Commitment To Run Game

On Monday for the first time all year the bucs finally committed to the run game and controlled the clock while doing so. The bucs first possession of the game almost took 9 minutes and consisted of 10 runs to 4 throws. Most buc fans see it as Jacquizz Rodgers being such a good running back in reality its just the bucs actual commitment to force feeding the ball to the running back and blocking for him.

The bucs ran the ball 37 times as opposed to throwing it only 30 times. Thats the first time all year we have ran more than passed. The oline deserves huge credit for this as coming into the game Carolina's strength was against the run (10th in NFL) and we made it look like their weakness. The main big uglies that caught my eye were Donovan Smith, Kevin Pamphile and Ali Marpet , all 3 seemed to win their matchup and push forward on running plays. Not one of the runs went for more than 13 yards but it was the commitment to continue to wear down the defense that lead to the only touchdown that Winston threw which was off a play action fake.

Committing to the run will take pressure off Winston and lead to bigger plays downfield. Maybe Koetter needs to not over think it and get back to the basics. Yes we have a young gunslinger but he doesn't have to be throwing the ball 50 times a game for us to win. Hopefully with Martin coming back after the bye we will see more of this run game and ease the pressure off Winston a little bit.