The Dichotomy of The Bucs Offensive Line vs CAR

Don’t look now but your Tampa Bay Bucs are one of the highest scoring teams in the NFL for the calendar year of 2023. The team’s offensive resurgence on Sunday against the Panthers was a welcome sight for Bucs fans who have suffered through a disappointing season of offensive ineptitude.

There are many factors that have hampered Tampa Bay’s offensive attack. Some of them looked at least momentarily improved for at least one game. Others are still lingering issues to be concerned about going forward.

One really quirky aspect of the game that has gone largely underdiscussed is the truly polarizing play of the Bucs offensive line. A unit that routinely gave quarterback Tom Brady ample time to find a myriad of open receivers and take chunk shot after chunk shot to nine-time 1,000-yard receiver Mike Evans also failed to open up even the slightest hole for their running backs on rushing attempt after rushing attempt. How can a squad that boasts so many decent pass protectors have such a disjointed, clunky run-blocking day?

Bucs Pass Protection Was Very Good On Sunday

Brady wound up dropping back 48 times on Sunday. The Panthers were only able to pressure him 11 times on those drop backs per Pro Football Focus. That 23% pressure rate is in-line with his season total of 19%, but the difference this past week was that Brady wasn’t the driving reason for the “clean” designation.

Brady logged his seventh-highest time to throw of the season at 2.36 seconds. Since Week 10 Brady’s time to throw has gone from 2.25 seconds prior to 2.38 seconds. It may not seem like a big difference, but that split second of extra time allowed Brady to attack the intermediate to deep parts of the field on over 22% of his throws on Sunday.

And here is what that protection looks like and how it led to some big plays.

Opening Drive Bucs O-Line Gave Brady Time To Find Godwin For Catch-And-Run

The O-line showed its high-end potential in pass protection early on in the game. During the first drive it gave Brady the opportunity to scan the field and find Chris Godwin on an extended play. The result of the play was a turnover due to a fumble but really watch the line give Brady all the time he needed to find the open man and deliver what would have been an explosive play.