The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were plain bad in the red zone last season. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken knows that all too well, and he believes it’s on the entire offense to own up to the fact that they were as bad as they were.
“We chose to suck. We chose not to do it as well as we can do it. I say that all the time, ever since I've been in coaching,” Monken said per Jenna Laine of ESPN. “Everyone has to take a bite of it because I always say, ‘We sure as heck want the credit when we win.' I do. I want some of the credit. And we've gotta own it when we don't. … We made that decision as an offense, to play poorly — we did.”
The Bucs committed a league-high 26 fumbles last season, six of which happened in the red zone. Bucs receivers also had six drops in the red zone, which was tied for the second-most in the league. Tampa Bay’s red zone struggles contributed significantly to their disappointing 5-11 record to end the year.
Obviously, Monken will likely make fixing their troubling red zone problems a main priority in the offseason. That starts with quarterback Jameis Winston, who has to make some better decisions as he enters his fourth year in the league.
The Bucs have some other areas to fix before they can become an above-average squad. But if they can limit their number of red zone mistakes, that could see a decent improvement in their record this upcoming season.
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