Buccaneers loss matches worst day ever at Ray-Jay Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 13 October 2014 Lovie Smith didn’t say it once last week, he said it twice. The Bucs were getting better, he claimed. Something about the way they’d played their past two games told him so. Well, everything about the way they played on Sunday said otherwise. After winning in Pittsburgh two weeks ago and losing in overtime at New Orleans last week, the Bucs took what can only be described as a massive step backward during a 48-17 loss to the Ravens at Raymond James Stadium. “We definitely took a step back today,’’ defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. “Sorry folks, but as one of the leaders here I’m just being honest. And I know the fans are going to say, ‘Well, it’s this,’ or, ‘It’s that. No, no, no. Stop thinking that way. We have to say what it is. We’re just not as good as we should be at this point. We didn’t play well today and we are not where we should be. Those are the facts.’’ Here are some others. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw a touchdown pass to cap off each of Baltimore’s first five drives and the Ravens scored on each of their first six. The Bucs responded by giving the ball away on an interception on its first drive, punting after each of its next five and missing on a 45-yard field goal try on its seventh. That allowed the Ravens to take a 38-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, which, according to CBS Sports, made the Bucs the first team in NFL history to trail by that many points at home at halftime. “I can’t explain what happened today,’’ the usually optimistic Smith said. “I’m going on how we played last week, the week before and then what we did in practice. That said, we were getting better. But 1-5 says we’re not a good football team, and we’re not a good football team. It’s kind of simple as that. It was total domination on their part and it shouldn’t have been that type of game.’’ What’s discouraging is that, along with the humiliating 56-14 loss they suffered to the Falcons in Atlanta, it was the second such game for the Bucs in less than a month. But this was not a case in which the Bucs were playing on the road after a short week of practice and without two of their best players, as was the case in Atlanta. McCoy and running back Doug Martin, who sat out that loss in Atlanta with hand and knee injuries respectively, were both in the lineup for this game. In the end, though, it didn’t matter. And Smith knows why. “We’re not as talented as we need to be in some areas,’’ Smith said flatly. “At the same time, in the areas where we are talented, we’re taking our moments not to play our best ball.’’ It’s not just in those moments, but all through the game, McCoy said, that the Bucs are failing to play what constitutes their best ball. And he believes he knows the reason, at least on the defensive side. “What happened today was (a result) of a lot of guys just doing their job,’’ McCoy said. “And we hear that all the time – just do your job. But in the NFL it has to be about more than that. Doing your job is good in little league and high school, At this level, you have to do more than that. You can’t just be in your place. You need to be in place, shed a block and make a play.’’ The Bucs did start making plays in the second half Sunday, outscoring the Ravens 17-10 and forcing a late fumble. And that is one thing about their play this year that has been consistent. The Bucs have now outscored opponents 93-75 in the second half. But it’s the first half of play, where they have been outscored 123-27, that is keeping the Bucs from gaining any footing. “We always come out in the second half and start fast, and we did that again today,’’ linebacker Danny Lansanah said. “But we have to start fast right away — as soon as the game starts. They got up on us fast today, and in this league, you can’t let a team get up on you like that and think you’re going to come back. You’ve got to come out punching. You can’t wait until the second half to start throwing punches.’’ The Bucs have two weeks to figure out not only what punches to throw next, but who will be involved in throwing them. Their bye week is this week, and Smith will spend it contemplating potential changes. “Looking at the overall picture there are still some good things,’’ Smith said. “So, we’ll evaluate that picture and not just think and make drastic changes less than an hour after a disappointing loss.’’ Smith isn’t the only one who plans to spend the bye week evaluating the Bucs’ plight. With 10 games to play this year, McCoy and several others vowed to do the same. “The good thing is, we have a lot of opportunities left to get ourselves out of this hole,’’ right tackle Demar Dotson said. “But that’s going to take a lot of pride and a lot of guys buying in and trying to get better. And we’ve all got a whole lot of getting better to do around here.’’