Bucs need more out of their offense to move forward
TAMPA, Fla. - Baker Mayfield's bruised and battered left hand is on the mend.
He says it's "golden".
His wounds and frustrations at the hands of the Lions are two issues he's put in the past.
"There is the classic 24-hour rule," Mayfield said. "When you come in on Monday, you watch the film and then you want to flush it. It's a little bit hard when you don't have practice or anything to go out there and really truly flush it, so yeah, it takes about a day as soon as you start watching the next week's opponent on film. Obviously, we've got a division game this week, so it's a quicker flush than normal."
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Failing to hit on three game-changing plays against the Lions prevented the Bucs from keeping the game close, but two failed trips in the red zone are more of a concern for Mayfield.
"In the red zone, we just need to score touchdowns instead of field goals," Mayfield said. "That's the biggest thing. When it comes down to us being able to put more points on the board, we haven't been as good as we need to be in the red zone. That's just plain and simple. That's every aspect of our offense when we get down there. We've had some good games, but we need to have a game where we are 100% in the red zone with touchdowns."
The Bucs have scored just one touchdown in their two losses this season.
Mayfield believes their offense should be much more explosive and be able to put more points on the scoreboard. To do that, the Bucs need their running game to be more of a threat.
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"The [Miami] Dolphins are probably the number one offensive team in the league and they run the ball and pass it," Mike Evans said. "We're trying to have that recipe and we have the players to do it. It's a new offense for all of us, so we're still learning, but we have to pick it up soon."
The Bucs are last in the league for a second straight season in running the football.
They've already matched last year's total of two games of rushing for over 100 yards, so there has been some improvement, but what is holding the running game back from being a consistent threat?
"I think it's just a combination of a lot of little things," Tristan Wirfs said. "It's one guy missing here or there. I don't think it's all of us being off at the same time. One play, it's me. One play it's [Robert] Hainsey. Only play it's Cody [Mauch]. Whatever that order may be."
The Bucs offense has another stiff challenge this Sunday against a Falcons defense ranked the 4th stingiest in the NFL.