What awaits Bucs in second half? Good question
Martin Fennelly, The Tampa Tribune, published 24 October 2011

They're heading home, having navigated the big blue marble again, spreading the international brand, all part of the Glazer master global plan. The Bucs, yeah, sure, I know them. Aren't they the guys who always lose in London?

Now Raheem Morris and his crew take a breather and figure out who they want to be the rest of this football season. They're 4-3, not the top of the world, but certainly not the bottom. They're about where they should be, really. But what do we get from here out?

Do we get the team that looked completely pathetic in falling behind the Vikings and Colts and again against the Bears on Sunday at Wembley, or do we get the closers who came back at Minnesota and against Indianapolis and could have come from 21-5 down to win Sunday?

Do we get the defense that was shredded by the Chicago running attack much of Sunday or do we get the defense that made two stands of three downs from its own 4-yard line to overcome more selfish idiocy from Aqib Talib to give the offense a chance to beat the Bears?

Do we get the offense that looked completely lost when Earnest Graham went down, with no clue as to what to do (one first down in the third quarter) or do we get that offense that brought the Bucs back to within striking distance in the final quarter? Why does it look so hard, then so easy?

Do we get the Josh Freeman who threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, the comeback Josh, or do we get the Freeman who ended this thing when, pressured or no, he threw his fourth interception of Sunday's game? The Bucs fell to 0-2 in Europe.

Do we get a coaching staff that has its team ready, that helps it start fast, that knows what do when things go wrong, like Graham's injury, or all those other injuries, or from stupid penalties and knows how to keep its players from curling up into a ball – or do we get Morris and his staff as uneven as their team?

Which Bucs do we get? Probably both of them, and that spells .500 football. We interrupt this column to bring you this Fox Sports History Lesson, Bucs-Bears color analyst Daryl "Moose" Johnston on Stonehenge: "Amazing that they could get these rocks, that large, to stand up 4,000 years ago."

Thanks, Moose! Will the Bucs be standing nine games from now? Not at this rate, this up-down routine. It can't be about injuries or youth, this second half.

It's not as if the Bucs get to ease into the second half, what with a trip to New Orleans. True, the Bucs have won there the past two seasons, but the Saints will be breathing through their noses with a sense of purpose.

Beyond that lies a home game with a now 4-3 Houston team and then a very long trip to Green Bay to meet the defending Super Bowl champion Packers. That's a three-game stretch that has 5-5 written all over the end of it. The real math of this season begins after that.

It's clear that this team is at its best when someone, someone like the injured LeGarrette Blount, or the now injured Graham, is softening up a defense. This team is cooked without that.

It's clear that the comeback well is only so deep for Freeman. And it's clear he isn't who he was a year ago. Maybe all those jump balls just worked out last season. Seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions isn't exactly what he was expecting, or anyone else. This team won't go anywhere with Freeman being just average.

Wonder which Freeman and which Bucs will run out in New Orleans. Your guess is as good as theirs.