It’s a thin line between love and hate

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers boast a winless record after four weeks into the season.  But how terribly are they performing is still a quick turn away from actual wins.

The average Points Against, PA, is 90 in the NFL.  The defenses here are all performing better than the league average.  The lowest PA is 36 points by the Carolina Panthers; with the NY Giants possessing the worst PA defense with 146 points given up.

In the 2013 Offensive Rank, we notice that all three teams are in the bottom third of the scoring in the NFL.  The Denver Broncos obviously lead the league with scoring 179 total points.  On the opposite side of the spectrum are the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Total average of scoring is the same as Points Against, which is 90.  All three teams are well below that average.

It should not be too difficult to derive which team is the Bucs, who have earned an 0 – 4 record.  What may be even more interesting may be who the other two teams are and their respective records.  These two other teams have a good defense and an abysmal offense, just like the Bucs.  So should we expect the same record or close to it like the Bucs?

Team A happens to be the Arizona Cardinals.  They are a .500 team with a 2 – 2 record.  Although Carson Palmer has been bad, he is still good enough to help his team to two wins - which is not bad.  The other team, Team C, are the Cleveland Browns.  The Browns also have a .500 record as well as share the same record as their divisional leader.  Now, it may seem odd to see the Browns win two games in a row after trading #3 overall draft pick in 2012, RB Trent Richardson.  Also, they had their back up QB, Brian Hoyer, as their QB in those two recent wins.  Cleveland has gone from scoring 8 points per game in the first two games to 24 points per game in the last two wins.  Interesting developments there as we could see how quickly things can change.

The Bucs are only a sliver away from seeing wins.  In fact, three of the four losses were lost by a total of 6 points: NYJ by 1 point, New Orleans by 2 points, and Arizona by 3 points.  Yet, it is still baffling that we are still winless.  Even though our defense has been playing awesome, there is still room for improvement.  If it were not for the defensive miscues in the first two games, the Bucs would possess a .500 record in spite of the lack of offense.  As for the offense, I think a better game plan would help, although I cannot shake how terrible the offensive line performed in the last outing against the Cardinals.  It does not matter how well you plan if the offensive line cannot protect the QB nor open lanes for the RB.

The Bucs are not that far off from wins.  Cross your t’s and dot your I’s and the Bucs could run the table as the defense improves.  Anyhow, there is no way we lose this week!  I am happy.