Villaume: The Bucs Stop Here

These two teams are bad.

Minnesota and their 2-5-0 record travel to 1-5-0 Tampa Bay for an early season basement battle. Both teams have spent the better part of the last five years in their division's cellar. 2014 appears to be no different.

Tampa Bay is in the bottom five in rush offense and pass defense, the bottom ten in pass offense and rush defense. In other words, they stink at everything. Sure, they have had injuries. They are calling up linebackers from the practice squad, and have to start numerous quarterbacks. You know when Mike Glennon and Josh McCown are fighting for your starting quarterback position that times are tough.

Only three teams have worse records: Oakland 0-6, Jacksonville 1-6, and the N.Y.. Jets 1-6.

Minnesota, on the other hand, has much better rankings. Our rush offense, despite missing Adrian Peterson for weeks, is ranked tenth in the league. Our pass defense even higher at ninth. Our run defense has fallen to nineteenth, but I am sure most fans would take the drop given the improvement of the aerial defense.

There is one glaring hole for the Purple. Their passing offense is 32nd. That's right, the worst in the NFL. And with the addition of the high-flying offense of Norv Turner, the drafting of savior Teddy Bridgewater, and a new mentality with head coach Mike Zimmer, this comes as sour news.

We can, like the Bucs, blame injuries, and losses like missing Adrian Peterson, Matt Cassel, Kyle Rudolph, Brandon Fusco and others. Certainly it has played a part.

The last few games have felt like our defense was the 300, defending against a horde army with insurmountable advantages. Our third down conversion rate is still an awkward forty percent, but that is seven points higher than the Bucs. Josh Robinson, Xavier Rhodes, and Harrison Smith have looked good in the defensive secondary. Or at least way better than 2013.

It has become apparent to most that our offensive line is a large part of the problem. Specifically, we have received little from our highly-drafted outside tackles: Phil Loadholt and Matt Kalil. The interior has also been poor, with Fusco out, and center John Sullivan struggling to maintain, and a rotating door of guards who cannot handle hard pass rushes.

Poor Teddy Bridgewater.

At 2-5-0, Minnesota needs a miracle to make the playoffs. And miracles are hard to come by when they need to start with struggling linemen. The remainder of the 2014 season will probably end up being a showcase for the future of Teddy. Or hopefully, the defense rises to the next level, and helps us win games as opposed to lose them closely.

Despair?

A win today would go a long way toward a happier season for fans. It would decry that we are not basement dwellers. If this game were a 'toilet bowl', we are at minimum a team that can't be flushed.

Just yet.

And so with our present losing streak we travel to Tampa Bay, to see if the buck stops here.

Or keeps going and going.