TAMPA, Fla. ― Tom Brady has operated from the highest perch in the NFL for 23 seasons, so when he gazes upon the landscape you have to give great weight to his point of view.
“I think there’s a lot of bad football, from what I’ve watched,” Brady said Thursday. “That’s what I’ve watched. There’s a lot of bad football. Poor quality football is what I see.”
Through four games, NFL teams are averaging 21.9 points per game, which would be the second-fewest since 2009 (21.5). The Bucs are below average, ranking 16th in scoring at 20.5 points per game.
If you want to talk about bad football, start with Tampa Bay’s inability to run with it.
In Sunday’s 41-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bucs rushed only six times for a net of three yards, a 0.5-yard average. Four of those yards came on one attempt by rookie Rachaad White.
After four games, Tampa Bay ranks next-to last in the league with 65.3 rushing yards per game.
That includes Leonard Fournette’s 127-yard rushing effort in a 19-3 win at Dallas Week 1. But the combined 37 rushing yards over the past two games are the fewest in the NFL during that stretch.
There are many explanations for the lack of productivity in the run game: Three new starters on the offensive line, including a rookie and a first-year starter at center. The hyperextended elbow suffered by left tackle Donovan Smith that prevented him from playing against the Saints and Packers.
But in its simplest terms, the Bucs just haven’t done a good enough job running the football.
“First and foremost, we’ve just got to get connected,” offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said. “We’ve got to get in our run lane. We’ve got to get more downhill with our run game, to be honest with you.
“ ... (Sunday’s) game got away from us, so we had to chase the score. But in general, we’ve just got to do a better job getting connected on the second level. Running, getting to our landmarks so we can get to the right spots. We’re working on it. We’ll be fine.”
