The Tampa Bay Bucs were the Kings of the Press Clippings during the off-season. Sexy beasts in the NFC South and beyond. Tune into HBO's Hard Knocks for the R-rated reviews. Ravishing.
But the fall has snuck up on them quickly, revealing warts, pimples and the propensity for losing football games.
They returned home after last weekend's 30-27 giveaway to the Buffalo Bills hoping for a little rejuvenation juice at Raymond James Stadium.
Instead, the Bucs produced another lethargic stumble, and they are no longer a team chasing destiny in the playoffs. They are officially in survival mode as they approach a nine-game window of urgency:
Win a bunch of games or do the walk of shame back home.
A 2-5 start, exacerbated by a 17-3 stinker loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, does not reflect kindly on the new reality for the Bucs. They have lost four consecutive games.
"We have a good football team on paper," said offensive tackle Demar Dotson. "In the offseason everybody was praising us and chanting our name but unfortunately that doesn't win football games."
The Bucs are learning what loses football games, however. Bad defense last week, followed by horrid offense this week.
Jameis Winston _ perhaps still dealing with residual soreness two weeks after a shoulder injury in Arizona _ turned it over three times with two interceptions and a fumble. Throw in only 210 passing yards, and you have a Holy Trinity of Badness.
Now in his third year, Winston is still in developmental mode in tight jams when he forces a pass in scramble situations. Usually bad things happen. Cue Julius Peppers, who strip-sacked Winston as he was trying a short shovel pass to a receiver. The fumble was recovered by safety Kurt Coleman, ending a second-quarter drive.
Even if you factor in a little (or maybe more significant) boo-boo in Winston's throwing shoulder with slight wind gusts on Sunday, it's inexcusable _ and perplexing _ that the Bucs looked so stagnant.
"We played terrible," wide receiver Mike Evans said. "Too many penalties. Too many missed opportunities. Didn't execute at all."
That about covers it. And answers continue to disappear into a black hole of logical explanations.
Winston says he is healthy enough to play, even though coach Dirk Koetter revealed late this week that Winston tweaked his throwing shoulder again against Buffalo.
The secondary is banged up with Brent Grimes, Josh Robinson and Robert McClain all inactive on Sunday, but they checked Cam Newton on 18 completions for 154 yards on Sunday with only one touchdown.
The running game was decent, with Doug Martin scratching out 71 yards.
Add it up and they scored only three points in another loss.
"It starts with us players," Dotson said. "The coaches are putting us in the best position to be successful and we're just not performing at the best of our ability... "We're wasting a talented football team."
He's right, you know.
The NFL is like a very fickle child who likes veggies one week and hates them the next. So crazy things can still happen. The Bucs are last in their division and face the team at the top, the 5-2 New Orleans Saints, next week.
Their chances of making good on all that hype starts next week, and to a man, the Bucs will no doubt stick to that script as all struggling football teams do.
But in the end, they will be revealed as legitimate contenders or paper frauds. An honest look will tell you that everything isn't fixable. Even if they go 7-2, that only gets them to 9-7, a fringe playoff team.
"We're not as good as we thought we were," Evans said. "We have to pick this (bleep) up right away."
He's right, you know. The question now becomes: Are they as bad as they look?
