National Football League

Buccaneers take on Bengals still looking for first home win under Lovie Smith

Published Nov. 29, 2014 2:00 p.m. ET

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TAMPA, Fla. -- At 2-9, they're alive.

Believe it. Mock it. Cast it aside as nonsense.

Whatever you do with the fact that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain two games out in the NFC South race, remember this: They remain breathing. It's amazing, certainly. It may mean nothing soon. Then again, it may mean more than we realize now.

The next step of the Bucs' strange-and-surreal journey takes place when the Cincinnati Bengals visit Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Cincinnati (7-3-1) has won four of its past five games to rise to the top of the brutal AFC North. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, still hasn't claimed a victory at home under coach Lovie Smith.

Now would be a fine time to begin.

"We want to win every game -- home, away," Smith said. "There's certain opponents each week that you want to win for certain reasons, But yes, Raymond James Stadium, for us to be able to get a win is very important -- that in itself, and, of course, you look at the importance of this game as a whole too."

The ingredients for winning are obvious. The Bucs must create pressure up front to frazzle Andy Dalton. Receiving more than an invisible rushing threat would help too. Mike Evans must continue his hot spell. Josh McCown must be more Good Josh than Bad.

Mock the hope. Call it crazy. Consider it far-fetched, insane, wild.

That's fair. That's understood. That's the logical thing to do.

But if the Bucs win Sunday, if they turn two victories into three, who knows from there?

Here's a closer look at the Bucs' Week 13 matchup against the Bengals ...

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Bucs' running game vs. the Bengals' defense

The Bengals' defense ranks 27th in the NFL by allowing 129.6 rushing yards per game. Problem is, the Bucs' rushing offense has been terrible, averaging just 84 yards per game (29th in the league). Something has to give. It will be curious to see if Tampa Bay continues to feed a struggling Doug Martin, who was ineffective with 27 yards on 11 carries last Sunday against the Chicago Bears. The Bucs would be wise to use Bobby Rainey and Charles Sims more often. For someone who leads his team in rushing by more than 200 yards with 395 total, Rainey sure isn't treated like it. He had 3 yards on one carry in the loss to Chicago.

TRENDING UP

Bengals: Cincinnati is a threat to pound the ball effectively. The Bengals rank eighth in the NFL by averaging 125.6 rushing yards per game. Jeremy Hill is 16th in the league with 643 yards. He has the potential to produce monster games, as evidenced by his 154-yard effort against the Jacksonville Jaguars and 152-yard outbreak against the New Orleans Saints. Containing him will be key. The Bucs have been decent against the run of late and rank 19th in the NFL by allowing 116.4 yards on the ground per game.

Buccaneers: Recently, glimpses have been seen of what the Bucs' defense could have been all along. The Bucs weren't as strong against the Bears as they were in their victory over the Washington Redskins, but they were dominant in stretches last Sunday, especially in the first half. They sacked Jay Cutler three times. They confused and frustrated the Bears' offense en route to building a 10-0 halftime lead. Jacquies Smith has been a sparkplug at defensive end, totaling four sacks and nine tackles in 10 games. He has had at least one sack in three of the past four games. If he continues to grow, offenses better watch out.

TRENDING DOWN

Bengals: Dalton could give the Bucs opportunities to snag interceptions. He has thrown at least one in six games this season, the worst span coming when he tossed six in a three-game stretch against the Baltimore Ravens, Jaguars and Cleveland Browns to end October and start November. For someone who the Bengals decided was their answer at quarterback far into the future, Dalton has a tendency to be frustratingly inconsistent. He has thrown 10 interceptions this season, marking his fourth consecutive campaign with double-digit picks. If the Bucs produce pressure, Dalton could be in for a long day.

Buccaneers: Bad McCown appeared against the Bears. He threw two interceptions and was responsible for a costly fumble deep in Bucs territory in the third quarter. After looking like a composed leader in the previous two weeks, against the Redskins and Atlanta Falcons, the loss the Bears was an obvious step back. His stat line in his return to the Windy City -- 25-of-48 passing for 341 yards and one touchdown -- was deceiving. His three turnovers were more significant.

DID YOU KNOW?

Of the Bucs' five remaining games, the only two against teams with losing records include NFC South foes (Carolina Panthers in Week 15 and Saints in Week 17).

QUOTEBOARD

"I think that's safe to say. We haven't played as well on the offensive line as we would have hoped. We thought we needed to retool it starting off, had a few injuries, but we haven't played as well as we need to. Everything starts up front. So as we talk about what we're doing offensively, I'll always start off talking about what we can do with our offensive line. As we talk about our defense and about the last month or so, we've played a lot better -- the defensive line has led that charge. So I think that's safe to say." -- Smith, when speaking Monday about how the reconstruction of the offensive line has not gone according to plan. The Bucs' offensive line has been criticized throughout the season.

"Listen, it's crazy and nobody, I would say (no) team in our division expected to be where we're all sitting right now and it's unfortunate, but the reality of our division right now is that it is still up for grabs and we're not in the favorable position, but we're not out. You don't want it to come like this, with this kind of record, but at the same time you want to be playing meaningful in late November and December and hopefully we can continue to put ourselves in position to do that and it starts by beating Cincinnati." -- McCown, when speaking Tuesday about the Bucs' chances of winning the NFC South. Tampa Bay remains two wins behind the Saints and Falcons at 2-9.

"We have to keep taking steps forward and when it comes down to it, it's just about doing our job and I'm just doing that consistently throughout the whole entire game." -- Martin, when speaking Tuesday about trying to bring life to the Bucs' running game. Tampa Bay ranks 29th in the NFL by averaging 84 rushing yards per game.

"It's just everybody playing together, everybody holding each other accountable and guys just getting back into their playbooks and getting back to the basics. Everyone is doing what we're supposed to do and that's helping out a lot." -- Linebacker Lavonte David, when speaking Friday about recent improvement by the Bucs' defense. Tampa Bay's unit had stood as one of the NFL's worst for most of the season.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bucs play at the Detroit Lions at 1 p.m. Dec. 7 at Ford Field. Tampa Bay is 27-29 all-time against Detroit, the most-recent result a 24-21 Bucs victory on Nov. 24, 2013, at Ford Field.

You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.