Buccaneers are on their way to ending five seasons of frustration by fighting fire with fire

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired offensive coordinator Liam Coen back in February, it sent a message to those who have followed the team since Todd Bowles came to town in 2019.

He's fighting fire with fire: Not only is Coen a very good OC, but he hails from the Sean McVay tree, which is a branch off the Kyle Shanahan tree.

And let's just say the Bucs have been lost in the forest over the last five years, as those offenses have given them more than their fair share of fits.

The Bucs are 7-9 against head coaches hailing from those trees. I included DeMeco Ryans and Robert Saleh's matchups in this because their two OCs during those games are/were Bobby Slowik and Mike LaFleur, respectively. Both of those guys had near-complete control of the offense, therefore, it fits. Whereas a guy like Greg Olson had Jon Gruden as his boss, so we know who had the real say in that offense.

Below is a breakdown of said record against McVay and Shanahan, along with their former assistant coaches since 2019. The wins/losses are from the Bucs' perspective, not the coaches'. The records also include playoff games:

• Rams head coach Sean McVay: 3-2
• 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan: 3-0
• Packers head coach Matt LaFleur: 1-3
• Bengals head coach Zac Taylor: 1-0
• Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell: 0-1
• Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans: 1-0
• Jets head coach Robert Saleh: 0-1
• Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel: 0-0

It's not just losing that's been so frustrating, though, it's the style in which the losses have piled up. Bowles' defenses, outside of the Packers' and Vikings' series, have been routinely carved up, allowing an average of 26.3 points per game over the course of 16 contests. When removing the Packers' 17.3 points per game and the Vikings' 17.0, Bowles' defenses have allowed 30.4 points per game. The first mark would've been the third-most points allowed in 2023 and the latter would've been second-worst, coming in just shy of the Commanders' league-worst 30.5 points per game, for proper context.

But, thanks to the Coen hire, the Bucs are heading in the right direction when it comes to ending the frustration involved with playing these offenses and that's because the defense gets to practice against this kind of offense (not an exact copy, but you know what I mean) on a regular basis.

And it's been helping the defenders in ways that should help them potentially end things like the current three-game losing streak against the 9ers.

"[I've] picked up on it by practicing against it," Bucs linebacker K.J. Britt said back in July when asked if practicing against the Bucs offense has allowed him to read certain aspects better. "Just making sure my eyes are in the right place, for me, doing my part in the defense.. so I can play fast and make sure that, you know, I look like I'm flying around just by what I'm seeing and how I approach the game."

Bowles even mentioned Britt's improved eye discipline back in May, so it's obvious the  Bucs offense is helping. And that showed up a bit on Wednesday against McDaniel's offense, which is one of the most lethal units, right now.

Wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle didn't practice, but Tua Tagovailoa was on the field and McDaniel was still running the show, which remains a threat, ultimately.

Overall, the unit had a pretty good day. It certainly took its lumps at times, but that's what happens when you go up against a good team. After a slow start, things started to settle down for the Bucs to where they found their footing.

"There [were] a lot of different looks for us today… a lot of stuff that we haven’t seen since I’ve been playing football," Bucs linebacker Lavonte David said after practice. "All it did was make us better today. I think we did the same thing for them. We got better. They got better going against us, so overall [it was a] productive day... I’m looking forward to watching film today and learning some things and think in different key reads and stuff like that to better my game...

"... It gets you thinking a little bit, but at the end of the day, once you hone in on them, I think everything will take care of itself. They do a lot of misdirection stuff that gets people off balance and caught up, so [it was] definitely good work for is.”

“They definitely [have] a lot of tricky things," said Bucs defensive lineman Calijah Kancey. "There’s a lot of eye candy. If your eyes are wandering, you can definitely lose focus on your keys really quick and just get lost. You’ve got to dial in and know what they’re actually trying to get to, because they can be showing [one thing] and go [to another]. It just comes down to reading your keys. They’ve got a lot of movement and tricky things to their game.”

We'll see how things officially play out, but the massive dose of Coen's offense, along with Dolphins' joint practice, should help the defense recognize looks and schemes better, which should in help it contain the Shanahan/McVay-type offenses. The Bucs play the 9ers, this year, along with the Falcons twice, and even the Panthers twice (Dave Canales learned a lot under Shane Waldron, who learned from McVay). Those five games, all NFC matchups and four division matchups, will certainly help define the Bucs' 2024 season.

And, if things go the right way, then the Bucs could not only end the frustration in 2024, but the future, as well.