Two Cents: Bucs in their worst situation ever

This is bad

This is as bad as it has ever been with the Bucs, because the problems are not just on the field.

There's this whole MRSA mess. There's the Josh Freeman soap opera. And, yeah, there is what's happening on the field. The Bucs are 0-5, one of three winless teams in the parity-driven NFL.

Every week is the same. The games are close. The players play hard. Coach Greg Schiano says they need to go back to work and get better. It's getting old.

What makes you think anything is going to change? The Bucs have 11 games left. How many do you think they can win?

Here's my answer: not nearly enough to make you think they have improved over a season ago when, let's not forget, they were 7-9. The bar really wasn't that high.

Put it this way: What about the Bucs gives you hope?

Not that bad

Bucs QB Mike Glennon played all right. He threw for 273 yards, two TDs and an INT that wasn't his fault because WR Tiquan Underwood bailed on a route. Who knows if Josh Freeman, assuming he would have shown up on time, would have done better?

Worst drive

Down 21-17 in the third quarter, the Bucs were putting together a decent drive and had moved into Eagles territory when FB/TE Erik Lorig and C Jeremy Zuttah were each called for holding in a span of four plays. The Bucs never had a chance to take the lead again.

Worst adjustments

Looks like other teams use halftime to decipher the Bucs offense, which has scored 13 of its 64 points in the second half (and just 3 on Sunday).

3 things that popped into my head

1. Few people are looking for silver linings today, but, man, LB Lavonte David is a heck of a player. He had nine tackles, one sack and came within a fraction of a second. And he walked to the locker room like he was looking for a guy who had said something nasty about his momma.

2. Vincent Jackson (nine catches), Darrelle Revis (fumble recovery) and Dashon Goldson (nine tackles) showed up. So did the rest of the team. But if things don't improve, and fast, you have to wonder if the veterans are going to be willing to stick their heads into the fire for a team going nowhere. For the record, Goldson said, "We're not giving up."

3. Anyone else get a queasy feeling that RB Doug Martin, who has touched the ball 127 times in five games (495 in 21 pro games), is going to last about another year or two in this league? It was tough sledding Sunday: nine of his 16 carries were for 1 yard or fewer.

Final thought

The worst thing that happened to the Bucs this past week? The Rays lost, meaning there's nothing to distract area sports fans from the fact they are following the worst team in pro football.