Tampa Bay Buccaneers Can Still Go 10-6, so Says Raheem Morris

There's nothing like the luke-warm gruel from a Raheem Morris Monday high-noon press conference.

It's something we can all laugh about, thanks to WDAE 620, because if you didn't hear it yourself, you probably wouldn't believe it.

"We can still end up with the same record we had last year," Morris declared the day after he made that mind-boggling decision to go for a second onside kick against Green Bay despite the fact he already tried one and it didn't work.

I suppose Morris is right. The Buccaneers could go 10-6. They have six games left, and while they are 4-6, in some weird fantasy world they could win their final six games in a row and finish 10-6 as they did last year.

On the same note, you can win the Powerball if you'll just go ahead and buy a ticket.

The odds are probably similar, although you probably have a better chance of winning the Powerball than the Bucs going 6-0 to finish their year.

Let's just get this out of the way right now. I no longer trust Raheem Morris—can't trust his judgement, and when you listen to what he has to say each week, well, it's certainly getting laughable. This guy has gone beyond coach-speak.

Don't know if you noticed this during the Bucs-Packers game, but when there was a play under review, Morris was actually out on the field yucking it up with Aaron Rodgers. This was the first onside kick and the replay made it obvious the Packers would get the football, which means Morris' defense would be out there on the field.

Call me old school, but don't you think it would have been prudent for Morris to spend time with his defense, prepping the players, instead of guffawing on the field with the guy who simply wants to pound his defense into the ground?

Yes, the Bucs could go 6-0 to finish the season, but then Morris would have to find the Bucs who showed up earlier this season against the Saints and the Falcons. That's two out of 10. Yes, they showed up in Green Bay Sunday and, by golly, the offense was, well, really good. There were 455 yards to prove it.

Everyone is raving about LeGarrette Blount. Yes, he had 107 yards, but 54 of them came on one carry, which means he only had 53 yards on the other 17 carries. There were good runs, but he was dropped for losses at inopportune times as well.

The Bucs could go 6-0 if by some miraculous feat they become one of the least-penalized teams in the NFL rather than one of the most-penalized teams in the NFL. As good as you think they played on Sunday, they still had nine penalties and that's enough to sabotage any of those final would-be six wins Morris is hoping for.

Then there's the "I" word, as in "inconsistent." These Bucs have been the poster children for inconsistency this season and no one in their right mind would expect a team that models itself after inconsistency to go 6-0 down the stretch.

Besides, you'd think Dallas, Tennessee and Atlanta would have something to say about that 6-0 pipe dream, not to mention Carolina. These Panthers looked like a pushover until Cam Newton decided to throw his helmet in the running for NFL Rookie of the Year.

Actually, nothing is easy for these Buccaneers. It's simply who they are.

It seems like a century ago when this Buccaneer defense could clamp on anyone and the great Derrick Brooks had a great description for it: "We just do what we do."

These inconsistent Buccaneers of Raheem Morris', well, they're good, then they're bad, then they're worse and just when you thought they couldn't be worse, they are, then they're good again.

How do you explain it?

They just do what they do.