The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' rebuilding effort has not been met with open arms by the team's fans.
When the Buccaneers host the Cleveland Browns in Sunday's regular-season opener, it will mark the first time the game will be blacked out locally since 1997.
Sure, the flagging economy has something to do with it, but Tampa Bay did not exactly provide many reasons for optimism after stumbling to a 3-13 record a year ago in Raheem Morris' first season.
The league's youngest head coach at 34 years old, Morris replaced the popular Jon Gruden prior to last season and watched the Bucs win just one of their first 10 games.
One of the biggest problems for Tampa Bay last season was an inability to stop the run. The Bucs ranked dead last in rushing defense.
Thus, it was a no-brainer to draft Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy with the third overall pick in April's draft.
McCoy has been named a starter and he, along with the rest of the Tampa Bay defense, will get a test from a run-happy Browns offense.
Cleveland overcame a miserable start of its own last season, winning its final four games to finish at 5-11.
Running back Jerome Harrison rambled for 561 yards in the final three games, including a 286-yard effort against the Kansas City Chiefs.
But Harrison also had at least 33 carries in each of those games and wasn't being counted on to do such heavy lifting this season after the Browns drafted Montario Hardesty in the second round. Hardesty, though, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the final preseason game.
New Browns president Mike Holmgren decided to overhaul the passing game by signing veteran Jake Delhomme following the disastrous performances by Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn last season.
Delhomme has his own demons to exorcise after a miserable final season with the Carolina Panthers. He threw just eight touchdown passes against 18 interceptions before he hurt his hand and was yanked from the starting lineup.
Experience, or a lack thereof, is the issue facing second-year Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman.
He was thrust into the lineup midway through last season and endured the customary growing pains, including back-to-back games in which he threw eight interceptions and zero touchdown passes.
Freeman, who is expected to start Sunday despite a broken thumb on his non-throwing hand, did guide the Bucs to a pair of late-season road wins, including a 20-17 victory at the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.
His favorite target will be tight end Kellen Winslow, who hauled in 77 receptions for 884 yards in his first season with Tampa Bay in 2009.
The Bucs are also high on rookie wideout Mike Williams, a mercurial talent whose college career was derailed by a series of off-field incidents.
Former first-round draft pick Carnell “Cadillac” Williams is entrenched as the No. 1 running back after bouncing back from multiple knee surgeries to rush for 821 yards in 16 games last season.