Early Points Will Be Critical
October 4th, 2025
Need quicker starts.
Don’t think Liam Coen makes a difference?
While it is still early, at least when it comes to first-quarter points, Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard is more Dave Canales than Coen, his two predecessors.
So far this year, the Bucs have been poor in scoring first-quarter points ranking 24th in the league at 3.3 points. Last year the Bucs were first with 6.7 points a game in the opening quarter.
In 2023, under Canales when the Bucs never had an opening drive touchdown, the Bucs were 26th with 2.9 points to open the game. Ira Kaufman wrote a fine column all about this yesterday and noted Seattle has outscored opponents 35-16 to start games.
Joe brings this up because Seattle’s offense is nothing to sneeze at in the first month of the season. Unlike the Bucs, the Seahawks don’t screw around beginning the game.
So how have the Bucs jumped out to a 3-1 record by being so sluggish early in games? Baker Mayfield and the Bucs offense has flipped the switch once they break a good sweat.
In the final three quarters of games, the Bucs have a 21-point edge on foes, outscoring the opponents 84-63 (+21 points) after the first quarter.
Joe sees a stingy defense in Seattle, so not sure getting behind early would be as easy to overcome tomorrow.