4 Improvements Tampa Bay Buccaneers Must Make Coming out of Bye Week

As they come out of their bye week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers own a 2-3 record, having already matched their win total from the entire 2014 season.

There have been quite a few bright spots for the Bucs, from Doug Martin's resurgence on the ground to the emergence of young pass-rushers. But there's still plenty of room for improvement across the board for the team that finished last year with the league's worst record.

Penalties are still a thorn in the Bucs' side, while consistency in the pass-rushing department continues to elude them despite their impressive sack numbers. Tampa Bay's red-zone defense has been nothing short of atrocious, with many different factors contributing to the struggle.

Here are four things the Bucs must improve moving forward in 2015.

Reduce Penalties

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Whether it's an untimely mistake that nullifies a key defensive stand or a mental error that nullifies a long gain, the Bucs continue to be their own worst enemy with the amount of penalties they commit on a weekly basis.

According to NFLPenalties.com, the Bucs have been flagged 48 times so far this season, tied for fourth-most in the league. Even worse, the seven teams that are either tied with the Bucs or have more penalties have all played one more game than Tampa Bay.

This is an issue that comes from a continued lack of discipline, and it starts with the head coach. Lovie Smith must emphasize cutting down on these mistakes on the practice field if he wants his team to make a sizable improvement on game day.

The Bucs have plenty of talent on their roster, but they're not talented enough across the board to overcome the amount of penalties they're racking up in 2015.

More Pass-Rush Consistency

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

A quick look at the numbers will tell you Tampa Bay's pass rush has improved considerably over last season's performance, but the team still lacks consistency when it comes to getting after the quarterback.

Of the Bucs' 15 sacks so far this season, 10 of them came in their two victories, leaving just five spread out over their three losses. The Tampa 2 requires consistent pressure from the front four, and while Tampa Bay has tallied sacks in clumps, its inability to keep that pressure constant is contributing to its struggles in the secondary and its 2-3 record.

Gerald McCoy's team-leading 4.5 sacks are encouraging, while Jacquies Smith's 4.0 sacks are a welcome boost from the edge, but it's clear the team needs to keep putting those kinds of numbers up on a more consistent basis if it wants to come away with more wins this season.

Force More Field Goals in the Red Zone

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The Tampa 2 defense is predicated on the "bend, don't break" theory. The defense keeps everything in front of it, willingly giving up short completions between the 20s, then clamping down in the red zone to force field goals.

Unfortunately, the Bucs have yet to embody that theory in 2015. According to TeamRankings.com, Tampa Bay's opponents have scored touchdowns on 73 percent of their trips inside the 20-yard line, ranking next-to-last in the NFL.

Turnovers and having to defend short fields often hasn't helped the Tampa Bay defense, but it's still giving up touchdowns with far too much regularity. Injuries to key members of the secondary like Johnthan Banks and Major Wright have also made the team's predicament worse, but injuries happen to every team and can't be used as an excuse.

If the Bucs want to be competitive moving forward this season, they'll have to make some serious strides in this area on defense.

Back off Number of Pre-Snap Fake Blitzes

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Another contributing factor to Tampa Bay's anemic pass defense so far this season is the frequency with which it feigns blitzes at the line of scrimmage with its linebackers, only to back off just after the snap.

In theory, this practice is meant to confuse the opposing quarterback and rush him into making a poor decision. In reality, all it's done is leave Tampa Bay's linebackers scrambling to get back in coverage, leaving gaping holes at the second level that opponents are picking apart.

Tampa Bay's injury-riddled secondary needs all the help it can get defending the pass, and these pre-snap looks don't seem to be fooling anyone. The Bucs would be better off bringing pressure more often on passing downs or erring on the side of fundamental execution by allowing their linebackers to line up closer to the zones they'll be covering instead of playing catch-up after the snap.