Things have gotten ugly the last few weeks for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have lost four out of their last five games and the last two have been embarrassing efforts against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers. Those teams have only four wins combined on the season and two of them have come against Tampa Bay.

This is a team that is struggling to find any consistency on offense and injuries along the offensive line are a big part of that. The Buccaneers cannot run the ball, as they are averaging 3.0 yards per carry on the season. The passing offense led by Tom Brady hasn’t been any better.

Brady is getting hit a lot and there is just no rhythm to the offense. Father Time looks like he is catching up to Brady, who did announce his retirement during the offseason but ended up deciding to come back a few weeks later. As many professional athletes have said, once you even start considering retirement, it is time to walk away.

Tampa Bay’s performance in recent weeks has been concerning and things aren’t going to get any easier in the following weeks. The Baltimore Ravens are paying them a visit on Thursday Night Football and that could be a rude awakening given the mix of hard-nosed football and athleticism the Ravens use to overpower opponents with.

Lack of speed is something that former head coach Rex Ryan believes is hurting the Buccaneers. During a recent appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Ryan had some strong words for the Tampa Bay offense, which is currently 31st in speed, with only the Indianapolis Colts playing slower.

“This team is old and slow. … They are unwatchable on offense.”

Ryan made sure to praise the Buccaneers for at least trying to find some answers, but overall, the team has no speed on the field. He doesn’t see a quick fix for the team as he believes the defense is performing under expectations as well.

As long as Brady is under center, the Buccaneers should have a chance to compete. But, we will learn a lot about this team in the next three weeks. After the game against the Ravens, they host the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks before their bye in Week 11.

This stretch of three games could determine the fate of their season. The Ravens present a good measuring stick game while the Rams and Seahawks are two teams the Buccaneers look like they will be competing directly with for a playoff spot.