Passing chart.

Josh Grizzard really has morphed into Liam Coen. Well, at least in one way.

The usage of the deep ball pass has vanished from the Bucs’ offense.

Joe figures it has a lot to do with injuries, both to Baker Mayfield and three of his top-four receivers (Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan).

With rookie Emeka Egbuka hounded by defenses more than Alix Earle at a Vegas day club, and apparently Sterling Shepard and Tez Johnson are unable to spring free deep, the deep balls have pretty much gone the way of the Bucs tackling by wrapping up.

Poof!

Tony Holzman-Escareno, a senior researcher for the NFL, pumped out very telling stats concerning Mayfield and passes traveling 20 yards or more downfield.

Mayfield was dominant throwing deep touchdown passes in the first six weeks of the season. Since? The deep passing attack has been packed in ice.

So let’s look at what was going on in Week 7 for the Bucs:

Week 7 was the Lions game. The Bucs had Evans returning but early in the game he broke his clavicle when Detroit corner Rock Ya-Sin sinned by riding Evans like he was a rodeo bronco, resulting in Evans’ injury.

The next week against the slimy Saints, Mayfield was clearly hurt (after a beating in Detroit) and was a shell of himself. Of course, the Bucs didn’t have Bucky Irving or Godwin, either.

Not so coincidentally, the Bucs’ November nightmare happened without Evans and Godwin and with Mayfield banged up.

The reason Joe finds this interesting is that when Grizzard was hired, he made it a point (several times) to let folks know that while the base offense was not changing, he wanted to take more deep shots.

That plan, for the time being, has gone out the window.

Godwin finally returned to the lineup and this past Sunday looked like the old Chris Godwin. Thank goodness! McMillan is expected to practice this week and Evans might as well. Until they return, defenses are now under the impression if they take Egbuka out, the Bucs have no deep passing game.

Baker Mayfield led the NFL with 7 deep pass TD (20+ air yds) from Weeks 1-6. No other QB had more than 3. Mayfield has 1 deep completion since Week 7.

Weeks 1-6
10-25, 418 yds, 7 TD, 0 INT, 127.1 passer rtg

Since Week 7
1-13, 24 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, 7.5 passer rtg@NextGenStats

— NFL Researcher (@FrontOfficeNFL) December 2, 2025