Tampa Bay Bucs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: What Are Experts Saying About Tampa Bay?

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this past offseason was full of hope, excitement, and high expectations.

But those once-overflowing reserves of positive energy seem to have already dried up just three weeks into the season, as the Bucs are 0-3 and staring down a rough stretch of schedule before then heading into the bye week.

After losing back-to-back home games to backup quarterbacks to start the season, Tampa Bay got absolutely destroyed on national television last Thursday night, trailing the Atlanta Falcons 56-0 at the end of three quarters before eventually losing, 56-14.

The honeymoon is already over for head coach Lovie Smith, who was expected to bring back some of the mojo that led to the Bucs' glory days under former head coach Tony Dungy, of whom Smith is a coaching disciple.  The absence of offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford due to persisting medical issues hasn't helped the team's situation, either.

Quarterback Josh McCown was signed in the offseason to bring stability to the position, but he's done everything but up to this point. He is now dealing with a severely sprained thumb on his throwing hand.  Standout defensive lineman Gerald McCoy has a broken hand, and the defense has failed to generate a consistent pass rush without starting ends Michael Johnson and Adrian Clayborn, both of whom are out with injuries.

Let's take a look at what some writers and analysts—both in Tampa and around the country—are saying about the Bucs as they head out on the road to face the Pittsburgh Steelers this week.

Tampa Bay's 56-14 loss in front of a national audience last week was one of the lowest points in recent memory for the franchise. 

But despite owning some of the most infamous periods of futility in league history, USA Today's Chris Strauss thinks the Bucs could be headed for an embarrassing stretch that could rival some of the worst moments the team has ever experienced:

If the Bucs come out against the Steelers showing that they refuse to ever be embarrassed like that again and at minimum keep the game close, there’s a chance of salvaging something from the the last 75 percent of the season. But if they seem as completely disjointed, listless and hopeless as they did on Thursday night, this could be the worst stretch for this franchise since they sandwiched two 2-14 seasons with top overall pick Bo Jackson deciding he’d rather play baseball than suit up for them.

At least those teams got to wear the awesome creamsicle throwback jerseys.

The Bucs have definitely gone through some rough times, including losing their first 26 straight games in the NFL.  But though Thursday's loss was arguably as bad a game as the team has ever played, Week 4 is more than a little early to start throwing this season into such dubious company.

A remnant of a time when the Bucs' defense dominated the NFL, Lovie Smith was welcomed back to Tampa with open arms by a fan base that hasn't seen a playoff victory since that same defense led the team to their only Super Bowl title.

But Smith has already found himself in trouble after an awful start to his first season.  SI.com's Chris Burke reminds fans that Smith started slow in Chicago, too, but admits the team is in bad shape at the moment:

Is Smith in danger of a one-and-done stop in Tampa Bay? It's still too early to consider Smith in jeopardy of being fired, even with his team at 0-3...and in light of Thursday's debacle. After all, Smith did go 5-11 in his first season as Chicago's head coach before following up with an NFC North title and then a Super Bowl trip.

There was reason to doubt if Josh McCown could catch lightning in a bottle a second time this season, following up on his stellar 2013 campaign in Chicago. The Buccaneers' brass still thought it had plenty of punch on offense to complement a defense that Smith was supposed to improve. The defensive side, after all, is where Smith hung his hat throughout his tenure in Chicago. There is little reason for optimism either spot at the moment, with the defense arguably in worse shape than the bumbling offense.

There are far more questions than answers surrounding the Bucs right now, and it starts at the top with Smith and new general manager Jason Licht. 

But patience is indeed a virtue, and Tampa Bay fans would be wise to step back and take in the big picture, especially just three games into this new regime.

Plenty of preseason NFL rankings had the Bucs on the verge of contending for a playoff spot in 2014, but things have changed quickly thanks to an 0-3 start.

CBSSports.com's Pat Kirwan has released his latest power rankings, and the Bucs have fallen six spots on his list, landing just ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 31.  Kirwan admits he was one of the many who expected more from Tampa Bay this year:

I had this team figured all wrong, thinking Lovie Smith would shape up a talented group of young players. But the Bucs are on a six-game skid, dating back to last year and they can't score. Not many teams win averaging 15 points a game.

Again, it's too early to throw in the towel on the entire season, but it's hard to argue with any expert who has dropped the Bucs into the cellar of his current power rankings.  The Bucs have clearly looked like one of the worst teams in the league over the first three weeks, and they'll have to prove otherwise on the field before those same experts risk being fooled again this season.

Tampa Bay's offense has been dismal so far this season, and every Buccaneer fan is searching for any reason as to why.

One such cause could be the fact that the Bucs are dead last in the NFL in utilizing the play-action pass.  ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas gives his thoughts on the possible factors that have caused Tampa Bay to attempt just six such passes so far this season:

So why are the Bucs making such infrequent use of play action? A lot of it has to do with the fact Tampa Bay has been playing from behind. In obvious passing situations, defenses aren’t going to bite on fakes.

But that total still is amazingly low. It averages out to two play-action passes a game. The Bucs haven’t even been using play action early in games when defenses are playing honestly. Doug Martin and Bobby Rainey are threats as runners.

The absence of coordinator Jeff Tedford is likely the biggest negative impacting the Bucs offense, and recent news that he'll be taking an indefinite leave of absence is obviously not encouraging.  But there are many other things in play, and it's possible that trying to work in more play-action fakes earlier in games could help jump-start the overall performance of the unit.

It's no secret that the Tampa 2 defense is predicated on getting a consistent pass rush from the defensive line.

Tampa Bay's ability to get after the quarterback with their front four has been anything but, with the unit managing just 3.5 sacks so far this season. Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune points out that a constant string of injuries across the line is a big reason why the Bucs aren't getting the production they need out of their defensive line:

It's largely due to a seemingly unending rash of injuries that the various members of the Bucs defensive line have not enjoyed the luxury of getting to know each other. The team lost left end Adrian Clayborn to a season-ending biceps tear after a Week 1 loss to Carolina. McCoy, Johnson (ankle) and Gholston (shoulder) have all missed at least one game with their ailments.

Throw in the absence of reserve Da'Quan Bowers for a game and the situation was so bad last week that the Bucs started a player, Larry English, who wasn't even with them on opening day.

Given all the injuries, it's little wonder that the defensive line — which is supposed to be the engine in the Tampa 2 scheme — has struggled to play at the level so many expected.

This will likely sound like nothing more than an excuse to Bucs fans, many of whom are frustrated with the ineffectiveness of the defense as a whole.  But there's plenty of merit to the idea that these injuries are one of the driving factors behind Tampa Bay's low pass-rush numbers. 

Those same fans can only hope they'll get the chance to see that notion proven true, once the team gets this unit back to full strength.