Buccaneers offense should bring back this trend from 2024 against Rams

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a tough 44-32 loss to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, and now, they have a very tough game against the 8-2 Los Angeles Rams on the road this weekend.

The Rams very stout on defense and quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing at an elite level, so there are very few weaknesses to attack when it comes to this Los Angeles team. There is one formation that the Rams tend to struggle with with on defense, and it should be a familiar one for Bucs fans after Tampa Bay used it so much last year — 21 personnel.

Buccaneers could utilize 21 personnel against Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) celebrates a touchdown by Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Sean Tucker (44) against the New Orleans Saints | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Double the backs, double the fun. The Rams' defense has been excellent this year, ranking No. 2 in points per game (17.2) and seventh in yards per play (5.0), but they've struggled against 21 personnel in the pass game this year.

21 personnel involves having two running backs on the field and one tight end. The Buccaneers, since the arrival of Liam Coen last year, have called this the "Pony" package, and it typically involves pairing running back Rachaad White with one of either Bucky Irving or Sean Tucker on the field at the same time.

The Rams do decent against this formation when it comes to run plays. Going by success rate, which measures how often an offense can stay on the field or how often a defense can take an offense off the field measured by down and distance, the Rams have a 59.38% success rate and generate +0.01 EPA/play defending the run in 21 personnel, per SumerSports. Passing, though, is a different story — the Rams have just a 27.03% success rate against teams that pass out of 21 personnel, and they've allowed 16 first downs and 9.38 yards per play on average against the 37 pass plays in 21 personnel they have faced.

The Buccaneers have run 21 personnel on just 18 plays this year, and they haven't been amazing at it. They have a success rate or 33.33% and an EPA/play of -0.04, but they've also been without star running back Bucky Irving in 2025, If they can get him back, the threat of a weapon in space like Irving and an explosive running back in Tucker, paired with White's excellent ablility to pass block and to catch out of the backfield, the Bucs could go back to using it at a higher rate like they did under Coen in 2024.

Of those 18 plays in 21 personnel so far this year, Josh Grizzard (or Baker Mayfield, checking to another play) have opted to run on 14 of them. If the Buccaneers could throw in a few passing attempts with multiple running backs — especially if Irving is officially back in action in Week 12 — they could get an offensive spark against a Rams team that allows very few.

Bucs were very successful out of 21 personnel last year

Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen looks on before the game against the Miami Dolphins | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Coen, in the year he was Tampa Bay's offensive coordinator, was a big fan of this personnel. He ran it 70 times in 2024, running out of it 43 times and passing out of it 26 times. The Bucs had an overall success rate of 64.29% and an EPA/play of +0.41, meaning that when they did utilize it last year, they did so to great success.

Injuries have severely hampered Tampa Bay's offense this year, which could make a key difference. Right guard Cody Mauch is out for the year with a knee injury, and left guard Ben Bredeson is dealing with a hamstring injury that he'll hopefully look to come back from soon. A large part of this success in 21 personnel last year came from the duo of White and Irving, and Irving simply hasn't been available — but if he can play on Sunday, perhaps the Buccaneers can throw it back to last year and get the passing game going with him and White in it.

Either way, the Rams will be a very tough customer, and if the Buccaneers hope to pull out an unlikely win, they'll have to game plan well and execute that game plan on a higher level than they have been in recent weeks.

The Buccaneers play the Rams on Sunday at 8:20 p.m. EST.

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