Cody Grimm's Loss Just Part of theTampa Bay Buccaneers' Bad News

So what would you like first: the bad news, the really bad news or the really, really bad news?

Okay, first things first.

The Baltimore Ravens defense was a little too much for the Buccaneers on Sunday. That's just the, well, bad news; that wasn't all that unexpected.

The Buccaneer coaching staff waited a little too long to get into the hurry-up, no-huddle offense that produced Tampa Bay's only touchdown of the day in a 17-10 loss. And that's really bad.

Now for the really, really bad news.

With a little less than nine minutes left in the first half, in the midst of the chaos during Aqib Talib's interception return, the fireplug and the heart-and-soul of the defense, rookie Cody Grimm, found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The strong safety got himself rolled in a pile and the result was a broken ankle. The defense will now be without its tackling machine for the remainder of the season.

And that is really, really bad—a crying shame.

Grimm will be missed...really missed. He was missed immediately.

With the game tied at 3-3 and Grimm on his way to the locker room for X-rays, Joe Flacco found Todd Heap as open as a tight end can ever get and the big guy rumbled his way for a 65-yard touchdown with about three minutes left in the half.

The Ravens struck again just before halftime on a pass-interference call on Myron Lewis that put Flacco and his boys at the Bucs' nine-yard line. On first-and-goal, he fired a bullet to Derrick Mason.

It was 17-3 at halftime. It stayed that way through the third and it looked like the Bucs would never score until the brain trust finally went to the hurry-up with a little less than seven minutes left in the game.

Josh Freeman responded in the spread offense, and 77 yards later the Bucs finally scored with about three minutes left.

Too little, too late.

There was no onside kick, and Ray Rice did his darndest to show the Bucs that was a mistake as he helped close out the game.

The Bucs are now 7-4 and two games behind Atlanta in the ultra-competitive NFC South.

The good news is that this loss does not cripple their hopes. They can redeem themselves with a win over the Falcons at home next Sunday.

What really hurts is that Cody Grimm is gone.

And that's pretty darn grim.