Garcia: We lose sight of taking shots sometimes

Quarterback Jeff Garcia said Wednesday the Bucs need to be more aggressive in the red zone by allowing receivers a chance to go up and make a plays.

The Bucs are 29th in the NFL in red zone production with 11 touchdowns in 31 trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Tampa Bay was limited to three field goals and saw the game end Sunday when they failed to convert on fourth down at the Dallas 18-yard line in a 13-9 loss to the Cowboys.

"We can't go into every single play like there's going to be a perfect outlet, that there's going to be a player that's wide open and I'm going to hit that player and he's going to be able to run and make a first down,'' Garcia said. "Sometimes, we need to be playmakers and we need to allow our playmakers - which are our receivers, our tight ends -- to sometimes go up and outfight a defender for a football. And we need to trust in that.

"I think we get caught up in being such a rhythm type team, looking for the best outlet, looking for the open receiver that we lose sight of just taking shots at times, just taking chances.'' 

 

Comments

[Tom]

Hallelujah! Thank you Garcia! Gruden's horizontal offense is very bland. We need to stretch the field vertically also. Unfortunately, we don't have a WR that will fight for the ball, with the small exception of Antonio Bryant.

[Leo In Canada]

I hope Gruden considers Jeff's statement as being constructive. I'm sure the game plan & practices will be whelmed with red zone plays designed to score touchdowns. It is an obvious weak point that should be addressed.

[Tom]

We line up way too much in the bunch formation on third and short. It limits the option of the RB or QB draw. It is also more difficult to see where the blitz is coming from since all of the defenders are bunched together.

I like the idea of spreading the field or lining up big with the possibility of play action or misdirection. We are very predictable on offense during third and short.

[Keith in Tampa]

Gruden don't have a offenses plan.

[Jay]

after the first quarter of the dallas game, it seemed like we werent trying to throw a pass over 15 yards. Garcia couldnt hit anybody in the 4th quarter. No excuses we lost that game because of our offense. Defense held them under 300 total yards once again. Only thing the defense didnt do was get a turnover and there wasnt much opportunity for that.

[lost buc]

i agree garcia, as long as it does not = turnovers...i hope garcia's coments don't upset soft Gruden or we'll see him "hurt" or "need some time" and then get benched

[Mikem]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/081028

[Valrico Rick]

DUH!

[DR]

The Bucs atarted off the game with great field position and did nothing with it. I don't think they even took a shot in the endzone.

[J.]

Thats all fine and dandy, but Garcia is the one with the ball on every play, he's the one scanning the field and he's the one throwing the ball.

Again, for those who don't understand, on each pass play there is more than just the 4 yard route being run. The QB decides who to throw the ball to, not Gruden, he isn't even on the field.

It sounds to me like Garcia is talking about himself. HE needs to take shots down the field and HE needs to give his outlets a chance to go up and fight for it.

[J.]

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/story/clayton-execution-not-play-calling-the-red-zone-problem/

[jeff]

true?

[J. Garcia]

Hey Guys. Sorry I got confused what I meant to say was that when I got to take a shot down field I usually get intercepted so Daddy.. I mean Grudog told me not to take any chances with the football last weekend and that is why we lost... because I would have thrown an interception

[Jon]

Garcia needs to grow three inches, take 3 xanax and figure out how to avoid 3rd down. Until then, he's terrible, and his constant check-down audibles will continue to ruin the offenses chances.

THAT'S THE TRUTH. HANDLE IT.

[oar]

J my thoughts exactly. Great link too. I think Griese gives a better chance in the red zone, than Ole Happy Feet. (I probably will get chewed for that statement by Stacy or DR but hey whatever I have lost my idiotic mind)

[CyberDilemma]

What's the point of having all out tall tight ends and possession receivers if we don't allow them to go up and fight for the ball in the endzone? I concur with Garcia 100% on this one.

[Voc]

Has any team other than the Bucs won a superbowl in the 2000 era that runs the west coast offense??? The answer may lye there...

Some will even argue our D won that game....

[DR]

Voc, you look at the teams that won the Super Bowl with a "West Coast" offense, and you will see that they had way more talent than this Bucs team. You can only do what you have the capability of doing. The Bucs don't have the talent to run a "west coast" offense.
There is no argument about it...the defense won the Super Bowl in 2002.
I agree to a certain extent with J and Oar, but Pittman recently said that the offense, when he was with the Bucs, lacked the ability to change the play at the line of scrimmage.
The other thing is Garcia has not looked good with Galloway on the field. If Garcia looks down field and sees Galloway down field somewhat covered, he's not throwing the ball. Galloway has proven time and time again that he won't break plays up and he gets beat by the defender to the ball. Garcia lacks confidence for that reason. I don't blame him. Galloway deserves a demotion to 2nd or 3rd string WR. It's too bad Gruden won't want to hurt the prima donna's feelings.

[Scar]

What? you mean when it is 3rd and 11 and calling a play that goes 3 yards up isn't airing it out? for shame

[Vince]

Garcia is talking about himself, not the playcalling. Every play has a short, intermeidate and deep threat. Garcia chooses who to throw to. He is saying "we" but he is describing the decision-making, not the play calling.

[Vince]

DR, don't start making stuff up now. Pittman never said that the Gruden's offense lacked the ability to chnage plays at the line. That is silly. People complain that Gruden's offense is too complicated specifically because it allows for change base on circumstances. Gruden's offense is complicated because the players have to know how to run the same play out of many formations. I guess you have never seen Garcia call an audible?

I think we just caught you . . . again . . . making stuff up. Poor DR.

[bucfaninPhx]

Wow. How long have people been saying this on these posts? We have tall receivers in Clayton and Stevens- why not throw it up to them in the endzones? We see it happen to us all the time.Roy Williams in the last game.Take advantage of the mismatches that Stevens will probably see most of the time in the redzone.Side note- I believe Galloway is our 2 wr now.Gruden said he wants to keep Bryant at the 1wr spot.

I agree with gArcia 100%. He needs to play like he did in the CFL, calling his own play. Too many running plays in the NFL. Come on let the man play like he can.

gruden listen to this man. give us bucs fans what we want. lets kill already!

[oar]

DR, about the change of play at line; I could agree with that when Gradkowski, Simms, Rattay and McCown were the playing qb's, but not when Brad, Jeff, and Griese were playing.

[Tony]

Why does everyone assume he is talking about Gruden? He has options downfield all the time and eithe can't find them or does not take the risk. Maybe Jeff is talking about himself.

[DR]

Vince, listen to sirius NFL network once in a while. My comment is straight form Pittman himself. He said his intent was not to cut down the Bucs but the Broncos are more apt to change up things when needed and the players have more input. Gruden is stubborn. Garcia has complained about similar things with the offense.
The fact is Gruden has been running an offense that doesn't consistently score points. He has done horrible this year against bad defenses. That doesn't say much about your offensive game plan. Even bad defense can game plan and stop Gruden's offense. It's because he refuses to change his ways and he is predictable.

[Voc]

If the Bucs do not have the talent to run the west coast offense why are they running it.......

Clayon is not going to run away from anyone, Stovall is not going to run away from anyone. Hilliard is not going to run away from anyone. Some explain to me why these guys are here???

[Vince]

Okay, I'm not the Vince that was posting above (for the rec). All the points made by everyone are completely valid. I peronally feel the trouble has more to do with 1st down, than 3rd. Otherwise, I'm all about just having Balance on offense, and I pretty much say it every time.

[Vince]

DR, you are so funny . . .

[Vince]

No really, I'm not DR. I just noticed that you are the only other "Vince" that posts on this site, and I didn't want people confusing my words for yours and Vice Versa.

[The LastWalshPick]

All I know is that when Garcia rolls out to the left or right, he has visability and makes better decisions about who to throw to.

Receivers definitely have to realize that if the play breaks down they have to come back upfield and find Jeff, he'll throw to ya.
That is how Garcia, T.O and Streets had success. And occassionally mix it up with the running plays, or even lob pass to them.
It completely drives the defense mad, they get so tired of running from one end of the field to the other, play after play.

It also keeps them guessing and confused of what is coming next, eats up the clock so it doesn't give the other team time enough to catch up, saving your timeouts until you truly need them.
This is the true West Coast Offense, a scheme of sorts, one that Walsh perfected. It is obvious that Gruden has not gotten there yet. But, he has potential.

Just hope he listens to Garcia, he knows how to run it to win games.

[Vince]

Vince -- I was responding to DR's story about Pittman (sorry for confusion)

[Duane]

Well Jeff, the ball in in your hands, try to stick it in there. This is the second game you had the team in the redzone at the end of the game and failed to get a game winning TD. Seems like Jeff is trying to deflect any critisim directed towards him in regards to this. The way the final play unfolded, I don't think Stevens was the primary receiver.

[Scott]

Question: Tampa didn't run the ball outside of the tackles in the second half, and there were never any plays called where Garcia rolled out. I've seen success this year from both types of plays. Is there a reason not to call those plays against Dallas?

[oar]

Execution was part of the problem at the end of the Dallas game, when Galloway sprung open in the end zone after making a double move that left his defender wallowing on the ground. The problem: quarterback Jeff Garcia never saw Galloway.
So yes Garcia you did lose sight of taking shots.

[Brandon]

DR:

I've never heard the transcript you're talking about and maybe Shanahan has changed his ways, but the rule in Denver had always been, "There are no audibles at the line"... that was according to Griese and Plummer themselves... maybe Shanahan gives 3rd year QB the ability to change plays but I doubt it.

[Vince]

well I will say this, DR seems to be the most popular personality on this site!

[DR]

Brandon, you're forgetting that Shanahan had Elway for a while. I think Pittman was talking about player involvement in the game plan. He said something about the ability of the player being able to discuss the gameplan and suggest changes which Gruden is known to be stubborn. The whole thing with Keyshawn was an embarrassment. This Bennett situation is ridiculous. He has had problems with Garcia and Clayton as well.

THANK YOU JEFF!!! Maybe coach will listen to you. Denver and Dallas were both winnable games. If we took some shots and still lost I as a fan would have felt better about those games.