by Chris Harry

Filed under: Buccaneers, NFL Coaching, NFL Analysis

TAMPA, Fla. — Rewind to a week ago.

Raheem Morris stood at a podium, but he was atop the pewter and red world. His Tampa Bay Buccaneers not only had won a second straight road game, but had stormed back from a 17-point deficit to defeat the high-powered New Orleans Saints in overtime. After a dismal 1-12 start, everything Buc had suddenly turned beautiful and Morris, the NFL‘s youngest head coach at 33, hoped it was the start of something good. Something real.

“That’s what I have to find out,” Morris said Dec. 28. “That’s what I have to ask my players: ‘Are you hot or is this your game?’ I’m hoping this is our game because I like the way we’re going.”

Back to present day.

And back to reality.