Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Why They Aren't Getting Any Respect

Yes, Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans have five good reasons to be very, very happy.

But if you look around the nation, these Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still not getting a great deal of respect.

On one side, you can say it's not the halfway season mark yet and they're already halfway to 10 wins.

"The race to 10" is what Buccaneer coach Raheem Morris calls it. He knows what we all know, and that is the fact that 10 wins in the NFL will probably get you into the playoffs. 

But he is very cautious about using the "P" word, as he calls it.

His reasoning is simple:  "We're not a complete product yet but we like where we're going," he said on Monday."You're starting to see what your team can be."

Yes, we've seen it and he's right.

But now back to this respect thing.

The facts are these.

The Buccaneer wins have come against Cleveland (2-5), Cincinnati (2-5), Carolina (1-6), St. Louis (4-4) and Arizona (3-4). Even us math geniuses can look at those records and see immediately that there is not a winning team in the bunch.

Most likely, none of those teams are going to the playoffs. Ah, the dreaded "P" word.

The Buccaneer losses have come against Pittsburgh (5-2) and New Orleans (5-3)—two teams with winning records.

Pittsburgh is being bantered as a Super Bowl contender, and the Saints will have to pick up the pace but should contend for a playoff berth. Ah, the dreaded "P" word again.

The Bucs were blown out in the two losses, and got three of the five wins by a field goal.

And that brings us to the simple fact that the Buccaneers do not have a "signature win" on the season's resume. No wins against a playoff contender.

That can all change Sunday in Atlanta.

It's a tall order. "They've done what we're doing," Morris said of the Falcons. "They just did it sooner than we did," he said referring to Atlanta's rebuilding effort after the Michael Vick trauma.

Both teams are 5-2 and this one's for the division lead in the NFC South.

Look around the NFC, and you can quickly see that there really isn't a single team that has "Super Bowl contender" on its forehead. The New York Giants (5-2) aren't world beaters, neither are the Packers (5-3) and certainly not Seattle (4-3).

Which brings us back to Sunday's Bucs-Falcons battle in the Georgia Dome.

The winner jumps to 6-2 and will be a top contender for a playoff spot. There's that dreaded "P" word again.

A Buccaneer victory would give this team that "signature win."

A Buccaneer victory would give this team a "hey look at us, we did beat SOMEBODY" win.

So let's be real for a moment. The Bucs have proven that they're tougher than some weaklings, and that's what Cleveland, Cincinnati and Carolina are right now on the NFL streets.

Everyone's picking on them, pushing them down and taking their lunch money.

The tough guys in the neighborhood have smacked the Bucs upside the head and taken the lunch money that was taken from the weaklings.

So, yes, if the Bucs want some respect, if they want the rest of the nation to take some real notice, they'll have to go ahead and do it the old-fashioned way on Sunday.

Earn it.