Bucs' loss most embarrassing of season

Most embarrassing

This is unacceptable. Totally unworthy of your hard-earned money if you paid to go, equally unworthy of your time if you watched this three-hour debacle.

You knew there were going to be rough patches, growing pains. You don't go from 4-12 to Super Bowl contender in a few months. But who gets beaten this badly in the NFL? This isn't college. Rarely do NFL teams get blasted the way Tampa Bay has been twice already. Three weeks after getting lit up 56-14 by the Falcons, it took another face-plant in Sunday's 48-17 loss to the Ravens.

In their first 12 plays, the Bucs gained positive yards on three. By that point, it was 28-0 Baltimore. If the Ravens hadn't lost interest after 30 minutes, this game would have looked worse than Atlanta. In reality, it was worse.

Getting defensive

The Bucs have been beaten up at key spots on defense, but some serious heat might be on defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier if he had been here longer than five regular-season games.

You could give Marcus Arroyo a pass as offensive coordinator. He was thrown into that spot in an emergency situation and has never called NFL plays before. But Frazier has experience and is supposed to be a good coordinator. And this defense is a mess.

The Bucs have allowed an average of 41 points the past four games. I don't care who your QB is and how bad your offense may be, no one wins giving up 41 points a game. It's a miracle the Bucs won once in that stretch.

Most irrelevant

Based on numbers, QB Mike Glennon had an awful first half and a great second. You would be wise to dismiss all of them.

He was under so much pressure in the first half that he can't be blamed for going 8-for-20 for 109 yards with one interception. Baltimore laid back in the second half, pretty much making Glennon's final stats (24-for-44, 314 yards) meaningless, too.

Overall, he can't be criticized or blamed. It's hard to do anything when you're sacked five times and you get hit almost every time you drop back. I have no idea where the Bucs will finish and where they will draft in the spring, but I'm thinking they would be wise to take an offensive lineman.

Three things that popped into my head

1. The Bucs' woes are about talent, or lack thereof. Other than DT Gerald McCoy, LB Lavonte David and WR Mike Evans, can you name a Bucs player you would absolutely want to have if you were starting a football team?

2. On the laundry list of problems, punting is pretty far down. Still, the Bucs wanting Michael Koenen to concentrate on hang time produced subpar numbers: five punts for an average 37.2 yards and a net of 34.2.

3. Anyone else get irritated with hearing how hard the Bucs play in the second half of games decided at halftime?

Final thought

The bye week takes on a new meaning in Tampa Bay. Time to say bye-bye to a bunch of guys who just can't play in this league.