Two more missed field goals.
Three losses in the season’s first month.
Four more interceptions.
Numbers? You want numbers? For the Tampa Bay Bucs, they all add up to defeat. The Bucs more or less presented the undefeated Carolina Panthers with a 37-23 victory at Raymond James Stadium Sunday. The Bucs fumbled on their third play, and threw an interception returned for a touchdown on their fifth, and it paved the way for the Carolina victory.
Seven total interceptions in a month, which ties Jameis Winston for worst in the league.
Eleven straight losses at home.
Seventeen losses in the 20-game Lovie Smith era.
And so it goes. As Smith said, the Bucs didn’t give themselves much of a chance to win Sunday. Oh, Winston threw for 287 yards, and wide receiver Vincent Jackson caught 10 passes for 147, and running back Doug Martin ran for 106. But the turnovers killed the Bucs’ Sunday.
“It’s disappointing on a lot of levels,” Smith said. “Our fans who keep coming to the game, they need to see a better product than that. We shouldn’t be getting beaten like that. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win.”
It was the 17th time in 20 games that Smith has spoken a press conference after a loss. Is his team getting better?
“You have to look at the play overall,” Smith said. “What I saw overall, I know about today and I just know, individually, you can get better with it saying it on the scoreboard. You get better and you get better and eventually, you start seeing that on the scoreboard. As a young football team that’s not there yet, you have some days like this. Eventually, you get over the hump. I thought today would be a hump day for us.”
It wasn’t. The Bucs kept shooting themselves in the foot with interceptions. It even got so predictable that tight end Ed Dickson picked up a fumble from teammate Jonathan Stewart and ran it 57 yards for a score.
In all, this is the direction these teams are heading. The Panthers are unbeaten and steaming toward the playoffs again. The Bucs are 1-3 and struggling.
And the fans? They’re waiting for this team to get over that hump.
When?
