The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are struggling this season, and their offense is the main issue. Their problems were on display last weekend when they put up just three points against the Carolina Panthers.
The loss put the Bucs at 3-4, marking the first time in 20 years that quarterback Tom Brady has been under-.500 through seven games. None of it is good if you're the Buccaneers, and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich acknowledged that something needs to change.
"People want to see points on the board," Leftwich said Tuesday, via the official team transcript. "People want to see what we've been used to, what we've done since we've been here. You're not beating [anybody] in this league scoring three points, right? Let's just be honest, you're not beating a soul -- not a team in this league -- scoring three points. We know we've got to be better as an offense, as a whole."
Three points will definitely not give you wins in this league, and if the Buccaneers don't sort out their scoring problem, they could be looking at a lot more losses this season. Tampa Bay is tied for 26th in the NFL in points per game with 17.7, while Brady has the worst completion percentage under pressure in the league (28.5%).
So just where is it all going wrong? Leftwich did not pinpoint one thing, but rather focused on all areas of the game.
"When you're scoring three points and you are who we are, it's collectively -- it's everywhere across the board," Leftwich said. "We've got to coach it better, we've got to play it better, we've got to have awareness in situation football -- all those things that really matter that we've been so good at in the past. We've got to get back to what we've done in the past. You can't execute [at] a high level unless you're playing with a certain type of awareness, a certain type of focus and understanding of what that down is going to bring to you. We've got to be better across the board."
While Brady has clearly not been up to the Hall of Fame level he typically hovers at, Leftwich was adamant that it does not just fall on the quarterback.
"I don't want to put it on him. That's us, collectively. We scored three points -- that's never one person. When you're scoring three points -- it's unusual for us, too, to score three points in the ballgame," Leftwich said. "When you're scoring three points, that's collectively, that's everyone, that's coaches, that's players. That's how we view that. We view [it as] we all have got to be better and I believe we will be."
The Bucs will next play the Baltimore Ravens on "Thursday Night Football," and with a defense that has been suspect this season, Brady and company should be able to put up more than a field goal.
