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Why are the Bucs flourishing at home and floundering on the road? Reasons vary

The Bucs will try to avoid their third consecutive road loss against the scorching Colts.
 
Bucs coach Bruce Arians' team, undefeated in five home games this season, is 2-3 on the road.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians' team, undefeated in five home games this season, is 2-3 on the road. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
Published Nov. 27, 2021

TAMPA — All the elements are in place for hostility and hysteria to converge Sunday afternoon in downtown Indianapolis.

The Colts (6-5) are on a three-game win streak, tailback Jonathan Taylor (1,122 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns) is scampering his way to the NFL rushing title, and quarterback Tom Brady — who ended a handful of Colts postseasons in his previous life — is returning.

Problem is, raucous road environments — and even the not-so-raucous ones — have become Bucs’ kryptonite.

“Obviously, we’ve been playing terrible on the road,” outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul said. “But this week is a whole other week.”

Perhaps. Unbeaten in five games at Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs are 2-3 away from it, having lost their last two. They average 38.4 points at home, but the next road game in which they score at least 30 will be the first.

Their snapshots from the road elicit cringes and cries of bewilderment: a Brady pick-six in the waning moments (at New Orleans), an O.J. Howard false start on the first play (vs. Washington), a 75-yard touchdown by former Buc DeSean Jackson on a busted coverage (at Los Angeles).

All stand in stark contrast to the images from last winter, when this same team won three consecutive road playoff games.

“We should know how to win on the road, definitely,” cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting said.

So what’s hindering this team away from home 10 months later? The question spawned various responses this week.

“I feel like we’ve got to start with more energy,” Murphy-Bunting said.

“Just communication, making sure we’re all on the same page,” rookie outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka noted.

“We’ve turned the ball over way too many times in the road games and then had critical penalties,” coach Bruce Arians said.

Which leads to the most comprehensive — and perhaps most correct — take, from offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich:

“Probably all of the above,” he said.

Discipline, energy and efficiency simply haven’t converged for the Bucs away from home this season. In their 34-24 loss to the Rams, they protected the ball (no turnovers) but didn’t start well offensively. In their 36-27 loss at New Orleans, they scored first but ultimately stymied themselves with penalties.

In their 29-19 loss to Washington, Howard’s false start was followed by two Brady picks in the first quarter.

“There’s going to be a couple of things that we can do better to get better on the road,” Leftwich said. “We’re working on it, we’re trying to get those things accomplished, and we’re just trying to play our best football.”

Seemingly atop this critical list is communication. After spending a year playing in stadiums that were sparsely filled at best, the Bucs continue struggling with pre-snap penalties, which perturb coaches far more than subjective calls such as holding or pass interference.

In their three road losses, the Bucs have totaled 13 pre-snap whistles, including two neutral-zone infractions on the same Washington field-goal drive.

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“It’s so different on the road this year than it was last year, obviously,” said Arians, who went 9-3 as Colts interim coach in 2012 and likely will be given a folk hero’s welcome Sunday. “It’s really the first year, in some aspects, with some of that type of thing as far as communication and what we’re trying to get done.”

Less tangible, but no less significant, are the sluggish starts most prevalent against the Rams (when they punted on their first three possessions) and Washington.

“We’ve just got to figure out ways to bring our own energy and start faster,” receiver Chris Godwin said.

“I think that will solve a lot of things, if a lot of guys get hyped, get into the game a lot faster and try to negate the problems that come with loud opposing crowds.”

A slow start Sunday could prove especially perilous. Behind Taylor, the Colts average an NFL-best 5.2 rushing yards per attempt, allowing them to effectively dictate tempo. They rank seventh in the league in time of possession (31:44).

If the Bucs can’t bring the energy, clairvoyance and discipline essential for road success — especially at this juncture of the season — their next postseason also could commence on the road.

And at this rate, a sequel to the 2020 playoff road show doesn’t seem likely.

“We’ve all got our hands in the pile, just trying to be as good as we can be to try to help us win football games,” Leftwich said. “It don’t really matter the venue no more, it’s that time of year — around Thanksgiving, December — where you want to be playing your best.”

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls

Related: https://www.tampabay.com/sports/bucs/2021/11/24/bucs-made-a-great-decision-drafting-joe-tryon-shoyinka-so-why-not-play-him-more/

Home and homely

A statistical look at how the Bucs have fared better at home in 2021:

Record: 5-0 at home; 2-3 on the road

Points per game: 38.4 at home; 23.4 on the road

Penalties per game: 6.6 at home; 7.6 on the road

Penalty yards per game: 57.0 at home; 75.4 on the road

Turnovers: 7 at home; 6 on the road

Third-down percentage: 45.8 at home; 50.0 on the road

Opponent’s third-down percentage: 33.9 at home; 46.3 on the road

Number of times scoring first: 4 at home; 3 on the road

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