Raheem Morris was asked this week why the Bucs have been struggling.
His surprisingly honest answer: The schedule.
“We played a couple of tougher teams,” Morris told Green Bay reporters Wednesday, via Pete Doughtery of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
On one hand, this sounds like excuse making for a coach facing some heat. On the other hand, it’s true.
“The games that we have lost were to the Houston Texans, who are in first or second place in their division. We also lost to the Chicago Bears, who are second in their division. We lost to the New Orleans Saints, which lead our division, and we’ve played some tougher teams. We played the Detroit Lions who are second and third in their division and are off and rolling. We’ve played some really tough teams,” Morris said.
Grantland.com argues that the last six game stretch of Tampa’s season was historically tough. We’d argue that the way the Bucs lost some of these games (48-3 to San Francisco, 37-9 to Houston) indicates they are a mediocre team.
Then again, they were probably a mediocre team last year when they loaded up against a soft schedule.
That’s essentially what Morris is saying.