Week 17
Bucs at Dixie Chicks
Kickoff: 4:15 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV in Tampa, DirecTV 713.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 136.
Weather: Per Weather.com, the game is playing in a soulless dome. For any Bucs fans tailgating, temperatures will be in the low 50s under sunny skies.
Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs +10.
Outlook: This very well could be the end of the Raheem Morris era in Tampa Bay. The vultures are circling, the wolves are howling, the torches are lit, the pitchforks are at the ready. Bucs fans are nearly universal in wanting embattled Bucs coach Morris out of town. If he is retained, Joe is expecting the very ground under our feet to shake. From all credible reports, about the only shot Morris has of saving his job would be if the Bucs somehow upset the Dixie Chicks on their home turf. If the Packers beat the Lions in their 1 p.m. game, the Dixie Chicks have a shot of moving up to a higher playoff seed with a win, and avoiding playing at the Superdome against the Saints. So the Dixie Chicks would have incentive to beat the Bucs. If the Lions win, there is no incentive for the Dixie Chicks and the playoffs are set before kickoff at the Georgia Dome. It seems Bucs fans are far more interested in Morris being jettisoned than the Bucs beating the Dixie Chicks. It has sunk to that level.

One could assume that Team Glazer already has made a decision on Raheem Morris’ future. It seems logical that Raheem showed enough in 2011 to have been evaluated objectively already, so the team can move seamlessly beginning Monday into its 2012 season.

But who is Joe, or any fan or media type, to predict how Team Glazer will judge its head coach? Joe surely has no clue how Team Glazer will proceed.

So that could mean today’s result in Atlanta will be a factor in the future of the coaching staff. Joe wouldn’t care either way; Joe’s seen enough to know the Bucs have suffered from some awful coaching. But ownership and Mark Dominik might have a different attitude.

Perhaps the Bucs end up playing a motivated Atlanta team eager for a higher playoff seed and the Bucs put a beating on them and shock the NFL, and the players douse Raheem with Gatorade and make a postgame case that losing is behind them.

Joe realizes the above scenario is about as likely as Joe getting a job shaving the Hooters Calendar ladies before next year’s shoot, but it is possible.

And it’s also possible that Team Glazer is still evaluating the future of its head coach.

This morning there was a breathless report that former Titans head coach Jeff Fisher was spotted at the Bucs team hotel in Atlanta.

In an effort to connect the dots, some believed Team Glazer was finalizing plans to bring Fisher to the Tampa Bay area to replace embattled coach Raheem Morris.

Part of the reason Fisher was spotted was because he was in Atlanta to watch his son play in last night’s Chicken Bowl between Auburn and Virginia.

For Bucs fans who have broken open the champagne bottles thinking Fisher is the new Bucs coach, hold up!

Popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King has thrown cold water on these rumors, via Twitter.

@SI_PeterKing: Jeff Fisher sighting at Bucs hotel in Atlanta? Pure coincidence. No meeting with Bucs. There only to see Auburn DB son Trent in Peach Bowl.

So Bucs fans can calm down. For now. Morris is still the Bucs head coach. For now. For a few days at least, so Joe believes.

Could linebacker Quincy Black be among the many changes to the Bucs defense next year?

If the Dixie Chicks happen to put up 25 points on the Bucs by the time the game ends early this evening, it will mark a franchise worst for points allowed in a season.

That’s a real good way for a defensive coordinator to change his home mailing address.

The play of the Bucs linebackers has been no less than horrid this season and the Bucs secondary, to be kind, has been leaky.

Those are the two main culprits as the Bucs are on the cusp of a dreadful team record. And it’s those two elements that will likely be completely reworked in the offseason, so says Don Parr of ProFootballWeekly.com.

With the Buccaneers setting a new standard for the rock-bottom point in their season almost every week — they will set a new franchise record for points allowed if they give up 25 points vs. the Falcons Sunday — big changes could be coming to the team, including some significant restructuring on defense. The franchise is committed to developing its young defensive linemen — DT Gerald McCoy has said he’s ahead of schedule in his rehab from a torn biceps that landed him on injured reserve — and is very optimistic about their future. Sources expect linebacker and the secondary will be the areas the team focuses on strengthening. Starters OLB Geno Hayes, SS Sean Jones and CB Ronde Barber will be free agents and might not be back and there’s a good chance there will be a new defensive coordinator whether head coach Raheem Morris, who currently serves in that capacity, is fired or not.

If there is a new Bucs coach, Joe expects to see pretty much a totally new secondary when the 2012 season kicks off. Ronde Barber, as much as Joe loves him, will probably retire. Sean Jones is a free agent and though he will never be John Lynch, is one of the team’s leading tacklers.

And if there is a new coach, Joe doubts seriously if Aqib Talib will be back. Surely a new coach won’t give him all the rope he has enjoyed the past few years and quite frankly, Joe is pretty certain Talib simply isn’t worth all the drama.

Joe offers his heartfelt wishes to all his readers — every single one of you — sincere hopes for a prosperous 2012. Joe just cannot wait until tonight to officially kick sand on what has been a horrible 2011 season; far worse than any Bucs fans could have envisioned.

Joe appreciates each one of you, really. Without readers, Joe is just spit on the proverbial virtual windshield of the Internet.

Thanks to all of you, Joe has broken the one million mark for pageviews for the third straight month, and this month, even with the holidays, set a record for readers, pushing 400,000 visits for the month at this writing.

Again, thank you and let’s all hope for a better 2012. It can’t get much worse than 2011 on the football field, that’s for sure.

Joe could spend from now to midnight documenting individual woeful play of Bucs players. But a good place to start is with the starting quarterback.

Josh Freeman last year was nothing less than a stud. He appeared to be on the rise to elite quarterback status with his fourth quarterback comebacks and his gaudy touchdown-to-interception ratio.

But something happened on the way to Canton. Freeman has been less than stellar this year. In fact, statistically, he is one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL for 2011. Veteran sports columnist Gary Shelton documented just how far Freeman’s star has fallen in the St. Petersburg Times (that’s the last time Joe will type that).

For whatever reason, Freeman has struggled. For the year, Freeman’s quarterback rating is 74.9. Remember Vinny Testaverde’s final year with the Bucs? His rating was 74.2. Remember the disappointment in Jack “The Throwin’ Samoan” Thompson? He was at 73.3 in his full year as a starter.

In Dilfer’s final year, he was at 75.8. In Shaun King’s full season as a starter, he was at 75.8. The Bucs have replaced a lot of quarterbacks who played at the same level Freeman has this year.

You probably remember the closest fall to Freeman’s. It was Brad Johnson, another Buc quarterback. In 2002, the Super Bowl season, Johnson threw only six interceptions. In 2003, when the team fell to 7-9, he threw 21. Still, Johnson threw for more touchdowns and more yardage that year, so his overall rating didn’t plummet as sharply. In 2006, Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a similar drop, his interceptions climbing from nine to 23 and his rating falling by 23 points. Still, his touchdown passes didn’t fall off in the same way.

Last offseason, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik stated often it was all about “No. 5.” It had better be now. For if the Bucs don’t get Freeman turned around, the next few years appear to be dark for Bucs fans.

Former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Chucky has long been rumored to be stalking the sidelines for some team in 2012, once his $5 million a year contract with the Bucs was off Team Glazer’s books.

Apparently, that will not happen. Chucky spoke with eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune this afternoon and said he will still be assaulting innocent football fans as a television analyst on Monday Night Football.

Dousing speculation he plans to return to the NFL sidelines, former Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden told the Tampa Tribune he is remaining with ESPN as an analyst for its “Monday Night Football” broadcasts.

“I love my job and I’ll be back at ESPN with the guys,” Gruden said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Gruden, 48, has spent the past three NFL seasons in the ESPN booth with fellow analyst Ron Jaworski and play-by-play man Mike Tirico, receiving two Sports Emmy nominations. In October, Gruden signed a 5-year extension with ESPN.

Bad for football fans watching on TV, bad for some NFL team and, frankly, bad for the NFL that Chucky is not coaching. Joe’s just going to guess that no NFL team was serious in vying for Chucky’s services, otherwise he would be coaching.

It’s easy to say one is not interesting in returning to coaching if no team is interested in hiring him. It’s like Joe saying he’s not interested in a late-night wrestling match between the sheets with Marlana Aref into the small hours of the night.

Please, spare Joe the nonsense that Joe hates Chucky. He does not. Joe has long defended Chucky against the slander the Dungyphiles hurl his way — that Chucky won with Father Dungy’s talent, which is as insulting as it is inaccurate.

Upon review of the Bucs’ 2011 opening day roster, popular thought among fans had the Bucs improving their overall play and developing their young talent but taking a step backwards in the win column.

A tougher schedule and fewer late-game miracles was to leave the team a competitive, roughly .500 club set up well for the future.

Well, none of that materialized and the Bucs had an awful season.

This got Joe thinking, have any Buccaneers improved from 2010? Joe crafted a list:

Davin Joseph
Preston Parker
Elbert Mack
Connor Barth
Michael Bennett
Gerald McCoy (Improved but incomplete season)

It’s worth noting that Brian Price exceeded all expectations for 2011 after getting just a handful of snaps last year. For Joe, that’s it. The rest of the Bucs are playing at or below their 2010 levels.

Of course, the coaching staff lost its A-game, too. By Raheem’s own admission, the team is collectively tuning out its coaches.

This poor record of consistent player development is a major failure that Joe expects rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Team Glazer to strongly consider when evaluating the state of the Buccaneers. How could they not?

The stated goal was to build a “lasting contender” via a massive youth movement. But if you can’t keep the players growing somewhat consistently, then the end goal is unattainable and there can’t be confidence in the coaching staff.

Raheem said he was married to Josh Freeman when Freeman was drafted in 2009. The implication was that Raheem’s tenure with the Bucs would ride on Freeman. Yes, if Freeman was having a quality season in 2011, the Bucs probably would have won a couple more games, and the defense wouldn’t look quite as bad. A thriving Freeman likely would have secured Raheem’s fourth season. If it’s “all about No. 5,” then No. 5 must be improving. There’s no evidence that he is.

Joe gets how some NFL types cite the loss of OTAs and minicamp sessions as the root of the Bucs’ 2011  demise. Joe’s not buying it, but the real question now is whether Team Glazer and Dominik do.

Yesterday while Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski pinch-hit for the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, Pawlowski had a discussion about the Bucs with noted football consultant and former NFL and NCAA coach Chris Landry.

Like just about the entire football world, Landry is shocked at how the Bucs season not just crumbled, but is in a grotesque tailspin. Some argue the Bucs are the worst team in the NFL currently, despite starting the season 4-2 with strong wins over playoff teams.

Landry tried to be delicate and polite, but Landry’s careful words were loaded negativity. Landry appears locally on WDAE-AM 620 each Friday afternoon for a must-listen for football junkies like Joe.

“The thing that concerns me the most is the players are saying they are going to play for their coach,” Landry explained of the curb-stompings the Bucs have been victims of. “So go do it!”

Landry went on to add a very damning comment, “Right now they [the Bucs] are the most undisciplined team in the league, more so than the Raiders.”

It doesn’t take a trained eye to see there is some disconnect between Morris and his defensive troops. What has caused that or why it exists is currently a mystery.

Enjoying an on-air chuckle about the notion of Gerald McCoy being a leader on the Buccaneers, former Bucs star Hardy Nickerson shared his feelings that the Bucs need more veterans.

Speaking to former Bucs guard Ian Beckles on The Ron and Ian Show today on WDAE-AM 620, Nickerson said the Bucs need a few established successful veterans to blend in with the young talent to teach them how to be professionals.

“You really don’t know anything until you get a little seasoning,” Nickerson said. “And that takes about four maybe five years, you know, to really kind of get a feel and figure it out and say, ‘Ok, this is what I can get done.’ Before you can even take on anybody else and say, ‘Hey, man, you can follow me.'”

“And then the guys that you’re following, they have to be guys on the field that are doin’ it. You know what I mean? Not the guys that are talkin’ it. They gotta be doin’ it.”

Nickerson, who said the Bucs are his favorite team, went on to say leaders must be players that perform at a high level in practice and in games. He also likened the Bucs’ leadership deficiencies to those he sees on the Detroit Lions.

Nickerson also shared his disbelief at the new NFL labor agreement that severely limits players practicing in pads. “I don’t know how they even get ready for a game,” said Nickerson, who added he’d still be playing if those rules were in effect during his career.

Better late than never.

Yeah, Joe knows that Bucs guard Davin Joseph made the Pro Bowl. In Joe’s eyes, the honor couldn’t happen to a better guy.

Joseph is a quiet and humble dude and not many know this but Joe’s going to let the cat out of the bag: Joseph does a lot of work in the offseason and donates quite a chunk of change to various community projects.

One of those projects is the athletics program at Blake High School where Joseph offers his time, and thousands of dollars, to help innercity youngsters get a needed boost for their lives after school.

Joe was unaware of this prior to a Friday night this fall. As many of you know, Joe still dabbles in the MSM on a freelance basis. One client has Joe cover local high school football.

Joe just happened to be at Blake High covering a football game when, late in the second quarter, Joe felt a nudge on his back and heard, “Hey man, I know you are busy, I just wanted to say ‘Hi.” It was Joseph with that big ear-to-ear grin of his. Joe was taken aback that Joseph was there and chatted with him briefly. Joseph was honored by the school at halftime for all of his help.

That’s the kind of guy Joesph is. He could big league 99 percent of this area, but he wants to be a part of the community, just like you and Joe.

After games, tough losses or exultant wins, Joseph is always willing to chat and offer some smart, thoughtful opinions about a game.

Yes, Joe knows readers generally do not give a hoot who talks to the press, but when Joseph or any player talks to the press, he is indirectly talking to fans, not to media.

Joesph is a stand-up dude and Joe is proud that a guy like that, a guy who cares about the community, a guy that rolls his sleeves up and gets involved in the community, is also honored for his play on the field.

He was already a Pro Bowl player for the Tampa Bay area.

It seems a blow to the head has ended Year 6 of the Jeremy Trueblood experience. The Buccaneers alerted their Twitter followers of Trueblood ruled out Sunday because of a concussion.

Seemingly, the Bucs will get a look at Demar Dotson and James Lee in his place.

Lee possibly gets a chance to redeem himself for ugly play in the preseason and limited reps during the regular season. It’s quite an opportunity for a guy that put some good stuff on tape in 2010 and will be an unrestricted free agent in a matter of weeks.

As for Trueblood, the Bucs can surely do better than him next year, but Joe can’t imagine replacing Trueblood will be anywhere close to a priority.

Joe will grill meat products and drink hops products Monday morning outside the Outback Bowl while he awaits the potential firing of Raheem Morris.

Despite the glorious football games that day, Joe’s plate is cleared in anticipation of what could be a landmark day in Bucs history.

Former Bucs beat writer Don Banks, now a lead NFL writer for SI.com, says he’s confident Raheem Morris will be fired and includes Raheem in his recent feature on Black Monday (the nickname for the mass and immediate postseason firing of NFL coaches), Banks even studies Raheem’s potential replacements.

Here are a few names that fit the bill as I read the Bucs’ situation:  Ex-Packers head coach Mike Sherman, who recently was let go by Texas A&M  after five seasons as head coach, but went 59-43 (.578) in Green Bay from  2000-2006, winning three division titles and going to the playoffs four times in six seasons. Sherman will get interviews for NFL coaching jobs this year, count on it. And in retrospect, especially in this year’s field of candidates, his  track record and reputation for developing quarterbacks looks pretty darn impressive.

Another possibility in Tampa Bay is Falcons offensive coordinator Mike  Mularkey, who not only knows the NFC South well, but who started his NFL  coaching career in Tampa Bay on Sam Wyche’s staff in the early ’90s. Mularkey spent two years as Buffalo’s head coach in 2004-05, went 14-18 with a 9-7 season  in 2004 (the Bills’ only winning record since 1999), and resigned that gig, without being fired. He has not hurt his resume any by working in Atlanta with quarterback Matt Ryan.

Click on through above to read more of Banks’ interesting take on the Bucs’ potential head coaching search that includes other names.

For Joe, Mularkey is an intriguing possibility. He has experience with the Steelers’ way as a player and coach, which Bucs management seems to want to emulate, and he brings a load of credibility, success and diverse experience.

Former Bucs quarterback and current WQYK-AM 1010 personality Shaun King talked all things Bucs on a national stage yesterday on NBCSports.com with ProFootballTalk.com guru Mike Florio.

King likely stunned a majority of Bucs fans saying he believes Team Glazer will bring back Raheem Morris in 2012. And King said “the correct thing to do” would be to “give him [a contract] extension.”

It’s a top-shelf interview that includes King’s always fascinating critique/criticism of Chucky.

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Are the Bucs a band of talented players that just isn’t connecting with its coaching and system?

Joe sure thinks so, and it seems that former Bucs tight end Dave Moore, now on the Bucs’ payroll as a radio analyst, does as well.

In a passionate chat on The Ron and Ian Show this week, the candid Moore told co-host and former Bucs guard Ian Beckles that he can’t agree with anyone that questions the Bucs’ talent. Moore used examples of former Bucs receivers Alvin Harper and Bert Emmanuel as guys who were excellent players in other systems outside Tampa Bay. The point was that they didn’t lose their talent when they got to Tampa, and players that flourished on the Bucs in 2010 and in past years haven’t lost their’s either.

“A lot of it has to do with feeling good about what they’re asking you to do and understanding how the system works to be able to be successful in it. And that’s where I think these guys are kind of lost,” Moore said. “Either they don’t know it well enough or they’re not disciplined enough to put in the time to really understand what their responsibilities are. And I think it’s hard to evaluate how good they are as a player just because they seem really disorganized at times on defense.”

Moore went on to say that “it looks like some of the guys haven’t put in the time.” Moore said he has no explanation for the lack of discipline but suggested that some players may have been resting on their success of last year.

Joe has no explanations, either, especially on the offensive side of the ball. (And as a beer-swilling young man in his Clearwater apartment when Alvin Harper was signed, Joe’s not sure what happened to that guy either.)

But pull a tape of the Bucs late in the 2010 season, and the current offense is way off the mark with a nearly identical cast. It’s plain as day. Something has gone awry, and you can’t fire the team.

Joe has heard constantly how the Bucs, gosh darn it, will bust their tails in their next game because they owe it to their coach, embattled Bucs leader Raheem Morris.

Then the team goes out and gets drilled by 30 points to the likes of the Jags.

For so many players to be playing for their coach, it makes one wonder if that’s just lip service or if the Bucs are indeed in a heap of trouble personnel-wise.

Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski has spoken to a number of Bucs players and, though Pawlowski didn’t name said players, he was told in so many words that the players aren’t exactly on the same page as their head coach, so Pawlowski wrote on WDAE-AM 620’s website.

“No,” player said when I asked if the defense was playing as a collective unit. “I don’t think some players ever fully bought into the scheme.”

Not buying in might lend some credence as to why the players are not giving full effort to try and save their head coaches job.

“We all like Raheem Morris because he’s a nice guy, but it is very apparent that we are not playing for him.”

The article is eyebrow-raising to Joe and is very much worth the read. Joe does know saying a team will play for its coach and actually playing for the coach are two different things.

The difference in points scored the past few weeks speaks louder than what a few players are saying, on or off the record.

Tony Gonzalez of the Dixie Chicks claims his team won't tank against the Bucs.

The Dixie Chicks have clinched a playoff berth. They will play another game next week while the Bucs are in the midst of planning golfing vacations where no one wears a coat outside.

If the Lions lose to the Packers early Sunday, the Dixie Chicks will have a chance to clinch the fifth seed in the playoffs. If the Lions win, the playoff seeds are set, no matter the outcome of Sunday’s game.

As Joe noted before, if the Dixie Chicks rest their stars like Matty Ice, Julio Jones, Michael Turner, Tony Gonzalez, etc., it opens the door for the Bucs to perhaps pull an upset and maybe save embattled coach Raheem Morris’ job.

But the Dixie Chicks rolling over for an easy upset won’t happen, Gonzalez said, via Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.

“It’s business as usual around here,” Gonzalez said. “We’re going to try to go out and win a football game against a really good team that beat us earlier in the season. I don’t think anybody’s mind-set around here is that we’re going to go ahead and rest, especially after last week the way we performed against the Saints. We have to go out there and put on a good performance going into the playoffs.”

Saying that in midweek prior to a game is one thing. But if a team is already locked into their playoff seed before kickoff Sunday, Joe finds it difficult to believe the Dixie Chicks will have the same fire in the belly to win that it normally takes to secure a victory in the NFL.

While Donald Penn was Eeyore-like during The Donald Penn Show on WDAE-AM 620 Tuesday, one thing that drew some passion out of him late in the show was when a caller asked him to play Bucs general manager.

Penn stepped to the plate with an analytical call for free agents.

“I think we need to be you know, get a little active in free agency,” Penn said. “Our defense, you know we’re real hurt right now. You know we gotta bring in some guys that can come in and really play well in the two-deep, so in case we do go through injuries like this again we got some guys that can step in and play like our starters. I think, you know we need to be a little more active in free agents and bring in a couple of guys, like maybe a guy that can spread the field a little more with speed.

“I think [the front office] is going to do a good job. They’ve done a great job in the last couple of years in their preparation and things that we’ve done in the draft. I don’t think they’re going to stress the draft as much as they have the last two years because we have made some good draft picks, if you look at what [Adrian] Clayborn is doing at what [Da’Quan] Bowers is doing lately. You know Gerald McCoy, when Gerald McCoy is playing, we just gotta keep Gerald McCoy healthy. When Gerald McCoy is out there playing he’s a beast. We gotta make sure [Brian Price] is 100 percent. When BP is out there, he’s kill.

“Injuries are hurting us. So you know we gotta come in, I think we gotta get a couple of guys that can, you know, be a two-deep, so in case this happens again we won’t have a big let-off. I think we just gotta get free agency and get some other guys in here to come in and compete. … We need to have a big competition this offseason because I think competition brings out the best of you and brings out the best in people. …  Maybe bring in some vets that’s going to push these young guys and have a lot of competition at every position. Every position we need to have competition next year because competition makes you work harder.  … You need to have a little fear in the back of your head that you might not have your job.”

There might be a solid half-dozen ways to read between the lines of Penn’s comments. Joe wouldn’t know where to start (but Joe suspects some readers will have a field day in the comments below this post).

It is clear Penn sees a need for depth and competition, and a burner on the flanks. Who could disagree with that?

Reasoned if not respected people are finally beginning to take notice, and to speak out:

Chucky as an NFL game analyst is the polar opposite of Chucky the NFL coach.

As a coach, Chucky has bling only a handful of other NFL coaches in history have. Chucky is perhaps the person responsible for the Bucs’ lone Super Bowl victory.

As an NFL game analyst, Chucky is a self-serving windbag who is, as a former chief of NFL referees and current NFL TV talking head himself described, also a “blowhard.”

Mike Pereira, who until recently was the longtime chief of NFL officiating, now works for FOX. And Joe noticed on Twitter Monday night how Pereira went bananas over Chucky grousing about what he deemed was a perfectly legal hit but replays clearly showed to be helmet-to-helmet, a clear violation of NFL rules.

In a column on FoxSports.com, Pereira unloaded on Chucky’s irresponsiblity as a broadcaster and firebombed him for his failure to grasp simple NFL rules.

I am not a fan of Gruden’s. Not today, not yesterday, not when I worked for the NFL and not when I was working on the field as a side judge. He was a loudmouth as a coach who constantly disrespected officials and he is a blowhard in the broadcast booth who spouts off when he doesn’t know what he is talking about.

I respect his knowledge about the X’s and O’s when it comes to coaching and playing the game of football, but I have very little respect for him when it comes to officiating and his knowledge of the rules.

Pereira is dead-on in many respects with this column, in particular Chucky’s unethical diatribes. At the very least, if broadcasters are going to trash officials for allegedly making bad calls, make sure you know that the call is actually inaccurate.

It’s one thing to not like calls. Joe’s fully in agreement with Chucky that it’s borderline criminal how NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell is trying to turn good, hard-hitting, fundamental football into high school basketball where just breathing on an offensive player is a personal foul and a five-figured fine.

But hating a rule and claiming it’s wrong are two totally different things. As Pereira pointed out, will BSPN do the right thing and come out publicly and state Chucky was full of it, or will they just do the BSPN thing and hope Chucky runs off to St. Louis or San Diego as a coach?

Joe’s cash is on the latter.

To Joe, this is no different than if a broadcaster constantly got names of players wrong and constantly butchered the names of players throughout the game. Fans would be outraged, and rightfully so.

How is what Chucky is doing any different? It’s worse in fact.

There is no question that one of the biggest knocks on embattled Bucs coach Raheem Morris has been his close social relationship with a handful of Bucs players.

Morris needs to separate himself from the players in social circles and be more a boss than a bud, so Morris’ vocal critics say.

But that bond between player and coach is important to some. In talking to Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, veteran Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber said if the Bucs jettison Morris next month, it may force Barber’s hands into retirement.

“I would be lying if I didn’t say that,” Barber said when asked if his future was linked to Morris’. “That’s somewhat true. But we’ll see. Ideally, I’d love to be back and play with (Morris), and (secondary coach) Jimmy (Lake) and (linebackers coach) Joe Baker. They’re great coaches and they’re fun to be around. They understand me and I understand them. So I imagine that will have something to do with it.”

Well, Morris’ future is indeed in peril but there is still a window of a chance that Morris could return. Joe, however, would be totally flabbergasted if Baker is retained.

The Bucs linebacker corps has to be among the worst in the NFL, and if not worst, this despite some solid play from rookie middle linebacker Mason Foster.

If a team that is on the cusp of setting a gruesome franchise record for allowing the most points in a season, largely because of bad linebacker play, allows the head coach or defensive coordinator to skate (Morris is also the Bucs defensive coordinator), then surely the linebackers position coach must be the one to fall on the sword.

Morris returning for the 2012 season is not out of the question.

Baker returning next season would be as shocking to Joe as if Rachel Watson herself knocked on Joe’s front door tonight wearing her old Bucs cheerleader get-up, with a bottle of Tanquerey in her hand no less.

Eric Mangini, Jemele Hill and Skip Bayless of BSPN discuss the fate of embattled Bucs coach Raheem Morris in this BSPN video.