Is a no-huddle offense the answer for the Buccaneers?
During the first two preseason games, it was beginning to look as if getting off to a slow start was something that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were going to have to learn to play through again in 2016. During the home opener against the Cleveland Browns Friday night, Dirk Koetter seems to have found a formula that can lead to early success for the Bucs.
Tampa came out of the gate in the hurry-up, no-huddle offense and was immediately able to be productive with the ball. The fast paced play led the Buccaneers to their second victory in the preseason and they were able to put 30 points on the board against the Browns.
The offense was not the only area that played like a different team Friday night. While Tampa Bay was able to accumulate 305 total yards with the ball during the first half alone, the Buccaneers defense was able to rack up eight sacks and only allowed the Browns to gain 254 yards.
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Seeing the offense find success and find it early was huge for Tampa Bay, but here are a few other significant takeaways that were learned Friday night.
The Bucs’ corners can play big
While Cleveland still has some building of their own going on, it’s no secret that they have one of the better receiving corps in the NFL. Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith did some experimenting with his corners on Friday night and played in a man to man coverage for the majority of the game. While the Tampa Bay pass rush played a significant role, the corners showed that their small size isn’t as much of an issue as some analyst were originally thinking. They held Cleveland to 211 yards through the air and only allowed three passes to go over ten yards. They were not able to make an interception, but the four broken up passes were impressive enough on their own.
Tampa Bay has found a secret weapon
The Buccaneers have mentioned second year man, Adam Humphries’ name with the likes of both Julian Edelman and Wes Welker, and up this point, he hasn’t done anything to make them look like fools for the talk. Humphries is becoming a favorite target for Jameis Winston on third down and he was able to make two receptions on Friday night for a total of 39 yards. On top of winning the slot receiver position, Humphries has also been given the punt return responsibilities and after taking a punt 73 yards to the house for a score Friday night, he has shown he is the man for the job.
Winston is ready to go
It is unlikely that Winston will see much time on the field during Tampa Bay’s last preseason game, and both the quarterback and his coaches are ok with that. Other than a few brief moments, Winston has been on point so far throughout the first three preseason games, completing 26 of the 44 passes for a total of 414 yards. Winston has thrown four touchdown passes compared to only one interception and the mental improvements he has made to his game have been more than impressive. His adjustments were put on display Friday night with his longest pass of the night of 47-yards. Instead of trying to force or create something that was not there, Winston decided to take the check down pass which just happened to target wide receiver Mike Evans. Winston has shown he now understands the best play is not always the one that is the furthest down the field.
There is only one preseason game remaining before things become real. We will have to wait and see if the hurry-up, no-huddle offense is something that becomes a great value for the Buccaneers once the entire game is played at full speed.
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