Buccaneers Dash Own Playoff Hopes; Fall 23-17

TENNESSEE — If there was any question left on whether or not this 2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team is a terrible team, they were firmly answered Sunday when the Buccaneers allowed 13 fourth quarter points and literally fumbled away a win, extending their 4 game losing streak to five with a 23-27 loss to the Titans.

The Buccaneers allowed five turnovers which negated the four they forced on defense.

Granted they got a really bad break on a non-measurement at the end of the game, I’m sick already of hearing that excuse. So what, the Bucs got stiffed by the refs, but the refs didn’t force the Bucs to throw an interception and fumble the ball and insane 4 times.

LeGarrette Blount fumbled twice, Josh Freeman fumbled and Mike Williams (who took to Twitter to rip the refs after the game) fumbled as well.

The fact that the Bucs shot themselves in the foot and then are trying to blame a non-measurenment at the end of the game as the reason they couldn’t win is insanely ridiculous and shows this team is still at the maturity level of a Pop Warner flag football practice team. I understand the frustration: the Bucs have lost five straight now, the team as a whole actually kept the penalties to a minimum and they still lost. But don’t blame a bum measurement at the end of the game, blame the fumbles, blame the lax defense on the final scoring play for the Titans. Maybe I give this team too much credit.

Speaking of the final scoring play, the Titans Matt Hasselbeck rolled back so far in the backfield and had so much time he could have knit a sweater, sat through a harsh winter and still had time to throw the ball. The Bucs didn’t blitz which was smart, but they also allowed a wide open touchdown reception.

Now let’s think this through: four men rushing, seven defensive backs and linebacker in zone coverage less then that many wideouts in a

ten yard radius and they still allow Darius Williams to be wide open in the back of the endzone?

Please don’t sit there and tell me the Bucs are a good football team, stop drinking the Kool-Aid, it’s laced with a false sense of accomplishment.

Josh Freeman is still the leader of this team, Raheem Morris is still the coach of this team and it should stay that way. I’m saying don’t drink the Kool-Aid, you don’t have to dump it down the drain. Freeman is growing and Morris is the right guy for this team, they just need to start doing things right. The tools are here but personnel and higer ups need to start answering questions.

is it in practice? Is it game prep? Something is going horribly wrong for this Bucs team and we need to figure it out fast. This year is already a wash, but next season doesn’t need to be crossed out either. I have been very much looking down my nose at people who have been whining about the lack of a gameplan but I know find myself in the same place as those people now.

Raheem is a great head coach and a master motivator. But he’s a terrible play caller and is not that much better of a defensive coordinator. The Bucs have the budget, use it and go out and buy an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator. In the 90’s and the early 2000’s it was a lack of a franchise quarterback that held one of the best defenses in NFL history to just one Super Bowl title. Now it’s personnel that is holding a really talented team back from growing.

I understand that a cycle of coordinators is unhealthy and ruins teams, but this system the Bucs have in place with Scott Olsen calling the offense and Raheem calling defense is a terrible mix. Morris is one of my favorite people in the world, but he needs to back off and allow other people to call the shots under his direction.

This team is terrible, but it”s terrible because it shouldn’t be. This team is much better then a five game losing streak. This team is much better then five turnovers and then getting miffed by a non-measurement and then attributing it to the loss. That’s why it’s so infuriating to watch this team lose, it’s because they shouldn’t be.

But they are and something needs to change. No on needs to get fired, no one needs to start bailing on Freeman, but something needs to change or this team will never reach its potential.