A lot can change in just a few months in the NFL and embattled Bucs coach Raheem Morris is Exhibit-A.

Just a few months ago he was the darling of the NFL, a rising star. Affable, easy-going, likable and quotable, everyone seemed to like Raheem (except the sect of Bucs fans that wanted him gone the instant he was anointed as Bucs coach).

Well, now, Morris’ job hangs in the balance as the team is in an outright free-fall, and it’s not just the losing that is revolting Bucs fans, but how they are losing: penalties, turnovers, and a rush defense that can’t stop a cool breeze. It doesn’t help that the last-place Bucs have been steamrolled by lesser opponents both at home and to teams that are working on short weeks.

The numbers opponents are putting up are gaudy.

It is these factors that have pushed Morris to the brink of losing his job, so writes Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com.

Morris watch: More than ever, coach Raheem Morris is on the hot seat. It’s kind of amazing how quickly his stock has fallen and how badly this season has spun out of control. At the end of last season, when the Bucs finished 10-6, Morris was considered one of the league’s rising stars. Now, his future with the Bucs appears to be very much in doubt. The team is losing and not selling tickets. Morris is in a unique situation. The Bucs picked up options on his contract for this season and 2012. I seriously doubt the fan base would be very excited if Morris gets a contract extension. Another option would be to let him go into next season as a lame duck and that never works. Just ask the Panthers how things went when John Fox was a lame duck in 2010. The other option, perhaps the most likely now, is pulling the play on Morris.

It would be one thing if the Bucs were losing several games in a row in close games where the team has played well, not getting seal-clubbed by garbage teams.

It is that result, more than anything, that may have Morris updating his resume.

A lot of Joe’s readers confuse being fair with taking sides. That simply isn’t the case at all.

As Joe had stated previously, prior to last week’s curb-stomping at the hands of the Panthers, Joe was convinced that embattled Bucs coach Raheem Morris would return for 2012.

After the curb-stomping, Joe was not as confident.

But when the last-place Bucs traveled to the First Coast to face the hapless Jags, with a putrid rookie quarterback and an interim coach, the Bucs got blasted by a team which had not scored more than 20 points all year, but also was playing on a short week, having lost to San Diego on the previous Monday Night Football.

Gary Shelton also strives to be objective when dealing with Morris’ (lack of?) job security, which is not a popular thing these days as the masses have been gathering outside One Buc Palace with torches lit and pitchforks aimed at the ready.

The veteran St. Petersburg Times columnist admits it is now very tough to defend Morris.

Here’s the thing: Morris has great energy, but so did Jon Gruden. He is a good guy, but so was Tony Dungy. His team is young, but so was Ray Perkins’. He’d like more time, but so did Richard Williamson.

Again, I’m serious about this. I have criticized Morris from time to time, but I would like to offer a sound, inarguable reason why the Bucs should bring him back. That’s how disappointing this season has been. Even those who are inclined to defend Morris are having a difficult time doing it.

Could things change over the next four games? We’ll see. The Bucs need to be a lot more disciplined. They need to show enough improvement to make you think they could be better next year. That means winning at least three of the final four.

Mind you Shelton penned this piece prior to today’s debacle, one of the worst Joe can remember, allowing 41 unanswered points. Does anyone believe the Bucs can win the next three, two of which are against teams fighting for their playoff lives?

One of the premises for considering this season a mulligan, for giving Morris the benefit of the doubt for this season, was that there has been no offseason and an abbreviated training camp thanks to the asinine lockout.

Fair enough. But how is it that this obstacle did not mess with San Francisco, a team with a rookie head coach, or Cincinnati, with a rookie quarterback, or Denver, which had a new coach, or Carolina, the worst team in the NFL last year that has both a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, a team that thrashed the Bucs on their home soil last week?

Unlike those teams, the Bucs had their head coach in place, had their franchise quarterback in place, returned a veteran offensive line with two Pro Bowlers, had returning coordinators and beefed up a defensive line with a rookie defensive end (Adrian Clayborn) who has an outside shot of finishing the season with double-digit sacks, a first for a Bucs defensive end since 2005.

These are dark days for a once proud franchise. And the immediate future does not appear to get any brighter for Morris.

And that truly makes Joe sad.

Bucs center Jeff Faine was one irritated dude when he was caught for a brief interview on the Bucs radio network immediately after the embarrassing performance in Jacksonville this afternoon.

In short, Faine took his teammates to task for the myriad of turnovers — SEVEN! — that were committed today.

“There’s no way possible for this team to win with seven turnovers. It’s just impossible. This is the NFL. Nobody can overcome that. We’re just not playing fundamental football which Coach Morris just told the team and that is on the players. As players, we have to play better.

“The gameplan was to run and exploit on the play action and that is what we were doing. It was working. Where we came into a problem, a fork in the road, was stubbing our own foot and we couldn’t stay on track. That has been the story of the season so far.

“At 14-0 in the first quarter, I’m calling for a blowout. Have some fun with it. But we diverted on that path.

“The Jaguars, we have to give them their props, we have to give them their due. But if we don’t kill ourselves, it’s a different ballgame and that is what gave them momentum. It made it a totally different game.

“There’s a lot to play for to end this season on an upswing. We can’t just flip a switch and be a football team next year just because we finish strong. We just have to focus on the fundamentals and play smart football.”

As Team Glazer assesses the future of the Bucs’ coaching staff, Joe thinks one factor that must be considered is the Bucs’ position in the NFC South.

At this point, the Bucs are guaranteed a third- or fourth-place finish in 2011, and the team is light years behind the Saints (10-3) and Falcons (8-5), both of which are very big spenders with proven head coaches. Obviously, the Bucs don’t have a head coach nearly the caliber of Sean Peyton or Mike Smith, who is 41-20 in regular season play.

The Bucs’ stated goal was to win the division this season, and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has talked previously about adding pieces to his defense in order to compete in a division with Drew Brees and Matt Ryan, and now Cam Newton.

The point is how a team compares within its division should matter and routinely does when considering jobs and draft picks and direction.

When Joe looks at the Bucs’ plight in the scope of what’s going on in the NFC South, Joe’s not sure how Raheem Morris could be the answer.

As former Bucs linebacker Ryan Nece said on the Bucs postgame show this afternoon, heard on the Bucs radio network, the meltdown in Jacksonville is the kind of a game that “pisses you off.”

For the first time all season, the Bucs jumped out to a commanding lead. Sadly, it took 13 weeks to pull that off, but nevertheless, it happened.

Then the Bucs totally took the tailpipe and collapsed about as bad as any NFL team Joe has ever seen.

But to be real, this collapse began the moment the Bucs boarded a Virgin Airlines jet at Tampa International Airport early on a Monday morning for their trip to London to play the Bears.

The Bucs had just come off a thrilling 26-20 win over the Saints to raise their record to 4-2 and if not a division title, certainly Wild Card dreams were dancing in Bucs fans heads.

But somewhere in the clouds above the Atlantic Ocean, those dreams dissipated, and so too did the season.

The Bucs have never been the same since. In fact, they have been the polar opposite. Before the trip, the Bucs were a solid team. After the trip, the Bucs have become some disgusting leftover from a wild all-night partying escapade by Joe.

What happened in London? Was it jet lag that sapped the Bucs for the season? Was is the awful British cooking which made Adrian Clayborn sick? Did the Bears rip their soul away?

Joe just hopes for Team Glazer the trip was worth it because it sure seems like it killed the Bucs’ playoff hopes, and maybe will cost the head coach his job.

As Nece said today, “It’s hard to believe changes [aren’t] coming.”

Let’s hope one of those changes is a moratorium on playing games in London.

No, Arrelious Benn didn’t leave today’s Jags-Bucs game early because he was dizzy from the Jags lighting up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree with 41 unanswered points.

Benn got a concussion on the field of play, so it was reported on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Raheem Morris said after the game that Benn would go through the standard post-concussion testing and would be evaluated through the week.

As for Bucs fans feeling the common concussion symptions of vomiting, fever, dizziness and headaches, Joe advises them to not watch the Bucs-Cowboys game on Saturday.

Raheem Morris talks about how this week's message didn't get through

Aside from being teachers, NFL coaches perhaps have their greatest impact in the area of molding the psyche and mentality of their team.

Today, even the most casual observer of the Bucs’ debacle in Jacksonville could see that the Bucs completely unraveled and imploded at the end of the first half. From a 12-men-on-the-field call on the defense with Jacksonville in the red zone, to a Preston Parker holding call, to Donald Penn crumbling on the goal line leading to a sack/fumble/TD for the Jags, to a Josh Freeman interception, the Bucs lost it in a matter of minutes and never recovered.

The Jaguars scored 41 unanswered points!!

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network on WDAE-AM 620 after the loss, Raheem Morris his said strong yet failed team message leading up to this game was not to ride the emotional rollercoaster and to focus on playing with “one heartbeat” as “one-snappers” focusing on one play at a time.

“The message is not getting through,” Raheem said. “I’m not going to sit here and complain about a lack of talent. That’s not the issue.”

Raheem scoffed at another question during the interview that hinted at emotional breakdowns in the game. Raheem said nobody on his team needs a hug and the team needs to become “fundamentalists” and fix basic Pop Warner and high school fundamentals that are being missed in games.

As Joe wrote earlier, this truly is rock bottom for the Bucs.

Coaches take credit all the time for developing quarterbacks — pro coaches, college coaches, quarterback coaches, you name it.

Has Josh Freeman developed and progressed under his 2011 coaching, or has he taken giant steps backwards?

That could be argued, but the stats (sorry, Raheem) don’t lie. Freeman’s thrown 18 interceptions this season in 12 starts, that leads the NFL and matches Freeman’s rookie total (nine starts).

Freeman is a below average starting quarterback right now and the worst in the NFC South.

From the top of the organization on down, the Bucs told fans repeatedly that the good guys are “all about No. 5.” Well, No. 5 didn’t get any weapons in the offseason outside of Luke Stocker, and No. 5 is struggling mightily. He doesn’t even look like a leader anymore.

If there’s one thing that could/should doom Raheem Morris and/or Greg Olson more than anything else, it’s the clear regression of the franchise QB. Arguably, their top priority was Freeman’s improvement.

These are historic times for the Buccaneers — dark days for sure.

Raheem Morris opened his regime with seven losses, went 17-14 in between, and now is sitting on another seven-game drought.

The young Bucs learned how to win, and now they are masters of losing — all while they’re supposed to be improving.

Tony Dungy never had a six-game losing streak, neither did Jon Gruden. Sam Wyche cranked out six clunkers in a row back in 1994. Richard Williamson had a six-gamer back in 1990.

Ray Perkins ripped off eight in a row back in 1987.

Welcome to Leeman Bennett country, Raheem.

Bobby Fenton

The Raheem Morris Watch is officially on and just reading the comments on this site, Joe knows Bucs fans are willing to howl at just about anyone who will listen.

Let that be Bobby Fenton.

Following the Bucs postgame show on the Bucs radio network with Joe’s good friend “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620, co-hosted with former Bucs linebacker Ryan Nece, Fenton takes the airwaves until 8 p.m. and he will take your calls so you can vent about what may be the end of a chapter in Bucs history.

As always, WDAE’s programming can be heard streaming online via the station’s website.

OK, prior to last week’s curb-stomping at home to the hapless Panthers, on the Bucs’ home soil no less, Joe was confident Raheem Morris would return in 2012 as the Bucs coach, despite the howls from the anti-Raheem forces.

After that loss, Joe wasn’t as confident.

Now, Joe is even less confident.

“Embarrassment” doesn’t begin to describe the disaster in Jacksonville today. Everything that gets a coach launched could just about be summed up in today’s game.

Despite Morris seemingly saying (each week) that the hammer is going to come down on discipline, penalties racked up just as bad today as they were two months ago. Turnovers killed the Bucs, many of which were thoughtless.

The defense — Raheem’s defense; he’s the coordinator — got gashed once again and actually made rookie Blaine Gabbert, who until today was the reincarnation of Cade McNown, look like a budding star.

Look, Joe has no idea what Team Glazer will do. No one but Team Glazer does. Arguments can be made both pro and con for Morris to return or be ordered to clean out his office. Remember how outraged Bucs fans were that Morris lost to Bill Belicheat for NFL coach of the year last year? Remember how a robbery of a call in the Lions game cost the Bucs a playoff berth?

Joe’s not saying Morris should stay or should be fired. Clearly when a team does the same things each and every week like the Bucs are doing, sooner or later it falls on the desk of the coach. That’s just how the NFL works.

Is it fair? No, it’s a business and that’s what the NFL is. Eventually, a coach has to answer for the ills of his team. That’s why the title is “head coach.”

Whether Morris is the Bucs coach come the end of January is anyone’s guess. But Joe is pretty confident that Team Glazer won’t announce their decision on Morris’ near-future job status until the end of the season.

Jags 41, Bucs 14

The Bucs have officially hit rock bottom. After getting out to the best start of the season (it only took 13 weeks), the Bucs imploded like Joe has never seen a team melt down before. Turnovers, penalties… you name it. The Jags, down 14-0, rallied with 28 unanswered points in the second quarter, the most points the Jags have scored all season. And it took them just one quarter to do this!

Joe will have more on this later, but even Raheem Morris’ most ardent supporters will have to admit his job security isn’t secure after this.

Right now, after a promising 4-2 start with a wild card certainly still in play as the Lions and Bears mired in a free fall, the season has devolved into, “Who should the Bucs draft in April?”

Good Lord, 41 unanwered points to a team that averaged 12 points a game, and Josh Freeman was benched.

Seven turnovers!

OK guys, knock yourself out. Who will be the worst team in the state of Florida when the final gun sounds late this afternoon?

No huge surprises among the inactive Buccaneers today.

Aqib Talib will nurse his hamstring without a helmet on, and Rudy Carpenter takes his rightful role on the pine, which means Micheal Spurlock is the emergency quarterback with Josh Freeman back in the starting lineup.

Of note, Larry Asante is on the sidelines and practice squad call-up Ahmad Black gets his first NFL action. James Lee, Te’O Nesheim, Derek Hardman, James Lee and Sammie Stroughter also are inactive. Joe wonders whether Stroughter’s absence means the Bucs might look to Spurlock on kickoffs.

Week 14

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally, DirecTV Channel 712.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 136.

Weather: Per Accuweather.com, this is a day for LeGarrette Blount. Rains will pelt northeastern Florida for much of the morning. While the rains will subside by gametime, the field will be soggy. Temperature at kickoff is expected to be 69 with winds pushing 20 mph. Temperatures will remain steady through most of the game with a reading of 66 near the end of the game.

Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs -3.

Outlook: Today could be a historic day for the Bucs. There is no denying the heat on embattled coach Raheem Morris. If the Bucs lose to the pathetic Jags, it may very well be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for Team Glazer. On paper, this is the lone game the Bucs have a realistic chance of winning. But the kyrptonite of the Bucs is the opponent’s running game. And the Jags have Maurice Jones-Drew, the league-leader in rushing. This game should have conditions made for running with the rainy weather in the morning, so that means the Jags will give the ball to MJD early and often and the Bucs, with Josh Freeman still suffering from a bum wing, will throw the ball two out of every three snaps while the Bucs best offensive weapon Blount stands on the sidelines with his arms folded. But, that’s your 2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If there is an offensive snapshot of this season’s Bucs offense, it would be Blount, one of the most dangerous running backs in the NFL — on the sidelines. Let’s be honest, both of these teams stink. About the only exciting thing Joe can think of for this game is what the over/under is on how early Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson breaks out his weekly favorite Arrelious Benn’d-around play for a three-yard loss.

Video: The good people of the NFL Network have a game preview. … and NFL Films looks at the game in their own unique way.

Joe loves this photo that exemplifies the extreme hustle and sacrifice Barber displayed in Tennessee that forced a key first-half turnover.

Joe would love to know what’s been running through Ronde Barber’s head these past six weeks. The Bucs icon signed up for yungry and found something else. That’s got to be taking an emotional toll.

The Bucs should be hoping they can do enough these next four weeks to encourage Barber to return in 2012.

No. 20 is the Bucs’ second leading tackler, per NFL.com, behind Sean Jones. (Is there a linebacker in the house?)

This week, Barber opened up a bit for the Jacksonville media and shared how he wants to see professionalism from young teammatees, so reports Tania Ganguli of Jacksonville.com. Barber even referenced the good ol’ days, when discipline was something the Bucs inflicted on their opponents.

“When I was around in the early part of the last decade, we went a couple of years or a year and a half or something without having an offsides on defense,” Barber said.

“It’s just a standard, a standard that you set for yourself. These guys have got to learn to set that same standard.”

Joe doesn’t even think the Bucs have to reach back as far as Barber referenced. Joe would be pleased if the Bucs simply could recapture the standards of discipline, consistency and hunger they showcased during the second-half of last season.

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Since this is the season of candy and nuts, let me give you a series of “ifs and buts” that could have kept the Bucs from their abysmal rut.

IF Raheem Morris would have started with the tough love in 2009, like we saw with Brian Price this past Sunday, this team would be a much more disciplined team in 2011. BUT instead we watched Aqib Talib, Tanard Jackson, Kellen Winslow, Jeremy Trueblood and others do the selfish things he said about Price without repercussion. Like enabling parents allowing their children to run wild without consequences, it doesn’t usually work out well in the long run.

IF the Bucs would have read this column in 2010 and inserted Josh Johnson in as a third wide receiver and used him in motion to create a multi-dimensional offense with multiple attack points and run/pass options, they would be one of the toughest offenses to defend in the entire NFL. They’d be unpredictable and exciting, selling out their stadium and fighting for a playoff spot. BUT, they have gone with a standard pro-style that lacks creativity and has offered questionable play-calling in many different situations, especially short-yardage (shotgun on 4th-and-1 and reverses on 3rd-and-2, e.g.).

IF they go back to a base “Pro 4-3/Soft Cover 2” (Pro 4-3 means the strong LB — Quincy Black — plays on the line of scrimmage over the tight end, not five yards back), they will reduce their exposure to the gashing that they have been enduring and make teams earn their points.

Chucky offers counter philosophy

Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski have made enlightening comments on the last two Monday Night Football games. When watching the Green Bay Packers shred a defense, Gruden said something like, “You can’t play man-to-man against a team with talented receivers like the Packers.” The Bucs fall into this category and simply don’t have the personnel to match-up across the board play after play for 60 minutes.

Sooner or later the opposition will win the singled-up situations and beat you quickly (Jordy Nelson). The good QB’s may “carve up” zones according to Morris, but the bend-but-don’t-break concept allows for fumbles, interceptions, penalties, etc., while man-to-man is a fast death more often than not.

After watching Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew take a screen 50+ yards, Jaworski said, “When you don’t have speedy wide receivers or big play guys, you need some deception in your offense like that.”  Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn fit that definition and Greg Olson is not doing the job in creating deception to help his receivers get space and give his offense better success overall, especially in the red zone.

BUT, there has been no indication that either the defense will change its philosophy or that the offense will add any punch through deception, so unfortunately I won’t be expecting much to change in the final quarter of the season.

I will, however, enjoy some candy and nuts, so it will be a Merry Christmas!

Bucs fans are excited about the 2012 NFL Draft far earlier than they expected. Joe is of the mind that given the option, Bucs fans would have preferred to wait until February to talk draft.

But with the 2011 season, a season that started with so much promise, circling the drain, Bucs fans have already started discussing the draft. There’s not much else to look forward to.

Now Joe has been of the mind that since the Bucs need linebackers in the absolute worst way, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik should pick two linebackers with his first two picks (Joe’s preference for a second round pick is linebacker Lavonte David of Nebraska. This will not be the last time you see that name on this here site, trust Joe.)

But a corner might be a smart play here in a division with Drew Brees, Cam Newton and Matty Ice.

And that lockdown cornerback is Morris Claiborne of LSU.

It was such a novel idea and concept, it has changed Joe’s mind. That’s why Joe likes Justin. He’s smart and likes food (FGU!).

Gregg Rosenthal takes the Bucs defensive coordinator to task and says that is why Bucs coach Raheem Morris is on the hot seat in this NBCSports.com video. If the video below does not load, it can be viewed by clicking this link.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Joe can only imagine the frustration in the Bucs locker room.

At 4-4, Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik were talking publically about making a second half run like they did in 2010. And players were excuding great confidence and seemingly believed they were better than their record. But now the wheels have come off the 4-8 Bucs. And Joe has to wonder whether the team will stay together and revive itself, or fall apart completely and play selfish ball.

So with that in mind, Joe brings you the following exchange from The Donald Penn Show on Tuesday on WDAE-AM 620. Penn was asked about the failures of the running game against Carolina by co-host Dave Moore. It seemed to Joe that Penn, uncharacteristically, heaped a lot of blame on LeGarrette Blount.

Here’s the unedited exchange:

Dave Moore: So what was the deal with the run game? It looked like at times it was going to get going, but just didn’t, especially initially. Now Blount looked, from a spectator standpoint, that he wasn’t necessarily running with the same intensity; he was having a single guy take him down rather than five. But at the same time what was it in particular that stopped the run? Just not guys staying on guys?

Donald Penn: You know, LeGarrette Blount, he looked at the film and he’s going to self-evaluate himself hard. And, you know, I think he kind of feels the same way. You know, he could have played a lot better than he did. We both think that, too.

You know, that wasn’t the LeGarrette Blount that we’re used to seeing. And, you know, we gotta be ready to come out all the time and be on top of things and be ready to play and hold everbody accountable. And you know, I think he’s learning, he’s seeing that, and you know you gotta be ready to come play every Sunday. Because if you’re not, the other team’s going to be ready or the other guy’s going to be able to come in and do what they need to do.

So, you know, as an offensive line, though, we’re still calling the same plays we were calling before. Some of the holes might have been smaller. Some of the holes might have been not as big as before, but like you said, you gotta get there and try to get the most that you can.

And you know, LeGarrette Blount being such a good running back and being so big, like you said, one guy shouldn’t be able to bring him down. You know it did happen a couple of times but a couple times, you know, he did still break through and he had a couple of, you know, flashes there, but we gotta definitely be more consistent. We weren’t consistent [against Carolina]. Like I always said, when we’re running the ball well we’re a tough team to beat.

Joe’s readers can surely read between the lines themselves and reach their own conclusion. But for Joe, this felt like a public finger-pointing, a bad sign for the locker room.

Connor Barth will smell the sweet smell of free agent cash this offseason

Pro Bowl?

Pro Bowl? (Insert your best Jim Mora “playoffs” voice)

Joe’s been remiss in not mentioning the “automatica” season turned in so far by Connor Barth. Barring a late season collapse, Barth could find his way to Hawaii.

To date, Barth has nailed 92 percent of his field goal tries (second in the NFL) and leads the NFL in kicks made from 40-to-49 yards out. (He even got to kick another one of those last week after a failed Arrelious Benn end-around on 3rd-and-2 lost 12 yards to set up another Barth bomb. Thanks, Greg Olson!)

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik gave Barth a restricted free agent tender of $1.9 million for this season, so the St. Pete Times reported months ago.

Joe’s rather certain Barth is an unrestricted free agent come March, and surely he’ll command top cash. The Bucs consistently have said their top young players would be rewarded by getting to raid Team Glazer’s vault when they hit free agency. And it would seem Barth fits the mold, plus he’s surely a guy the Bucs can’t afford to lose.

Hungry for football talk? Who isn’t?

It’s Saturday and that means it’s time for Joe’s good friend, “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620. Justin has the morning off so he could celebrate his birthday last night (FGU!) and sleep in. So Justin will hit the airwaves at noon today and will take your calls until 3 p.m.

Since there is no college football today, sans the Army-Navy game, Joe is confident Justin can handle your urge for football with quality pigskin talk.

Those outside the market or chained to a computer can also listen to Justin streamed live via WDAE’s website.

You’ve all read THE PESSIMIST, who spews his Bucs-related anger like no other. But Joe also brings you THE OPTIMIST. 

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the Buccaneers goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t.

We have now seen the Bucs fall and trip over themselves for six straight games. The defense has crumbled to 1985 proportions, and maybe even worse. The Bucs are on pace to give up more points than any Bucs team ever since that era.

The outside linebackers are completely outclassed, and the secondary is shamefully not tackling anyone, other than No. 20.

We can’t complain about the loss of Gerald McCoy because other teams have injuries, look at the Houston Texans. They were down their best D-ineman and wide receiver, and blew us out of the Bay.

This team has only one running back, and the Bucs offensive coordinator doesn’t know how to use him. Not that it’s Greg Olson’s fault that LeGarrette Blount doesn’t know how to pass protect yet, or is it? Maybe our running back coach is to blame.

Speaking of coaches, that’s the first place everyone wants to go. Even the diehard fans are calling for Raheem Morris’s head. Well, before I do that, it’s time to pass some of the blame around. Namely, the Glazers; owners since 1994.

How do you fire the head coach you promoted to the job and told him to be patient and make this team win with a college all-star team? There are three veteran free agent players on this team right now that don’t work on the offensive line.

Kellen Winslow, Ronde Barber, and Michael Koenen. Don’t be surprised the punter is on this list; the two kickers for the Bucs are in a dead heat tie for 2011 Team MVP right now. My money is on Connor Barth by a nose.

The Glazers are the ones most responsible for this poor product. Coaches coach, players play. Right now this young coaching staff probably has some turnover in store for it, but head coach is probably not one of them. It was the Glazers who instituted this plan in the first place. Build a team through the draft, pile up draft picks and field a team so we can see where free agents are needed. Well, we now know where the holes are, so now your going to get rid of the coach?

It doesn’t make any sense, and that is why I’m still behind Raheem Morris keeping his job, because there are too many indications in history of this sort of thing happening. It may not happen to this degree, but then again show me an example of a team of players so bad before.

Bottom line is anyone who is upset is guilty of putting too much stock into the Bucs 10-6 season last year, and the notion there would be guaranteed improvement. Last year the team overachieved, but this year it’s underachieving. But we all built up our expectations too much. Most people predicted the Bucs would be 6-10 or 7-9, and that’s probably where the Bucs are headed, so what’s the problem?

If Raheem Morris is fired, it will be a done deal, and it will probably shock no one. But ask yourself this one question: you knew it was a long-term deal, you were prepared to undertake it. Is one more year so much to ask to make sure you don’t make a mistake and set the franchise back 3-to-5 years?