Bucs revert to woeful ways in second half Martin Fennelly, The Tampa Tribune, published 5 October 2009 It's impossible to be all that positive about the 2009 Bucs, unless it's to say they are positively 0-4. They are: A young defense trying to make more strides than mistakes and an offense now run by a young quarterback doing baby steps and a Raheem Morris-led coaching staff that doesn't yet know how to go for it at the end. The Bucs were all that as they blew a 10-point lead and lost 16-13 to the Washington Redskins. Before the season, this was a game some of us figured these Bucs could and would win. Now the losing streak dating to last season is eight games and counting. Bet they're already up to nine in Philadelphia, the Bucs' next destination. Oh, boy. What did you expect, a winning team? I was thinking 4-12. Know what else? I thought if the defense had some growth moments amid the carnage and a young quarterback emerged from the rubble, then what was there to lose, you know, other than games? The defense did make some strides Sunday. Granted, it was against the Redskins, but the Bucs had whiffed for three weeks, in ghastly fashion. This was improvement. There, I said it. Gaines Adams (you heard me) had a sack and a fumble recovery to set the Bucs up for a lightning-quick 7-0 lead. Josh Johnson, in his first pass as an NFL starter, threw a touchdown. Aqib Talib had three interceptions. The defense sagged just enough to lose. And Johnson really didn't make many plays after the opening TD. Talib wiped out his three picks when he was abused by Santana Moss on the 59-yard winning touchdown. It isn't Sunday without the Bucs getting burned deep. You'll have to settle for it, Bucs fans. But don't you need to have Adams and Talib making impact plays? Don't you need this defense forcing turnovers? And haven't we complained forever about how this team never tries to develop a quarterback? Well, here you go. Johnson looked shaky at times, including the pick he threw that dashed downfield dreams for the day. In other words, he looked exactly how he should have looked. This is the way it's going to be, no matter which Josh stands over center. You know something? It's the way it should be. It's the right direction to go. I had more of a problem with Mike Nugent's two missed field goals. I had more of a problem with Morris and staff, trailing 16-10 late, but with first-and-goal at the 7-yard line, not taking a shot at the end zone, rookie QB or no. Instead, two stuffed runs, then a fake quarterback draw by Johnson, who hoped to find someone open. It was bad stuff. The Bucs settled for a field goal and hoped for three things to go right - a defensive hold, a long drive and at least another field goal from Nugent, who is 2-for-6 this season. They didn't make it halfway. The defense got the ball back, but Clifton Smith fumbled and that was that. Why, oh, why, did Smith get the ball? By the way, why, oh, why, were they running the ball at all? It will get truly ugly next week. But what's surprising? The Bucs are losing, but what did you expect? At this point, in this season, the best case is strides, any strides. There were some Sunday, only not enough. "You are what your record says you are," Ronde Barber said. Positively. Even with positives.