Buccaneers Must End Bobby Rainey Experiment, Bring Back Doug Martin as Bell Cow

Nothing went right for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during their humiliating 56-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football. Their defense couldn't get a stop, special teams was a complete disaster and their running game without Doug Martin was repugnant when it mattered the most.

Martin being out for a second week in a row opened the door for third-year man Bobby Rainey to stake his claim. Against the St. Louis Rams in Week 2, Rainey took the job and literally ran away with it. On 25 carries, he orchestrated big runs, totaling 144 yards.

The game itself was sloppy, but Rainey did an excellent job of sifting his way through the line of scrimmage and finding large swaths of space. To show just how sharp he was, let's take a quick look at one of his best runs of the day.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

The Bucs' entire offensive line pulls toward the right side of the field as it tries to open up a cutback lane for Rainey to sneak through.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Rainey does a great job of hitting his spot, planting his foot and driving his body into space. At this point, he displays enough vision to notice another crease has formed. All he has to do now is slip past two defenders.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Guided by a strong sense of power, he's able to work through a tackle and pick up extra yardage.

That 24-yard gain was one of the best runs we've seen from anyone on this team all season. More importantly, it showed that Rainey deserves to be a part of this offense in some fashion.

But in Atlanta, it was a totally different story. Despite picking up 41 yards rushing on 11 attempts, he coughed up two crucial fumbles during the game. To put that into perspective, that's more fumbles than Martin has lost during his entire career.

Rainey may be a smooth runner with a significant level of shiftiness in his repertoire, but that doesn't make him a better back than Martin. It's easy to forget that when he was healthy in 2012, Martin ran for 1,454 yards and added a generous 472 receiving yards to that total.

Right out of the draft, Martin was able to step in and immediately take his place amongst the NFL's top backs. Since that magical rookie season, injuries and a chaotic offensive situation with ex-head coach Greg Schiano have derailed his career.

Still, those issues don't change the fact that a healthy Martin remains the best option for the Bucs' backfield. There's far too much quality film out there to relegate him to the bench or make him play behind Rainey in a complementary role.

Martin may be talented, but he isn't perfect. Before he went down with an injury in Week 1, he had major issues with his pass protection. Speaking on 98.7 The Fan's Fan Interference, NFL Films producer Greg Cosell shared his frustrations of what he saw on tape.

"They have a bigger issue with Martin in pass protection," Cosell said. Cosell even went on to question "how many snaps he can play in various situations," without improving in that area of his game.

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Martin needs to address those concerns if he wants to carry the load when he gets his health back in order. Even so, those concerns don't warrant him being written off after only one week of action.

An ideal situation for the Bucs would be to find a perfect way to blend the carries between Martin and Rainey. Their impactful skill sets are both needed for the long-term success of Lovie Smith's team. Martin can be the catalyst while Rainey is used as a change-of-pace back who can also contribute in passing situations.

The disaster we saw take place in front of our eyes tonight was comparable to an old-school slasher flick. It was messy, grotesque and hopefully, we won't ever be forced to watch it again. This team needs help in all facets of the game. A focused Doug Martin should at least be able to jump-start that process on the ground.

Unless noted otherwise, all game scores and information courtesy of ESPN.com.