.
So Grizzard came up less than a percentage point in Week 1 from matching his season total from last year. In Week 1 last year, the Bucs converted 9 of 13 third downs. Other numbers:
**Week 1: 2024 2025**
**Net yards:** 392 260
**Rushing:** 112 101
**Passing:** 280 159
**First downs:** 22 16
**Rushing TDs:** 0 0
**Passing TDs:** 4 3
**Time of possession:** 33:41 24:48