In three days the Bucs host the Stinking Panthers. Does anyone expect the Bucs to win?

Last Sunday, immediately following the Bucs’ loss to the Beagles, Joe went on the field to get a sense of how the crowd reacted to Bucs coach Greg Schiano as he left the field. Joe was shocked by the brutality. The crowd was somewhat quiet until a guy barked at Schiano and then the mob joined in.

Last year Joe did the same to see how the crowd reacted to then-Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman after one of his worst games of his career, when the Bucs lost to the brutal Beagles (again) and rookie quarterback Nick Foles. Oh, it was nasty, no question. But it paled in comparison to the response Schiano got a little over a week ago.

This could get worse. Since it is a night game, you just know the fans will be well-lubricated. It could get ugly. If Team Glazer is not embarrassed enough now, this potential debacle will be on NFL Network, who has a makeshift studio desk on field level. They will get to hear the crowd up close and personal.

Quarterbacking: Joe has nothing against Mike Glennon. Great guy. Has some talent at quarterback. But if you think Glennon can get the Bucs to the Promised Land, either you are looking at the world through pewter and red glasses or you are a card-carrying member of the Mike Glennon Mob.

Glennon is a nice quarterback. A backup quarterback right now. With so many stud quarterbacks coming out of the draft next year, Joe would be a little surprised if the Bucs did not draft another QB to groom as the franchise guy next year. Imagine the possibilities if you are the new Bucs coach. You get to pick the quarterback you want to grow with. Not too many teams will afford a coach that opportunity.

Schiano may not have lost Bucs publicly: The Bucs are still playing hard. Still in games. But Schiano said a few things yesterday that made Joe believe the players have, for the most part, tuned him out. He talked about how he keeps repeating the same things week after week in order to stop the sloppy play and the penalties. Yet they continue to happen week after week.

That tells Joe Schiano and his 73 1/2 assistants are either talking to a bunch of wooden heads and/or they aren’t listening. If they intentionally are not listening, then Schiano’s words go in one ear and out the other.

Listless endorsement: Reporters approached candid Mike Williams, asking about Schiano’s decision to go for a field goal with five minutes left in the game and the Bucs down 14 points. It was controversial at the time. Rather than saying, “Yeah, I was good with what coach did,” Williams said in so many words, he doesn’t make those decisions and that is why Team Glazer hires coaches.

Williams routinely is quick to defend his teammates. So Williams’ less than giddy endorsement of Schiano kicking the field goal made Joe’s eyebrows raise.

Implosion: Former Bucs guard Jorge Diaz called the Bucs’ sloppy playyesterday a “total implosion.” It’s hard to argue.

This is what drives Joe crazy about the New Schiano Order. He is supposed to be such a disciplinarian yet his team plays so ill-disciplined. To Joe, that is another sign the Bucs aren’t exactly giving Schiano and his 69 coaches their full attention. In other words, they are starting to check out.

Another back: Some Bucs fans believe Schiano is running stud running back Doug Martin into the ground. That’s not an absurd theory. Running backs have limited tread on the tires.

So when Martin hurt his shoulder trying to haul in a pass near the goal line, Joe, and likely many Bucs fans, were pleasantly surprised to see backup Mike James run with some authority and speed and a little shiftiness. If anything else, it makes one wonder why James doesn’t get the ball more in order to spell Martin a few times a game to keep him fresh.

What was also neat was James locking up a blitzing defender in order for Glennon to make a key completion. Perhaps if and when Martin comes back (no, he should not play Thursday night with a bum shoulder), James will still earn more snaps, thus keeping some tread on Martin’s tires.

Going for three: Initially, Joe was beside himself when Schiano, with five minutes left and down by 14, decided to go for a field goal. Sure, players with their heads up their arses committing penalties pushed the Bucs to a 4th-and-23 corner, but at the time, Joe was lobbying for a Hail Mary. The Bucs needed seven.

But Schiano’s reasoning was sound on second thought. He noted that the Bucs had a 10 percent chance of getting six. So kick the field goal, hold the Dixie Chicks, score and recover an onside kick. It nearly played out the way Schiano envisioned. Except for recovering the onside kick — another field goal and the late touchdown.

Doing it right: Schiano said after the game he believes he and his coaching staff do things right. Well, if that is the case, how do losses mount week after week after week after week for nearly a full three months of NFL play?

The definition of insanity is going the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.

No return: The way a No. 3 receiver burned the Bucs, and how the Bucs (with a week to prepare) facing an injury-ravaged Dixie Chicks, got completely taken out of the game in the first half. It was as if the Bucs were playing the 1978 Steelers. Joe would have thought without Julio Jones and without Roddy White, the Dixie Chicks would be stymied offensively. Instead, the Dixie Chicks offense sliced through the Bucs defense like a butcher.

If ever the Bucs were facing a winnable game, it was yesterday. Instead of winning, they got spanked. Joe’s going to guess that game sealed the fate of Schiano.

What’s up with the penalties?: Joe will ask again, how can a man like Schiano, who preaches discipline like a priest trumpets abstinence, lead a team that plays so sloppy and undisciplined? Yesterday, the Bucs committed 11 penalties. That simply is unacceptable and suggests to Joe some Bucs are tuning out Coach Toes-On-The-Line.

Sackless: The Dixie Chicks had a makeshift offensive line as well. What can Joe say when a team is so desperate, human turnstile Jeremy Trueblood started? And how many sacks did the Bucs defensive linemen tally yesterday? Big fat goose egg. None. The Bucs’ defensive line has a grand total of six sacks through six games. That is inexcusable, especially playing what the Dixie Chicks called an offensive line yesterday.

It is high time someone issues an Amber Alert for Da’Quan Bowers.

Around the NFL

Colts: Well, well, well. In a big game, Peyton Manning watched his opposing quarterback win. This time it was rising star Andrew Luck and his ugly neckbeard. Luck really is the complete package. He’s almost as good as Aaron Rodgers. Almost.

Seahawks: They just keep on rolling. If it isn’t Russell Wilson it is Marshawn Lynch or Richard Sherman. Studs all up and down the lineup. Is there a better team in the NFC? The Bucs head to Seattle in two weeks.

Carolina: Simply crushed a lesser team in the Rams. That’s what good team do. Steve Smith isn’t yet over the hill, and damn those linebackers. If Cam Newton gets rolling Thursday night against the Bucs, look out.

Bengals: Mock Andy Dalton all you want. He is in the process of leading the Bengals to the playoffs for the third time in his three-year career. Meanwhile Josh Freeman will be playoff-less as he finishes his fifth year as a pro.

Chargers: No surprise the Bolts beat the lowly Jags, but man, Ken Whisenhunt has really turned around Philip Rivers’ career.

Bills: Could Buffalo, with a rookie quarterback, make a run at the playoffs? Still pretty early but still pretty impressive what the Bills are doing.

Jets: Man, there just is no figuring out the Jets. A strong team one week, a weak kitten the next. Joe had to laugh how the Jets beat Belicheat in overtime and the gall Belicheat had to scream his team was hosed by the zebras. The nerve!

Cowboys: So Tony Romo has the Cowboys in first place in perhaps the worst division in the NFL? Color Joe unimpressed.

Redskins: You can tell Rod Marinelli is nowhere near Chicago any longer if the beat up Redskins can hang 45 on the Bears. RGIII just had a lights out day.

49ers: After a hiccup earlier this season, they are rolling again. This despite Colin Kaepernick really have a few pedestrian games of late. Wonder if Jim Harbaugh allows Kaepernick to kiss his biceps if he doesn’t throw for 200 yards?

Packers: The team to beat in the NFC North, it really is that simple, especially now that the Packers offense is a more diverse. Oh, and the Packers are winning despite not having Clay Matthews available with an injury. Impressive.

Chiefs: Local guy Dexter McCluster (former Largo High teammate of Leonard Johnson’s) had a great game and the Chiefs’ strong defense came up big when they needed it. The Bucs could very well be the 2014 version of the Chiefs with the right coach.

Steelers: The demise of the Steelers was greatly exaggerated. The Men of Steel disposed of Joe Flacco and the Crows yesterday. The Steelers won’t make the playoffs, but Joe loves how a hardarse like Mike Tomlin knows how to push the right buttons unlike some other self-professed disciplinarian locally.

Non-NFL thoughts:

1) Not sure how Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik or anyone could pull this off, but Joe would be willing to do whatever it takes to get the first pick in the 2015 draft to land Jameis Winston. This guy is unreal. Imagine Dominik crafting a savvy plan to start loading up on draft picks to build up ammunition to make such a move. Pull a Mike Ditka if you have to.

2) Speaking of quarterbacks in the draft, there will be loads of them in 2014. Joe can see the Bucs, if a new head coach gives his blessing, drafting, say, Jake Matthews in the first round (the Bucs’ offensive line truly needs an upgrade) and then trading back into late in the first round (i.e. Doug Martin) and nabbing Johnny Football.

3) Joe had recently stated Florida State’s defense is overrated. Mea culpa. They are not. How they thrashed Clemson Saturday was a thing of beauty. It was like the old Florida State when Derrick Brooks and Chris Weinke and Deion Sanders played.

4) Before the season if someone would have told Joe that Missouri would beat Florida and Vandy would beat Georgia on the same day, Joe would have thought that person was on drugs.

5) Johnny Football damned near pulled off another miracle. Had to leave the game with a banged up shoulder but came back to run in the go-ahead touchdown for the Aggies. Then that sieve of a defense allowed Auburn to win the game. Damn, Johnny Football is fun to watch.

6) Remember the name “Jordan Lynch.”

7) OK you draftniks, Joe has a homework assignment for you. Study up on a guy named Jimmy Garoppolo. Google is your friend. Now go!

8) Joe is simply exhausted more than happy that the Cardinals advanced to yet another World Series. As much as Joe hates the BlowSux and this nonsense of stepping out of the batter’s box each and every pitch, Joe isn’t sure he can bear watching the Fall Classic.

9) Joe promises he will never make fun of Lance Lynn again. Joe’s target of wrath and scorn, Lynn may have pitched the game of his life in winning Game 3 of the NLCS. He (finally) did something to advance the Redbirds to four wins from a title. So Joe will shut up about the guy. For good.

10) Casual baseball fans, in about a week, there is a 25 percent chance Michael Wacha will be a household name.

Mike Glennon looks like a solid football player. He’s performing admirably after being placed in a brutally tough spot. Glennon’s a third-round pick with limited talent, but he’s maximizing that talent pretty well. The weekly rookie mistakes are understandable.

But the Bucs have a serious crisis at quarterback. You can’t win a Super Bowl with the fourth best quarterback in the division. (Forget for a moment the Bucs have the fourth-best head coach in the NFC South.)

Cam Newton is 24. Matt Ryan is 28. Drew Brees is a healthy 34.

If the Bucs want to win anytime soon, then they need to bag a true franchise quarterback or a rookie with that kind of potential.

Team Glazer could approach that goal in various ways. Joe’s pretty darn sure Greg Schiano will not get a crack at a third QB. Team Glazer could woo a head coach with the promise that the new chief can pick his own QB on his terms. Not every job opening around the league brings that kind of power.

The thing that really annoys Joe, and what will be the noose around the neck of Bucs commander Greg Schiano is that for a guy who preaches, demands discipline, his team plays so undisciplined.

Schiano, on the Buccaneers Radio Network, spoke about “self-inflicted” penalties that killed a drive that could have pulled the Bucs within seven points late in the game. Disciplined teams don’t do this. Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com cobbled together some of Schiano’s postgame words.

“It’s been a long time since a team I coached had that same issue,’’ Schiano said. “Put it on me to get that fixed. We had 11 penalties, six of them in Atlanta territory and four in the red zone. I think we do all the right things and it’s worked over the years, yet it’s not working right now. We’ve got to re-examine that.’’

Re-examine? You have, what, 86 coaches on staff and had since the last week of July to figure out how to cut down on penalties and now, in late October, you may have to revisit this? Didn’t you have any time during the bye week to re-examine?

“When teams are having penalties, that’s a collective coaching and playing issue,” Schiano said. “We’ve got to get it fixed. I’m frustrated because I’ve said that standing at this [microphone] before.”

Sadly, both for Bucs fans and Schiano, if you say you are going to correct things, yet those things still occur, yes, it is both a coaches issue and a players issue. One, the coaches, for whatever reason, aren’t getting through players’ thick skulls that they need to use their heads, or, the players can’t figure this out because of aforementioned thick skulls.

Again, Joe can’t see a scenario where Schiano returns for the 2014 season, barring a six-game winning streak. But just as Team Glazer may have a housecleaning of the coaching staff, there may be a third purge of players in the past five seasons.

Imagine you are Team Glazer and you just spent a quarter of a billion dollars — enough to buy an NHL team — on players’ salaries over the past couple of season, and what you get for your massive investment is zero wins in 2013.

Zero!

One of the coolest cats in the Bucs locker room, Mike Williams, is always open and frank with reporters. He’s often one of the first to come to the defense of teammates.

Joe remembers last year how Williams came to the passionate defense of Bucs then-franchise quarterback Josh Freeman and his less than stellar completion percentage. Williams said wide receivers deserved plenty of blame because they had to make sure they were on the same page as Freeman on each and every pass play.

Williams even took heat off of Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon when the Bucs rookie was named starter, saying, “It’s not like [Glennon] has never practiced with the first team.”

After today”s game, recounted by Pat Yasinskas of ESPN, Williams seemed evasive when asked about Bucs commander Greg Schiano not going for a touchdown on four-and-23 with five minutes left and the Bucs trailing by two touchdowns.

Don’t ask me: None of Schiano’s players questioned the call to kick the field goal, but wide receiver Mike Williams had the best quote: “I just block, catch balls and try to get touchdowns. That’s my job. I can’t make the calls. That was his call and that was the right call for him at that time.’’

It sure seems like Williams wanted to go for the touchdown, but for the same of harmony in the locker room and perhaps to protect Schiano, he’s biting his tongue.

Sooner or later there will be more chirping from within the locker room is the losses mount. From what Joe understands, there already are frayed nerves. Not yet publicly, at least, not at the coaching staff.

Former Buccaneer Jorge Diaz saw little silver lining in the Bucs’ performance in Atlanta

“Matty Ice” Ryan was extraordinarily efficient today against the Bucs’ high-paid secondary. Joe’s certain the Falcons’ signal caller hasn’t had many 20-for-26 days in his career like he did this afternoon.

The sackless Bucs barely breathed on Ryan, as Joe noted earlier.

But the Bucs also beat themselves with 11 penalties and stupid mistakes and blunders. Former Bucs guard Jorge Diaz called it a “total implosion” by Tampa Bay on the FOX local postgame.  

Yes, it was an implosion, but Joe thinks it’s important to not pretend the Bucs beat themselves. The Falcons were efficient early and dominated the first half with a decimated offense.

These are very sad times.

Mike James tries to power his way to a touchdown in the second half of the Bucs’ loss to the Dixie Chicks today.

The word in the inner circles of the NFL is that the Bucs don’t have a quality running back other than Doug Martin. Bucs fans won’t necessarily disagree. That’s why Bucs fans were quickly pulling up their Bucs rosters on their smartphones to find out just who this mysterious No. 25 was.

Surely it couldn’t have been troubled Aqib Talib?

No, it was Mike James, you know, the running back from Miami that was a third-day draft pick? (Damn that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and his draft picks.)

With Martin suffering a shoulder injury deep in Dixie Chicks territory in the third quarter, James came in and got some needed yards up the middle to set up a one-yard pass to Vincent Jackson that gave the Bucs their first touchdown recorded in the second half this season (!).

James would finish with 45 yards on 14 carries, including a strong run for three yards on a critical 4th-and-1 inside the Dixie Chicks-5. Until the status of Martin for Thursday is known, it appears James very well could be the Bucs starting tailback against Carolina.

“I just wanted to do a solid job on pass protection and moving the ball and put something together and get us a win,” James said. He did just that; James had a key block on a blitz that kept a drive alive in the fourth quarter.

Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon seemed happy with how James took over for Martin.

“Mike James really stepped up,” Glennon told the Buccaneers Radio Network. “I’m not sure what happened with Doug, but Mike did a great job. He did a lot of things that were unnoticed. He picked up blitzes or we never would have had a touchdown from Vincent Jackson.”

James’ play didn’t come as a surprise to Schiano, also speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

“Mike has been showing in the last few weeks that he is ready to be an NFL running back,” Schiano said. “We needed him today.”

Joe was outraged when Bucs coach Greg Schiano decided to play percentages and go for a late field goal when the Bucs needed 14 points to tie the game with five minutes left in the final quarter in today’s gut-punching loss to the Dixie Chicks.

At first, Joe hit the ceiling and could not believe that Schiano would suddenly go all French Army on the Dixie Chicks, especially since his job is on the line. The Tampa Bay voice of reason, columnist Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune, took to Twitter and believed that move signaled the end of the Greg Schiano Era in Tampa Bay.

@JHendersonTBO: IMO, whatever belief remained in Schiano by this town vanished with a FG that left #Bucs still needing 2 possessions in 5 minutes

This Joe was right with Henderson until he heard Schiano explain his position on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

“We were going for a score to make it one-score game,” Schiano said. “Then we self-inflict. Twice on fourth down. The odds of us doing anything [scoring a touchdown] is maybe 10 percent. If we could make it an 11-point game, we can score and get an onside kick which is what we did. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the onside kick.”

Joe will have more on the self-infliction a bit later. Schiano, Joe must admit, has a point. The Bucs needed 23 yards and the Dixie Chicks would have just put everyone in the end zone or on the goal line to defend against a touchdown. Not good odds.

Rather than being PO’ed at the decision, in retrospect, Joe is more than PO’ed at the sloppy play coming from a team coached by a self-proclaimed toes-on-the-line disciplinarian.

Joe shook his head when Greg Schiano expressed his frustration during his post-debacle news conference this afternoon.

Schiano talked about how he has to thoroughly evaluate the Bucs’ woes and make adjustments but “I think we do all the right things,” Schiano said of his coaching staff’s preparation.

Joe knows it’s irrelevant what Schiano says about the mess of 0-6. But c’mon, Coach. Please don’t embarrass yourself and the franchise and say, “I think we do all the right things.”

Schiano just led a complete re-evaluation of the entire operation out of the bye week and got roasted in back-to-back games by losing football teams.

Joe’s comfortable stating the Bucs are doing all the wrong things.

Now Joe has written before that he doesn’t expect Bucs commander Greg Schiano to return for the 2014 season. Not so much for his coaching shortcomings, but for a lack of trust factor among players — inaccurate or accurate — stemming from the smear job by the NFLPA, when they publicly pointed the finger at Schiano for allegedly leaking defrocked franchise quarterback Josh Freeman’s medical information.

Well, Joe thinks today may have given Team Glazer even more of a reason; the Bucs have now lost 11 of their last 12 games with Schiano at the helm.

The Bucs were playing a one-win team decimated by injuries. The Dixie Chicks were starting a No. 3 receiver who fried the Bucs time and again, Harry Douglas (who was time after time covered by a rookie and a second-year free agent signee, but not All-World corner Darrelle Revis). The defense, in the first half, looked hapless. You mean to tell Joe the Bucs had a week to prepare for the injury-prone Dixie Chicks, with virtually no offensive line to speak of, and they got ripped apart as if Raheem Morris was coaching them?

One guy who came to play on defense was stud Lavonte David. He seemed to be making a tackle every other play. His comments on the Buccaneers Radio Network following the game were rather telling.

“In the first half there were a lot of things we messed up on mentally. It was mental things that happened that gave them big plays. We have to learn how to eliminate that,” David said.

Now wait a minute! The Bucs have a College of Coaches that are supposed to teach. Schiano and his staff are supposed to be detailed to the point of examining pasta and thermostats in order to keep players from being distracted. And yet, the Bucs’ star linebacker claims they are not mentally into games?

Now Joe doesn’t expect Schiano to be relieved of his command, nor should he. The Bucs are in the chase for Jake Matthews and Jadevon Clowney. Why jeopardize that? There’s no better option now.

To conclude why Joe doesn’t think Schiano will be relieved before January is the history and pattern of Team Glazer. They have never released a coach before the end of the season.

Joe again cannot see Schiano coaching the Bucs in 2014. This does not make Joe happy because Schiano’s a good dude. In the NFL, you are hired and paid to win games, which Schiano is not doing, forget about the drama that enveloped the squad this season. Schiano pretty much sealed his fate today when his team came woefully unprepared, which is the same virus that torpedoed Morris’ tenure.

The Bucs are out of the playoff chase. Anyone who thinks otherwise probably agrees Joe has a shot to run away to Vegas with Rachel Watson for a week of twosomes, threesomes and massage.

So given the state of the Bucs, Joe sincerely hopes Doug Martin and his injured shoulder, the one that knocked him out of today’s Falcons-Bucs game, are in street clothes on Thursday night against Carolina. Joe doesn’t need to see a doctor’s report. There is absolutely no reason to play Martin in four days.

Let the man heal. It’s the smart move for the franchise, and Joe sincerely hopes Greg Schiano isn’t the kind of guy to play Martin on a very short week when he’s seriously banged up.

As Raheem Morris used to say, “Next man up.” The Bucs have Brian Leonard and rookie Mike James, who’s got some spark to him. Use those guys and don’t risk the franchise back.

Joe isn’t aware of what happens within the luxury offices of One Buc Palace, where Team Glazer gathers to make franchise-shaping decisions. But Joe’s pretty darn sure Greg Schiano’s future will be atop the agenda of the next shareholders meeting.

How could it not be?

Schiano has guided the Bucs to one win in their last 12 games. The team is getting progressively worse. Fans are outraged, deservedly so. Nobody with a sober mind can call the Bucs a well coached team. Nobody.

The Bucs have another game in four days against a rejuvenated, 3-3 Carolina Panthers team and their ferocious defense. Joe’s almost afraid to watch what the happens to the Bucs in Seattle in two weeks.

Joe doubts Team Glazer makes any kind of coaching change during this season unless the Bucs start quitting on Schiano and that on-field surrender forces their hand. That hasn’t happened yet. But the white flag can’t be far away, barring a historic miracle. The other thing that could force Team Glazer’s hand on a coaching change is fan outcry. Do Bucs fans care enough to march in front of One Buc Palace or boo Schiano out of the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway? Joe suspects too many fans are too numb and already tuned out.

The Buccaneers’ voted captain and decorated Greg Schiano “Buccaneer Man” Vincent Jackson grabbed his defender’s face mask and pulled it to the turf in an effort to get open in the end zone on 1st-and-goal — 1st-and-goal — in the fourth quarter. That was astounding to Joe.

What a heinous display of frustration and sloppiness.

Is there that much angst and unprofessionalism flowing through the Bucs roster? Apparently so.

One must think that 11 penalties today is more evidence of a team whose head isn’t where it needs to be.

No sacks today for Tampa Bay. And now after six games Bucs defensive linemen have a total of six sacks. Six! That’s about as bad as it gets.

Considering the Bucs were supposed to rack up significantly more sacks this season after adding the likes of Darrelle Revis, Dashon Goldson and Johnthan Banks, the impotence of the Bucs pass rush is astounding.

Joe would like to know. If Gerald McCoy is getting such good push and is a Pro Bowl caliber beast, then why can’t the Bucs get anything off the edge from Adrian Clayborn? The man was a first-round pick and has two sacks this season — and two in his last 11 games.

When NFL stats are updated Tuesday after Week 7, the Bucs will check in ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in total sacks.

Frankly, the Bucs haven’t had a nasty pass rush since Greg White burst onto the scene in 2007, with eight sacks in a part-time role. That Bucs defense had the No. 1-ranked pass defense in the NFL. The Bucs are miles away from that kind of success.

Dropped passes, punting woes, personal fouls, pre-snap penalties, more penalties, sloppy secondary play and fumbled balls ruled the day for the Bucs at the Georgia Dome. How about those undisciplined Buccaneers under Greg Schiano?

And how about that Harry Douglas Show! The Falcons’ No. 3 receiver became their No. 1 today and torched the Bucs for 149 yards. Why wasn’t Darrelle Revis covering him???

That’s two weeks in a row now that opposing quarterbacks have completed more than 70 percent of their passes.

This was an absolutely pathetic loss to a shorthanded and unimpressive 1-4 Falcons team. Your Bucs are now 0-6.

Joe’s really getting sick and tired of pulling positives out of losses. Yes, Vincent Jackson made a great touchdown catch, special teams forced a fumble/turnover, Lavonte David was a playmaker, Mike James looked capable, and others played hard, but the Bucs were nowhere near good enough — and so damn sloppy. Eleven penalties and other errors under a disciplined head coach? Greg Schiano and his massive coaching staff should be updating their resumes.

If the Bucs cannot beat the Dixie Chicks today, Joe won’t know what to say. The Bucs, then, may not get a win until December, if you can imagine. At that point, the race for Jake Matthews or Jadeveon Clowney will be on!

The Dixie Chicks are beat up. They have a rotten offensive line (Jeremy Trueblood???). They have scrubs in place of stars at wide receiver. Their top free agent running back has been shelved with an injury. The Dixie Chicks are a shell of their NFC title appearance from last year.

Go ahead and vent in this post. As always, please do not paste a link of an illegally steamed video feed of the game (or Joe will have to click the Goodbye Button), but you are more than welcome to share said URL among yourselves via e-mail.

Just how rotten the Bucs are will be determined today.

So have fun and don’t hold back, good or bad. Enjoy.

American sports icon Sid Hartman, the 93-year-old columnist for the Star-Tribune in Minnesota, has been doing his share of digging on the newest QB of his Vikings. And Hartman says his Tampa Bay sources revealed an organizational sales job that led to the defrocking of Josh Freeman.

In a video linked here, Hartman says Team Glazer initially was against making the move on Freeman and needed to be convinced.

“I know some people down there [in Tampa] that told that me the owners did not want to let [Freeman] go,” Hartman said. “But when the coach and the general manager sat down with them and told them the problems they’re having with him, and that he’s wrecking the rest of the team because they don’t have the morale, they don’t have that, the players like him and all that kind of stuff, but they can’t understand why he don’t show up on time for practice, why he don’t do different things.”

Hartman went on to say he doesn’t have much faith in Freeman changing his ways in Minnesota and made the comparison to lessons the Vikings learned with Percy Harvin.

Of course, Joe doesn’t know what Team Glazer really thought about the Freeman move but it would make sense if they were apprehensive. Team Glazer knows what it paid Freeman this season, and they know that fans were told this season would be all about No. 5.

Game 6

Bucs (0-5) at Dixie Chicks (1-4)

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: WTVT-TV, Channel 13, locally. Outside the Tampa Bay area, DirecTV Channel 704.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM 103.5, and WDAE-AM 620); SiriusXM Channel 134.

Weather: Per AccuWeather.com, though the game will be played in a soulless dome, Bucs fans tailgating for the game will experience true fall weather (which is known as bitter winter conditions in the Sunshine State). Morning temperatures will be in the mid-50s with virtually no wind under crystal clear, sunny skies. After the game, it is expected to be a pleasant 69 degrees outside the Georgia Dome.

Odds: Per FootballLocks.com, Dixie Chicks -6.5.

Outlook: How ugly has this season become for the Bucs? Consider that today may be the last great chance until December for the Bucs to record their first victory of the season. December! The Dixie Chicks limp into the Georgia Dome ripe for a loss. Down is Julio Jones. Down is Roddy White. Down is Steven Jackson. With the exception of Matt Ryan future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, the Dixie Chicks are starting a bunch of scrubs.

The offensive line? Ha! Jeremy Trueblood of all people, the human turnstile, is the Dixie Chicks’ starting right tackle. Yes, really!

And the Dixie Chicks defense? How does being 26th in the NFL in pass defense? Yikes!

Not only is this likely the last good opportunity until December for a win, this game is a chance for the Bucs’ big-named stars to shine and play to their expected level. If Da’Quan Bowers can’t beat Trueblood, it may be time to turn the page on the Clemson product. Scrub wide receivers? Time for Darrelle Revis, Dashon Goldson and Mark Barron to take over. Rotten pass defense by the Dixie Chicks? Time for Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams to run a track meet with the ball.

If the Bucs lose today, it will be time for Bucs fans to become familiar with Jake Matthews and Jadeveon Clowney.

(Vic Beasely of Clemson? Stop! Did the guy even dress last night against Florida State?)

If the Bucs can’t take advantage of a team teetering on the brink of collapse, Joe suspects brisk alcohol sales late this afternoon in the Tampa Bay area.

Many Bucs fans — largely those known as “Freemanites” — still howl about the Bucs cutting loose malcontent defrocked franchise quarterback Josh Freeman. In some cases, so much so that local animal services has visited their residence for drop-kicking a pet cat across the backyard.

There really hasn’t been a marked difference in the Bucs’ passing attack since Freeman left, partially because of injuries to skill position players. But hold up, says Bucs commander Greg Schiano. The passing of current starter Mike Glennon has improved greatly over Freeman in one area: Accuracy. Can you imagine? Light upon this subject is shed by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Glennon’s mobility isn’t the only thing that has Schiano smiling. His ability to hit receivers on the run with his passes has brought back an offensive dimension Schiano said was missing with former starter Josh Freeman.

Freeman’s inability to consistently hit his targets in stride, Schiano said, greatly reduced his receivers’ ability to make yards after the catch and therefore limited the offense’s true potential. Last week, Schiano said he thinks that trend will slowly change for the Bucs now that Glennon is at quarterback, and there is already proof.

Though the Bucs are last in the league in total yards after the catch with 421, a season-high 107 came against the Eagles, when Glennon completed 26 of 43 throws (60 percent). It marked the first time this season a Bucs quarterback has completed more than 50 percent of his passes.

Joe is somewhat interested to see how Glennon does against the Dixie Chicks. It could be the first time the Bucs had their projected starting tight end and receivers. Vincent Jackson will start, of course. and Mike Williams is expected back. Tight end Tom Crabtree also should log many more snaps.

This can only help Glennon and the Bucs find that elusive first win of 2013.

Unable to score a second-half touchdown all season, Greg Schiano and the offensive gurus on his staff didn’t need any more criticism. But they got another hefty dose of it from a very credible source this week.

Longtime NFL quarterback and noted film guru Ron Jaworski claims he studied all of Josh Freemans 2013 snaps and he did not see a bad quarterback. The Star-Tribune out of Minnesota snatched a chunk of Jaworski’s breakdown behind an ESPN subscription wall and shared some nuggets. Jaworski puts a load of blame on the Buccaneers’ offensive line.

As we know, the quarterback gets too much credit and takes too much blame for most situations on offense. So let me start by saying Freeman’s position certainly amplified his issues with the Buccaneers. When I re-examined all of Freeman’s throws thus far in 2013, I came away confident in my opinion that his benching — and ensuing release — wasn’t warranted. Moreover, I’m convinced Freeman has it within him to be a good quarterback in the NFL. And he’ll prove it in Minnesota.

I’m not about to give Freeman a free pass for the Bucs’ struggles, but he was a victim as often as he was a perpetrator.

Start with the pass protection. In Freeman’s 103 dropbacks in 2013, he was under pressure on 26 of them, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Compare that to Peyton Manning, who has felt pressure on just 29 of his 245 dropbacks to date in 2013, and you get a decent idea of the uphill battle Freeman was fighting the first three weeks.

Again, Jaworski is a top notch source on QB play. He has said in previous interviews that he spends a load of his time working out of NFL Films headquarters, often alongside Greg Cosell, the film guru who claims the Bucs are, in fact, using Darrelle Revis in zone coverage most of the time.

Whatever reality may be, the New Schiano Order’s credibility is taking beating after beating — seemingly day after day.

Sunday against the depleted Dixie Chicks should be time for the secondary of the Bucs to dominate for a change.

Yes, many Bucs fans have focused the past week on if/why Darrelle Revis is playing zone coverage. Or too much zone coverage. Or exclusively zone coverage.

What is important is if the Bucs are to find their first win of the season, then it will be the defense that will lead them, likely the secondary. The defensive backs of the Bucs may not get such an opportunity to dominate as they could and should tomorrow, writes Trey Cunningham of Pro Football Focus.

Julio Jones is done for the year. Roddy White has been playing with various injuries and may not be able to play in this contest. Aside from Tony Gonzalez, who should now be focused on even more by defenses, who is going to receive Matt Ryan’s passes? The fact Steven Jackson, who was supposed to bring a pass-catching threat the team lacked with Michael Turner, seems iffy at best to play on Sunday doesn’t help.

It seems that 2008 third-round pick Harry Douglas will be the No. 1 WR if White is unable to suit up. Douglas, who has actually played one more snap than White, has disappointed thus far in 2013 with only 16 catches, no scores, a fumble, and two drops. The last drop was near the goal line in the Jets loss, one play in a sequence of events that saw the Falcons stopped on the 1-yard line right before halftime. To be fair, that pass, which could have gone for a TD and changed the game, was a bit overthrown, but Douglas still could have made a play. The next wide out with the most snaps on the year is former undrafted free agent Drew Davis, who has played in every game but hasn’t had a pass thrown to him since Week 1. After Davis is Kevin Cone, who has played in four games and actually had a 12-yard catch-and-run and forced a missed tackle against the Jets, but that was his only target. Fourth-round rookie TE Levine Toilolo could become a bigger target for Ryan. Toilolo has caught all but one pass thrown to him this season, forced two missed tackles and scored a pair of TDs. Otherwise expect a lot of short passes to HBs Jacquizz Rodgers and Jason Snelling, who have a combined for 32 catches, 20 forced missed tackles and two TDs.

Look. The Bucs have All-World cornerback Revis, who as Bucs commander Greg Schiano likes to say, even at 70 percent is 50 percent better than most. The Bucs have stud Dashon Goldson. They have high first round draft pick Mark Barron. They have promising rookie Johnthan Banks. They should take the game over. The only receiver to worry about, and he is a big worry, is Anthony Gonzalez.

That’s it. The rest are scrubs. Joe knows Matty Ice is a helluva quarterback but this is the time for the secondary of hte Bucs to dominate and shut down these scrubs. Take the game over. Smother them.

If not, the Bucs just may have bigger problems than just being winless.