The Brutal Bucs are so miserable, they have grabbed the attention of virtually all the NFL, sort of like a twisted version of the New Orleans Saints.

The Bucs winless record at the bye was not lost on Steve Silverman of NBCSports.com. In handing out midseason grades, not surprisingly, he flunked the Bucs.

What they’ve done well: Zilch. There is little receiving talent and poor blocking for new quarterback Josh Freeman. The Bucs have played hard on defense, and they are just average, allowing 214.0 yards per game, 15th in the league.

Needs improvement: The Bucs struggle to block whether it’s for the running game or the passing game. That’s a tough way to try to win football games. Tampa Bay is averaging 272.3 yards per game, (28th overall) and just 4.6 yards per play.

This is one of the more disturbing things about the Bucs. The offensive line was the most impressive element of the team last year and seemed it was on the cusp of greatness.

Then the Bucs decided to flip to a zone blocking technique. Right now, the cliche, “Don’t fix something that’s not broken” springs to mind for Joe.