1) I mean, seriously, the first play from scrimmage was Houston throwing an 80-yard touchdown pass.  Considering the Bucs' offense doesn't rev up until the Second Half, the odds were pretty good at that point that Houston would be up 35-3 before Halftime.  It's a miracle it turned out to be 16-3 at Halftime, but still...

2) Thinking back to the beginning of the season, there were concerns that the Bucs' tough schedule would lead to a disappointing year.  But the hope was that the still-young offense would continue improving, that Freeman would still throw accurate effective passes to receivers with good hands and decent enough speed to get open and deep, that our running game with Blount would work and he'd see more time even in passing situations, that whatever questions about our poor defense from last season would work themselves out as the equally-young defense figured out how to shut down the run as well as force sacks and turnovers like before.

None of that has happened.  The offense has regressed - the biggest disappointment - while the defense has suffered key injuries and hasn't gelled.

3) Last week I was putting most of the blame on OC Olson for a lousy offensive scheme.  This week, HC Raheem is the guilty party, bringing out a team that for the LOVE OF GOD DID NOT WANT TO PLAY.

3a) Additional blame to the wide receivers.  How many dropped passes were there?  Freeman threw 35 times with only 15 receptions.  How many dropped passes?

3b) Freeman's not off the hook either, those interceptions never help (duh).  The second one, where Benn should have caught it, maybe 50/50 between you two, but what the hell were you doing throwing in that direction in the first place?

3c) Nobody, especially our safeties, seem to want to tackle anymore.

3d) Finally, why are we going for a 2-point conversion on our only TD?  Sure, it's more points, but you ought to consider going for 2 when you really need to, like when the score is 30-29!  sigh

4) If there were any good news, I think it's that Miami's given up on the Suck For Luck campaign and we might actually slip ahead of them in next April's draft...

4a) Okay, so Price had a decent game with a sack and some good tackles-for-loss.

4b) And I can't say enough good things about our FA punter, the BEST FREE AGENT SIGNING IN THE RAHEEM ERA.  (okay I was being a bit sarcastic there.  But about the failure to FA guys like CBs and ROTs and whatnot.  Koenen's a keeper).

5) So we're in a 3-game losing streak.  Problem is we're on the road to GREEN BAY next week and we're looking at a 4-game losing streak with that.  Ye Gods, can you imagine that high-octane offense racking up points while our clunker of a Ford Pinto is blowing up in the parking lot?

6) In other NFL news, THE TEBOW only threw two completed passes.  BUT ONE FOR A GLORIOUS BLESSED TD as Denver WINS.  YOU CANNOT STOP THE TEBOW.

7) In college football news, if I say anything about Penn St it's this: in all the times that Paterno met with Sadusky once that coaching assistant told him about the shower rape, why the hell didn't Paterno just once grab the nearest 2x4 and hit that goddamn pedophile until the paramedics arrived?

8) In other other news, my brother took one of my nephew to today's game.  It's a good thing my nephews have a baseball team to follow...

9) Final observation on the Bucs: this is just a terrible team at the moment.  Unmotivated, unfocused, undone.  If the team makes it to 7-9 now it'll be worth something.  But if the Glazers wanna know why the fans are staying away from home games, this is one reason.  Ranking said reasons:

9a) Tickets and parking and vending too expensive in this regional economic downturn

9b) Early afternoon games in September ARE TOO DAMN HOT! (oh, wait, that's mine)

9c) Team play is terrible

9d) Overall vibe from ownership of penny-pinching and lack of interest in free agency toward putting a good product on the field.

10) Next week: Tampa Bay AT Green Bay.  It won't be blacked out, unless we call in and beg FOX to show something that's actually good to watch... like say, fly fishing tournaments?