The question asked in the title came up today when JoeBucsFan posted some speculation about next week's game. With the Green Bay Packers beating the Chicago Bears the Atlanta Falcons have made the playoffs and could rest their players next week. If they do, the Bucs could theoretically walk all over the Falcons - and can the Bucs still fire Raheem Morris after a solid win against the Atlanta Falcons?
Aside from the fact that the Falcons are still in contention for the division title if they beat the New Orleans Saints tonight, I don't think there's anything the team can do to save Raheem Morris' job. Nor should they be able to: this team has spiraled out of control, and that is all on the head coach. One year ago he looked like a good candidate to win 'Coach of the Year' for winning ten games with a ridiculously young, injury-plagues squad. But now he's facing adversity, and it's clear that Morris cannot coach his team out of this mess.
When words like 'shameful', 'embarrassing', 'quitting', 'gave up' are thrown around when discussing an NFL team at the end of a season, you know that things have gone too far for a head coach to come back. It's not just that the Bucs have lost nine straight games for the first time since Leeman Bennett was still the head coach. It's not just that they have given up 40+ points at least three times in a season for the first time since their inaugural 1976 season.
It's that the team has completely self-destructed. It's that some players on the team don't seem to be trying. It's that easy, fundamental things like tackling, avoiding penalties or holding on to the ball have been missing this entire season. It's that the Bucs aren't playing up to their talent level.
All of those issues should have been fixed months ago - but the Bucs continue to look worse every week. That's why Raheem Morris shouldn't be able to save his job - no matter what happens next Sunday.
Of course, my last name is not 'Glazer' - and a family with that name will ultimately make this decision.