Buccaneers Hope They Can Survive "The Evil Hoodie"

A word to wise Buccaneers:

Beware of the evil hoodie!

Beware of the mad scientist of New England.

Beware of his quarterback, Tom Brady.

Beware of the team that just butt-kicked the Tennessee Titans into the land of 59-0 oblivion.

Yes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you best be in the "beware" mode when you head for London on Friday.

It's not bad enough that the Buccaneers are 0-6. It's not bad enough that they have to grab a trans-Atlantic flight for this week's "home" game in Wembley Stadium.

Now the Bucs' brain-trust gets to match game plans with Bill Belichick, the NFL's "evil hoodie." Raheem Morris can spend all the time he wants but even in his dreams he'd fall short of out-preparing Belichick.

It's been bad news for these "Bad News Bucs" this season and the news didn't get any better for Morris when fullback B.J. Askew went on the injured reserve list.

Askew was involved in an auto accident that Morris initially termed "a fender bender."

Perhaps Morris underestimated the incident the way he underestimated his team's talent in training camp. The "fender bender" left Askew with head and neck problems that have taken him away for the remainder of the season.

Earnest Graham will fill in at fullback, which leaves only Derrick Ward and Cadillac Williams in the running game.

Yes, there was some good news for the Bucs this week. Sammie Stroughter, he of the franchise-long 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the Panthers last week, is the NFC's Special Team Player of the Week.

The Buccaneers will need more miracles like Stroughter's efforts against Carolina to have any hope against New England.

The P-men are a two touchdown favorite.

And that seems low, doesn't it?