Tampa Bay Buccaneers Take Horrible to New Level

There should have been yellow crime scene tape going up around Candlestick Park around 4:30 p.m. PT Sunday.

There should have been an immediate call to the San Francisco PD and CSI San Francisco.

There were 53 lifeless bodies out there on the field. They were battered, beaten and bludgeoned and, in the case of the defense, gored repeatedly.

There weren't many defensive wounds on the bodies—there wasn't much of a struggle.

There were two dazed witnesses: Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and his soul mate, offensive coordinator Greg Olsen. They weren't able to give much of a description to the detectives, they were staggering about, apparently in a state of shock, mumbling something about some guys in red jerseys.

A quick examination of the bodies of the lifeless Tampa Bay Buccaneers indicated they didn't die quickly—they suffered for at least three hours until they finally expired or the assailants simply left the scene, realizing their grizzly task was complete.

The murder weapon(s) apparently were helmets and shoulder pads, and it didn't help that the victims were repeatedly driven into the turf.

It wasn't really a murder. It was a massacre. It made Gen. George Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment look like it had a real chance against Sitting Bull.

Seriously, folks, you saw it and you know it wasn't as close as the 48-3 score indicates.

By now you know it tied the Buccaneer mark for blowouts, for football futility, matching the 45-0 disaster in Oakland back in December of 1999.

Not even the guys from 1976 took a butt-kickin' like the one Josh Freeman and his gang suffered Sunday.

That brings us to No. 5. You might recall that Morris often tells us "It's all about 5." This one got off to a really miserable start and Freeman was all about misery.

This No. 5 looks nothing like last season's No. 5. This No. 5 throws into double-coverage, this No. 5 has trouble making decisions, this No. 5 simply holds the football too long.

That's only the start.

The defense was absent. The Niners put up 418 yards on offense, Frank Gore did his part with 125 of his team's 213 rushing yards.

This loss was a complete and total failure on both sides of the football.

"Flat start, flat finish, flat middle" is how Morris described it to the gathered press afterwards. "We came out here a little punch drunk I guess. Didn't play as we normally do."

Punch drunk?

Morris' lads look like they didn't practice all week after the Monday night win over Indy. It looked like they spent the rest of the week shopping at International Plaza, then headed straight for the Blue Martini, every day.

That's what it looked like. Everyone knows this San Francisco team is vastly improved and Jim Harbaugh is showing why a lot of teams wanted him. He sure showed Morris how a team should be prepared.

Maybe we're blowing this loss out of proportion. That thought did occur because this loss counts the same as if it were 24-23.

"Yeah, we're fine," Freeman said after the loss. "Nobody's confidence is shaken or anything."

Isn't that comforting?

There's your good news: Freeman says nobody's confidence is shaken, except perhaps that of the fan base.

Now the bad news: The 4-1 Saints are coming to town on Sunday.

More bad news: Gerald McCoy hurt his ankle early in the first quarter. His status is uncertain.

What is certain is that New Orleans coach Sean Payton might not want to let his team look at the video of this Bucs loss to the Niners.

The Saints might get too overconfident.