Bucs Offense Has Become A Juggernaut Under Liam Coen

There were plenty of Bucs fans upset with the fact that the division rival Carolina swooped into Tampa Bay and swiped offensive coordinator Dave Canales to become the Panthers head coach last January. After all, the Bucs had won five of their last six games of the 2023 season and scored 30 out of the 32 points in a blowout win over the Eagles in the Wild Card round.

Canales wasn’t perfect in his first year as a play-caller at either the college or pro level, but he was a big step up from Byron Leftwich’s disastrous season as offensive coordinator in 2022.

Well, no one in Tampa Bay misses Canales now.

Not with his replacement, Liam Coen, proving to be a huge upgrade over Canales in his own first year as a play-caller at the NFL level.

Coen has taken the Bucs offense from good to outstanding in just a year and turned Tampa Bay into an offensive juggernaut in 2024, evidenced by a 40-17 dismantling of the Los Angeles Chargers and the league’s No. 1 ranked scoring defense. Prior to kickoff, L.A. was surrendering just 15.9 points per game.

That was before Coen returned to L.A. – where he spent years under the tutelage of Rams head coach and offensive wizard Sean McVay – and just took over SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Bucs OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

The Bucs came into Sunday’s game with the NFL’s fifth-ranked scoring offense (27.9 PPG), the third-best mark in total offense (379.2 yards per game), the sixth-best passing offense (241.0 yards per game) and the eighth-ranked rushing offense (138.3 yards per game).

Tampa Bay scored 40 points against L.A. and didn’t punt once on offense while racking up 506 yards of total offense. Led by Bucky Irving’s 117 yards, the Bucs ran for 223 yards and were 9-of-15 (60%) on third down. Baker Mayfield was 22-of-27 for 288 yards with four touchdowns and one interception and Mike Evans led all receivers with nine receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

So with the Bucs exceeding their averages in points, total yards, passing yards and rushing yards on Sunday – expect Coen’s unit to continue to climb near the top of the NFL rankings on Monday.

Let’s take a look at some of the Bucs’ offensive accomplishments and superlatives from their fourth win in a row, courtesy of the Buccaneers communications department press release.

Liam Coen’s Bucs Offense Continues To Take The League By Storm

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

• The Buccaneers amassed 506 yards of offense in the win – the team’s second-highest total of the season and 16th-highest in team history – making them the lone team this season with eight 400-yard games and 1-of-3 teams with multiple 500-yard performances. Tampa Bay has now recorded each 400 yards of offense and 150-or-more rushing yards in four consecutive games – the longest-such streak in franchise history and the second-longest such streak in the NFL this season (Baltimore – five games).

• Tampa Bay’s offense put up the most points (40), most total yards (506), most rushing yards (223) and second-most passing yards (283) vs. the Chargers defense this season. The Buccaneers offense also became the first to score on each of its opening two possessions vs. the Chargers defense in 2024. The Buccaneers did not punt on Sunday and scored on 9-of-12 possessions in the game, including six in a row before their final drive, which ended the game.

• The Buccaneers rushed for 223 yards in the game, while averaging 5.7 yards per carry, marking their 11th 100-yard rushing performance in 14 games played this season, and their third game with at least 200 yards rushing. After finishing 32nd in the NFL in rushing in each of the previous two seasons, Tampa Bay currently ranks fourth in rushing yards per game (144.4) and second in yards per rush attempt (5.2).

Bucky Irving notched his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season – taking 15 carries for 117 yards. He currently leads all rookies in both yards from scrimmage and rushing yards this season. Irving has 1,148 yards from scrimmage and 852 rushing yards.

Baker Mayfield And Mike Evans Surge In NFL, Bucs Record Books

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

• Baker Mayfield had his seventh career regular season game with four-or-more touchdown passes, including four-such performances for Tampa Bay. Making his 100th career start today, Mayfield (162) became 1-of-6 QBs selected No. 1 overall to record 150+ touchdown passes through their first 100 starts, joining Peyton Manning (178), Matthew Stafford (178), Andrew Luck (171), Carson Palmer (160) and Jared Goff (155).

• Mayfield’s 32 touchdown passes this season established a new career high and currently rank third in the NFL this season. He has now thrown the fourth-most single season touchdown passes in franchise history (32). His seven games with three-or-more touchdown passes this season are the second-most in the NFL, trailing only Joe Burrow (eight). Add in his three rushing scores and Mayfield has 35 total TDs this season with three games left. Tom Brady owns the single-season franchise record with 43 touchdown passes in 2021.

Bucs WRs Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan – Photo by: USA Today

• Mike Evans notched season highs with nine receptions and 159 yards receiving, including a season-long 57-yard touchdown reception. He officially moved into the Top 25 in NFL history in receiving yards, surpassing Jimmy Smith (12,287) and Antonio Brown (12,291) for the 25th-most all-time receiving yards. Evans also surpassed Roddy White (808) for the 40th-most receptions in league history.

• The Buccaneers improved to 8-3 this season with Evans active and 8-1 in games in which Evans has five-or-more targets. Evans now has 52 receptions for 749 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. His nine touchdown receptions are the fourth-most in the NFL this season. He now needs 251 receiving yards (83.7 yards per game) and eight receptions to continue his 1,000-yard and 60-catch streaks (10 seasons). Evans etched his 38th career regular season game with 100+ receiving yards and his 14th  career regular season game with 150+ receiving yards, the second-most among all active players trailing only Tyreek Hill (16).

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