Shellacked, trounced, drubbed, clobbered, walloped, lambasted, thrashed, hammered, overwhelmed, destroyed, debacle, disaster. Whatever word you want to choose to describe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 56-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons would be apt.
"I'm embarrassed by our play," coach Lovie Smith said, per the Tampa Bay Times. "We failed in all phases. Of course it starts with the head football coach. I thought I had our football team ready to play. We couldn't stop them on defense. Couldn't score any points on offense. Special teams, we couldn't get anything done there. I talked to the team and told them we have a scar. Scars don't go away. The rest of our lives, we're going to remember this game."
That scar was a self-inflicted wound, exacerbated by five turnovers.
Running back Bobby Rainey lost two fumbles (this game was so bad Rainey was banished to the doghouse twice and still given reprieve). Josh McCown continued his personal streak of terrible interceptions with a pick-six. One of several botched snaps went over the head of 6-foot-6(!) backup quarterback Mike Glennon and was recovered by the Falcons. The embarrassment was so complete the Bucs pulled off the rare fumbled fumble recovery.
It was a performance worthy of an immediate honorary doctorate degree in Clown Science at the University of Humiliation.
"Luckily we have 13 more games to go," Smith said. "And even with this football team, we get a chance to play them again."
Or as those of us drinking from half-empty cups would point out, the Bucs have 13 more chances to potentially embarrass themselves and their fan base.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps the Falcons' lopsided win over the Bucs and previews every other game in Week 3.
