Tampa Fla. ? Three games in 11 days is a challenge for any NFL team, let alone one facing an uphill battle to save its season.

The struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-6) embark on such a journey Monday night at Carolina. They return home to play Washington the following Sunday, then finish the laborious stretch at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day.

In less than two weeks, they could pump some semblance of hope back into their season or sink even deeper into misery.

“For one, I’m looking forward to it because, if you look at it in these terms, we have a chance to get to 5-6 quick,” running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams said.

“Two-and-six is definitely not a good feeling. With the upcoming schedule that we have, I feel like as a team we should look at it as we’ve got a chance to go 5-6 in a couple of days. That’s the bright side of it.”

The flip side is historically teams have not fared well under similar circumstances, especially when two of the three games are on the road.

The Bucs are the fourth team since 1978 scheduled to play three games in 11 days, with two of them on the road.

The previous three – Seattle (0-3) in 1980, Washington (1-2) in 1990 and Buffalo (1-2) in 1994 – went a combined 2-7.

“It’s going to be challenging, without a question. I’ve never been through anything like it,” said receiver Ike Hilliard.