National Football League

Winless Buccaneers prepare for long trip to London

Published Oct. 21, 2009 4:00 p.m. ET

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Hours after Tampa Bay stumbled to 0-6 for the first time in 24 years, Buccaneers rookie head coach Raheem Morris went to bed without watching film of his team's next opponent.

The Bucs have to fly across the Atlantic Ocean this week to London for a "home" game against New England.

When Morris awakened Monday, he learned that the Patriots had routed the winless Tennessee Titans 59-0.

If the long trip to the United Kingdom isn't bad enough, Tampa Bay is off to its worst start since 1985. The Buccaneers are riding a 10-game losing streak that's the franchise's longest since 1977 - when they were in the middle of an NFL-record 26-game skid.

"You're obviously happy to take your game international and make it a bigger game than it already is. ... At the same time, you're going to play a team that just scored 59 points," Morris said.

"Bill Belichick is not going to take it easy on us. He just played an 0 and whatever team yesterday, and the score was 59-0. Now he's going to play another one. I'm sure Bill Belichick is licking his chops. And, he should be."

Don't take that as the Bucs conceding anything other than they face a daunting task on Sunday.

Still, the way New England (4-2) handled Tennessee in the snow does raise suspicion about what Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense might be able to do against a defense that's had difficulty stopping the run as well as the pass.

Tampa Bay allowed 267 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in a 28-21 loss to Carolina on Sunday.

After Jake Delhomme threw two second-half interceptions that helped Tampa Bay get back in the game, the Panthers essentially took the ball out of the quarterback's hands on a game-winning drive that covered 80 yards in 16 plays and lasted more than 8 minutes.

DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, who both ran for over 100 yards, carried 15 times in the march.

The Carolina offense took over with 8:33 remaining, and Tampa Bay didn't get ball back until after Williams scored the winning touchdown with 29 seconds left.

"It was a very frustrating way to lose a game. ... It was kind of getting out-footballed, you might say," Bucs linebacker Barrett Ruud said.

"It wasn't a matter of effort or toughness or want to, it was getting out-executed, getting outplayed. If you get 14 or 15 straight runs on you, and they're getting 5 yards every time they run it, you've got to find a way to stop. We didn't."

The Bucs are ranked 31st in run defense and haven't been much better against the pass. Although Delhomme threw for just 65 yards and one TD, Tampa Bay has allowed eight completions of 40-plus yards this season - seven for touchdowns.

Brady threw six TD passes against the Titans, five in the second quarter while the Patriots were building a 45-0 halftime lead.

"We know the team we're playing," safety Sabby Piscitelli said. "But again, it's about us and executing our assignments. I think its starts with a good week of practice."

Morris, who inherited a team that lost four in a row in December to miss the playoffs following a 9-3 start last season, said he is not discouraged.

The first-year coach said he saw enough progress to remain positive about the direction of the team.

"The results right now are disappointing. But to see people start to grow and develop into what they can become are pretty encouraging," Morris said.

"We had some opportunities to win," he added. "We just need to play better."

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