Jeremy Trueblood's penalities are hampering an already stagnant Bucs offense.

The Bucs are brutal. Anyone who suggests otherwise is either a fraud or Rachel Watson.

Part of the reason the Bucs stink out loud has nothing to do with athletic ability or football acument but simple common sense, Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune points out. In short, penalties are crippling the Bucs already impotent offense (are you reading this Jeremy Trueblood?).

The Buccaneers (0-4) have committed 27 penalties for 197 yards in four games, which is slightly above the league average of 23 penalties and 190 yards per game.

The costly nature of the Tampa Bay penalties is most reflected in the Buccaneers’ third down conversions, a statistical category that offers some explanation of why Tampa Bay has scored just 13 points in its last two games, and 54 points overall, 28 below the league average of 82 points.

The Buccaneers are last in the NFL on third down conversions when they have six or more yards to pick up.

It’s hard enough to win in the NFL even with good players. No matter how good a team is, eventually penalties will catch up with them. Penalties for a bad is a virtual death sentence.