If the Bucs looked helpless through the first seven weeks of the season, imagine how they felt in Week 8. All they could do was watch while both Tennessee and St. Louis won for the first time this year, leaving Tampa Bay as the league’s lone winless team.

The Titans, with quarterback Vince Young making his first start since Week 1 of 2008, destroyed the Jaguars to get off the schneid. And the Rams edged the Lions, thanks to a touchdown off a fake field goal and a TD run by Steven Jackson with 1:38 remaining.

The Bucs? They spent this past weekend licking their wounds and trying to figure out how to stop a slide that has reached 11 games over the last two seasons and could, if substantial improvements are not made, lead to the same 0-16 fate that immortalized the 2008 Detroit Lions.

“We need to work on fundamentals,” rookie wide receiver Sammie Stroughter said. “Tackling, catching, blocking. Everything.”

That pretty much sums it up.

Here’s how Athlon Sports stacks the 32 teams through eight weeks of the NFL season.

1. New Orleans (7-0). No new assistant coach has had more of an impact this season than Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

2. Indianapolis (7-0). With their 16th consecutive regular-season win, the Colts completed a perfect regular season — in a Tiger Woods Grand Slam manner of speaking.

3. Minnesota (7-1). You can take the boy out of Lambeau, but you can’t make the boy stop winning there.

4. Denver (6-1). Forget the clunker in Baltimore — unless it’s followed by another one against Pittsburgh.

5. New England (5-2). The Patriots are 2-2 against non-lousy teams — which is what they face the next five weeks.

6. Cincinnati (5-2). The Bengals’ next two weeks feature rematches with the division rival Ravens and Steelers, both bent on revenge.

7. Pittsburgh (5-2). You say potato, I say Polamalu. You say tomato, I say Tomlin.

8. Dallas (5-2). I keep reading the words “Romo” and “flawless” in the same sentence. Has this season taken a weird turn or what?

9. Philadelphia (5-2). Considering every one of DeSean Jackson’s six touchdowns this season is over 50 yards, defenses holding the Eagles in their own territory would be wise to avoid the “got ’em right where we want ’em” mentality.

10. Baltimore (4-3). It was vintage Ravens defensive play that sent the Broncos spiraling from the ranks of the unbeaten.

11. Atlanta (4-3). Steelers safety Troy Polamalu’s Week 1 interception against the Titans was the most spectacular pick I’ve seen this season. Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes’ leaping steal of a Drew Brees pass Monday night was a close second.

12. New York Giants (5-3). Remember that rookie a few paragraphs above talking about the Bucs needing to work on fundamentals? They’re not the only ones.

13. Arizona (4-3). Don’t tell me there’s no such thing as karma. How else can you explain Kurt Warner accumulating the exact same turnover stats (five picks, one fumble) against the Panthers that Jake Delhomme had against the Cardinals in their playoff game last year?

14. New York Jets (4-4). The Dolphins just seem to have the Jets’ number, Wildcat success or no.

15. Houston (5-3). It took only seven and a half years, but for the first time ever, the Texans are two games over .500.

16. San Diego (4-3). Hate to say it, but LaDainian Tomlinson is running like pretty much any other 30-year-old running back you’ve ever seen.

17. Green Bay (4-3). Funniest play I’ve seen this season: Minnesota’s Percy Harvin leaping for a Brett Favre bullet and three Packers falling around him like bowling pins.

18. Chicago (4-3). Jake Delhomme once had a commanding lead in the INT department, but Jay Cutler is closing fast.

19. Miami (3-4). Who knew the way to get the most out of Ted Ginn Jr. was to play him less?

20. Carolina (3-4). As for that karma mentioned seven slots above, let’s hope it means Jake Delhomme can go back to being the mediocre passer he was before last year’s playoff disaster turned him south.

21. San Francisco (3-4). It took only three and a half years, but tight end Vernon Davis is finally delivering on the promise that made him the sixth pick of the 2006 NFL Draft.

22. Jacksonville (3-4). Coach Jack Del Rio, after the Jaguars’ loss to the Titans: “I don’t have any injury news to bring you. I’m not sure we hit anyone hard enough to hurt ourselves or them.” Zing!

23. Buffalo (3-5). Only five NFL players had seven or more interceptions last season. Rookie Jairus Byrd has seven picks — in the last four weeks.

24. Seattle (2-5). I can see the Seahawks finishing as high as 6-10 — but only because there are several dog teams left on their schedule. Even so, 4-12 is more like it.

25. Oakland (2-6). JaMarcus Russell tends to soft-sell his mistakes, like the interception he threw that he said “didn’t do too much damage” even though the Chargers scored a touchdown two plays later. Does he watch the games he plays in?

26. Tennessee (1-6). Sometimes you just accept the what without understanding the why. And the irrefutable fact is that Vince Young wins football games.

27. Washington (2-5). All but one team left on the Redskins’ schedule has a winning record at the moment. Pity Jim Zorn, who apparently gets to suffer through it.

28. Kansas City (1-6). Many players who did what Larry Johnson did — insult the head coach and use a gay slur — would be out of a job. But the Chiefs are so messed up, keeping him might be greater punishment than setting him free.

29. St. Louis (1-7). Steven Jackson is a beast. The Rams would have a couple more wins if anybody else who touches the ball on offense had his talent and determination.

30. Detroit (1-6). Matthew Stafford might stand half a chance if his receivers could hold onto the ball.

31. Cleveland (1-7). After the Browns’ latest lopsided loss, Jamal Lewis announced that he would retire after the season. “I’m done,” he said. As are the Browns.

32. Tampa Bay (0-7). Many great quarterbacks, from Terry Bradshaw to John Elway to Troy Aikman, took their lumps as rookies. I don’t know if Josh Freeman will be great, but he’ll definitely take his lumps.

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