How the Buccaneers Can Salvage Season, Make Most of Remaining Games

Lovie Smith's first year in Tampa Bay isn’t likely to evoke fond memories in the annals of Buccaneers history. With a 2-9 record, the best Smith and the Bucs can do is continue to build the team for long-term success.

Technically the Bucs are still in contention for the NFC South division title. However, no one, not even Lovie Smith, should expect the Bucs to play in January. The Bucs have lost every divisional game so far, including two losses to the current division leader, the Atlanta Falcons. They have two remaining divisional games but already they have a number of tiebreaking factors working against them.

For the Bucs to have a shot at winning the division, they would need to win at least three of their five remaining games while the rest of the division loses the rest of theirs. Neither scenario seems all that likely so perhaps Lovie Smith should abandon the notion that the Bucs are "still in the playoff hunt," as reported by ESPN's Pat Yasinskas.

Only in the NFC South in 2014 could a team be two games out of the lead for the division title and only one spot away from the first overall pick in the 2015 draft. Some may advocate for the Bucs to tank the rest of the season to ensure a shot at the likes of Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston, but any team that would consider that option ought to fire the entire staff and sell the team anyways.

The best way for the Bucs to make the most of the remaining season is to buy in and refine the schemes in place with the players they have now. They may not have a realistic chance of winning the division this year, but it could be ripe for the taking next season.

The Bucs defense exhibited real improvement over the past few games, particularly in terms of yards and points per game, third-down conversions and sacks.

Comparing the Buccaneers Defense Before and After the Bye Week

	Yards per game	Points per game	Third-down conversions	Third-down attempts	Third-down conversion rate	Sacks
Six games before the bye week	422 yards	34	37	75	49%	8
Five games since the bye week	302 yards	19.2	26	72	36%	16

It’s no small feat to cut over 100 yards and nearly 15 points per game defensively. While the Bucs faced top-five offenses like the Saints and Steelers before the bye, the Falcons, Browns and even Washington are no slouches when it comes to gobbling up yards on offense.

Reinhold Matay/Associated Press/Associated Press

Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier argued this week the Bucs' improvement on defense is best represented by their third-down defense, per Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith. The defense's ability to kill drives on third down directly correlates to the drop in yards and points allowed per game.

The Bucs pass rush is clearly improved thanks in large part to the emergence of defensive end Jacquies Smith. Though Michael Johnson is a bust thus far, Smith is one of the few pleasant surprises in Tampa this year.

It is only a matter of time before Lovie's influence began to turn a long underperforming defense into a formidable unit. The best the Bucs can do is simply stay the course.

The Bucs offense is another story. There should be no expectation that the offense will improve, much less show any consistency through the end of the season. The loss of offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford all but doomed the offense, while it was set up for failure with the haphazard restructuring of the offensive line this offseason.

Improvement in the offense is almost a moot point given the inevitable upheaval waiting in the offseason. Pewter Report's Scott Reynolds said two weeks ago that Tedford is not likely to return in 2015, and the Bucs shouldn't pin the future of their offense on the possibility that he might.

Rather than beat the dead horse that is the Bucs offense, Lovie Smith should turn his attention to evaluating players who could have a future in Tampa Bay once a new offensive coordinator is found.

The evaluation should start with the quarterback. Josh McCown proved on multiple occasions that he is allergic to taking care of the football, most recently with three turnovers in Chicago. It's clear that McCown cannot operate behind such a shoddy offensive line and would be better off on the bench.

Second-year QB Mike Glennon was benched following the loss to Cleveland but may deserve one more shot leading the Bucs offense. His numbers are generally better than McCown's, and he isn't nearly as prone to catastrophic mistakes.

2014 Stats: Glennon vs. McCown

	Comp	Att	Pct	Yards	TD	INT
Josh McCown	110	182	60.4	1,350	7	8
Mike Glennon	117	203	57.6	1,417	10	6

Knowing what they have in McCown, the Bucs have nothing to lose and plenty to learn by starting Glennon for the rest of the season. If Glennon can improve his accuracy, he could steer the Bucs' personnel decision-making after the season.

Possibly the only things the Bucs absolutely must focus on correcting are discipline and special teams. The Bucs have committed an absurd 89 penalties this season, third-most in the league. So many penalties is indicative of poor fundamentals and a lack of focus, both of which fall on the coaching staff to correct.

Special teams has been an utter disaster since Lovie Smith took over as head coach. Punter Michael Koenen is possibly the worst punter in the league, averaging only 39.1 yards per punt. Though Koenen battled mono for the past two months, per Sports Talk Florida's Jenna Laine, his poor performance should see him off the Bucs' roster next year.

It's not just Koenen, either. His net punt average is only 35.7 yards, indicating poor coverage of his punts. The Bucs are one of only eight teams in the NFL that has allowed a punt to be returned for a touchdown. Something absolutely has to change, even if that means playing starters and key depth players on special teams.

The return game is in an equally precarious state as the carousel of returners continues to spin. The most recent casualty is wide receiver Marcus Thigpen, who didn't just lose his return job but was also cut from the team, per the Tampa Bay Times' Greg Auman:

"

Bucs have cut return specialist Marcus Thigpen after four games, agent Rob Sheets confirms. Muffed punt returns in last two games.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 25, 2014"

Bringing in yet another free agent may not do much good, but the Bucs may already have a solution on the roster. Running backs Bobby Rainey and Mike James both have experience returning kicks. They should be pressed into service to close out the season, if only to justify their spots on the roster given the shoddy state of the Bucs' run game.

The Bucs may not have much hope of salvaging their season, but there is value yet in their remaining schedule. There's more to playing for next season than simply vying for draft position. If the Bucs can focus on fixing the problems with the players they have now and evaluating their roster, they won't need to worry about salvaging anything next year.

All stats from NFL.com.