Buccaneers Draw A Blank In Red Zone

The great news is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers amassed 469 yards of total offense Sunday afternoon in Carolina.

The dreadful news is that the now 1-11 Buccaneers could not score a touchdown against the 5-7 Panthers.

This was a game we thought the Bucs just might have had a chance to win, what with backup quarterback Matt Moore starting for Carolina and DeAngelo Williams, Buc Killer Extraordinare, on the sidelines.

Carolina scored the game's only touchdown on that first drive of the contest then watched its defense take over to format the 16-6 victory that was a stinker to watch.

Josh Freeman exercised his healthy arm often, throwing the ball 44 times. He found his guys 23 times but sadly completed five, his jersey number, to the Panther defenders.

Five picks by the big guy, three in the red zone that killed potential scores.

No doubt head coach Raheem Morris will shower us with all the positives from this game, just as he has in the previous 10 losses.

But this one was hardly a work of art.

Sure Cadillac Williams nearly got himself 100 yards rushing. He settled for 92 after 17 carries, but it wasn't enough. He needed some yards in that frustrating red zone, where the Bucs could not operate.

The two Conner Barth field goals were all the Bucs had to show for the day. He missed two others, including a mere 36-yarder, and looked nothing like the guy who hit those three bombs against the Dolphins. He looked more like a guy the Bucs found on the street, which, incidentally, is exactly where they found him.

Sure the Buccaneer defense continued to play better, but Carolina ran for yards and hit some big passes when needed. And the sad fact is that they only needed that one touchdown.

Such is the life of these Pewter Pirates of Raheem Morris.

Such is life at 1-11.

That's the bad news.

Good news is there are only four games left for this team.