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Bucs season already in doubt after two games

 
St. Louis Rams quarterback Austin Davis gets a throw away while being pressured by Bucs defensive end Da'Quan Bowers. [DIRK SHADD   |   Times]
St. Louis Rams quarterback Austin Davis gets a throw away while being pressured by Bucs defensive end Da'Quan Bowers. [DIRK SHADD | Times]
Published Sept. 15, 2014

Worst start

That didn't take long. A season of hope has already turned into a season of doubt, and it took only two games.

Forget the controversial final play Sunday and all the injuries that have piled up so far. The bottom line is the Bucs are 0-2 against a backup quarterback and a backup to a backup quarterback. And both losses came at home.

Those other teams' backup quarterbacks have outplayed the Bucs' career backup who is posing as a starter this season with Tampa Bay. Josh McCown threw another costly and boneheaded pick Sunday to go along with the two what-is-he-thinking interceptions he threw in Week 1.

The Rams looked decent Sunday, but let's not forget that they were coming off a 34-6 home pounding to a Vikings team that went out and got smashed themselves at home, 30-7 to the Patriots.

Now come the real quarterbacks, such as Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Joe Flacco.

It's foolish to think that Bucs coach Lovie Smith was going to turn around a four-win team right away, but you can't be 0-2 in this scenario.

Worst excuse

The Bucs defense gave up scoring drives on each of St. Louis' final three possessions and, if you wanted, you could give the unit the benefit of the doubt. The defense was missing defensive linemen Gerald McCoy, Michael Johnson and Adrian Clayborn, LB Mason Foster and CB Mike Jenkins. That's five of 11 starters out on the key drives.

But Smith put it like it is: "Nobody wants to hear all about that. … We can't use it (as an excuse). Everybody has injuries right now."

Not so special

One of the common themes of a Smith-coached team — well, aside from being too conservative on offense — is having good special teams. How'd that work out Sunday? Well, the Bucs had a punt and a field goal blocked. The blocked punt set up a St. Louis field goal and the blocked field goal cost the Bucs a valuable three points. That's a six-point swing. If you're looking for a reason why the Bucs lost, start with special teams.

Three things that popped into my head

1. My opinion is that Doug Martin is a sensational running back. But you wonder what the Bucs think when they draft a running back in the third round (Charles Sims), then watch undrafted Bobby Rainey run wild for 144 yards on Sunday.

2. What was up with referee Jeff Triplette and his officiating crew? Seemed like they couldn't make a simple call without a five-minute discussion. And, you know, I'm not sure they got the final play right. Looked as if WR Mike Evans was getting off the field in time for the Bucs to spike the ball and run out the field-goal team for a last-second kick.

3. Maybe DT Gerald McCoy, who injured his hand, won't miss a lot of time. But any time he does miss is curtains for the Bucs. There is no player — not even McCown — who means more to this team.

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Final thought

Thursday will be an exciting day. The Lightning reports to camp.