What the Buccaneers Can Do to Salvage Rest of 2014 Regular Season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season is lost, but the remaining games are not without value. For a season bearing few positives, the Bucs can end on a high note by entering the offseason as healthy as possible and with an understanding of what sort of talent they can work with next year.

At 2-12, not much more can go wrong for the Bucs except for catastrophic injuries to key players such as Gerald McCoy. To keep the calamity of this season from spilling over next year, the Bucs have to protect their key assets.

There was a report by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio that stated McCoy dislocated his knee cap two weeks ago against the Detroit Lions and played through the injury. Head coach Lovie Smith quickly squashed that rumor, telling reporters that it was merely a bruised knee.

The veracity of either claim is not entirely certain, though Coach Smith is clearly in a better position to know the health of his players and would have far more to lose by not reporting injuries accurately. Regardless of the nature of the injury, it would have been wiser to keep McCoy out of the game given the futility of the Bucs' remaining schedule.

McCoy suffered another knee scare during last Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. According to ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas, the Bucs defensive tackle hyperextended the same knee he injured the previous week.

Smith wisely kept McCoy out of the game this time around. Wiser still, the Bucs placed McCoy on injured reserve this week, per the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud, shelving their star tackle until next season.

There wasn't much to gain in playing McCoy for the last two games. McCoy's long-term health is more important than getting the Bucs to 4-12.

The Bucs also put rookie tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins and wide receiver Louis Murphy on injured reserve. Though neither suffered major injuries, there is no sense keeping them on the active roster if they aren't 100 percent.

Sending players to IR also gives the Bucs a chance to see what they have in their bench players. If the final games of a lost season are good for one thing, it's finding out who will be worth keeping around next season.

With McCoy out, Da'Quan Bowers will see his snaps increase under the close scrutiny of Lovie Smith per PewterReport.com:

"

Smith said Bowers' flexibility on the defensive line has been very valuable. Says he seems to work better from the inside than the ends

— PewterReport.com (@PewterReport) December 17, 2014"

Bowers doesn't bring much as an edge-rusher as indicated by only five-and-a-half sacks in his previous three seasons. Clearly Smith thinks the fourth-year defensive lineman has potential rotating inside the line.

The Bucs should also continue tinkering with their offensive line. Nearly every problem the Bucs had on offense this season involved the atrocious play of the Bucs' hapless offensive linemen.

Despite activating tackle Anthony Collins last week, the Bucs benched him and played Demar Dotson and Oniel Cousins at left and right tackle, respectively. Predictably, Cousins was an unmitigated disaster in pass protection, but Dotson held his own, allowing just one quarterback hurry, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Lovie Smith indicated this week that Dotson will see more work at left tackle against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, per Sports Talk Florida's Jenna Laine:

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Bucs T Demar Dotson will line up at LT again this week. Said new challenge has given him some extra pep in his step. Excited to come to work

— JennaLaineBucs (@JennaLaineBucs) December 15, 2014"

The Bucs should let Dotson finish the season at left tackle. Anthony Collins was a bust protecting Josh McCown's blind side and can't stay healthy.

If Dotson proves reliable on the left, he may eliminate the Bucs need for a new left tackle, paving the way for the Bucs to take a franchise quarterback such as Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston in the 2015 draft.

The last step the Bucs need to take is to bench McCown and let Mike Glennon start the remainder of the season.

More often than not, McCown is a hindrance, completing a middling 56.8 percent of his throws, averaging seven yards per pass attempt and turning the ball over 16 times this season. It should be clear to Smith that McCown isn't capable of keeping the Bucs offense on track to victory.

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Glennon may not be an upgrade, but the Bucs have nothing to lose and everything to learn by letting him take control of the offense. His numbers aren't much different from McCown's as he's completed only 57.6 percent of his passes, while also averaging seven yards per attempt.

The big difference is the number of turnovers Glennon committed this season. With only six interceptions and no lost fumbles, Glennon is much better at taking care of the ball than McCown.

Despite both players only winning one game each this season, Smith still insists McCown is the safer bet, per the Tampa Bay Times' Matt Baker:

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Lovie on McCown over Glennon: this is what gives us better chance to win

— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) December 17, 2014"

Smith rolled the dice on McCown all season and has a likely first overall draft pick to show for it. There is nothing the Bucs can gain by starting McCown again.

Glennon believes he is still the Bucs' "quarterback of the future," or so he's been told by Smith, according to Rick Stroud:

"

Glennon on whether he's still the Bucs QB of the future: "Until they tell  me otherwise, that’s the approach I’ll take.''

— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) December 17, 2014"

Given the state of the Bucs' presently, Smith should consider dabbling in a little divination and hand the offense over to Glennon for the last two games. It may be the best way for the Bucs to make use of what's left of their otherwise meaningless season.