Bucs running back Bobby Rainey said the Bucs were surprised at what the Stinking Panthers were doing defensively.

Bucs running back Bobby Rainey was refreshingly candid but not specific about the struggle of the Bucs running game today in the loss to the Stinking Panthers in Charlotte.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game, Rainey was asked specifically why the run game sputtered.

“They were doing things we didn’t expect or ever see,” Rainey said.

Now Joe can forgive Rainey if he hadn’t seen a few different stunts or line sets or personnel groupings. He has scant experience in the NFL. But in the 12th game of the year, and the Bucs have many veterans on the offensive line, they and their coaches, should have been able to pick things up and adjust.

Of course, the running game was not helped in the second half when, after a Bucs turnover, Cam Newton nailed Ted Ginn for a 36-yard touchdown and Bucs coach Greg Schiano admitted, on the Buccaneers Radio Network, down 24-6, he basically had to scrap the run game to play catch-up.