New York Giants Week 12: A Look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offense

What can the New York Giants defense expect when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by Baker Mayfield?

Brandon Olsen | 5 Hours Ago

Nov 10, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Raymond James Stadium. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

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New York Giants

The New York Giants are coming off of a bye week to face one of the top offenses in the NFL this week in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What kind of challenges does a Baker Mayfield led Bucs offense pose?

Personnel

I don’t know if there’s a quarterback in the NFL right now who’s outperformed expectations the way that Mayfield has with the Bucs.

He still has moments where he throws a pass that he has no business attempting to force into a window, but he’s also become one of the best play extenders in the NFL.

The Bucs hope to get Mike Evans back this week after he missed about a month with a hamstring injury. He’s back at practice and plans to play, but as of this writing, he's not guaranteed to play yet.

Sterling Shepard and Trey Palmer have been the Bucs’ main receivers in recent weeks since the Bucs are also without Chris Godwin, who will miss the rest of the season.

In the tight end room, Cade Otton has emerged as a weapon. Otton, in his third year out of Washington, has 49 catches for 456 yards and four touchdowns. Most of his production has come since the Evans and Godwin injuries as the man who stepped up.

Otton’s usage with Evans returning shouldn’t see a significant drop-off, as I think he’s done enough to prove himself as a viable option in the passing game.

Running backs Rachaad White and Bucky Irving have been impact players this season as pass-catchers out of the backfield.

Irving is a much better actual running back, especially in generating explosive gains on the ground and picking up tough yards after contact.

So far this season, Irving has the same number of yards after contact per carry as White has yards per carry period.

The Bucs' offensive line could start their first game of the season without Tristan Wirfs at left tackle. He sustained a sprained MCL and is looking like a gametime decision.

If he can’t play, Justin Skule, who filled in for him against the 49ers, will likely start in his place.

The Bucs line has done a decent job this season of keeping Mayfield relatively clean, allowing just 98 pressures, 21st-most in the NFL.

The issue has been that even though he hasn’t been pressured much, many of those pressures have been converted to sacks.

RELATED: New York Giants Week 12: Scouting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defense

Scheme

The Bucs operate almost exclusively out of 11 or 12 personnel this year. For a refresher, 11 personnel is one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers, and 12 personnel is one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers.

If the Bucs didn’t have injuries, they would probably be up at about 90% of their plays out of 11 personnel.

Offensive coordinator Liam Coen was originally from the college ranks. He spent some time with the Los Angeles Rams, where he briefly worked with Mayfield, before going back to college and eventually ending up with the Bucs.

The significance of his journey is his evolution throughout and how he continues to build his arsenal.

At Kentucky, Coen would live with running counter and trap from under center. While trap isn’t as common in his run plan anymore, counter is still a foundational piece of his offense.

With the Rams, Coen picked up mixing zone runs with duo and has added that to the repertoire, giving the Bucs one of the more versatile run schemes in the NFL.

In the passing game, Coen learned to use pre-snap motion and master concepts to consistently create open looks for receivers.

This is the fifth-highest scoring offense in the NFL despite having the tenth-fewest plays for any offense. They create explosives consistently and can put up points with the best of them.

Overview

The Giants pass-rush should be able to generate consistent pressure, especially with Kayvon Thibodeaux's impending return.

Whether he plays or not, Wirfs will not be 100%, which should open opportunities for him to get after Mayfield.

A major concern is that if the Bucs insist on getting the ground game going, then things might get bad for a Giants defense that’s been horrid at defending the run.