Bucs: No Wins, No Discipline, No Hope

They are the last winless team in the NFL. They are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 0-7 Buccaneers, the oh-so-ugly Buccaneers of coach Raheem Morris. This is a football team without victories and as talk spreads, evidently a team without discipline.

WDAE talk show host Steve Duemig brought new problems to light recently when he alleged that cornerback Aqib Talib broke curfew during the London trip, was confronted by Morris in the team's hotel lobby and promptly fired off a string of "f-bombs" at Morris.

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Bucs Now Turn to Freeman

You knew it was coming, sure you knew, you had to know, everyone knew. Everyone knew that sooner, rather than later, we would see No. 1 pick Josh Freeman take over the helm as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Forget that preseason bunk from general manager Mark Dominik that "the plan" was NOT to play Freeman this season. "The Plan" for this franchise changes on a weekly basis. That is what happens when a team is winless at 0-7 and looks bad in the process, week after week after week.

The new starting quarterback for the Buccaneers is rookie Josh Freeman, tabbed the starter after Wednesday's practice in Tampa.

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Bucs' Best Chance for a Win

There's no other way to put it.

Fact is, these Tampa Bay Buccaneers of Raheem Morris are playing like dogs. And perhaps that's an insult to dogs.

After getting wiped out at Philadelphia, the lads from Tampa Bay are home again and they're home with just an ounce of hope.

Hope is arriving Sunday in the form of the 1-3 Carolina Panthers. This MAY be the Bucs best shot at winning, not this week, this year.

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Buccaneers Stagger Into Philly

Call the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lowly and you'd be elevating their stature in the world.

When it comes to lowly, the Buccaneers have made it an art form through the first quarter of the NFL season.

If four losses in a row isn't enough to make you a non-believer, then how about this week's visit to Philadelphia?

In previous years, the Buccaneers have tormented the Eagles. They've been a nemesis for Philly-fan. But not this time. With Donovan McNabb back at quarterback and Brian Westbrook good to go, the Eagles are armed and ready.

The Buccaneers?

They are playing without using arms most of the time, especially when it comes to tackling.

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Bucs Refuse 'Skins' Gift Offer

Welcome to Oh and four, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Welcome to a perfect start through the first quarter of the NFL season.

It didn't have to be this way. Didn't have to because the Washington Redskins were more than willing to give you a helping hand this past Sunday.

It couldn't have started better for these win less Buccaneers. They were up 10-0 early and held that margin at halftime and it looked like new starting quarterback Josh Johnson might hang in there long enough for his team to survive.

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Didn't happen.

Nearing the End of First Quarter

So much can be learned about your NFL team by the end of Week 4 because that means there are only three quarters of the season remaining.

When I was a beat writer covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the early part of the Jon Gruden Era, I can remember Coach Gruden using that quarters analogy quite often in order to keep his team on an even plane. Even if they were winless at the end of the first month, he would say something like, "The first quarter is behind us. If we can turn things around in the second quarter then there's still the second half of the season left for us to salvage something."

Back in 2004, the Bucs lost their first four games but bounced back to win five of their next eight in the second and third quarters. They sat at 5-7 with four games remaining and still were alive for a playoff berth, but in that all-important fourth quarter they went 0-4 to finish 5-11.

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Bucs Make Leftwich the Fall Guy

Teams that start 0-3 typically need a "fall guy."

The Buccaneers found theirs in quarterback Byron Leftwich.

This 2009 version of the Buccaneers is cornered in confusion. A team that spent its entire training camp focused on quarterbacks Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown will now totally reverse its course.

McCown is in Jacksonville and Leftwich has been run over by the bus, thrown underneath it by Coach Raheem Morris, who declared that Lefty was still his starter after last Sunday's embarrassing loss to the New York Giants.

Less than 24 hours later, Morris disposed of Leftwich, demoted him to third-string and named shifty but inexperienced Josh Johnson the starter and the other Josh (Freeman) as the backup.

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Bucs 'D' a Big Nightmare

Tuesday is the traditional day off for NFL players, thank-you Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Some might argue that certain members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer defense take Sundays off as well.

This 2009 Tampa Bay defense has become youthful head coach Raheem Morris' nightmare.

The question was posed to him at his Monday press conference: "Is this defense getting out of hand?"

Morris, without hesitation blurted: "It's already out of hand!"

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Buccaneers Get Buffaloed

"No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!" - Chris Berman, ESPN

The Buffalo Bills didn't have to circle their wagons on Sunday.

No, the team they were facing wasn't that big of a threat.

Sure, there are no easy wins in the National Football League, but before some of the hometown fans were planted in their seats, the Bills had run up a quick 17-0 lead on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Sure Tampa Bay fought back and made a game of it for a while, 20-14, Bills, but when all was said and done, when all the Buccaneer defensive weaknesses were exploited, Tampa Bay headed for home 0-2 and absorbed another defensive setback in the 33-20 loss.

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Same Song for Bucs, Bills Fans

Listen to the hard-core fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills and you get the feeling you're talking to the same people.

Tampa Bay fans are seeing the bright side of a 34-21 loss to Dallas that embarrassed the Buc secondary. They are talking about how great Cadillac Williams looked, they're talking about the offensive line and the running game and the 276 passing yards that Byron Leftwich racked up.

They see this glass half full, as does the Buccaneer leader -- Raheem Morris. Rah promises to clean up the mess that left poop all over the defensive backfield he once oversaw. He promises that the sins of safety Sabby Piscatelli won't be repeated. Indeed, Piscatelli was out of position often and wound up observing the rear-ends of Dallas receivers as they paraded into the Buccaneer end zone on three big plays.

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Bucs Must Handle Two Big Losses

Raheem Morris called it a "huge loss," and he wasn't talking about the Sunday afternoon defensive fiasco that cost his team immensely in that 35-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Losing to the Cowboys was bad enough, losing his best offensive lineman made it all the worse.

Morris confirmed Monday that center Jeff Faine is lost for what could be four-to-six weeks with a torn bicep tendon. "It depends on the pain and when he can go," Morris said of Faine's projected return.

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No T.O.? No Problem for Cowboys

All the questions about how the Cowboys passing game would fare without Terrell Owens were answered, at least for one week, by their receiving corps in Sunday's 34-21 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Quarterback Tony Romo passed for a career-high 353 yards and three touchdowns while completing 16 of his 27 passes. He completed passes to six different receivers Three of his touchdown passes went for more than 40 yards.

"They are playmakers, and we knew that going in," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. "But until you do it, the naysayers are going to say: 'Hey. You don't have this or that.' But I think we do."

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Pressure on Cowboys, Not Bucs

Come Sunday at 1 p.m., the pressure's on the Dallas Cowboys.

No pressure on the Buccaneers.

High expectations for Cowboys, low expectations for the Buccaneers.

Looming over Dallas is that 600-pound gorilla of an owner -- Jerry Jones. He expects more out of quarterback Tony Romo, he expects more out of head coach Wade Phillips, he expects a Super Bowl.

Not too much pressure.

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Bucs Soon to Find Out What They Got

Raheem Morris finally has his squad in place and it looks nothing like the 2008 Buccaneers of Jon Gruden.

Byron Leftwich will lead this team into battle against Dallas next Sunday and his immediate backup will be the Wonder Boy -- Josh Freeman. And that means that this team is one really good lick away from Morris and Mark Dominik's self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's not far fetched that Leftwich can get knocked out of a game, anytime. He's a perfect target in the pocket and you know that Dallas can produce a pass rush. But if all goes to Morris' plan, these Buccaneer will run the ball over and around Dallas and keep the 'Boys guessing when big ole Byron will wind up the windmill and hit an open receiver.

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Bucs Mum on Their Thoughts

Anyone expecting a direct answer from Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris on the firing of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski hasn't spent much time around the NFL

Tampa Bay's passing offense has been next to abysmal during the preseason, with quarterbacks Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown performing their best Alphonse and Gaston act during the first three games wrestling for the starting job.

It's been bad enough to kindle memories of the Vinny Testaverde era. Entering Friday's game against Houston, the Bucs were averaging 154.7 passing yards a game, with a league-worst 4.7 per passing attempt.

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A Mess at One Buc Place

This all looks for very, very bad for Raheem Morris, your rookie head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here he was, on his birthday, getting up in front of the gathered media to explain the firing of his offensive coordinator, Jeff Jagodzinski, a mere 10 days before the 2009 season opener against Dallas.

Say what you want, Morris was nervous and uneasy with the explanation.

He kept saying that the offense needs "more precision, more direction."

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Happy Birthday, Raheem Morris

Happy birthday, Raheem Morris.

Today, you have reached the ripe old age of 33.

It's young by life's standards. You are an infant by NFL coaching standards.

Yet here you are, ready to embark on the dangerous waters of the 2009 football season, armed with a re-tooled team that will try and compete using high-energy, fast-tempo and aggression.

While you think about that, Raheem, here are some gifts for you from some well-known names in the world of football media:

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Raheem Morris Faces Bigger Decisions

Okay, Raheem finally got down to business and named his starting quarterback, the mighty Byron Leftwich.

Fair enough.

Now comes the hard work. At 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, Morris will have to choose the 53 players for his final roster. He'll have to tell us those players he will take into battle against Dallas and the rest of the NFC East, NFC South and AFC East.

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Slow as Lightning?

Just when you think you've seen it all in this business, something happens to remind you that you haven't.

As a veteran sportswriter closing in on two decades of covering every sport imaginable, I have sat through my share of long rain delays in baseball and weather delays in high school football, soccer and even swimming. But last night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa was a first for me in terms of seeing an NFL game (albeit preseason) stopped in the middle due to lightning.

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A Mixed Bag for Dolphins

The Dolphins won their third straight preseason game, 10-6 over Tampa Bay Thursday night, but it was far from a complete effort. For the second time in three games, the defense was strong, holding an opponent to under 10 points.

In fact, Miami limited the Bucs to 288 yards of total offense, and despite not forcing a single turnover, the Dolphins managed to keep Tampa Bay out of the end zone.

Of course, the Bucs were not fielding their top unit, with wide receivers Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton both out. And Tampa Bay's offense isn't expected to light up the league in 2009.

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