There is no option, there is no other course. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have nowhere else to go but forward. You’ll read articles about the Bucs playoff chances, which is just simply ridiculous to discuss after last week’s loss much less last night’s.
Understand that on any given Sunday, any game can turn into this. Ive seen the San Francisco 49ers get beat by 30+ points twice, during their Joe Montana days. Our own Bucs have done it, in 1999 only 5 games away from the NFC Championship game. Each possession the Bucs had they did something bad and it snowballed. Thats not an excuse, the Bucs deserved to get beat this bad, and I’m not saying they are a better team than this. But truth is, any team can get blown out by any team when a perfect storm happens. If this happens again next week, we can react then, for now, its still over-reacting, any way you look at it.
How did it blow up?
- After First Atlanta TD.. Bobby Rainey committed
blunder one by dropping a wheel route pass put in his hands by McCown. - Down 7-0 A Falcons 1st down completion was stripped by Banks
With open space in front of him, yet another Bucs safety messes up a chance at a huge play. and right into the hands of Mark Barron, who was running it back when he was hit by Devin Hester and fumbled the ball back himself! Instead of change of possession, Atlanta scored in just a few plays.
- 14-0 Atlanta Robert Herron cannot catch a ball thrown a little high, “Very Catchable” called by TV Crew. Instead the next pass was a Pick 6.
- Down 21-0 Rainey fumbles the ball after achieving a
clear first down. - Down 28-0 Vincent Jackson dropped one of many, on the ground at the Bucs 32 yard line that would have been a first down.
- Atlanta driving for 5th TD is stopped by Bucs defense: Leonard Johnson stripped the ball. But after a 3 and out the Bucs punted and Devin Hester broke the record with a PR TD.
- Down 35-0 McCown hits Evans for 45 yards, the biggest play of the season so far. With 2nd and 1 from Atlanta 37 McCown is sacked out of FG range.
- Still Down 35-0 in 3rd Qtr, Bobby Rainey fumbles once again, ending a chance to get on the board early in the half.
So whats the problem? The Bucs told us this was not a rebuilding year: Thats what every team says, to sell tickets, to get the games on TV, to get fans excited. By preseason the questions had already mounted- Lets go back and look at Week 3 Preseason Questions and where they’re at now.
QUARTERBACK
Josh McCown concerned some people with some decisions
but we also realized the O-line wasn’t blocking enough for him. Week One he embarrassed himself, and for the last two games he has made at least one bad blunder play resulting in a score for the other team at the wrong time. After week three, its obvious to all NFL fans that last years McCown in Chicago was the aberration, not the norm. The QB of the future is NOT on this team.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The team blew up the old O-line and other than last week’s 
Davin Joseph sighting, only Jeremy Zuttah is playing well for his new team. That says the move to rebuild the O line was a smart one, but you saved nothing by selling off Zuttah! The Bucs were forced to go out and trade for Logan Mankins. There was improvement from Week One to Week 2 but last night was difficult to grade. After watching the game a second time (trust me, very painful to do twice) The O line blocked fine for McCown until the game started to get out of hand. At that point the D line is pinning their ears back. At best this is a C graded O line, and two guards will still need to be added to further the quality of this line.
DEFENSIVE LINE
It seemed the defense was going to be just fine as was the defense itself, but Michael Johnson was nowhere to be found in the preseason. Then he messed up his ankle and we haven’t heard a thing about him, or anyone. Only Gerald McCoy has consistently been a playmaker on defense, and he is now out with an injured hand.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Not really a question mark, but in the offseason a lot of Bucs were allowed to leave who were special teams ace players. Through week 3, the Bucs are very bad in the Punt and Kick off coverage teams. As you know, Special Teams players are made up from Bucs back ups. Well our bench is horrible, so its not a surprise our special teams are too.
SECONDARY
Before the season started, we talked about how this could be just like the old Bucs defense, with McCoy as Sapp, David as Brooks, and Barron as Lynch. Mark Barron is no John Lynch: in fact suffice to say the Bucs by trading up in the draft to get Barron may yet be another disaster by GM Mark Dominick. Dashon Goldson is a talented safety, but he is more of the head hunter that Lynch used to be, but the NFL has changed, and Head Hunters are illegal now. The Bucs need to draft and pick up new safeties to meet the needs of Lovies defense.
THE TAMPA TWO
Im reading in comments that the Tampa Two is dead, its an old defense that everyone knows how to beat. To clarify, teams knew how to attack the Tampa Two in the year 2000. What made the Tampa Two work so well back in the day was WHO WAS PLAYING IN IT! It was Sapp, Brooks, Rice, Quarles, Barber, Lynch, Kelly, etc. Monte Kiffin himself was running the Tampa Two in Dallas last year, with players made for a 3-4. It doesn’t matter how good of a system you have, if the players you’ve got aren’t made for the system, it won’t work.
Plus, understand, The Bucs, Lovie Smith in Chicago, never ran the Tampa Two all the time. Its a base defense from which to run other defenses to disguise what your doing. The old Bucs defense had great players for the system, and knew the system very well.
These players last night do NOT know the system that we’ll be seeing for a long time to come, perhaps the plan was to draft all offense so the defense can be looked at while the offense grows with time. Don’t be surprised if this year Defense is the theme of the draft and Free Agency.
FINAL WORD
Its only 3 weeks into the season. There are 13 football games left to watch and (hopefully) enjoy. I too hoped for a winning football team this year and a playoff birth, but after preseason and the first game or two, it’s quite obvious this is a roster depleted from all the regime changes that have taken place over the last few years. The Gruden to Morris transition is irrelevant, those guys wouldn’t still be playing, but Greg Schiano parted ways with Kellen Winslow Jr, Michael Bennett, Roy Miller, and hey, wouldn’t you like to see the 2011 version of Josh Freeman right now?
So please, don’t call for Lovie’s head already, or your just saying you want to start over AGAIN…havnt we started over enough?
NOTES FROM GAME
IF not for the last TD by Danny Lansanah who should be starting for the unspectacular play of Jonathan Castillias, The Bucs would have lost by 49 points becoming the worse Loss in franchise history. Instead its 42 points, tying for 3rd and 4th with the 42-0 loss to Pittsburgh Steelers in 1976. 48-3 loss to 49ers in 2011 and 45-0 loss to Oakland in 1999.
In as much as fans criticize the Orange Bucs era, the only one of those losses happened during that time, and it was an expansion Bucs taking on 4 time Super Bowl Champion Steelers in the heart of their dynasty.
1999, 2011 and 2014 all happened in Pewter, and two in the last 4 years. All of the worst losses came on the road, The Bucs played well in the next game each occasion.
WORST LOSSES
Year Team Score HalfTime Next Game
- 2011 @ San Francisco 3-48 3-24 26-20W Saints
- 1999 @ Oakland 0-45 0-17 29-10W Packers
- 2014 @ Atlanta 14-56 0-35 @ Pittsburgh
- 1976 @ Pittsburgh 0-42 0-28 14-31 L Patriots
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