Titans wide receiver Damian Williams celebrates his game-winning touchdown catch.

Now as Joe pointed out yesterday, what killed the Bucs was the drive of death, when LeGarrette Blount was pounding the ball down the throats of the Titans and, sadly, the yellow hankies began filling the air. That doomed what very likely would have been a game-winning drive.

But Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean believes the play that clinched the game was Matt Hasselbeck’s touchdown pass on fourth-and-two that gave the Titans a fourth-quarter lead and killed the Bucs, all but putting their playoff dreams on ice.

Yet when Hasselbeck rolled to his right on the critical fourth-and-2 play with 3:08 left in Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers, there was a big problem. The defense had sniffed it out, and neither of his primary targets was immediately open.

The Titans then turned “uh oh” into “oh my!” in a dramatic win that kept their 2011 season alive. Hasselbeck found Williams in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Titans a 20-17 lead that soon became a 23-17 victory.

“One thing our coaches talked about this week was finding a way to win the game,’’ Hasselbeck said. “It wasn’t pretty — it was pretty ugly at times — but we found a way to win.”

The Bucs did sniff out the play… initially. But what the Bucs weren’t able to do was snuff out Hasselbeck. He had so much time to throw the dude could have ordered a pizza and had the thing comped because it arrived late.

The thing is with the Bucs in their current state, when the offense is less than stellar as it has been, the defense has to play damned near perfect football for the Bucs to win. The Bucs were decent on defense Sunday (16 points allowed and a defensive touchdown), but not good enough to overcome the offense shooting itself in the proverbial foot.

Granted, the Bucs have invested a helluva lot in recent drafts on the defensive front and Gerald McCoy and Brian Price were not on the field during that play. Still, when the Bucs needed a pass rush with postseason hopes on the line, it didn’t happen.

Yes, the Bucs need to play almost perfect on defense for the team to win. Joe’s not entirely sure the current defensive roster is capable of that kind of a lockdown game.

When the Bucs hired Raheem Morris in January of 2009, he was one of 11 new coaches inked by NFL teams that offseason, more than one third of the league had new coaches.

Not quite three years later, the track record of those coaches is grim, so documented Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star while musing on Twitter.

@kentbabb: Haley took over in 09, one of 11 new NFL coaches. Five have already been fired. Three (Haley, Spags, Caldwell) on hot seat. … Only ones safe are Schwartz, Rex and Raheem Morris. This is how tough it is to find a great coach. 09 teams are batting .272 for sure thing.

And later, though he was writing about Chiefs coach Todd Haley and writing directly to Chiefs fans, he offered what could be a cautionary tale for Bucs fans who have set aside their personal schedules for the month of January in order to help Morris move.

@kentbabb: I’m only saying the chances are better of KC getting a Josh McDaniels than a Bill Cowher. Keep this in mind when leading Haley to guillotine

That’s an interesting thought on several levels. If the Bucs do jettison Morris, they could wind up with the second coming of Ray Handley.

Also, wasn’t it Morris who allegedly so charmed Broncos owner Pat Bowlen he nearly beat out McDaniels for the Denver coaching job which, urban rumor has it, motivated Team Glazer to hire Morris pegging him as the next Mike Tomlin, or otherwise the Bucs would lose him?

Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck unloads a pass just before getting drilled by Bucs defensive end Da'Quan Bowers.

OK, OK, OK, Joe knows that today many of you have the torches lit, the pitchforks sharpened and the guillotines polished.

Joe’s not going there right now.

There was one bright spot in the Bucs loss, no, really. And that bright spot was Da’Quan Bowers.

The Bucs rookie defensive end got his first start Sunday and played for Michael Bennett at left defensive end.

The way Bowers played yesterday, he may not lose his starting gig.

Previously, Bowers had been pretty much invisible. The Bucs — and many throughout the NFL — crowed how Bowers was a steal in the second round as he dropped due to knee injury concerns.

But of the two defensive ends drafted by rock star general manager Mark Dominik, the better of the two was Adrian Clayborn by light years.

But slowly, Bowers was improving. He showed little in preseason but in the past couple of weeks, there were flashes.

Yesterday Bowers got a lot of penetration and his speed was evident, more than once rushing Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to rush a throw.

If Bowers keeps improving, with Clayborn on the other bookend, quarterbacks for the next 10 years in the NFC South should be afraid, very afraid.

The official word from the Bucs is that Brian Price has some type of ankle injury. Fans saw him carted off the field in the first half yesterday.

Per Roy Cummings, speaking today on The Fabulous Sports Babe Show on 1040 AM, Price was walking around with a boot but regular footwear after the game and was strolling around One Buc Palace this morning. Cummings speculated that Price would be questionable for Sunday. 

Price’s absence ushered in the John McCargo era in a big way, and Joe’s not impressed. Joe wonders whether Frank Okam will be off the practice squad in a matter of hours. Joe would wager a few bucks on that happening.

Joe must take a moment to commend Tim Crowder’s performance yesterday. He had a couple of tackles for loss and seemed to be effective rushing inside, which is hardly his strength. The Bucs sure could use a veteran backup type like Crowder at other positions.

Raheem talked about yesterday's run defense but wasn't too interested in big-picture chatter at his Monday news conference

The Bucs getting gutted and gashed in the running game yesterday, along with all things defense, were discussed at Raheem Morris’ postgame news conference today, one of the shortest of the season.

So what happened coach?

Raheem praised Chris Johnson and the Titans’ O-line, and praised his secondary in run defense in preventing further damage from Johnson’s stunning day. Raheem said his linebackers made splash plays, but they need to make more of those and do better shedding blocks. Raheem said “it all starts up front,” seemingly referring to failures of his defensive line in stopping the run.

One reporter, Joe believes it was Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune, hit Raheem with the in-your-face question of the day. “With all due respect. What has happened to your defense?” he asked.

“We gotta play better,” Raheem said. “We don’t make excuses. No excuses. No explanations.”

Without fast improvement on the field for the Bucs serious changes will be in store for next season, says Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud.

During an on-air chat with Dan Sileo on WDAE-AM 620 this morning, Stroud offered a scathing assessment of Tampa Bay’s all around play.

“It’s just all bad,” Stroud said of the Bucs’ defense. “It’s one of those deals where they’re not performing to their level. You can’t lose five in a row, six out of seven, and call yourself a good football team. I mean, you know, not many teams go that many weeks. … And, you know,  that’s problematic for your coaching staff. You know, we’ll see how they finish out. But I think you can start to see the writing on the wall; there’s going to be some changes after this year. If they don’t start winning a few games, Raheem might be one of those changes.”

Stroud went on to heartily agree with Sileo’s assessment that Arrellious Benn isn’t a good receiver and said Bucs fans will see an organizational effort to “save Josh Freeman” with an influx of more talent around him next season.

These were hard words from Stroud. Joe still needs to see more to wave the white flag on the regime and the talent level. As Joe’s written several times, the coaches aren’t getting nearly the most out of what they have, which is the essence of their jobs. Joe pegged this as a 9-7 team (leaning toward 8-8), so there’s still time to salvage jobs and respect.

Alex Loeb and Cris Carter discuss the Bucs’ loss to the Titans yesterday and Carter explains why he believes Josh Freeman and the Bucs are struggling this season in this BSPN video.

“Our fans are our stockholders. They’re what we play for — the people in our stadium and the ones that watch on TV. That’s what it’s all about: winning and how they feel about the team. If they don’t feel good about the team, then there’s something wrong. . . I think you all know the sense that’s out there. It was time for a change.” — Bucs owner Bryan Glazer following the firing of Chucky in 2009.

As Joe ponders the future of Raheem Morris, as many fans are now, Joe comes back to the above quote from Team Glazer following Chucky’s surprise firing in 2009.

Team Glazer essentially made it clear that the pulse of Bucs fans was a critical element to ending the Chucky era. So Joe must assume that same pulse still matters to the owners, especially as they’ve become more fan-friendly and fan-conscious since 2009, and as they struggle to sell tickets.

That written, Raheem’s approval rating is no doubt at an all-time low with only five games to right the 2011 ship.

After this season, Joe wholeheartedly believes Team Glazer will do what they do following each campaign; evaluate everything and set a direction for the following season. But how will fan feedback shape the course?  

Readers of JoeBucsFan.com often confuse what Joe believes should happen versus what Joe thinks will happen. Those are two unrelated animals that unfortunately get blended together by some. Make no mistake. Joe is always clear about what he’s writing about and, when Joe has a take, he trumpets it loud and proud.

At this point, Joe’s 100 percent certain Team Glazer brings back Raheem for a fourth season if the Bucs win seven games. If it’s six wins or less after a 4-2 start, Joe’s pretty sure there will be such widespread fan outrage that Team Glazer will be forced to act on how fans feel — something we already know they hold dear.

After a promising game against the Super Bowl champs last week, the Bucs have reverted to their ugly habit this season of playing a bad fourth quarter.

The Bucs couldn’t keep their heads on straight when they seemed to be in the middle of a potential game-winning drive, nor could the Bucs stop the Titans.

Veteran sports columnist Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times breaks down just how miserable the fourth quarter was for the Bucs Sunday.

Time was, these were the situation that defined Freeman. He was the king of the fourth quarter, and he seemed to have a knack for snatching away a game from the other team in the final seconds. In the final 21/2 minutes Sunday, however, Freeman had two chances to rescue his team, and he failed both times.

No, no quarterback pulls his team out in the fourth quarter every time. But Freeman has had four shots at a comeback this year, and he has succeeded once. It’s another instance where this team has not improved on last year’s performance.

Yeah, yeah. You could blame this on turnovers if you want, because the Bucs had five. On the other hand, the Titans had four. You could blame it on an official who wouldn’t measure before a fourth-and-1 play at the end. On the other hand, the Bucs couldn’t even handle the center snap on the ensuing play.

The team is in a tailspin. It is not tackling well. It fancies the pass over using one of the NFL’s better running backs behind a bruising run-blocking offensive line. It makes mind-numbing mental errors week after week depsite the head coach’s weekly insistence it is a priority to stop it.

Right now the Bucs have too many issues to try to solve in scant weeks. There are only five games left. A playoff berth now is akin to Santa Claus coming down the chimney.

In Joe’s eyes, the next five weeks should be used to figure out who remains on this team for 2012 and who should be jettisoned and what positions should be focused on for next year’s draft.

If certain people continue to make the same mistakes game in and game out that the head coach rails about weekly, maybe said players should be making these same mistakes next season wearing a different color uniform in another city?

Josh Freeman’s 16th interception of the season late in the fourth quarter against the Titans today felt a lot like many others.

It was a needlessly forced throw into Kellen Winslow, followed by Freeman saying in his postgame news conference that it was a bit of a “miscommunication.” Hmm, Joe’s heard that song before.

But it was clear communication for the Titans, so reports The Tennesseean. Titans linebacker Colin McCarthy, who plucked the ball in the middle of the field, said he was ready for what was coming.

“It’s a play we saw all week in practice,” McCarthy said. “When they needed it, we knew they’d try the shake route. (Defensive coordinator Jerry Gray) had a great call and put me in a great situation to make the play.”

How’s that for a kick in the groin. (Here’s the video replay.) A rookie backup linebacker and the Titans’ defensive coordinator won a critical mental game with the Bucs’ offensive coordinator and the Bucs’ franchise quarterback.

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One reason Joe so enjoys Bobby Fenton, aside from his sarcasm, is that Fenton is a voice of the fan. He is a regular at Bucs home games and Lightning home games and is not a stranger to the Fruitdome either.

Fenton, a proud graduate of the University of Florida, rarely misses a Gators home game either.

But he admitted during the monologue of his Sunday night show, “The Free Stretch,” which can be heard until 8 p.m. on WDAE-AM 620, that he nearly lost his cool he was so aggravated.

In short, Fenton is fed up with football after watching his beloved Bucs and Gators each week.

“I don’t have the will any more,” Fenton said. “It’s the weekend of Suck and will be treated accordingly. We have to look at other things in our life to pick us up.

“I don’t have the will any more, I just dont have the will any more, to watch aboslute crap week after week after week.”

Fenton then went on to describe just how frustrated he was watching the Bucs loss to the Titans this afternoon.

“I was watching the game on my laptop with my baby in my lap,” Fenton said. “I could have thrown the baby against the wall I was so frustrated but I didn’t. I could have thrown the laptop like a frisbee against the wall, but I didn’t. It’s too valuable — not as valuable as the baby.

“I guess I could have thrown the remote against the wall because [Out House] would have given me a new one.”

Joe never had a doubt, but Joe at least hopes now the Bucs will acknowledge the obvious and let LeGarrette Blount be the primary back on third down and in the four-minute and two-minute offenses.

To continue to take your most dangerous offensive weapon off the field is a crime against the franchise. It makes Joe want to punch the nearest wall.

Blount has proven himself to be more valuable than Kregg Lumpkin on third down. He caught three balls today for big yardage, and Joe’s really not seeing Blount being a liability in those scenarios.

If nothing else, the Bucs’ hopes for the playoffs have evaporated. They’re done. So why not let Blount learn and grow in the fire over the next five games.

Next week against the sad Carolina defense is the perfect time to get it going.

Despite many Bucs players playing so much better defensively, the same result occurred thanks in large part to Titans running back Chris Johnson.

You know what was one of the more frustrating things about the Bucs game today? There were defenders who Joe was convinced were near invisible that actually made splash plays.

And still the Bucs got gashed defensively, giving up 352 total yards, 202 on the ground and Chris Johnson, who has struggled all year, had the third-best game of his career by barging through the rain and the mud for 190 yards.

Joe actually saw Quincy Black make a play, and hurried to find a calendar and a pen to document the feat. Aqib Talib actually made a splash play and returned a pick off 27 yard for six. Geno Hayes played so much better. Sean Jones made some key plays. And still the defense was Swiss cheese.

That sums it up for Joe just how depressed he is about this loss. Despite players playing well, the result was the same.

With five consecutive losses following a 4-2 start, it’s painfully clear that the Bucs have regressed in many areas, as well as failed to progress (see defense).

For Joe, it’s a no-brainer that Raheem Morris should be on the proverbial “hot seat.” Seemingly, Raheem’s got to win games over the next 35 days to return next season, and the Bucs aren’t winning. This is the NFL, and when your team is fading in Year 3 of a regime, job security has to be tenuous.

But Joe thinks the bigger question is whether there is, in fact, a hot seat for Raheem? Would Team Glazer bring Raheem back no matter what happens through the next five games?

It’s a question only Team Glazer can answer. Joe has no clue.

Logic says there has to be a magic number hanging in the bowels of One Buc Palace that Raheem must hit, but so much of this regime has defied convention.

Of course, Joe hopes it’s a moot point with the Bucs finishing the season strong — at least beating the losing teams on their schedule.

There’s plenty of football to play, plenty of time for the Bucs to salvage some respect, but the pressure has to be building.

The Bucs set out to upgrade their pass rush in the offseason, and while it’s been clear that Adrian Clayborn is better than Stylez White of 2010, now it’s official on paper.

Stylez led the Bucs with 4.5 sacks last season (scary); now Clayborn has five on the season after a big third-quarter takedown of Matt Hasselbeck, with help from a collapsing pocket courtesy of Albert Haynesworth.

Clayborn’s relentless motor continues to be obvious to even the most novice football fan. He’s a welcome bright spot during this heinous losing streak.

Joe would be surprised if Clayborn doesn’t finish with at least a few more sacks before season’s end.

Mike Williams said on the Bucs radio network that officials refused to grant a measurement on the fateful fourth down play that ended the Bucs' final drive.

Yeah, some can point a finger at Josh Freeman for spiking the ball on first down with over a minute left in the fateful final Bucs drive.

Yet the Bucs still almost converted for a first down. Kregg Lumpkin got nine yards on a pass from Freeman and the original spot by the linesman appeared pretty damned close to a first down if not a first down outright.

Then the ball was spotted short of a first down. The play clock was ticking. There were no more timeouts left.

As Joe pointed out earlier, it seemed pretty hectic. Part of that may have been because, per Mike Williams on the Bucs radio network after the game, the team was begging for a measurement, but the officials refused.

“We wanted a measurement, they wouldn’t give us a measurement,” Williams said.

Rarely on a close play is a measurement not granted to a coach. Joe can’t believe the officials in the replay booth didn’t call for a measurement.

To be honest, the Bucs shouldn’t have put themselves in this position. As Derrick Brooks is profoundly known to say, “It is what it is.”

Well, what an interesting season this has been. And it all fit into a nice little package that was the Bucs third-to-last drive of the game, a drive that melted down just like the Bucs season.

For perhaps the first time all season, Raheem Morris/Greg Olson finally decided the team was going to feed the ball to LeGarrette Blount. The team was going to ride his wheels.

Blount paid the Bucs back. He was breaking off what seemed like seven yards a carry. The Bucs were finally imposing their will on the Titans and the Titans has no answer but to bend over and say, “Thank you sir can I have another?”

It was freaking beautiful.

But then the Bucs completely melted down. Kellen Winslow was called for holding. Why??? Then Jeremy Zuttah was busted for a false start, which is downright dumb.

What looked to be a touchdown series, was no more. What looked to be at least a field goal was out of the question with the ball now pushed back to midfield.

“Holding, [illegal procedure], holding, that killed you,” Morris said after the game on the Bucs radio network. “We had to punt the ball back. That’s been our Achilles heel as a team. We cleaned it up but you can’t have a series like that.”

Right there was your 2011 Bucs season, all in one series.

Morris has noted all season that the Bucs are killing themselves with penalties and he is right. Joe knows the coaching staff works to stop this malady. But it continues.

There is clearly a disconnect. Whatever the coaches are teaching the players to limit penalties isn’t sinking in. Whatever techniques the coaches are telling the players, they are not understanding. The key here is to find the disconnect.

Once again Joe pleas for the Bucs to hire an outside consultant to help this team. The playoffs are a virtual pipe dream right now. Chicago and Atlanta would have to have monumental collapses.

With no realistic expectation of a playoff berth, there’s no better time to start preparing for next year than in November.

Joe’s not sure what the heck was happening on Josh Freeman’s late fumble on fourth-and-inches on the Titans’ 30 yard line.

Wasn’t somebody in his ear immediately and calmly telling him to run a sneak up the gut and then spike the ball on first down on the next play? Shouldn’t that have been the play for anything fourth-and-short late before even the third-down snap?

To be fair, Mike Williams said on the Bucs radio network following the game the team was begging the officials for a measurement but the referees refused.

Freeman clearly looked surprised and obviously rushed, which helped lead to the bungled snap.

 Game over.

These kinds of scenarios — forgetting about whether the Bucs could have challenged the spot or demanded a measurement — should be drilled in practice and Freeman and his linemates should have been ready.

The dust hasn’t settled on that play, but it sure seems like the Bucs weren’t being led from the sidelines with the game on the line.

It’s a damn shame the Bucs had the junior varsity playing in front of the secondary today.

As a group the Bucs’ secondary hit. They tackled (with some ugly exceptions). They stripped balls, and didn’t get burned or flagged. They picked and scored a touchdown. It was almost a throwback day for the defensive backs.

Of course, it was led by the active throwback himself, Ronde Barber, whose pure-hustle strip from behind late in the first half was picked up by Tanard Jackson. And the Bucs’ offense marched into the end zone from 31 yards out to close the half and tie the game at 10.

Joe liked the halftime reaction of FOX-TV studio analyst Michael Strahan when told Barber’s play was “a veteran move.” Strahan fired back saying it was a rookie/fundamental move, something taught at the lowest level of football — chase and look to strip. How true.

Aqib Talib’s Pick-6 was a thing of beauty covering Nate Washington, the Titans top receiver.

Dare Joe say the essence of the “yungry” term Raheem Morris has used incessantly was on display from the veteran core of the Bucs’ defense today.

So sad that the effort was wasted.

The Bucs’ historically porous 2011 run defense and more stupid penalties doomed Tampa Bay in Tennessee. The newest version of the “Race to 10” is now history. 

The Bucs have some nice pieces but are a poor, 4-7 team. The worst running attack in the NFL just lit up the Bucs for 200+ yards.

Someone call Domino’s and order a linebacker.

The current streak extends to five losses in a row, and progress for this Bucs team feels like ancient history.  Josh Freeman wasn’t even close on his costly late interception before the final drive was fumbled away. C’mon, the biggest play of the game and you can’t get off a snap?

It was nowhere near enough times for Joe in this game, but LeGarrette Blount was fed the ball 20 times for (whaddyaknow) 103 yards, and Greg Olson finally decided to throw him the ball with excellent results.

Despite all that success, did the Bucs use play-action downfield? Where were the homerun shots?

Stats may be for losers, but the Titans were 7-for-17 on third down and the Bucs were 2-for-10.

There’s your ballgame. (Stick with Joe through the night for so much more on this brutal loss.)

What could be more fun than a rolling tailgate to Jacksonville with hardcore Bucs fans to see your favorite team dominate on Sunday, December 11?

Yes, the Bucs are playing a 1 o’clock game at EverBank Field in Jacksonville against the Jags on Dec. 11, surely a critical game to the Bucs’ playoff hopes. And if you haven’t heard, tickets aren’t too pricey in Jacksonville and there’s plenty of empty seats and tickets outside the stadium.

So let Joe take you there on a chauffeured, 29-seat luxury bus courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, the official transportation company of the Tampa Bay Lightning and a first-class operation in every way.

The roundtrip cost is only $59.00.

Yes, you can eat anything and drink adult beverages during the trip, and you’ll get free soft drinks and snacks. There will be two pickup/dropoff points — one in Clearwater and one in Tampa.

The bus will depart 11681 49th St. N., Clearwater, at 7 a.m. The location is the Paradise Worldwide Transportation headquarters. Parking is safe and secure there. The second stop in Tampa at Lee Roy Selmons near International Plaza about 7:35 a.m. It also will be at a safe, secure, free-parking location.

The bus will make at least one rest stop during trip. The goal is to arrive in Jacksonville at noon, so there’s plenty of time to relax and get a ticket if you don’t buy one in advance.

That’s about it. Joe has led dozens of trips through Paradise Worldwide Transportation. Buy your ticket now and score your seat. Purchases are not refundable. After purchasing you’ll get a receipt emailed automatically, and a separate email within 24 hours with more details. Questions? Send them to joe@joebucsfan.com.

OK, boys and girls, have at it. Titans hosting the Bucs in the Music City.

Ready… set… go!