Copyright yardbarker
It was a painful loss on Monday Night for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only did they fall out of being the number one seed in the NFC, but it was another game that was marked with significant injuries. Truly an insult to injury type of game. However, the season rolls on and now the Bucs must prepare to go on the road and take on division rival New Orleans Saints. It’s a game that the world expects the Buccaneers to win for obvious reasons. With that said, it’s also a game that could be closer than expected due to an outrageous amount of injuries. As it usually is, I expect this game to be a battle. It’s two teams that don’t like each other and the Bucs can expect the best shot that the Saints have to offer. There will be individual battles all over the field. I believe there will be one that stands out above the rest in this game. And unlike most of them this week, it’s also a battle that I don’t know greatly favors the Bucs. It’s a matchup of an unproven commodity and if it’s a decisive advantage the other way then it could mean problems for the Bucs. X marks the spot! Here is my X-Factor matchup for week eight. Josh Grizzard vs Brandon Staley There were a lot of ugly performances in the Bucs’ most recent loss, but right near the top of that list you can find Grizzard. The first year play caller learned a painful lesson about the dangers of abandoning the run. It was a game plan that really didn’t give the offense a good chance to win. As a result, quarterback Baker Mayfield walked, or more accurately limped away with a knee injury. That’s what can happen when you throw the ball 50+ times with half of your starting offensive line out. Grizzard did not put his quarterback and therefore his entire offense in a position to succeed. That can’t be the case this week. Going against a Saints run defense that is average at best, the Bucs need to run the ball more than ten times. In fact, they should run it two or even three times that amount. Overall, the Bucs rushing offense has taken a big step back under Grizzard. Part of that is due to injury with the likes of Cody Mauch, Luke Goedeke and Bucky Irving missing significant time this year. However, as was emphasized in the last game, there are also some flaws in the game plan. Grizzard has been too reliant on one ball carrier. We saw that last game with a 9/1 ratio of carries between Rachaad White and Sean Tucker. We also saw Bucky Irving shoulder a larger workload when he was on the field, which played a factor in him getting injured. It was a huge reminder of how inexperienced Grizzard is as an offensive coordinator. He is still learning on the job things like personnel rotations and play call sequencing. This put him at a natural disadvantage to experienced defensive coordinators. Enter Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. Staley got his first defensive coordinator job with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. He quickly turned that into a head coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers where he oversaw the defense there as part of his duties. Now he is back to being solely focused on being a coordinator. Now, I can’t sit here and tell you that Staley has transformed this defense into a powerhouse. They just aren’t an overly talented roster. However, 13th in passing yards allowed and 16th in yards allowed per rushing attempt is pretty good considering what they have to work with. All in all, it’s hard not to look at Staley’s experience and not say it’s an advantage over Grizzard. But it’s also an opportunity for Grizzard to learn from last week’s mistakes. If the Buccaneers offense can rebound with a strong plan of attack then I have a hard time not seeing them winning this game.
