Joe’s already called opening day against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 13 in Tampa a “must-win.”

It’s not a must-win for the standings. Duh. But it is necessary for the psyche of a fanbase that hasn’t seen a home victory since 2013, and compares Jameis Winston to Marcus Mariota. (more…)

Simple goals for Doug Martin.

Every running back would love to do a Barry Sanders and be a legit threat to take a ball to the house on every touch.

Doug Martin is no different. (more…)

Misplaced priority?

Yes, a day after the sad performance by the Bucs against the Brownies in the last preseason home game (Yay!), it didn’t take long for Lovie Smith to lament (UH-gen) that his defense didn’t take the ball away enough.

In other words, not enough forced turnovers. (more…)

Pardon Joe for a quick timeout from Bucs football. Joe’s old friend, high school classmate and former high school football teammate, got tackled with ALS in recent months.

His family — and a good many others — put together an ALS awareness video, as August is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge month. Every August until there is a cure, the saying goes.

Please click on the video, and if you are so kind, forward it to your friends and/or family with your favorite social media device — Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, whatever. Doesn’t cost a red cent. Joe would really appreciate it, and more importantly, so would Joe’s friend and his family. Thanks in advance.

Should Evan Smith be concerned?

Yesterday, Bucs coach Lovie Smith proverbially stomped his foot when he said the play of the offensive line was “unacceptable.” But that term is empty rhetoric unless something is done.

To Joe, the word “unacceptable” is just that. It means something should no longer be tolerated and strong measures will be taken to correct it. (more…)

The Bucs cut a seventh-round draft pick today, rookie Samoan fullback Joey Iosefa, the pride of the University of Hawaii.

Running back Dominique Brown also got the ax, and it wasn’t that long ago that general manager Jason Licht was saying great things about him. (more…)

Rookie left tackle Donovan Smith got the head coach’s blessing today, but are other O-linemen safe?

Don’t look for Lovie Smith to get squeamish and bench rookie offensive linemen Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet.

The head coach put his foot down today at One Buc Palace. (more…)

Isaiah Crowell and the Browns had little difficulty running against the Bucs last night.

Joe is not going to start a firestorm, you can look at the defensive numbers for yourself. It’s not pretty.

With the exception of Clinton McDonald and Larry English, the starting defensive front didn’t show up on the stat sheet last night. (more…)

Lovie’s orders aren’t being heeded

Did the Buccaneers’ offensive line look like it showed up last night?

Raise your hand if you think O-line coach George Warhop is doing a good job.

Remember what Lovie Smith told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com this summer?

(more…)

Bucs rookie receiver/returner Rannell Hall.

Rookie returner/receiver Kaelin Clay was in significant pain the Bucs’ locker room last night with a rib injury.

He was in great spirits, but definitely hurting and taking in the good wishes of teammates. (more…)

Cue the music. The Bucs were steamrolled in all phases of the game — at home — before halftime last night. Who ordered the 2014 flashback? Send it back and get the tuna melt.

Josh McCown completed 74 percent of his passes. (more…)

Bucs MLB Kwon Alexander (58) and DE Larry English (57) react to Alexander flattening Browns QB Josh McClown last night. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.

The offensive line got worked over last night. Broken record.

The defensive line got owned. Broken record.

What wasn’t a broken record was the sideline-to-sideline rib-rattling play of rookie middle linebacker Kwon Alexander. (more…)

America’s Quarterback reacts to a question about the Cleveland pass rush.

While he professed otherwise after the game, America’s Quarterback, Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, sure seemed rattled by the pressure of the Browns’ pass rush last night.

Defensive lineman Desmond Bryant (1.5 sacks) and linebacker Chris Kirksey especially got to Jameis, and either he was unable to unload the ball or was pressured into bad throws and outright sacks. (more…)

Bucs rookie LT Donovan Smith blocks for fellow rookie QB Jameis Winston in tonight’s loss to Browns. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.

Yes, the Bucs’ offensive line looked not much different than last year’s offensive line tonight. In a word, porous.

The only thing different was three starters up front were not on the roster last year; two of them — left tackle Donovan Smith and right guard Ali Marpet — are rookies. (more…)

It’s been hard to get Doug Martin to talk about himself and his transformation this year. (more…)

Get rid of the ball!

America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, took the postgame podium as a confident rookie tonight.

There’s no panic or head-hanging with Jameis, but he did talk about “panic sacks” against the Browns. (more…)

America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, sure looked like the 21-year-old rookie he is tonight.

Man, that was sobering. (more…)

Where was the energy?

Where was the anger and passion to seize the home turf and send Josh McCown home crying?

(more…)

A sigh of relief about snaps.

If one is to pump the pompons in the air and play cheerleader, America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, had an up-and-down night tonight. Sort of like the stock market the past week.

Enough bad plays to make you want to run into traffic and enough good plays to calm your nerves. (more…)