Fixes for offense remain elusive

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© St. Petersburg Times
published December 14, 2001

TAMPA -- Once again, Clyde Christensen was in the dark.

For the Bucs offensive coordinator, it is a regular occurrence. The day is complete, and the tape machine has been given a break. Christensen lies in his bed, stares at the ceiling ... and thinks of offense.

"You go to bed thinking," Christensen said. "Your mind is racing. "How do we get this guy involved? How do we get the ball here? How do we get the running game going?' You lay there and think about all the things you could do to fix things."

Christensen shakes his head. He stands in a hallway at One Buc, leaning on the wall, talking of the grand enigma that is Tampa Bay's attack. As always, it is the offense that offends. It doesn't matter who the Bucs bring in, or how much they are paid. Around here, the point is always that there aren't many points.

And so it has been this season, too. In six of the 12 games, the Bucs have scored only one offensive touchdown. In nine of the 12, they have scored no more than two. The Bucs do not run. They do not protect the quarterback. They do not comprehend the red zone. They seem chaotic, confused, confounding.

Like Les Steckel before him, like Mike Shula before him, much of the criticism has been laid at the feet of Christensen, the team's third offensive coordinator in three seasons. Clueless Clyde, they call him.

By now, Christensen believed everything would be fine. The Bucs are entering the final quarter of their football season, and by now, Christensen thought their parts would add up just fine. They haven't.

"It's disappointing, frustrating," Christensen said. "I felt by this point we'd be ahead of where we are now. I really felt like we'd have one of the best offenses in the league. If not according to statistics, then by efficiency."

Why hasn't it happened? That's the golden question, isn't it? Start with Warrick Dunn's injury. Or with the offensive line. Or with the lack of a dependable second receiver. Or, if you wish, start with the offensive coordinator.

He has had his growing pains, he admits. This is Christensen's first year as an offensive coordinator, a high-stakes season for a learn-as-you-go situation. Too often, the team has seemed passive, on its heels. The team has done too little in the way of blocking fullbacks or extra tight ends to get the anemic running game in gear.

"It has to begin with me," Christensen said. "That's my job. To get them coordinated. I have no problem with the criticism. The bottom line is the performance, and we should be better than we are.

"If I was giving myself a grade, I'd say about a C. Dead average. That's disappointing, because being average is not satisfactory."

It is a difficult position, offensive coordinator. You are trapped between Keyshawn's Johnson's desire for aggressiveness and Tony Dungy's love of the conservative, between very good running backs and a very bad offensive line, between limited experience and unlimited expectations. Also, there are avalanches and a few locusts.

Oh, there are positives. Christensen has figured out how to get the ball to Johnson (a team-record 93 times). Brad Johnson has passed to 60 yards a game more than the team had this time last season. The Bucs are 12th in the NFL in passing offense. And the two-minute offense has been impressive. The Bucs may break records for completion percentage, passing yards, attempts, completions and fewest interceptions.

But for every 3 yards of gain in the passing game, there have been 2 yards of loss in the running game. The Bucs, as ever, languish among the bottom third of the league's offenses.

"I probably took the running game for granted," Christensen said. "I thought if we fixed the passing game, the running game would be as good as it has been."

That hasn't happened. The Bucs have run better with worse lines, with worse backs, with worse fullbacks. Is that the fault of the offensive coordinator? Or the injury to Dunn? Or the offensive line? Or the offensive line coach? It is hard to separate one from the other. Either way, the Bucs are rushing for 40 fewer yards this year than last.

"I think part of the reason is that we haven't gotten Warrick going," Christensen said. "That was one of our goals coming into the season. It's a lot like looking at our passing game if we didn't have Keyshawn. It's tough to do, because so much is centered around him."

Without a running game, it's hard for any offensive coordinator to demonstrate a knack for calling plays. Everything feeds off getting the defense off-balance.

Instead, the Bucs have turned into a medium-range passing team, unable to open holes to run the ball and unable to block long enough for deep balls. When a team cannot run and cannot throw deep, it looks as if it is pushing a boulder uphill.

"The thing I would say to you is that the book isn't completed," Christensen said. "We could still have an 11-5 season. We could still win the Super Bowl. I'm an optimistic guy. I still have hope that we're going get this offense rolling."

Sunday sounds like a good time to start. Chicago seems like a good place.

The way this offense moves, it should start driving now.

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