Defense rules.

Joe caught some flack yesterday for suggesting the Bucs are playoff-bound. (more…)

Baker Mayfield matches Shaun King feat.

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield did something the past two weeks that neither Tom Brady nor Jameis Winston nor Brad Johnson could pull off. (more…)

Cade Otton.

It was a quiet day for the Bucs’ supporting cast of pass catchers against the Bears on Sunday and a very important Buccaneer took notice. (more…)

Injury update.

UPDATED 4:23 pm. (more…)

Joel Glazer and the rest of Team Glazer have many decisions ahead.

Mike Evans was on the phone late yesterday. (more…)

Death, taxes and Chris Godwin.

Joe was speaking this morning with good friend Sean Sullivan, the general manager of Bill Currie Ford, and one topic was training camp. (more…)

Bucs coach Todd Bowles.

Updated 4:30 p.m. – So Bucs coach Todd Bowles had his day-after press conference discussing yesterday’s win over the Bears, and a little chatter about the Eagles game a week from tonight. (more…)

Confesses regret.

In the very same calendar year that the Bucs began this season 2-0, a star Bucs linebacker spiced up some dull winter months with much-needed drama. (more…)

Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson is an example of a superstar receiver who thrived with nothing-special quarterbacks throwing him the ball for a chunk of his career.

Fellow Hall of Fame pass catcher Michael Irvin is in the other camp. He wasn’t much when Troy Aikman wasn’t throwing him the rock. (more…)

Shopped by the Rams.

Sorry, Joe is still not sold on the Bucs’ run game. Yet. (more…)

Joe imagines fourth-year Bucs outside linebacker Cam Gill often leaves One Buc Palace wondering what would happen if he got to play more often. (more…)

Dangerous with time — and without it.

Joe’s old man used to say NFL starting quarterbacks are the [32] very best at their position. But not all have a key luxury. (more…)

Mike Evans is 763 yards from another 1,000-yard season with 15 games to play.

Raise your hand if you think he won’t get there. (more…)

Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett gives a thumbs-up while discussing his game-sealing pick-six.

Joe is confident that decades from now when Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett enjoys retirement, he won’t forget how he sealed a win for the Bucs with a crazy pick-six. (more…)

NFL super insider Peter King.

Talk about an about-face. Or is it egg on his face? (more…)

Mike Evans and Vita Vea celebrate with Shaq Barrett after the Bucs sacks king sealed the win over the Bears with a pick-six Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)

Welcome once again to Victory Monday! All is right with the world on Victory Monday. The food tastes better. The Big Storm Brewing beer is colder. The women are hotter. It’s a beautiful thing.

So grab some coffee and attack like Vita Vea! (more…)

Bucs coach Todd Bowles.

Don’t worry. Joe knows how ridiculous this sounds. (more…)

Impressed with Bucs.

This warms Joe’s heart. (more…)

BILL CURRIE FORD IS OPEN DAILY! Shop now online and don’t forget to request the Ira Kaufman Discount. Nationwide lifetime warranty on new vehicles.

BY IRA KAUFMAN

Style points are for figure skaters, not football teams.

Tampa Bay’s 27-17 triumph against the Bears was no modern art masterpiece, yet Bucs fans couldn’t care less. Except for a fourth-quarter lapse that saw Chicago march 90 yards to pull within three points, the Buc defense looked dominant in the home opener.

How important is a 2-0 start? Since 1990, NFL teams that open with two wins make the postseason at a 64 percent clip.

You can demean the Bears as a 4-13 club all you want, but there have been plenty of Buc teams over the years that would have found a way to lose games like this. Instead, Tampa Bay maintained possession for almost 12 more minutes than the visitors and those 17 additional offensive snaps were critical given the heat dome that sat above Raymond James Stadium.

Not surprisingly, the locker room was a sea of smiles. Tristan Wirfs and Mike Evans credited a stout defense, Lavonte David expressed his admiration for a turnover-free offense and over in the corner, Jason Licht almost suffered a hand injury from giving out all those high-fives. (more…)