In Saturday's small sample size against the Bengals at Paycor Stadium, the Buccaneers' run game took strides forward. Tampa Bay was able to achieve balance on offense, spurring the team to victory on the road.
The Bucs finished the exhibition with 136 total yards on the ground, including an average of 4.3 yards per tote. Sean Tucker spearheaded the group with 68 yards on 10 attempts. He averaged over six yards per carry and produced the longest momentum-shifting run of the night with a 26-yarder. Out of a split zone look, with the offensive line zone blocking in one direction, Tucker came across the formation and picked up yardage after the cutback. Tucker, who signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in 2023, rushed for 23 yards on 15 carries in 2023.
Rookie Bucky Irving finished with 28 rushing yards on six carries and recorded a touchdown. Late in the first quarter, Irving capped off an eight-play, 77-yard drive with a five-yard rush up the middle. Ramon Jefferson put the exclamation mark on the win with a three-yard touchdown rush in the last minute of regulation.
"Honestly, the way that we have been getting coached, the scheme is going to fit our strengths," said center Robert Hainsey. "It has been a lot of fun to work through and to put on tape what we have been doing in practice – to put it on tape against another team in the preseason – it felt really good…We are running off the ball and we are trusting our technique, trusting each other and moving guys horizontally and vertically and putting the backs in good positions. Sean [Tucker] had that big cut behind and that is what we want; cave everything down and cut it back, make the defense cover 53 ½ yards so that when you go to get the ball out, they have to worry about the cutback, there are so many things to worry about. I really like what we put on tape and how things are coming along."
The revamped offense, featuring an uptick in pre-snap shifts/motions and a diversified run scheme including mid-zone, wide-zone, tight-zone, duo and gap runs, has maximized the strengths of both the offensive line and running backs. From angle blocks and pulls in a gap scheme to the line moving laterally in outside zone and mid-zone, the horizontal flow plays into the athleticism of the Bucs' O-Line and puts added stress on opposing defenses. The running backs can take the course outside of the defense by running off the blocks or choose a vertical cut (outside) or cutback (mid).
The emphasis on the ground game and the revamped system has paid dividends. The scheme attacks space and forces second-level defenders to respect the threat of the offense getting to the perimeter, which then opens cutback lanes in the middle of the field for backs to take advantage of.
