Though their 1-5 record suggests the Bucs are as far out of the division title race as they were that game against the Ravens, Smith believes there’s a lot more than pride left to play for this year.

With 10 games still to play and a favorite yet to emerge in the division, Smith likened the Bucs’ situation to one in which a team is trailing by a few scores early in the game.

“It’s like there’s 71⁄2 minutes left in the second quarter and we’re behind,’’ Smith said. “But games aren’t decided until the end. You have to play it out. That’s what we’re going to do.

“And I would tell the fans, just look at the overall picture of where we are. We’ve been very disappointed in our play (in a 56-14 loss to Atlanta and a 48-17 loss to Baltimore). There’s no way to sugar coat that. But in the other four games, that was a decent football team that hasn’t found out how to win consistently — yet. So we’re disappointed right now, but things will change.’’

via Associated Press and The Tampa Times