TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are an emotional team with wild mood swings. From quarterback Josh McCown shedding tears following the team’s 27-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday to Austin Seferian-Jenkins’ Captain Morgan-like touchdown celebration that led to a 15-yard penalty to set up the Falcons’ game-winning touchdown drive.

But nobody can escape the somber 1-8 record under coach Lovie Smith or the five blown leads in the fourth quarter this season, the most in the NFL.

“One and eight,” McCown said. “One and eight and, uh, one and eight. You want to give your teammates and the coaches and the fans and your family and everybody here better than that. It just hurts. It hurts.”

Making his first start since injuring his right thumb against the Falcons in Week 3, McCown passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns before throwing two late interceptions Sunday.

“It doesn’t matter (how I played). We lost,” McCown said. “We lost. As a quarterback, it starts with me. I’ve got to be better. It’s disappointing. This game, man, you go and prepare with guys every week, and coaches, and they grind you. Everybody puts their time in and works so hard. You lay it out there for each other, and when you walk off and come up short week in and week out, it hurts. That’s what hurts.

“And you realize the fans, they come to this game, and whatever else is going on in their life, they want to come be in this stadium to watch us win football games and bring them joy. So all of that … man, to not be able to do that, to not be able to give that to ourselves, our teammates, our coaches, our fans, it just hurts. It just hurts man.”

The Bucs hurt themselves with penalties Sunday as they were flagged 10 times for 79 yards. Three of those infractions came on third downs defensively that resulted in first downs for the Falcons.

None were bigger than when Bucs cornerback Johnthan Banks was called for illegal contact on third-and-6 at the Tampa Bay 16-yard line and the Bucs clinging to a one-point lead. Two plays later, Ryan hit wide receiver Roddy White for the go-ahead touchdown.

No penalty was more ridiculous than after Seferian-Jenkins’ touchdown reception, he stood on the football and posed with his arms folded, drawing a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike contact because of an illegal celebration.

Seferian-Jenkins, who dropped a pass and had holding and false start penalties in the game Sunday, said he didn’t know you can’t use the ball as a prop, according to NFL rules.

On Monday, he posted an Instagram picture of the illegal celebration, saying ‘everybody has a little Captain in them. #Itsabuclife.’ He was confronted by Smith, who ordered Seferian-Jenkins to take down the post.

“At the end of the day, it’s my Instagram. I posted a picture. I shouldn’t have posted it,” Seferian-Jenkins said. “We’re in the middle of a 1-8 season and I can see why people are upset with it for a multitude of reasons and the last thing I want to do is put myself in front of the team in any way. I want to let my play do the talking, not anything after we score.

“Because at the end of the day, we got seven points but it gave them 15 yards which led to a game-winning score. You can’t have it. You need to be more mature, but when you’re in the heat of the game, you’re just having fun, you’re enjoying it, you work so hard and you’re just having fun. That’s what it was.”

The Bucs were awful on third down defensively Sunday. The Falcons drew a first-down penalty on third-and-15, converted third-and-12, third-and-10 and third-and-7 with Ryan passes to Julio Jones. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was 6-for-9 for 98 yards on third down, including four third-down conversions on passes to Julio Jones.

“You’ve got to convert on those situations, especially some of the third-and-longs we had,” Smith said. “We had our opportunities. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a penalty. It’s the same whether it’s a penalty or just bad play. When you let an offense convert whatever way, you’re keeping a drive going. In a game like that yesterday, many practices, many days ago, we talked about what we needed to do defensively to be a good defense. Part of that is being one of the best third down defenses around. There’s a lot that goes into that. That along with other things, we’re not there yet. We’ve got to do a better job with it.”

–QB Josh McCown suffered a back injury in Sunday’s game against the Falcons, but it is not expected to be severe enough to keep him from starting next week at Washington.

–T Demar Dotson was forced to leave Sunday’s game in the fourth quarter with a neck strain. He has a chance to play versus the Redskins.

–LT Anthony Collins, who missed the last two games with a foot injury, could return to practice Wednesday.

–DE Michael Johnson, who missed Sunday’s game with a hand injury, could play at Washington this week.

REPORT CARD VS. THE FALCONS

PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus — McCown gave the Bucs some life by passing for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Evans, who had 125 yards and a score, is a beast. But the offensive line allowed four sacks to a Falcons team that entered the game with seven all season, three of those coming against Tampa Bay in an earlier meeting.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D-minus — When your leading rusher is the quarterback, that’s not a good day running the ball most likely. The Bucs weren’t committed to the run Sunday. Rookie Charles Sims saw his first action of the season and lost a fumble. His longest run from scrimmage was six yards.

PASSING DEFENSE: D — The Bucs did not get any pressure on QB Matt Ryan, despite one of the league’s worst offensive lines. Atlanta neutralized DT Gerald McCoy and none of his teammates could beat one-on-one blocking. Clinton McDonald had a sack and that was it. The secondary allowed too many third down conversions and did not contest many balls.

RUSHING DEFENSE: C — Stephen Jackson began the first and second halves with a head of steam. He was a problem and kept the Bucs pass rushers on their heels. It also set up play-action so Ryan had time to look downfield.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D — The Bucs allowed a long kickoff return before the end of the first half to enable the Falcons to kick a field goal before intermission. Even though Marcus Thigpen had the longest punt return of the season and Patrick Murray hit another 50-yard plus field goal, the day was ruined by the poor punting of Michael Koenen.

COACHING: D — The Bucs have now lost five straight and 11 of 12 dating back to last season. Turning around the culture won’t be easy with a team that beats itself with penalties.