Shame.

The Washington Redskins have been playing some 83 years, beginning as the Boston Braves before moving to our nation’s capital in 1937.

Their rich history includes some of the game’s greatest.

Sammy Baugh was the first NFL quarterback hero. Vince Lombardi coached his final season in Washington. George Allen lorded over the franchise for a handful of storied years. And, of course, Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowl titles.

None of them – not Baugh, not Otto Graham who was a coach in the 1960s, not Lombardi nor Gibbs, not Billy Kilmer or Sonny Jurgensen nor Joe Theismann, ever led a team back from a 24-point deficit to win a game.

No one in 83 years — until yesterday.

Brother of Chucky and Kirk Freaking Cousins pulled off a feat that some of the game’s greatest never could: winning after being down 24 points. That came against the Bucs. Against Lovie Smith’s Bucs. Against the Bucs’ defense. Lovie’s defense!

Joe said earlier this season that if the Bucs lost to the Jags at home, then Lovie might not be able to climb out of that hole. Yesterday’s loss was a crater in the same league.

How in the world can you be a defensive specialist and have such a worthless, rotten, no-account defense? It defies description if not logic.

Lovie (4-18) is not getting the job done, for whatever reason. His sycophants defending him in the local media are starting to shame themselves with the excuses. Where were these same folks when Greg Schiano was in trouble, when Raheem Morris was on thin ice? Those guys did more with less.

But, no! Lovie needs patience. Baloney! Why is he more special than any other coach who would be in deep s(p)it with his same record?

After yesterday, there are no more excuses. So it takes a coach three years just to be able to flirt with a .500 record when he has some of the game’s better players on the roster? Seriously? Stop!

Joe is not calling for Lovie’s head. But Lovie is making his own bed. He’s not helping himself in any way with these embarrassing outings. Can Lovie turn things around? Sure, but he’s quickly running out of time.

After what we have witnessed the past 22 games, why would any Bucs fan have faith Lovie can fix this defense? Just like Chucky lived off of his resumé with Rich Gannon, Lovie seems to be stretching his resumé of making a Super Bowl run in 2006 and the NFC title game in 2010.

Let’s be real: If Lovie Smith’s name was, say, Sam Akers, and he never had a connection with Father Dungy, would he be getting the same free pass in Tampa?

Joe knows better.

Tom Flores and George Seifert won Super Bowls, Flores twice. But their second stints as head coaches with new teams were forgettable and terrible. Just because a coach was in a Super Bowl with one team doesn’t guarantee any success with another.

At this point, no one can say Lovie is doing a better job than the two coaches who preceded him. And they were run out of town for performances better than Lovie’s.

Fans are fed up. Time and excuses have run out. Time to start winning some games against trash teams.

And for a change, Lovie, can you quit letting your defense allow s(p)it opponents like Kirk Freaking Cousins to set franchise records, huh?

Lurid Numbers

Let’s look at how Lovie’s defense has done against dubious opponents, shall we?

In the season opener, a gimmick offense of a rookie put up 209 yards passing and four touchdowns against Lovie’s wholly unprepared defense. Despite no other team scouting Marcus Mariota as much as the Bucs (aside from the Titans), it was as if Lovie saw the guy for the first time. Meanwhile, Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt publicly stated on a national sports radio show how he was going to incorporate Oregon’s offense to help Mariota.

That’s not just a fail, but a calamity. Since, Mariota has done squat.

Against Ryan Mallett, who is so slow mentally he cannot work an alarm clock, the Bucs defense gave up 228 yards passing to a guy who lost starting job with Houston two weeks later.

Second-year quarterback Blake Bortles had a career day against Lovie’s defense despite having a bum shoulder, throwing for 303 yards and four touchdowns, nearly pulling off a comeback.

Then came yesterday and Kirk Freaking Cousins wearing Sammy Baugh throwbacks; Lovie’s defense made Cousins look like Baugh.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

If Lovie doesn’t change things up, and change quickly, then somebody over his head at One Buc Palace is going to make a change for him he may not like.

Flashback

When Doug Martin, late in the fourth quarter, broke loose for a 49-yard run to the Redskins-5, he was caught from behind by Bashaud Breeland. Joe had a flashback to three years ago.

Josh Freeman connected with Vincent Jackson for a 95-yard pass, the longest in Bucs history. Jackson got past the defense and seemingly was on his way to an easy score when the piano on his back got too heavy and he was tackled at the Saints-1.

The Bucs never scored and lost by a touchdown. And sure enough, had Martin scored, the Bucs would have won.

Not hurt

Speaking of Martin, Joe got flooded with Twitter messages about Martin’s health when he sat for chunks at a time yesterday. At halftime, Joe was told by someone who would know such things that Martin was on the bench to rest up, nothing more.

In the locker room after the game, Joe asked around and no Bucs player hinted that Martin was hurt.

Schedule Only Gets Tougher

So if Marcus Mariota, Ryan Mallet, one-armed Drew Brees, one-armed Blake Bortles and Kirk Freaking Cousins can have success slicing up the Bucs defense, does anyone think the Bucs can slow down Matty Ice and Julio Jones this Sunday? Ha!

But if Lovie covets his job, he will find a way to mold a defense to at least keep Matty Ice under 300 yards. May not sound like much, but as horrible as the defense is, baby steps fellas, baby steps.

NFL Thoughts

Seahawks: Call Joe what you will – and many do – but Joe isn’t ready to kick sand in the Seahawks’ faces quite yet. The NFC West is up for grabs and Seattle could still win it.

Jags: A big win for Jacksonville. The Bills melted down and Jacksonville took advantage. E.J. Manuel simply imploded down the stretch. It is starting to look like the Bills made a big mistake hiring Capt. Lou Albano.

Vikings: With Adrian Peterson sick (he still had a 75-yard run), Teddy Bridgewater blew up to put down the toothless Lions. Bridgewater had 316 yards and two touchdowns.

Saints: Don’t look now but Drew Brees is healthy. The Saints wasted little time rolling up to a 27-0 lead and put away the Colts.

Chiefs: Bad, bad loss by the Steelers. Alex Smith threw for 251 yards and the Chiefs kicked three field goals early to stun Pittsburgh.

Dolphins: Interim Dolphins coach Dan Campbell has done more in two games than Lovie Smith has done with the Bucs all season. He has awakened the team, as the Dolphins won consecutive games. Ryan Tannehill had four touchdown passes as Miami hammered Houston. The Dolphins led 41-0 at halftime.

Patriots: Tom Brady… yada, yada, yada…

Rams: The Jekyll and Hyde Rams won this time over the sorry Browns in which Josh McClown was Josh McClown which is turnover-prone, losery ways.

Dixie Chicks: Julio Jones and Matty Ice link up for a touchdown pass late in the third that proved to be the difference. Only 10 points beat Tennessee.

Raiders: So the Chargers damn near beat the Packers last week and this week they gag at home to the Raiders? Derek Carr threw three touchdowns.

Giants: You rarely see a decent kickoff return any more, but that is just what won the game for the Giants. Dwayne Harris’ 100-yard kickoff return with 13 seconds left in the game put the Giants over the top.

Stinking Panthers: Good teams find a way to win. Cam Newton was way off but somehow the Stinking Panthers squeaked out enough offense and its tough defense late saved the day.

Non-NFL Thoughts:

* College football rarely disappoints. On a weekend that was supposed to be ho-hum, it was anything but. First, the Utes go down from the list of the unbeaten, as well as Florida State. Falling to the Yellow Jackets (which always give the Noles a fight) winning on a blocked field goal return on the final play of the game was too much like Michigan State beating Michigan on a blocked punt return.

* Does Alabama play down to its opponents? Seems like sometimes this year they do. How else to explain why they were in a dogfight with Tennessee?

* Ohio State is starting to look like the championship contender they were purported to be.

* The inevitable happened yesterday. Al Golden got fired. After getting woodshedded by Clemson, there was no way he and the ‘Canes were going to recover. May as well cut ties now and stop the bleeding and start your search for a successor. That’s what Miami did.

* So both George O’Leary at Georgia Tech and Golden bit the dust yesterday. O’Leary retired (or pulled a Steve Spurrier and quit). Joe isn’t trolling here at all: Which is the better job, Central Florida or Miami? Seriously.

* Washington, D.C. is such a fascinating city, and so is its surrounding area. This is the second time Joe has been to our nation’s capital and, outside of someone living there part-time, there is simply not enough time to see everything. Not that Joe is a world traveler (never been outside our nation’s borders), but there isn’t any area Joe has been to that is so rich in history that it almost comes alive. Just walking the streets near all the federal buildings and monuments and halls of the Capitol and White House (yes, Joe was once a guest at the White House), you can actually feel the power. Meandering through the museums, one can almost hear the voices of the past. For a history geek like Joe, Washington is a never-ending quest to absorb and learn.

* One place Joe visited Saturday is not a place anyone wants to go to but a place everyone should go. That is the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was a powerful experience. Again, being a history geek, especially World War II stuff, Joe has read and watched countless books, documentaries and films of the events leading up to and including World War II. A bunch of stuff in the museum, of course, Joe already read about/watched. But the first-hand accounts of folks that lived perhaps the most grotesque crime of mankind and the amount of detail involved in the museum was almost overwhelming. And yes, Joe learned a lot from the experience. It should be a mandate that anyone visiting Washington visit the Holocaust Museum. A civic duty for all.

* Of all the museums and monuments in Washington – seemingly endless – Joe can’t find one for Donald Segretti. Why?

* For only the second time ever, Joe took a subway to a football game. The first time was to a Georgia Tech game years ago. How refreshing to not fight traffic and get to a stadium quickly. Memo to the politicos of Tampa Bay: we will never be a first class region until or unless there is a rapid transit system (buses don’t count). Captains of Industry generally relocate their businesses to areas where getting to work is not a worsening daily chore, and workers can consistently arrive to their jobs on time.

* While walking to the Capitol to tour the place late Friday, Joe came across a scene of Americana that doesn’t get any better. Right across the street from the Capitol in a leafy park, quite literally in the shadow of the Capitol, were four boys that looked to be roughly 8-10 years old, playing football on a perfect Mid-Atlantic fall afternoon. A Norman Rockwell moment, indeed.

* Forgive Joe for sounding like a jingoist, but Joe is glad there are two American teams battling in the Fall Classic for the title of America’s Pastime. Sorry, Canada.