When Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter took the podium at One Buccaneer Place on Monday following the Bucs' 31-7 loss to the Browns, he was fairly blunt.
"We stunk," he said, before a reporter had an opportunity to ask a question.
The Bucs' offense earned 177 total yards in their third preseason game, giving up six sacks along the way. Rookie quarterback Jameis Winston completed six of 15 passes for 90 yards and was intercepted once in a little more than a half on the field.
But anybody who has followed Winston's career closely or listens to his press conferences knows that his glass is always half-full. His takeaway from Saturday wasn't that the offense performed poorly, it was that his unit recognized areas that they needed to improve in and have an opportunity to correct it before the start of the regular season.
"I feel good because we've got so much stuff from that film that we can learn from, especially from a blitz-pickups standpoint," Winston said. "We can take at least five plays from that game that we can transfer and help us out for the rest of the season so I feel good."
Koetter acknowledged that the success of an offense relies upon all 11 players on the field, not just the one calling out the signals. He added that the Winston's performance was affected by several variables outside of his control and that the offense's struggles were the result of a collective effort.
"We didn't protect him good enough," Koetter said. "When we did protect him good enough … there were so many issues, there were just so many breakdowns across the board. The quarterback always gets too much credit when you do well and they always get too much blame when you don't. One thing after another went wrong. Not all Jameis' fault."
The Bucs have just one more preseason game before the wins and losses are for real. The team will travel to Miami to play the Dolphins on Thursday night before the season opener against the Titans on September 13th.
