TAMPA -- Putting the label of "must-win" on just about any regular-season game is usually risky business. Suggest to a pro football player that winning one particular game is extra critical and you'll probably get a quick rebuke.
Like Josh Freeman said, "Every game is important," and those are words they live by. That comment is standard locker room issue, lest a tough game or two allow doubt and panic to have a seat the table.
Understood.
But let's just say it anyway: The Buccaneers basically have to win today's game at Ray-Jay against the Houston Texans.
It won't be easy; the Texans are hot, winners of three in a row -- but do the math.
The Bucs have lost their past two and stand third in the NFC South. Another loss today puts them under .500 for the season with seven games to go, two games back in the loss column of either Atlanta or New Orleans. Then there's that trip to Green Bay next week. You're not supposed to look ahead, but it's pretty hard not to notice that one.
So, yeah, this season is already at a tipping point and a loss today might just knock it over.
The Bucs won't come out and exactly say that, but at least some of them are willing to tip-toe up to the concept.
"It's a must win because we're 4-4. It doesn't matter who we play next week," center Jeff Faine said. "We've got Houston this week and it's the most important because it's this game. We're at a point in the season where each win becomes vital. We've got to dig ourselves out of this and get back into the race at the top."
We have established the stakes. Here are the obstacles.
The Bucs have to correct the same problems it seems we talk about every week. They struggle to score in the first half, a situation not likely to be helped by the fact Houston allows the fewest yards-per-game in the league.
They have trouble stopping the run, and that's not good because Houston has ridden backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate to second in the league in that department. Correcting that just got more challenging because defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is out for the year, replaced by Albert "Hail Mary" Haynesworth.
The watch also will be on to see if the lads can play more within the rules. They are the second-most penalized team in the NFL and have six consecutive games with more penalty yards than their opponents. They're working on it, focusing on stopping what head coach Raheem Morris calls "foolish penalties."
Foolish, as in LeGarrette Blount's open-handed swipe at a New Orleans facemask after one play last week, resulting in 15 drive-killing yards. That's the sign of a team more interested in being chippy than being smart.
On that same drive, Arrelious Benn and Kellen Winslow were flagged for offensive pass interference.
"That has to be not wanting to hurt your team. That has got to be unselfishness. That has got to be all those things that you care more about winning the football game more than you care about anything else," Morris said.
"The internal sacrifice. That's where that has to come from."
Yet, we know what this team is capable of doing. They have beaten Atlanta and New Orleans on the storied Ray-Jay turf. Freeman has had highly effective games. Blount has shown he can run well. But doing all that consistently well?
Um, not so much.
They really are running out of time to fix this.
Today begins the second half of the season and the Bucs have already given ground in what figures to be a tight race for the playoffs.
By this time last year, the Bucs had established a solid running game with Blount, Freeman was thriving, rookie receiver Mike Williams was opening eyes, and the defense was forcing turnovers.
But now, the Bucs don't seem to have the same faith in the running game as before. Interceptions have been a problem for Freeman and he is on pace for just 16 touchdowns, which would be nine fewer than in 2010.
Williams seems to disappear from the offense at times. His 37 catches through eight games are ahead of his pace a year ago, but he is averaging nearly 2 yards less per catch. The big plays aren't happening as much.
We could go on, but you get the idea. The Bucs are in the great middle morass of the NFL, and middling teams don't get too far. Of course, the Bucs say they aren't a middling team. They consider themselves a playoff-caliber team.
Then prove it. This isn't just another Sunday in a 16-game NFL schedule for the local lads.
Say it out loud. This is one game they have to win.
Photo: If Josh Freeman and the Bucs are a playoff-caliber team, it's time to start proving so as the second half of the season kicks off.
Copyright ? 2011, The Tampa Tribune and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@tampatrib.com
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