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Add smart to list of things Bucs aren't

 
Bucs quarterback Josh McCown winces after a sack by Atlanta Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora in the fourth quarter. [BRENDAN FITTERER | Times]
Bucs quarterback Josh McCown winces after a sack by Atlanta Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora in the fourth quarter. [BRENDAN FITTERER | Times]
Published Nov. 10, 2014

TAMPA

By this point, we have established that the Tampa Bay Bucs are not very good.

They are not very strong, and they are not very fast, and they are not very athletic. They are not very hungry, and they are not very nasty, and they are not very explosive. After losing eight of their first nine games, they are "not very" a great many things.

None of these things is the Bucs' worst characteristic, however.

Saddest of all, the Bucs are not very smart.

Against the Falcons on Sunday, Team Skullrocks was at it again. It botched this play, and it muffed that one, and in the end, it found a way to lose to a Falcons team that seems thoroughly perplexed by the rest of the league. It's as if football turns into a giant game of Jeopardy for the Bucs and they cannot figure out how to work the buzzer.

This time it was 27-17 Atlanta, and the Bucs were once again left to figure out what had happened. Frankly, they were struggling to do so. Figures.

Week after week that happens. Granted, there has never been a bad football team that looked smart. Last place is defined by dumb plays, and stupidity is the king of defeat. It's one reason the Bucs have not figured out how to hold a fourth-quarter lead in five of their losses this season.

"Not all the time," said tackle Demar Dotson when asked if this team played smart. "We shoot ourselves in the foot a lot, and we're not good enough to overcome that."

Sunday was more of the same. Every first down was a Rubik's Cube. Every second down was the riddle of the Sphinx. Every third down was the Mystery Hour.

And once again, the Bucs could not think their way out of their troubles.

"Most teams that struggle do some things like that to lose football games," coach Lovie Smith said. "That's normally the case. It's definitely the case with us. We have to make the plays at the end, which means not having stupid or bad penalties and everything that goes with it. We as coaches have to do a better job. That goes without saying."

This time a smarter team could have won this game. True, the Bucs never seem to score more than 17 points. And true, they never seem to slow the opposition. But with a better idea here or there, the Bucs could have taken one on Sunday.

For instance:

There was yet another penalty for celebrating a touchdown. The Bucs don't score very often, so you can understand a little excitement once the sanctity of the end zone is penetrated.

But for tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins to pose while standing on the ball is just bad form, especially when you consider his fumble in the Minnesota game and his holding penalty earlier in Sunday's game.

There was a defensive holding call, far away from the ball, when the Falcons threw incomplete on third and 15. It gave Atlanta a first down.

There was a blown coverage on an Atlanta third and goal from the Bucs 19-yard line. Yes, Falcons receiver Devin Hester was kind enough to drop the ball, forcing Atlanta to settle for a field goal. But the embarrassment of losing a receiver in coverage lingers.

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There was a holding call against the Bucs on a running play on second and 1. Now, holding can be understandable when a lineman is overmatched. But on a running play for 1 yard? Really? How much difference could a hold make?

A timeout was called just before Atlanta kicker Matt Bryant tried a field goal. He missed it. He made the second try.

After the Falcons had taken a 24-17 lead, the Bucs had a chance to answer. But on third and 2, they rolled quarterback Josh McCown out to his right, effectively reducing the field by a third. No receiver was open, and McCown took a sack.

There was a personal foul penalty on tackle Oniel Cousins one play after the Bucs had fallen behind 27-17 in the fourth quarter. At that point of the game in particular, a team needs to be poised.

"When every second counts, when every yard counts, you just can't make a play like that," Smith said. "You can't make a stupid penalty like that late in the game. It's as simple as that."

Yes, it is a league of the fast and a league of the strong. But it is also a league of the intelligent. The best teams make the smartest plays. How many boneheaded plays can you remember the Patriots making over the years?

It's a simple formula, really. First a team subtracts mistakes. Then it adds up the wins.

Around here? The math seems to be too complicated.