Dazed and confused
| |  | | Johnson and the Bucs are struggling. |
Keyshawn Johnson looked and felt like he had been pummeled in a boxing match in Thursday night's 28-14 loss to the Lions. Johnson's face was bruised, the result of the pounding he took from the Lions' secondary, including a third-quarter hit by Corwin Brown that knocked Johnson's helmet off and left the receiver sprawled on the field face down. "I feel like I was in a Tyson fight, but I'll be all right," said Johnson, who left the game for the final play of a series but returned on the Bucs' next possession and finished with six receptions for 79 yards.
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Time to dig down deep
| |  | | Dungy has to rally his troops now. |
The Buccaneers' offense, unable to put the ball in the end zone, resembled the Ravens' offense Thursday night. A safety and four Martin Gramatica field goals accounted for all of Tampa Bay's points in a 28-14 loss to the Lions.The Bucs, who began the season with three consecutive victories, have been inconsistent on offense, and uncharacteristic mistakes on defense and special teams have contributed to the team's first four-game losing streak since 1996 – Tony Dungy's first season as head coach – when they started 0-5.
Clayton: Offense hurting Bucs
That the Bucs are 3-4 isn't new, but the way they are 3-4 is. They've lost four in a row, and opponents can get into physical slugfests with them and win. The Super Bowl is being held on their grass field this January, but the team that many believed would be the NFC's best is finding out you can't win with defense alone.
Complete John Clayton column
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Tampa Bay news conference
Tony Dungy comments on the Buccaneers' loss to the Lions at their Friday news conference.
