Bucs have to stop the bleeding - now

In the minutes that followed their loss last week at Buffalo, the mood in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' locker room was unusually reflective. They had been beaten 33-20, which usually triggers an outpouring of cliches to feed the media pests and get them on their way.

Not this time, though. The way they lost was worse than the simple fact they had lost, and players seemed to sense that.

Buffalo had rushed for 218 yards, including 163 by Fred Jackson. Coach Raheem Morris was unusually candid about the problems as he made his postgame comments. He talked about the failure to tackle well. He mentioned that even when the Bucs stacked their defense to stop the run, Buffalo still was able to move the ball.

"Defensively, the plan was to bleed slow, to make this running back beat you. And he did," Morris said later.

With that in mind the question becomes, can the bleeding ever stop on this team?

It really comes down to a few basics, you know. Players and coaches say tackling is a matter of "want-to" and effort. If the desire is there and the results aren't, though, maybe some of the guys they've got "can't-do" even though they want to. When you've given up the second-most points in the National Football League after just two weeks, the explanation may be as simple as saying this unit doesn't have enough players to compete.

"Guys want to (make the plays)," defensive tackle and co-captain Chris Hovan said. "It's just that in certain situations guys just fall out of the play somewhere. That has happened. Missed tackles in the Buffalo game ... guys have been in the hole against the running back. We're just not making the tackle.

"Now, if the guy misses the tackle our defense always been predicated on hustle and getting to the ball. When we're doing that a guy can mess up because there are three or four other guys covering for him. We have to get back to that (against the Giants). That's what we didn't do last weekend. We need to get back to flying to the ball."

That brings us back to Raheem Morris.

When the Glazer family committed to rebuilding the Bucs, they put their faith in this young, untested guy to be their head coach. We don't know if Morris has what it takes in the long run to make a go of this, but I can say one thing. If you take the measure of a man by how he handles the tough times, I think Morris is holding up pretty well.

I thought his only real hiccup was first hiring and then firing offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinki 10 days before the season opener, but Greg Olson has picked right up in the role and it hasn't been a problem.

Most people judge success from week-to-week in the NFL, but the road back to championship contender for the Bucs is a longer term deal than that. Back in Buffalo last week, wide receiver Michael Clayton said as much.

When asked about the role reversal for this team - the offense knowing it has to score in bunches to help out the defense, the opposite of years past - Clayton remarked, "We knew that coming in (to this year)."

They replaced a legend this year in Derrick Brooks. They have a secondary that has been under siege from the start and it got worse last week when safety Jermaine Phillips was lost for the season.

Outside of Barrett Ruud, they have unproven linebackers and until he does something to show us otherwise, we can officially label Gaines Adams as a Class A bust and waste of the No. 4 pick in the draft.

So in this nigh on to impossible situation, you look for steadiness at the top. Morris doesn't have a lot of friends outside the Bucs' locker room right now, but if that has shaken him in any way, it doesn't show.

This thing could get real ugly if the weeks drag on without success, but the quickest way to lose the locker room - and set the building process back, not to mention his own career ambitions - is to let the strain of the losses show to his players or the public.

So far, he hasn't.

"I've been in way worse situations than this," Hovan said. "I've been in Minnesota, where they didn't even care about defense.

"Guys live this defense - it doesn't matter whether it's Monte's (Kiffin) scheme, (Jim) Bates' scheme, I've never seen so many guys be so goal-driven and work so hard and put so many hours in. The guys have bought in and have put the work in. We just need to go out there and let it fly."

Rebuilding on this scale can look hideous while it's in progress. We saw that in Buffalo and we'll likely see more missed tackles and long afternoons.

As long as they have a long-term plan for success though, it's just a question whether the Bucs have the patience to see it all through. They had better. It's the only way the bleeding will stop.