Spotlight will be on Curtis Painter as Colts face Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t been on “Monday Night Football” in eight years, but the expectation of stage fright won’t be on the home team.

It will be on Curtis Painter, the visiting Indianapolis Colts quarterback whose team displayed so little trust in him heading into a season without injured Peyton Manning, it brought veteran Kerry Collins out of retirement.

With Collins suffering concussion symptoms last week versus Pittsburgh, the Colts turned to Painter, who badly overthrew receiver Pierre Garcon for a probable fourth-quarter touchdown. In 39 passes, Painter has no touchdowns and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble for a touchdown last week.

Now, making his first career start, Painter is charged with trying to keep the Colts from falling to 0-4 for the first time since Manning was a rookie in 1998.

Coach Jim Caldwell — honestly with no other choice in his attempt to rally the troops — is calling Painter “unflappable.”

“He’s one of those guys [who’s] got a lot of inner strength,” Caldwell said on the team’s website. “They say still waters run deep. That’s what I think we see in terms of Curtis.”

Good luck with that, say the Buccaneers, trying to match New Orleans at 3-1 atop the NFC South after defeating division rival Atlanta last week.

The Buccaneers have thus far won with a pedestrian offensive effort, with quarterback Josh Freeman throwing four interceptions to two touchdowns and averaging about 230 yards per game while running back LeGarrette Blount has yet to match his 2010 form.

Tampa Bay’s defense, similarly, has below-average numbers.

With a sellout crowd’s inspiration — and Painter’s probable perspiration — expect the home team to improve its numbers on both sides of the ball.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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