Josh McCown's Early Struggles with Buccaneers Just Temporary Growing Pains

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown is an ideal candidate to bounce back in Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams after his disappointing performance during Tampa Bay's season-opening loss to the Carolina Panthers. 

McCown told reporters Wednesday, via SportsTalkFlorida.com, "It's all on me, I'll get it fixed." 

The quarterback was specifically referring to the two interceptions he threw and the mistakes the offense made throughout the game. But he's taken the onus of the situation. The veteran signal-caller admitted he's not completely on the same page with the rest of his offense. 

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We're in the process of growing and finding out who we are on offense and building our whole team, really. Along the way you don't want to do those things. You get out there in the middle of those games. It's competitive, and you want to make plays.

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It's natural for an athlete to press when he's in a new situation. There is even more pressure on a quarterback who signed a two-year, $10 million free agent contract during the offseason and was immediately anointed the team's starter. 

Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo told ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas that he saw some early trepidation from McCown, but the signal-caller's nerves began to calm as the game progressed. 

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I think he calmed down and played within the scheme. I think early on maybe he tried to press a little bit, maybe tried to play outside the play. With that is running around trying to make a throw when you’re under duress. I think he played within the play and proved in those 7 minutes and 19-play stretch that we can move the ball and be reflective in that regard. I think he got better as the game went on and hopefully that will carry over to this week.

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Through 46:54 minutes of play, McCown was 11-of-19 passing for a meager 85 yards and a pair of interceptions. The former Chicago Bear threw only one interception during his eight appearances last season. 

The Buccaneers were down 17-0 with 9:34 remaining, and a completely different McCown emerged. During the team's final four possessions, the quarterback was 11-of-16 passing for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns. 

What did McCown and the Buccaneers do differently? 

Cliff McBride/Getty Images

First, Arroyo, who was calling the plays for offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford, decided to increase the tempo, and McCown became more comfortable. It's something Tampa Bay is considering doing on a more consistent basis in the coming weeks. 

“I think we got a little more telltale of what we’re capable of doing on the perimeter, which was good,’’ Arroyo told ESPN.com. “Maybe the tempo was a little more closer to what we feel we can be or what we can do.’’

Second, as McCown became more comfortable, he began to make throws with more consistency. 

Two examples below highlight a pair of similar throws by McCown. One was a incomplete pass in the first half. The second was a touchdown connection in the fourth quarter. 

In the second quarter with Carolina leading 7-0, McCown attempted his first deep pass of the afternoon. Wide receiver Vincent Jackson ran a simple go route, but he was jammed at the line of scrimmage which slowed his release. The safety over the top was also cheating toward Jackson the entire time. McCown never saw either problem and overthrew the pass.  His receiver never even had an opportunity to make a play on the ball. 

The picture below shows the window in which McCown had to complete the pass. The quarterback should have placed more touch on the football due to the way the safety was playing over the top and the cornerback trailing the 6'5" Jackson. 

NFL Game Rewind

In the fourth quarter, though, the 13-year veteran was able to recognize similar coverage, which appears to be a Cover 2 shell, and connected with receiver Chris Owusu for a 19-yard touchdown pass. 

Owusu, unlike Jackson, was granted a free release from the line of scrimmage. McCown immediately realized it and lofted the ball much earlier and with more touch than he did on the previously mentioned throw. It became an easy completion since the cornerback and safety never had time to close the space in the corner of the end zone. 

NFL Game Rewind

During the Buccaneers' two touchdown drives, McCown confidently completed passes into tight windows while under pressure. The quarterback wasn't tenative. He worked through his reads and took what the Panthers gave him on multiple occasions to keep drives alive. 

What was also noticed upon further review of the film is that Tampa Bay relied far less on timing routes during the second half. For example, McCown attempted to complete passes to Jackson twice on slant routes in the first half. The timing wasn't right on either, and both throws fell incomplete. The Buccaneers instead allowed their receivers to find soft spots in the Panthers zone during the third and fourth quarters, and McCown had a much easier time of finding available targets. 

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

The St. Louis Rams will present similar problems for the Buccaneers as the Panthers did. The Rams will be able to consistently win up front even without defensive end Chris Long, who will miss several weeks because of an ankle injury. Long's bookend, Robert Quinn, is arguably the game's top pass-rusher. And the team's defensive tackles can penetrate the middle of the line of scrimmage to disrupt offenses. 

McCown should expect to face pressure throughout the contest behind a mending Tampa Bay offensive line. However, the Buccaneers can counter the Rams advantage up front by playing up-tempo, which will allow McCown to be more comfortable within the offensive scheme and place him in the same rhythm seen in the fourth quarter against the Panthers. 

The Buccaneers quarterback has plenty of talent at the skill positions to utilize. Once McCown is on the same page with Jackson, Owusu, Mike Evans, Brandon Myers and Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Tampa Bay will be a dangerous team on offense.

Salary numbers courtesy of Spotrac.com. Brent Sobleski covers the NFC South for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.