TAMPA, Fla. – The Bucs still have a chance at getting into the playoffs, but they’ll need to keep relying on the offense. Tampa Bay has a top 10 offense and offensive coordinator Liam Coen believes they’ll have to keep the run game going if they have any chance at all. Coen was pleased with the run game last week.
“Early in the game we ended up throwing it more to open it up in terms of the run game,” Coen said. “We threw for 230 (yards) at the half and say, ok second half let’s really try to run the ball. I thought they did a nice job and up front, those guys stepped up to a huge task.”
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The Buccaneers put up 450 total yards of offense Sunday in destroying the NY Giants 30-7 with QB Baker Mayfield hitting 11 different receivers The return of WR Mike Evans gave the offense a boost, but it was the three headed monster of a rushing attack with Bucky Irving, Rachaad White and Sean Tucker that kept the giants offense on their heels. Mayfield loves the makeup of this offense.
“This is the most balanced offense I’ve been in,” Mayfield said after practice Wed. “You talk about the scheme we brought in. Now we’re executing the run game.It’s fun to see the different packages that we have.”
The Carolina Panthers have won 2 of 3 and took the Kansas City Chiefs down to the closing minutes with Patrick Mahomes doing his thing and the Chiefs pulling out a 30-27 walk-off field goal win. The Panthers started the season 1-7 but are playing with more confidence now. Combine that with Panthers head coach Dave Canales coming from the Bucs where he was the offensive coordinator. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles hired Canales.
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“Dave (Canales) is a heck of a guy,” Bowles said. “He’s a heck of a friend. He’s a heck of a coach. You can see how his influence has taken over in Carolina. He’s building a team. I’m happy for him. Mayfield says Coen is the most positive coach he’s ever been around. Coen downplayed the notion that Canales will have an advantage when scouting Mayfield. Coen and Boiwles believe Sunday’s game will come down to playing smart football and players just doing their assignments, which they did last week in the win over the Giants.
Kickoff is set for 4:05 at Bank of America Stadium.
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