Coaches coach, players play, and Bucs coach Bruce Arians sees more issues with the latter than the former in Tampa Bay.
Asked whether he’d consider taking over playcalling duties after Monday night’s 27-24 loss to the Rams, Arians said that offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich will continue to handle those responsibilities.
“I thought [Leftwich] called a good ballgame,” Arians told reporters. “We just have to execute better. When guys are open, we have to hit them and we can’t misread coverage. We have to protect a little bit better when we do have guys deep and let [Tom Brady] hit that guy instead of having that pressure that cost us an interception. As a collective, everybody has got to play better.”
Arians attributed the first of Brady’s two interceptions on the night to Brady getting hit and failing to get enough on the ball. “The last one was just a misread of the coverage,” Arians said.
The end result for the 7-4 Bucs, with the Chiefs looming before a Week 13 bye, is that the road to the playoffs is getting rockier.
“Very slim,” Arians said regarding the team’s margin for error. “This was a big one and the next one’s even bigger, so I think each and every one is going to be huge the whole rest of the way.”
The good news is that, barring a flex, the Bucs (now 1-3 at night) won’t play again in prime time. The bad news is that they may have to run to table after their bye, if they lose on Sunday to the Chiefs.