Liam Coen has been impressed with what Baker Mayfield did without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the field - and while there’s been an uptick in interceptions, Coen puts some of that blame on himself. When speaking with the media on Thursday, Coen told them he put Mayfield in some bad situations, saying;
“I think he takes that on himself in a way. I don’t even think he pressed in those moments – I put him in a poor position on one play, and maybe on the other, he needed to go to the back pylon on the throw and you’ve got a shot. Are there going to be mistakes when you have 50 throws? Probably, because we didn’t want that many. But it's the times at which they're coming are just poor times and that is very much on me to be able to not put him in those positions to help. Hey, let's just hand it off for him one more time here and then maybe, okay if we get to third down and we’ve got to have it and we’ve got to throw it then we have to make a play."
Obviously, the game plan against the Falcons was not for Mayfield to sling it 50 times without Godwin and Evans and that’s where Coen shoulders some of the blame. He needs to use the running backs more - especially when they were performing as well as they were at the beginning of last week’s game. Of the 102 rushing yards the team had, 70 came in the first three possessions. Coen also spoke about getting Sean Tucker more involved, which will be important against a run defense like Kansas City’s that the Bucs are going to have to wear down. Coen said;
"Yeah, I mean, I think in general, just getting guys touches that have made plays for you. The game kind of got a little funky in ways, and we had to throw it, and I was ticked at myself for some of those decisions that forced us out of maybe being able to get somebody else get some more runs, get some more runs off, whether that's Sean, Bucky [Irving], or Rachaad [White] in that moment. It's more just: let our line set their pads, block them one more time, continue to eat clock and see what happens.”
The run game will be vital for the Bucs this week in order to have long, time consuming drives that end in points. Last week, their first two scoring drives were fifteen and twelve plays respectively, with both lasting over seven minutes each. Against the NFL’s second best run defense, they can’t be scared to run the ball and give Baker a little respite from having to throw the ball so much without his top two targets.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (7-0)
Monday, November 4, 8:15 p.m. ET
Arrowhead Stadium (capacity: 76,416)
Kansas City, Missouri
Television: ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN2 (ManningCast)
TV Broadcast Team: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Troy Aikman (analyst), Erin Andrews (reporter)
Radio: 98Rock (WXTB, 97.9 FM), Flagship Station
Radio Broadcast Team: Gene Deckerhoff (play-by-play), Dave Moore (analyst), T.J. Rives (reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente
Spanish Radio Broadcast Team: Carlos Bohorquez (play-by-play), Martin Gramática (analyst)
Liam Coen has been impressed with what Baker Mayfield did without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the field - and while there’s been an uptick in interceptions, Coen puts some of that blame on himself. When speaking with the media on Thursday, Coen told them he put Mayfield in some bad situations, saying;
“I think he takes that on himself in a way. I don’t even think he pressed in those moments – I put him in a poor position on one play, and maybe on the other, he needed to go to the back pylon on the throw and you’ve got a shot. Are there going to be mistakes when you have 50 throws? Probably, because we didn’t want that many. But it's the times at which they're coming are just poor times and that is very much on me to be able to not put him in those positions to help. Hey, let's just hand it off for him one more time here and then maybe, okay if we get to third down and we’ve got to have it and we’ve got to throw it then we have to make a play."
Obviously, the game plan against the Falcons was not for Mayfield to sling it 50 times without Godwin and Evans and that’s where Coen shoulders some of the blame. He needs to use the running backs more - especially when they were performing as well as they were at the beginning of last week’s game. Of the 102 rushing yards the team had, 70 came in the first three possessions. Coen also spoke about getting Sean Tucker more involved, which will be important against a run defense like Kansas City’s that the Bucs are going to have to wear down. Coen said;
"Yeah, I mean, I think in general, just getting guys touches that have made plays for you. The game kind of got a little funky in ways, and we had to throw it, and I was ticked at myself for some of those decisions that forced us out of maybe being able to get somebody else get some more runs, get some more runs off, whether that's Sean, Bucky [Irving], or Rachaad [White] in that moment. It's more just: let our line set their pads, block them one more time, continue to eat clock and see what happens.”
The run game will be vital for the Bucs this week in order to have long, time consuming drives that end in points. Last week, their first two scoring drives were fifteen and twelve plays respectively, with both lasting over seven minutes each. Against the NFL’s second best run defense, they can’t be scared to run the ball and give Baker a little respite from having to throw the ball so much without his top two targets.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (7-0)
Monday, November 4, 8:15 p.m. ET
Arrowhead Stadium (capacity: 76,416)
Kansas City, Missouri
Television: ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN2 (ManningCast)
TV Broadcast Team: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Troy Aikman (analyst), Erin Andrews (reporter)
Radio: 98Rock (WXTB, 97.9 FM), Flagship Station
Radio Broadcast Team: Gene Deckerhoff (play-by-play), Dave Moore (analyst), T.J. Rives (reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente
Spanish Radio Broadcast Team: Carlos Bohorquez (play-by-play), Martin Gramática (analyst)
.png)
.png)
.png)
