Byron Leftwich isn't buying into talk of the offensive demise of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers put up 30 points against the Carolina Panthers in Week 17, but at 8-8 they have narrowly squeaked into the postseason.

"I think there's been moments where we really haven't been that bad," Leftwich, the team's offensive coordinator, said.

"I think you guys overexaggerated because we look different. The numbers say that we're not that far off. We're off on third down and red zone. It's disappointing, those two things for us as a team with who we have. But when you really listen to people talk about us, that's emotions talking. That's not really people watching us, watching us get better every week. For some reason, everybody want to throw dirt on the Bucs. But we're not ready for people to throw dirt on us."

Tampa Bay's scoring dropped from 29.29 offensive points per game in 2021 -- first in the league -- to 18.06 in 2022, 23rd in the league.