Simply put, Bucs can’t lose this one
“It’s big,” Coach Lovie Smith, right, says of Sunday's game. “We win the first game. What does that get you? We’re 1-0. That means we could be 1-15. It’s big, though. Beat Tennessee. Make the playoffs. Win the Super Bowl.”JASON BEHNKEN By Martin Fennelly | Tribune Staff Published: September 11, 2015 TAMPA — You can’t lose this game.Lose this game and you might as well use the pirate ship as kindling. Lose this game and people ask when Lightning camp starts. Lose this game and tickets stop selling, clocks go backward, computers stop working. Death, destruction, pestilence, the Bucs offensive line. Lose this game and the Glazers consider downsizing (“Ed, you’re out”). Lose the season opener against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday and the Rays head to Montreal, Steven Stamkos leaves for Toronto.Lose and you should have taken Marcus.The Bucs can’t lose this game.“It’s big,” Lovie Smith said with a smile. “We win the first game. What does that get you? We’re 1-0. That means we could be 1-15. It’s big, though. Beat Tennessee. Make the playoffs. Win the Super Bowl.”Steady, Lovie, steady.Start small.You don’t lose this game.There will be eyeballs on this game, as many as you’ll ever see for two losers, a pair of 2-14 teams. By the way, kids, this is only the fourth time since the merger that a season opener has featured teams which had two wins or fewer the previous season.The NFL usually likes to hide a mess like that.But Sunday brings an unprecedented opening matchup: the Nos. 1 and 2 draft picks, quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. A fascinating game. With draft revisionists waiting to pounce.This might be the most important opener in Bucs history.They can’t lose it.Even if Jameis outplays Marcus, they can’t lose it.True, a win Sunday guarantees nothing. But a loss is an earthquake.Bucs fans have their arms folded. The fact that there will probably be loads of empty seats Sunday, even with Jameis, says something.Lots of folded arms for Jameis, too. There’s usually a bounce, a spike in interest, when you have a No. 1 pick and it’s a quarterback.We’re still waiting on that bounce.Large game.You can’t lose it.“It’s huge, because it’s the beginning,” Winston said.Kid got right to the heart of it, didn’t he?“We didn’t win a game at home last year — none,” Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. “If we want to get to where we want to get, which is California … as far as record goes, it starts Sunday. It’s a huge game for us. A lot of people say, ‘Well, it’s the first game, it’s a long season.’ Well, not when you went 2-14 and you didn’t win any games at home last year. Our fans, greatest fans on Earth, deserve to see a winner, especially at home.”The Super Bowl is in California this season.Steady, Gerald, steady.They can’t lose this game.I just checked. The Titans were awful last season. They lost their final 10 games. This might be the Bucs’ only game this season where they’ll actually have more talent than the other guys.You don’t lose this game.Yes, there are items of note. We checked again: The Bucs were awful last season, too. And Winston might not have Mike Evans, he of the twanging hammy, on Sunday. And there’s that offensive line. And there’ll be a Tennessee defense overseen by ageless wonder Dick LeBeau, who designed the North’s blitz packages at Gettysburg.No matter. You can’t lose this game.OK, if Jameis looks decent and it comes down to one play and Tennessee wins and …Forget it. There are the games right after that, a journey to the dome in New Orleans. Then there’s a trip to Houston.Mr. Winston, Mr. Watt. Mr. Watt, Mr. Winston.This season could be over before it begins.You can’t lose this game.
