Bucs Halftime: Leonard Fournette Running Well While Tom Brady Searches for End Zone

At halftime, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 12-3.

All season long, we'll be bringing you our halftime observations from the first half of action along with what we believe needs to happen in the third and fourth quarters in order for the Bucs to come away victorious.

With that in mind, let's talk about the first half of Week 1 Sunday Night Football.

GROUNDSWELL

Last year, this matchup featured passing, passing, and more passing. With some runs sprinkled in to 'keep defenses honest'.

But this year, both teams had already publicly stated they wanted to commit to the run more, and commit they did.

Bucs running back Leonard Fournette finished the half with 13 carries for 60 yards alone.

While the running focus may not be producing touchdowns, it has certainly contributed to an effective set of drives getting the team into scoring position early and often.

UNSATISFYING EXPLOSIVENESS

Tampa Bay had six explosive plays in the first half. Five more than the Cowboys.

Despite this fact, the Buccaneers have just three more points as the offense has failed to find the end zone on five drives inside the Dallas 30-yard line and three into the red zone.

Simply put, it's not the Bucs offense we're used to seeing. At least not since quarterback Tom Brady arrived in 2020.

While we like the running, we obviously want to see drives ending in the end zone. But there are a couple of other things we'd like to see as well.

TAKEAWAY TALENT

If we're being honest, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott isn't as polished as some would like you to think.

In fact, Antoine Winfield Jr.'s first-half interception wasn't the first pass that could have been intercepted. It just happens to be the first one that landed in a Bucs defender's hands.

As the Tampa Bay offense continues to get its legs under it, let's see a couple more opportunistic takeaways from a defense facing a quarterback in Prescott who can be pressured into providing more opportunities.

THE PARSONS PROBLEM

Micah Parsons is going to be a problem for the NFL for a long time.

But tonight, he's a problem for the Buccaneers, and it needs to get figured out.

With two sacks in the first half alone, Parsons single-handedly thwarted two promising drives.

One produced a field goal, the other resulted in a missed kick by Ryan Succop.

Neither is an optimal option - as we noted above.

Bottom line, throw a chip at him - hell, throw the whole bag of chips at him - but if the Bucs don't figure out a way to solve this problem, the result will be the continuation of the soccer match that broke out in the first half.

For more on this and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers check out James Yarcho and David Harrison on the Locked On Bucs Podcast!

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