Buccaneers Have One Positive to Look Forward to After 2 Weeks

It's not all doom and gloom for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the first two weeks.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) with OC Zac Robinson during the first half against the Cleveland Browns | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are far, far from where they hoped they would be even at this point in the season. The Bucs are 0-2, and they just lost their home opener against a Cleveland Browns team they were widely expected to beat.

That being said, it isn't all doom in Tampa Bay — just mostly. The Bucs have looked inept in multiple facets over the course of their first two weeks, but there's at least one aspect of their game that they've excelled at so far on offense.

The Buccaneers can't do much. But they can run the football.

Bucs Rushing Attack Among League's Best So Far

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) runs the ball during the first half against the Cleveland Browns | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

So far through two games, the Buccaneers have a top 10 rushing attack by a few notable metrics.

The Bucs are currently fifth in the NFL in yards per game, putting up exactly 5.0 on average on the ground. Per SumerSports, the Bucs have a rushing EPA/play of 0.028, which is good for ninth in the league. They also have an impressive success rate on the ground, coming in at seventh in the league at 48.89%.

Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving is also off to a strong start so far this year. Irving is currently seventh in EPA/Play among the NFL's running backs, clocking in at 0.106. He also currently boasts a success rate of 48.0%, which is good for eighth in the NFL.

It seems like the Bucs are really flourishing with their run game so far over the first two weeks of the season. So why isn't their offense producing as it should be?

Do the Buccaneers Run the Ball Enough?

Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Buccaneers are successful when they run. They just don't run all that much.

The Bucs ran just 38.5% of the time against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 and 40.3% in Week 2 against the Browns. They run the football 39.47% of the time overall, which is good for 25th in the NFL.

So why is that? The Bengals game makes sense in a vacuum — the Bucs were down 21-3 very quickly due to three offensive turnovers and they had to throw the ball. That wasn't the case for the Browns game, however, as the Bucs favored the ineffective passing game despite running the ball at a much better clip.

It's hard to get the run game going when the team goes down and Tampa Bay's defense — currently 31st in the NFL in passing completion percentage allowed (75.38%) — is liable to give up yards and points during extended drives. Either way, Tampa Bay may want to lean on its run game as much as it can, since it's one of the only things going right with the team at the moment.

The Bucs will face off against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3 at Raymond James Stadium at 1 p.m. on Sept. 27 in hopes of avoiding a 3-0 start.

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