Despite Loss, Mike Glennon Provided Spark for Bucs, Should Start Moving Forward

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will probably have to look long and hard to glean any significant positives from Thursday night's 56-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

The offense was out of sync, the defense showed the resistance of a memory foam mattress and the special teams unit was forced to watch as Atlanta return man Devin Hester set a new all-time NFL record for return touchdowns.

All told, it was a disappointing performance by Tampa against a bitter division rival. However, a second-quarter thumb injury to starting quarterback Josh McCown may have paved the way for a glimpse at a potentially promising piece of the future of the franchise.

Coincidentally, this particular potential piece is also a part of the Buccaneers recent past.

Second-year quarterback Mike Glennon took over for McCown after the injury. While Tampa still appeared blatantly over-matched by the Falcons, Glennon was at least able to provide a few positives during an otherwise dismal outing.

The former North Carolina State standout finished the game 17-of-24 for 121 yards with a touchdown. McCown was just 5-of-12 for 58 yards with an interception before heading to the sideline for the evening.

	Att	Comp	Comp %	TD	Int
McCown	5	12	41.6	0	1
Glennon	17	24	70.8	1	0

Glennon, you may remember, started 13 games and passed for 2,608 yards and 19 touchdowns a season ago. 

Considering the score was 35-0 in favor of Atlanta when Glennon finally hit the playing field against Atlanta, it's fair to say that his performance was too little. too late. Yet, his presence provided a spark to the Buccaneers offense and, more importantly, yielded some much-needed points.

Putting up 14 points on the wrong side of a blowout might not seem like a big accomplishment, but it's important to recognize that Tampa averaged a mere 15.5 points per game (27th in the league) through the first two weeks with McCown under center.

Glennon nearly matched that average in a little over two quarters of work.

With the Buccaneers now sitting at 0-3, and 0-2 in the NFC South, it might not be too early to start looking to the future.

According to Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith, Glennon can be a big part of that future.

“In time he will be leading our franchise.” Smith said of Glennon in an offseason interview with Ronde Barber, via JoeBucFan.com.

McCown is an 11-year journeyman who hit his current peak with the Chicago Bears last season (1,829 yards with 13 touchdowns and one interception in eight appearances). Through three weeks, he has completed just 43-of-68 passes for 420 yards with two touchdowns and four picks. 

While Smith may wish to bench the established veteran, it only makes sense to roll with McCown if the Buccaneers truly believe that the team is poised to push for contention this season. Otherwise, it would seem that the smart move would be to see what Glennon can accomplish in Smith's system and to weigh the possibility of drafting a new future starter in the 2015 draft.

With the Buccaneers winless and the Falcons and Carolina Panthers with two wins apiece, it's fair to wonder if contention is a real possibility for Tampa this season. 

Regardless of the team's assessment, it makes sense to see if Glennon's spark can burn a brighter candle in the coming weeks. This is because the Buccaneers' immediate future is appearing increasingly dim as the season progresses and the franchise is in desperate need of a boost.

If Glennon can make that spark shine brightly, the Buccaneers should gladly allow him to light the way.

At this point, it doesn't appear that Tampa Bay has a lot to lose by giving him the chance.