Run Bucky, run!
If it was up to noted handicapper turned stathead Warren Sharp, the crowd at The Licht House on Sunday would constantly chant a deafening roar all game long, “Buh-KEE! … Buh-KEE! … Buh-KEE!”
That’s because Sharp said, the Bucs need to feed Bucky Irving on Sunday and let him eat.
It’s hard to argue. Against a really good defense in Week 1, Bucky averaged 5.6 yards a carry. He had but eight carries.
Last week in that disgrace against the hapless Browns, Bucky again averaged five yards a carry, specifically 5.2. He had 17 carries.
Sharp believes the Bucs lost the game against the hapless Browns because they quit feeding Bucky the ball.
“The runs were working,” Sharp said. That’s because the Bucs as a team averaged 5.5 yards a carry against the Browns. That was the second best in the league last week.
The success rate of Bucs’ runs were eighth in the NFL last week. The Bucs had the fifth-most explosive plays on the ground as well. (Explosive plays vary per team as it is an unofficial stat but Zac Robinson defines an explosive play as one that gains at least 15 or more yards on a pass and 12 or more on the ground.)
Sharp also said the first-down rate (26 percent) on Bucs runs was the third-best last week. So in other words, the Browns were just begging to be beaten by a ground-and-pound offense.
And Joe watched late in the game, before the lightning delay, the Browns’ defense was gassed. Big time gassed. But instead of running, the Bucs wanted Mayfield to throw one-yard passes to dudes five yards behind the line. Madness!
“I don’t know why [the Bucs] were giving [Bucky] so few rushing attempts,” Sharp said.
Neither does Joe. All Joe knows is that the Bucs couldn’t have had a better gameplan to allow the pathetic Browns to beat the Bucs at home.
Aggravating as hell!
Cleveland played with light boxes at the #5 highest rate…
Bucs led almost all game…
Tampa Bay runs gained:
5.2 YPC (#2)
+0.03 EPA/rush (#7)
10.5% explosive rate (#5)
yet for some reason they posted the #10 highest pass rate…
12.9 air yards (#1 deepest)