He started slow but was calm under pressure in the opener against the Falcons.
Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, shown during a preseason game against the Titans, was nervous at the start but made the calls down the stretch to help the Bucs pull out a 23-20 win over the Falcons in their regular-season opener last Sunday in Atlanta. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]
TAMPA — The Bucs learned some things about new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard in his first regular-season game calling plays. One example?
“He has a young boy voice when he cusses,” head coach Todd Bowles said.
But you’d swear Grizzard had been in pressure situations before Sunday’s two-minute drive that culminated in the game-winning touchdown pass to rookie Emeka Egbuka to beat Atlanta 23-20.
“Once he got his feet under him and got into a rhythm, you know, I thought the game flowed pretty good,” Bowles said.
Grizzard admitted he was nervous when he took the field Sunday.
“Going into it, the first crack at it, it’s a little bit different from preseason, of course‚" Grizzard said. ”It’s going to be big no matter what, but we’ve got Atlanta in the same division. But once it gets going, you settle in. It still turns into the game, where the lead up to it, there’s some nerves. You should be nervous, because you put the work in.
“Then in the end, I’ve got to be calm, because if (the players) see we’re out of our minds they’re going to be out of their minds, and it’s not going to go well.”
What can we glean about Grizzard from the regular season opener?
He didn’t panic, and neither did his offense. That’s a plus. He was good enough to enable quarterback Baker Mayfield to throw three touchdown passes. But the run game, which was fourth in the NFL a year ago, never got untracked.
Tampa Bay rushed for only 101 yards, and Mayfield led them with 39 on five carries, with 20 coming on one play.
Bucs wide receiver Emeka Egbuka catches what winds up being the winning touchdown pass over Falcons cornerback Mike Hughes with 59 seconds remaining in the victory at Atlanta.
Overall, the Bucs were more predictable than productive. For his first game in terms of running the ball, anyway, Grizzard was more Dave Canales than Liam Coen.
“It was tough sledding initially,” Bowles said. “Atlanta had a good plan on first and second down to start out. We had made some adjustments and got some tough runs in there. I don’t think it’s going to to be easy to start the season. ... So, we’ve got to get better there.”
Mayfield fell on the sword when it came to the slow start by the offense. He said the Falcons gave the Bucs some different looks, and it took time to adjust.
“They were flying around,” Mayfield said. “They made some good plays. But it was just a little bit of some details here and there, staying a little bit too long on some combination blocks and, you know, not fitting it up the right way.
“They also just made some plays. So, it’s about physicality, starting fast and, like I said to you guys after the game, it’s better to learn from a win than a loss. So, we know that we need to start a lot quicker on offense just to get the run game going.”
To be fair, Grizzard was coaching with the game plan tied behind his back.
Left tackle Tristan Wirfs and receiver Chris Godwin did not play as they continue to recover from injuries. They Bucs spackled together an offensive line by moving center Graham Barton from center to left tackle, switching left guard Ben Bredeson to center and elevating Michael Jordan from the practice squad.
“I think the O-line played great, pass protection-wise,” Mayfield said. “Some of the different things were on me, just getting them ID’d to the right spot, but I thought those guys played great, and especially Graham. Switching out there to left tackle against some good edge rushers is not an easy task, but luckily he’s comfortable there.”
Quarterback Baker Mayfield ran for a team-high 39 of the Bucs' 101 rushing yards against the Falcons, including 20 on one play.
It won’t get any easier Monday night at Houston. The Texans have two elite edge rushers in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. What’s more, the Bucs could be without right tackle Luke Goedeke, who suffered a foot injury and wasn’t practicing.
Insert swing tackle Charlie Heck, whom the Bucs didn’t feel was the best fit in place of Wirfs.
The Bucs also haven’t fared well on national television during prime-time games, having lost six straight since Bowles took over.
“We’ve got to start fast,” Bowles said. “We know they play great. They play very fast, especially at their home place. They’ve got the two edge rushers that set the tone. The quarterback is very accurate, and obviously Nico Collins is a hell of a receiver, and they have more players other than that. They’re a talented team. They were in the playoffs the last two years. So, it’s going to be another tough battle.”
It was probably naïve to think Grizzard would improve on the 29.5 points per game the Bucs averaged a year ago. The offensive line is a mess. He doesn’t have Godwin or receiver Jalen McMillan.
His voice is bound to rise a few decibels when he gets excited. But he struck the right tone in his debut against the Falcons.
“He’s so meticulous about what he wants to call, trying to get the perfect one in there,” Mayfield said. “Sometimes I think, you know, as we’re going along and learning together, call one (play), we’ll make it work, and when we get our shots we’ll take it.
“But, yeah, in the high-stress, two-minute situations, he’s calm, because we know that when you’re going fast, up-tempo, defenses can only get so many calls out there. So, he knows to call certain things and he trusts us to be able to go out there and execute, and our guys are good at it.”
Up next
at Texans, 7 Monday TV/radio: ABC, ESPN; 97.9-FM Line/OU: Texans by 2 1/2; 42 1/2
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