TAMPA, Fla. — Slow starts are stopping the Bucs.
It seems like a strange circumstance when you consider that they have Tom Brady at quarterback and not enough footballs to spread around to all those Pro Bowl receivers.
But lately, the Bucs keep opening games playing into a strong headwind. The less-than-snappy starts are costing them.
When asked to identify the problem, coach Bruce Arians didn't hesitate.
"Third-down conversions," he said. "We're not maintaining possession of the football long enough to start games right now."
It's an odd circumstance, considering that the Bucs started fast early in the season.
Even in the opening-day loss at New Orleans, they went 85 yards in nine plays on the first possession for a touchdown, with Brady spiking the ball after his scoring run.
The Bucs were up 21-0 at Carolina. They blocked a punt at Denver and Brady flipped a 10-yard TD pass to Chris Godwin on the third play of the game to help build a 23-3 lead over the Broncos.
Against the Chargers, the Bucs began with a 10-play, 75-yard drive for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
Heck, they even led 13-0 at Chicago, which arguably was one of their worst games until they were bashed by the Saints last Sunday.
Then the wheels fell off and, in a strange twist, the Bucs didn't finish strong and lost 20-19.
Since then, even in games they won, Brady and the Bucs have struggled to mount any offense at the start of games.
They fell behind 10-0 to the Green Bay Packers before rallying for 38 unanswered points. In that game, it was the defense that sparked the comeback. Jamel Dean's interception return for a touchdown, followed by another pick by Mike Edwards, changed the direction of the game.
Even in recent wins, the Bucs have had to come from behind, and the defense has played a part. They trailed the Raiders 7-0 as Derek Carr targeted Berkeley Prep's Nelson Agholor over and over again.
Brady was unable to finish drives against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
They were fortunate to rally for a 25-23 win, but the game wasn't determined until referees picked up a flag for pass interference on the Giants' two-point conversation pass attempt.
Then came Sunday and the four, three-and-outs to start the game against the Saints.
"Last week, we opened up with a shot," Arians said. "Didn't hit it. Ran the ball for six and don't make a third-and-4. When you're playing a third-and-4, you should be winning 70% of the time. Our goal is to always be playing a third-and-6 or less. Very manageable.
"We had way too many third-and-longs because of sacks. Not being able to run the football hurt in that ballgame. We just missed a couple early third-down plays that normally we were hitting early and getting jumps on people."
Brady went 2 of 7 passing for 10 yards on third down versus the Giants. Mostly, the lack of pass protection — as well as the penalties and sacks that come with it ? were responsible. But Brady also missed a few gimmes, as well.
On third-and-3, he fired incomplete to Gronkowski and missed another time to Scotty Miller. Brady failed to convert on third-and-1 when his pass didn't find Gronkowski.
On the season, the Bucs are converting 41.8% on third down, a slight uptick from 41.3% in 2019. But the league has set a record for points through the first nine weeks. So in the rankings, they have fallen from 13th to 19th in third-down conversions.
The Bucs are 29th in the NFL in converting third-and-7-plus, and they are eighth in third-and-6 or less. If it's more than six yards? Forget about it.
The Bucs were 0-for-5 in third-and-6 or longer vs. the Giants and are converting only 18% in that situation for the season.
One of the worst things that happened to the Bucs against the Saints was they abandoned the running game. Tampa Bay backs had only four rushing attempts for the game, including one on the second play.
Arians looks forward to when he was able to close out games by handing the ball to Leonard Fournette.
"Don't fall behind. Don't fall behind, that's the biggest thing," Arians said. "I think they've both had good roles, and I think RoJo (Ronald Jones) is in a really good spot right now. I think Leonard and Shady (LeSean McCoy). I think we're solid there. I think the 1-2 punch is really back in full force."
That's a good place to start.
