ALAN DELL: 'Erratic' the best word to sum up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' start
TAMPA
Even the football doesn't want any part of the Bucs.
How else can you explain Jonathan Stewart's fumble popping into the hands of Carolina's Ed Dickson, who ran it for a 57-yard touchdown in Sunday's demolition derby at the house where the Bucs can't win.
Tampa Bay has been on red alert since it fired Jon Gruden, who is now reportedly the highest paid employee at ESPN.
Before firing Gruden, the Bucs fired Tony Dungy, who went on to win a Super Bowl with the Colts.
The only people still standing from that carnage are the Glazer boys, who run a franchise that had much success under their late father Malcolm. Malcolm Glazer was forced to move into the background in 2006 because of health reasons and things started to change.
Turning franchises over to children takes time to work, if it ever does. The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Yankees are prime examples.
But we see hope here in Tampa Bay.
There is Jacksonville on Sunday, then a bye week, and then a trip to Washington where the Bucs won last season.
Win those two games and Lovie Smith will have his Chicago-Tampa Bay BucaBears at 3-3 and we can be spared his weekly claim that the team is getting better even if we can't see it.
We heard Kyle Brindza is now with the Siberian Muskrats kicking field goals in blinding snowstorms with the hope it will improve his accuracy.
Connor Barth is back to kick, whispering to Lovie: I told you so.
The Bucs have lost 11 straight home games and are closing in on the record of 14 held by Dallas and St. Louis.
But here is a caveat. Dallas lost those 14 in a row under the legendary Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson, who later won two Super Bowls.
News that Cleveland's Josh McCown had his best game since leaving Chicago in 2013, the anxiety level at One Buc Place is shooting up. McCown had no good games for Tampa Bay last year. It adds to the legend that when you leave the Bucs, a place on Mt. Rushmore is reserved in your name just in case.
Ryan Delaire, cut by the Bucs and picked up by Carolina from the practice squad a week ago, had two sacks, a quarterback hit and a quarterback hurry on Sunday. The Panthers Brenton Bersin had a career-high four receptions for 54 yards to lead the Panthers receivers.
Could there be a worst indignity than Panthers cornerback Josh Norman asking the NFL if the dance he planned to use after he got a pick-six would be legal, then getting the pick?
Erratic best sums up the Bucs.
Their kicker was erratic.
Their quarterback is erratic.
Their defense is erratic.
Lovie? He continues to fall in love with the wrong players, who keep breaking his heart.
Maybe he should meet with Dear Abby instead of his defensive coordinator. Oh, forget it, Lovie is the defensive coordinator.
Middle linebacker Kwon Alexander is the only defensive player drafted by Lovie and GM Jason Licht. He has played every defensive snap, leads the team with nine missed tackles and had three against Carolina. The fourth-round pick has graded in the negative in three games.
But there is reason to see sunshine in all this darkness.
Bill Belichick was 36-44 before he was introduced to Tom Brady and went to five Super Bowls, winning three.
We don't see any Tom Bradys in Lovie's future, so if he can find a defense maybe this whole thing is salvageable.
But if this Lovie experiment doesn't work, the next step is clear.
The Glazers need to hire a guy to run the franchise who has a proven track record in the NFL, then get out of way. Let him pick the head coach and the GM if he wants one.
This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "ALAN DELL: 'Erratic' the best word to sum up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' start ."