Bucs head for perfect (0-16) year Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times, published 20 September 1993 The odds against them are staggering. Consider the factors at play, and the task in front of them seems impossible. But, by golly, those Tampa Bay Bucs just might be the team to do it. If things work out just right, if they get a little help here and there, they could go all the way. They could be 0-16. Oh, I know what you're thinking. Nobody goes 0-16 anymore. In the parity of the NFL, going winless takes the same kind of odds-beating that going unbeaten does. Sooner or later, it figures, the Bucs will show up and simply be on hand as another team beats itself. But don't bet against the Bucs as they Go for the O. If a team ever had the look of a rock in water, sinking toward the depths, it was the Bucs in Sunday's 47-17 drubbing by the Bears. Even by the sub-standards of the Bucs, this was awful. The way this team looked, there is one overriding reason why it could go 0-16: It doesn't play 17. Keep in mind that we are talking about weakness here, about a team that can't run and can't stop the run. And that was Chicago. In two games, the Bears had proven they were a horrible team going absolutely nowhere. And they beat the Bucs by 30. If Tampa Bay can lose to Chicago by 30, then, by gum, I'm convinced. The Bucs can lose to anybody. Sunday, Tampa Bay was bad on Sunday, Tampa Bay was bad on defense, wretched on offense. Assuming that they ever lead in the fourth quarter, it is precisely that balance that gives the Bucs the knowledge that they can salvage another loss. I mean, how do you win in this league? First of all, you start with the running game. You add a solid, dependable defense. You make the plays, you don't miss assignments. How do you lose? You just turn it around. Which brings us to the Bucs. First of all, to lose them all, you need a hapless running game. Welcome to Tampa Bay's, the best comedy on television these days. Sunday, Reggie Cobb blasted his way to eight yards in 12 carries, and it took a 14-yard burst on the Bucs' next-to-last play to get that high. Cobb was hit so often in the backfield he must have thought the Bears were lining up in the wrong huddle. When it was over, someone asked Cobb what he thought. "I've got nothing," he said. It was the finest assessment of performance in the locker room. Still, Cobb is a thousand-yard rusher. So, to keep losing, the Bucs will need a really bad offensive line to make sure he doesn't get going. No problem. In three games, the Bucs have rushed for a grand total of 106 yards, under 2 yards per carry. "It's not like our guys are getting run over," center Tony Mayberry said. "We just keep missing assignments." Mayberry said it as if it were a good thing, as if it were a reason for hope. But is it? If the Bucs don't know their assignments now, after 10 weeks, what is to make us think they will learn them at all? Is it really good news that tackles aren't beaten, they're just running down-and-outs while Craig Erickson gets a spinal tap from Ron Cox? And the defense? How about that vaunted, going-to-carry-this-team defense? Don't bother them now. They're in denial. After the game, Hardy Nickerson talked about how this team has made progress every week. Broderick Thomas said, "The breaks just didn't go our way." Santana Dotson talked about how the defense "handled" Chicago in the second half. Guys! It was 47-17, and the other guys were averaging 13 points. The Bears' quarterback, Jim Harbaugh, had boos waiting on him when he walked onto the field, and he hit 17 of 22 passes. The Bears' tailback, Neal Anderson, hadn't had a 100-yard game since Beattie Feathers was his blocking back, and he rambled for 104. Gee, can you imagine how bad it would have been if the Bucs hadn't had two weeks to reorganize? How do you lose them all? Start with the knowledge that no matter which quarterback plays, Erickson or Steve DeBerg or Casey Weldon, he can throw an interception. Add perseverance: If a team doesn't score on first or second down, you can always give up a 25-yard TD pass on third-and-22. And don't rest on your laurels - as bad as Tampa Bay was the first two weeks, this team went backward Sunday. Mainly, you lose by being the Bucs. One Sunday at a time.