11 of 12

John Bazemore/Associated Press

"Winner:" Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8 votes)

Heading into the 2014 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were labeled a dark-horse playoff contender by many pundits.

Even after an 0-2 start to the season that saw the Buccaneers lose to a pair of backup quarterbacks, three members of our panel (myself included) picked Tampa as the "upset of the week" over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.

Yeah, um, about that.

The Buccaneers didn't just lose. They were embarrassed in every way in which a team can be embarrassed. The Falcons scored the first 56 points of the game en route to the second-most lopsided win in franchise history.

The Buccaneers were terrible in every way that a team can be terrible. Want some horrific decision-making? Keep kicking it to Devin Hester after his long return on the first punt of the game gets called back due to a penalty.

Tampa was completely inept offensively, except when it came to turning the ball over. They had little trouble with that.

The defense was great, just so long as you don't nitpick about little things like tackling, pursuit and effort.

However, players such as offensive tackle Demar Dotson are rallying around both their teammates and embattled first-year head coach Lovie Smith, according to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com:

We can’t see 0-4. I don’t want to see 0-4. This football team doesn’t want to see 0-4. It’s going to be a big challenge for us to go out there. Can we beat Pittsburgh? Yeah, we can, but it starts today. This ain’t on Lovie. When you come out there on the field, the players have to play. The players didn’t play. It’s not on Lovie. He did everything he could to prepare us. It’s all on us. We didn’t play good enough.

Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports, on the other hand, was withering in his criticism of the team:

Where did it go so wrong for the hapless Bucs? Perhaps go back to the offseason decision at quarterback. The Buccaneers had the all-rookie quarterback from last year, Glennon. Coach Lovie Smith came in and decided he had to have a veteran at quarterback, any veteran. He got Josh McCown, who was mediocre for a decade before five good starts with the Bears last year. McCown has been bad. He threw a pick-6 in the first half that gave Atlanta 21-0 lead. Smith screwed that situation up tremendously by not at least letting Glennon show what he could do in year two. McCown was knocked out of the game with a thumb injury in the first half, giving way to Glennon for the rest of the game. The quarterback situation isn't the only problem. The team has a leadership problem, obviously. Everyone blamed Greg Schiano, last year's coach, for the team's 4-12 record. He was fired. The Buccaneers look even worse this season. Can't blame Schiano anymore. Can't put it all on Smith either. He wasn't around for last year's debacle. When a team rolls over like Tampa Bay did, knowing that at 0-2 its last chance to make something of its season probably rested in going to Atlanta and getting a win, wholesale changes need to be made. The only good news for the Buccaneers is it can't get any worse. They can't quit on the season twice.

And that's the thing. From all appearances, the Buccaneers flat-out quit last Thursday night.

There's no worse decision than can be made on a football field.

Or maybe there is. As Bleacher Report NFL National Lead Writer Ty Schalter wrote, "How does (Stephen) Tulloch blowing out his knee on a mock Discount Double-Check not earn him a unanimous Worst Decision vote? It’s way out in front of the Worst Decision of 2014 race, too."

Then there's that.

Others receiving votes: Stephen Tulloch's season-ending sack dance (2 votes), Ron Rivera eschewing the run against the Pittsburgh Steelers (2 votes), Denver Broncos' play-calling on offense and in overtime (2 votes), Miami Dolphins' offensive play-calling (1 vote)