Can Bucs bottle play-action success and take it to Arizona?

TAMPA — Before the four turnovers and botched fake punt in the second half doomed the Bucs in their 34-23 loss to the Bengals on Sunday, Tom Brady finally put the action in play-action.

He didn’t just carve up Cincinnati’s defense, he did it utilizing a misplaced tool in Tampa Bay’s playbook.

Of Brady’s 23 dropbacks, he faked a handoff 10 times — or 43.5% of the pass plays — which represented the highest usage of play-action in any half this season. He completed seven of those 10 passes for 95 yards for a rating of 100.0.

At halftime, the Bucs held a 17-3 lead and enjoyed a huge advantage in total yardage (261-83), first downs (16-6) and time of possession (20:27-9:33).

Tampa Bay came out aggressively, passing on five of its first seven plays. The result of the first four possessions was a field goal, a touchdown, a missed field goal and a touchdown. Brady went 17 of 23 passing for 194 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 127.8 in the first half.

Can the Bucs build on the play-action-heavy game plan Sunday at Arizona?

“I can’t sit up here and stand on it because we haven’t been that consistently, but that’s what we feel we are when we step out on the grass, to be honest with you,” offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said. “We feel that way that we played in the first half (against the Bengals). I tell you guys, I think we’re closer than what we think.

“Scoring points in this league comes down to four or five plays that went your way, or four or five plays that didn’t go your way, and they were heading our way. We had to earn them, but that’s the game. That’s football. We love where we’re at, though. Really, we love where we’re at.”

Why the sudden increase in play-action, something Brady has excelled at during his career?

For starters, Brady trusted his protection against the Bengals, who were playing without their best pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson. Plus, the Bengals ranked 30th in the league with 1.6 sacks per game.

Brady’s four turnovers — two interceptions and two lost fumbles — limited the Bucs’ use of play-action to 13.6 percent of the dropbacks in the second half.

The key for the Bucs this Sunday will be trying to build on how they started against the Bengals.

“That’s important,” Brady said. “I think those good plays kind of build on each other and help confidence. The interesting thing is, it’s not like there’s a lack of confidence. It’s just a lack of execution and our ability to do it consistently. And I think the ability to do it is one thing, but to do it consistently well has been a problem.

“There are spurts where it’s been good and we can do a lot of things the right way, and there’s other times where we haven’t, which leads to where our record’s at (6-8). I think the point is, we’re 15, 16 weeks into the season, including the bye, and the whole season comes down to three really important games. And (Sunday) is the first of the three.”

Protection is paramount, and the Bucs could be without one or both starting offensive tackles against the Cardinals. Left tackle Donovan Smith hasn’t practiced all week due to a foot injury, and Tristan Wirfs has been limited after missing three games with an ankle injury.

Leftwich doesn’t want to make too much of the Bucs’ success in the first half against the Bengals.

“It was 17 points, right? I don’t want to make it seem like we scored 30 in a half,” Leftwich said. “But that’s what it’s like around here, right? I mean, we’ve done that a lot. Seventeen points in a half obviously is good, especially if you can double that in the second half.

“I know the numbers and the stats (aren’t) all there, but we feel good going into every game from a preparation (standpoint) and what we want to do. Sometimes we went out there and haven’t executed as much as we’d like, but hopefully we’re past that point.”

Brady doesn’t put as much stock in production as in process. He believes confidence is developed through execution in practice that should carry over to games.

“We’re always so focused on wins and losses, and I think I’m always focused on the process of how you get to wins, why you win and why you lose, because sometimes the things don’t go your way,” he said. “I had a ball that I handed off (against the Bengals), I fumbled. That should never happen, but it did.

“Yeah, you’re disappointed when you feel like you let the team down and when you can do a better job, and that’s part of why you sleep two or three hours on a Sunday night. But that’s what you’ve got to live with, and I think all these things that happen in the moment, that builds resilience.”

Leftwich doesn’t expect another four-turnover game at Arizona. The Bucs and Brady also may have learned they can be a pretty good play-action team.

But putting together a complete game is what has eluded them this season.

“It’s hard to do that, right? That was just one of those fluke things that happens in the game of football,” Leftwich said of the turnovers. “(If) you play this game long enough, you’ll be around plays and games like that. We’ve been on the opposite end of them and won games. It just came and got us last week. We’ll take it (and) understand it’s part of football. (We) look forward to the next game.”

Contact Rick Stroud at rstroud@tampabay.com. Follow @NFLSTROUD.

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