Garbage time was kind to the Bucs today, when the Panthers ran a pile of conservative running plays to lower their average rush per carry. It fell below 11 yards per carry late in the game to finish at 8.7 yards per rush.

All Joe can do his hang his head in shame.

Three Decembers ago the Bucs couldn’t stop the run. Three years later things are worse.

Same story. Different blowout.

Thanks for the lump of coal in the ol’ stocking, Bucs.

Today’s ugly show in Carolina featured another slow start by the Bucs, co-starring laughable defense, stupid and harmful penalties, shameful turnovers (FOUR!), and another round of debate on whether the Bucs have quit on Raheem Morris.

(Let’s have a moment of silence for the Bucs employees that have to sell tickets next week.)

Joe commends his readers that watched this entire debacle. What’s the point spread going to be in Atlanta next week? Bucs +39? Joe wouldn’t touch it.

Joe almost hopes the Bucs have quit on Raheem, because if they’re breaking their butts but getting blown out in four consecutive weeks, then all of Bucs nation is in a heap of trouble for 2012.

Remember, the Panthers are not a great team.

Joe suspects there will be no vote of confidence for Raheem coming from One Buc Palace this week. One might think Team Glazer’s decision on Raheem’s future would be easy and clear, but nothing would surprise Joe.

Yeah, yeah, Joe knows the Bucs missed those precious OTAs this offseason. Joe swears,  the next time he hears that weak excuse/explanation for the Bucs’ nine-game losing streak he’s going to vomit.

Week 16
Bucs at Panthers
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV in Tampa, DirecTV 711.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 136.
Weather: Despite it being Christmas weekend, the weather up north isn’t bad whatsoever. Per AccuWeather.com, temperatures will be somewhat moderate. Kickoff conditions will be 54 degrees and will only drop slightly through the game with a temperature of 51 expected by the final whistle.
Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs +7.5.
Outlook: Does anyone expect anything but a blowout by the stinking Panthers? The Bucs are in one of the worst tailspins Joe has ever seen from any NFL team. And look who pops up next on the schedule but rookie Cam Newton looking to break Peyton Manning’s rookie passing record of 3,739 yards. Yeah, the asinine lockout really hurt a rookie coming out of a spread-option offense, huh? Chalk the lockout as yet another weak excuse to enable the Bucs’ inabilities to fix problems. Add to the fact that Steve Smith will likely be going up against struggling E.J. Biggers, this very well could be a beatdown by the Panthers.

Gut the team but save the coach. That's the refrain from THE OPTIMIST in his latest plea to save Raheem Morris.

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

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

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t. … Of course, THE OPTIMIST’s opinions are his alone and are not influenced by Joe.

Seemingly everyone is hot after Raheem Morris’ job, people were even refreshing their Twitter and Facebook pages this week thinking the Glazers are going to fire Raheem.

I have news for you…the Glazers are the most consistent people on this planet. If they fire Morris — and that’s becoming a bigger “if” each week — they will do on a Friday at 5 p.m. in January. The Glazers won’t be emotion with this decision like the rest of us.

For all we know, the Glazers could be looking at this season with an emotionless outlook, looking at simply the cold hard facts. Changes need to be made, and I’m sure there will be many. I doubt seriously many assistant coaches keep their jobs.

Greg Olson is probably gone, along with the WR coach and RB coach, too, and probably Raheem will lose his D.C. title, and that will be good. But head coach too? Wasn’t it just 8 weeks ago no one was calling for his job? Wasn’t it a year ago we ALL wanted him COACH OF THE YEAR?

Some players have quit on Raheem Morris, and Morris has done one thing honorable, he does not throw players under the bus.

We also know for a fact the lockout affects first- and second-year players the most. It seems like the whole Bucs team falls in this category. You cannot go back on any internet browser using any computer prior to week 6 and find anyone demanding Raheem Morris’ job or Mark Dominik’s. That means you are just using the emotions of this losing streak, and that is quite pathetic to vent on someone, anyone, and the head coach is the easiest target.

I’ll give you a perfect example of how emotions can ruin your objectivity. Take Mark Dominik. All of a sudden, Mark Dominik MUST GO TOO, he is a horrible GM. Really? He was a rock star 8 weeks ago! Everyone wants to bring up Derrick Ward, but you forget about Connor Barth. You bring up Michael Clayton, but Michael Koenen is practically neck and neck with Barth for MVP! Dominik is just following orders, and the Glazers are the ones who need to change the most. How does a rock star GM turn into the worst GM in the world? Losing.

What can a new coach do? You can’t make the players work harder; Morris already has them doing gassers and such, probably the reason the weak-minded players started tuning Morris out. Those players will be gone next year, or not starting. They will then have to PLAY for their jobs, the one mistake this organization really made: giving young kids jobs without earning them.

The BUCS as a whole are guilty of these transgressions:

Gutting the veteran presence that helps young players
Removing experienced leadership from the locker room.
Going way too young with kids that are too ill-tempered
Allowing poor accountability – some players don’t talk to media after a bad day.
Offense gives up the running game too easily
ZERO depth at running back with a feature back that is a one-trick pony.

These are the Glazers problems that THEY created, not just Raheem Morris’ or Mark Dominik’s. Morris is responsible for the lack of accountability, hopefully he sees that and adjusts it accordingly.

LeGarrette Blount should not be the feature back. He doesn’t block or catch the ball. He should be the fourth-quarter closer when the Bucs get a lead, and someone to soften a defense up at the start of a game. Veterans are needed all over the team to provide leadership.

I don’t care about firing Raheem Morris, I’m waiting to see if the Glazers are going to finally spend some money on salaries, because if not, 2012 will bew a campaign against Bucs ownership.

If the Glazers don’t bring in some veterans, if they don’t spend some money and capture some excitement by bringing in one or two TOP-OF-THE-LINE exciting free agents like they did with Keyshawn Johnson, they will have succeeded at becoming the next Hugh Culverhouse, and no one in the Bay area can allow that to happen. But we will wait until next year to see if that happens.

Firing Raheem Morris would bring change, and must be honest, it would be refreshing to see change and to see a positive upswing in everyone’s attitude towards the Bucs.

But I’ve been a Bucs fan through all the losing seasons, when no one liked the Bucs, and I followed them through all of that. Even if next year is a total flop, at least we will know we made the right decision, we’ll have ANOTHER premium draft pick, and a lot of our players will have another year of experience to show what they’ve got.

If you can’t stomach two losing seasons, you can’t call yourself a Bucs fan, because being a Bucs fan has ALWAYS been about following a losing football team. That’s our history. That’s our legacy. It’s called patience.

NFL analyst Pat Kirwan explains to Jason Horowitz in blunt detail what a “mess” the Bucs are right now. And Kirwan also exposes the crock that is the excuse many Bucs defenders use about no offseason thanks to the asinine lockout by highlighting the development of rookie quarterback Cam Newton in this CBSSports.com video.

Yes, it’s the holidays, good will toward men.

Sadly for Bucs fans, that good will does not so much extend to embattled coach Raheem Morris, unless he is to clean out his office at One Buc Palace.

Joe cannot remember the last time a local coach/manager of one of the three professional sports teams was so reviled as Morris. But such is life when you are the leader of a team that is in the middle of an ugly eight-game losing tailspin, that gets curb-stomped on a weekly basis and as the defensive coordinator, and your defense has sunk to among the worst in the NFL.

Daily, Joe hears Bucs season ticket holders call local sports radio shows and write on this very site that they will cancel their tickets if Morris is stalking the sidelines next season as Bucs coach.

Yet another Bucs season ticket holder participated in an NFC South chat on ESPN.com and flatly stated if changes are not made in the coming weeks, he too will give up his tickets.

To which ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas replied, Team Glazer has “got to make a move.”

Big Bucs Fan (Tampa)

I am currently a season ticket holder for 4 club level seats and am tuely frustrated with the Entire team. If they don’t get this train back on the tracks I will never buy a ticket from that organization or watch them again! What can they do?

Pat Yasinskas

Only the Glazers can decide. But my personal opinion is, they’ve got to make a move. If they don’t, there will be a lot of other people like you that dump their season tickets and it’s not like they have much of a season-ticket base to start with. We’ll find out what they’re going to do soon enough.

Oh, there will be changes next season, Joe is confident. What those changes may be, is anyone’s guess.

Joe would be a bit surprised if Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson returns, but that is hardly a sure thing. If Morris returns, it’s pretty much a certainty he will have a defensive coordinator. There likely will be massive changes to the roster.

But as Joe has written many times, if Morris stays, with just one year left on his contract, the chances of getting any decent coordinators are slim unless Morris has his contract extended.

Veteran sportscaster Dave Wirth, of the award-winning WTSP-TV, Ch. 10 news, checks in to look at the Bucs-Panthers game via this exclusive video for JoeBucsFan.com readers.

Watch and find out what Wirth is referring to when he says, ” I don’t know if I can watch that carnage.”

Back for his weekly trip to the end zone of the NFL universe, popular sports radio personality Adam Schein travels through football space and time outs. Check out what Schein says about the Bucs this week. He sums up the sorry state of the Bucs in one damning sentence. Consider yourself sucked in to the latest episode of Cosmic Schein!

A new column on NFL.com has revved up the discussion

The familiar take that a big-name dude like Bill Cowher or Jeff Fisher coaching the Bucs next season would not only generate a rush of optimisim but also sell gobs of new tickets has hit a new pitch today.

Writing on NFL.com, Albert Breer has a new column sharing his view that Team Glazer will hire a big-name coach in the offseason, in part, because they have seats to fill and crave exposure.

One prediction

Miami won’t be the only team from Florida trying to make a splash coaching hire this offseason.

The Buccaneers have spent considerable time over the last five years trying to expand their market, even going to the home country of their sister franchise, Manchester United, to try to pull it off. New Jaguars owner Shahid Khan already has discussed similar maneuvering.

One way to quick-fix small-market problems is to bring in a big-city type of coach.

It worked wonders for the Glazers with Jon Gruden — at first, anyway. It could work for both these teams now, too, in getting fans to the gate.

Click on through above to read more of Breer’s take.

So what would Team Glazer say about the concept that a big-name coach would resonate at the box office?

Joe doesn’t have to speculate. Bryan Glazer himself offered his opinion back in September during an interview with Steve Duemig on WDAE-AM 620. Here’s the exchange:

Steve Duemig: You knew you would go through some growing pains. When people were calling for their jobs in Year 1 with the 3-13 record and tyring to win a game, was there every any thoughts of making a change? Or were you just going to go through and let this thing play out?

Bryan Glazer: No, we were very confident in what we had done. It would have been very easy to hire a big-name coach and sell a couple more tickets, but that wouldn’t have got us to where we’re headed today. It would not be coming off a 10-6 season with a franchise quarterback and heading in the right direction.

What Glazer meant by “a couple more tickets” is anyone’s guess.

Conservatively, if hiring a big name coach saved 1,000 season-ticket holders from cancelling and generated 1,000 more new tickets, then combined that means a new big-name coach would generate an additional $1.4 million in first-year ticket revenue, assuming an average ticket of $70 and no home game in London.

Maybe the projected cash is a lot more significant, maybe it’s under $1 million. But all that’s for the bean counters at One Buc Palace.

Joe’s still holding to Team Glazer’s statement that “money will never be an issue” when building the Bucs, so this is meaningless yet interesting chatter to Joe.

OK, so let Joe indulge a bit; ramble if you will. Hey, it’s the holidays and no, Joe has not sampled any holiday cheer (yet).

In the past, Joe has made mention of the utter respect he has for Joe Henderson, recently promoted to news columnist for The Tampa Tribune. The impact and help Henderson gave Joe through the years has been profound, both professionally and personally, and Joe will never be able to thank him enough.

Long before Joe ever heard of Henderson, Joe met and got to know Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Joe was a naive, wet-behind-the-ears scribe in college covering his first NFL training camp and Miklasz was the beat writer then, covering the old St. Louis Cardinals.

Miklasz, now a columnist who is also a radio and somewhat lesser TV icon in St. Louis, sort of a Gary Shelton, Steve Duemig and Roy Cummings all rolled into one. He’s a tireless worker.

What Joe learned that summer just by observing one of the better writers in the country and and how he dealt with Gene Stallings and sometimes cranky NFL players and listening to Miklasz offer advice over tequila shots in the wee hours of the morning were profound. Joe will never, ever forget Miklasz telling Joe, “You are aggressive; that’s good. Always be aggressive.”

The reason Joe brings up Miklasz is that he penned a powerful column recently about the Rams and Steve Spagnuolo. Granted, this is a Bucs site, but there are many similarities between the Bucs and the Rams. Both are woeful this year. Both have franchise quarterbacks who have been hurt this season. Both have high draft picks that haven’t yet panned out. Both have embattled coaches. Both have fallen far short of lofty goals this year.

Miklasz is not wont to write shock columns. His columns are thoughtful, yet strong, well-researched, well-reasoned. His writings are much like Howard Troxler, the former St. Petersburg Times news columnist who would build up an opposing view only to show how the premise didn’t hold weight.

Miklasz, in so many words, suggested defending Spagnuolo is nothing more than enabling a coach who has not met the team’s or his own standards.

Here’s the odd thing: The more the Rams lose, the more we seem inclined to make excuses on their behalf or attempt to rationalize their failures. We’ve become enablers. And I’m not bashing the fans; the media is at fault as much as anyone. …

This isn’t high school football. Spagnuolo was hired to win football games. If a coach can’t win games, he’s fired. He could be a saint or a sinner, but he needs to be a winner.

Besides, Spagnuolo has fired trainers, an equipment manager and other employees at Rams Park. A big part of his job is terminating players. It’s nothing personal. So why are we so sensitive about Spagnuolo’s future?

Miklasz goes point-by-point to break down all the rationalizations for the Rams’ poor play and explains how none hold water. If you read Miklasz’s piece — and Joe strongly encourages you to do so — and substitute Spagnuolo/Rams with Morris/Bucs, you’d swear Miklasz is writing about the Bucs.

So in short, in grasping at reasons to find out why the Bucs are in an eight-game tailspin and getting blown out by garbage teams, is that not in some way also enabling Morris and bad play from the Bucs?

With 50+ guys on a bad Bucs football team, it’s no surprise there are players going through the motions at times and playing and/or practicing without passion and pride.

Bucs fans see it. Deion Sanders saw it. And Josh Freeman also admits acceptable commitment and drive isn’t there from all his teammates.

A subdued Freeman took to the sports radio airwaves for The Josh Freeman Show in its usual slot Wednesday night on WDAE-AM 620. He fielded questions from host Steve Duemig, including one about leadership. Freeman’s answer was telling.

Steve Duemig: Raheem is the leader of this football team. He’s the coach. But leadership comes from inside that locker room. Are you seeing guys step up in a leadership role?

Josh Freeman: You know, I am and then, I mean, you don’t, you know. Opportunities to lead when the game’s going on, when we’re struggling like this. Jeff Faine steps up all the time [and] says a lot. I try to get these guys going, get them motivated for practice, get them motivated in the game. You know, I think Kellen Winslow’s done a pretty good job. … I mean, this is the NFL, you know. You have to treat it with the respect it deserves. You have to go about it with a passion, with a lot of pride. And, you know, I can’t honestly say I see everybody doing that.

Joe, of course, has no idea to whom Freeman is referring. And, of course, Joe wonders what’s really being done to hold the bad apples accountable and whether Freeman saw this behavior in 2010.

That aside, Joe hopes the Bucs watched the Colts win their second consecutive game Thursday, playing with passion and pride to dig out of a massive losing streak. It can — and should — be done by the guys in pewter and red.

No, not the damn horses.

Make sure to check out all the cool last-minute gifts and stocking stuffers at HootersCalendar.com.

Kellen Winslow makes new bold statements about his head coach

Last week Kellen Winslow, Jr. said Raheem Morris getting fired would “ruin” the Buccaneers.

Speaking to the Carolina media yesterday, a crushed-sounding Winslow elaborated, saying “it sucks” what’s happening in Tampa now and Raheem Morris is the best motivator he’s encountered.

“Coach Morris is the best motivational guy I’ve been around. He gets his guys going. It’s not there in the win-loss column. But I’ve never been around anybody better than him. I really haven’t. You know, it sucks what’s going on here, but we need him to carry on,” Winslow said.

“We really need this guy; he is the main part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We need that guy. I just can’t say enough about him. …And I think I’m speaking for the team. This is how everybody feels. You know, they would give their right arm for this guy. We didn’t have a good season. We’ll try to finish out the last two games, but we need this guy to move on to the next year. And you know, just move on, man. We gotta move on from this year. He’s just the heart of this team.”

Joe’s tired today and doesn’t feel like beating the same old drum about the paradox of Bucs players saying Raheem is the man while collectively the team is not playing for him. Something’s dreadfully wrong. Actions aren’t backing up the words.

Popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King is down on the Bucs. Big time.

So much so that the vaunted Sports Illustrated scribe sees the Panthers giving the Bucs yet another alley-beating this weekend. By three touchdowns to a nine-loss team no less!

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-10) at Carolina Panthers (5-9)
“You know what I love about Cam?” owner Jerry Richardson of the Panthers told me the other day about Cam Newton. “He hates to lose. He really hates to lose. That’s something I really like to see in our team leaders.” It’s taken Newton about five months to become one of the main ones on this team.

King predicts the score to be Panthers 34, Bucs 13.

That’s how bad the Bucs have sunk in this ugly eight-game tailspin. People expect the Bucs to have their teeth kicked in each week.

Remember the heralded “three-headed-monster” plan at running back for opening day of the 2009 season?

The Bucs were going to run an unorthodox 2-2-1 rotation in the backfield with Derrick Ward, Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham sharing series as the feature back. Of course, that wacky plan never materialized, and Graham finished 2009 with a mere 14 carries. Greg Olson bumped up Graham to 20 carries last year before he got a more prominent role this season.

Speaking Monday on the Buccaneers Radio Network, Davin Joseph said Graham would have been his top running back all three years.

“He was an every down back. And really, sometimes people forget about Earnest Graham. People forget about how good he really is. Because, for whatever reason, sometimes somebody else comes along and they want [that guy] to carry the ball,” Joseph said. “If it was up to me, Earnest Graham would have been carrying the ball for the last three seasons, hands down. But he is a utility player. He can do just about everything a running back should/can do and does everything well. There’s not really anything he can’t do. And LeGarrette’s getting to that stage where he can really be a utility back. It just takes a while.”

Joe found Joseph’s take interesting considering LeGarrette Blount had a 1,000 yards last season and Cadillac Williams was a such an inspirational figure in the locker room.

"Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is some OTA's."

If the Bucs were competing, they wouldn’t collectively be talking about next season.

Back in 2009, when the Bucs had a two-game winning streak entering Week 17, Joe has no recollection of the team focused on anything other than the final game at home against Atlanta.

But nowadays, you ask a Buccaneer about next year and they seem far too happy and eager to talk about it. For Joe, these guys, including the head coach, should be so wrapped up in beating the Panthers this week and cleaning up the embarrassing losing-streak stain on the Tampa Bay community they wouldn’t even consider talking about next year.

Call Joe a hard ass, but Raheem should demand that nobody dare talk about 2012.

For example, after the debacle against the Cowboys, Donald Penn spoke of fixing things next season. Davin Joseph also spoke warmly on the Buccaneers Radio Network on Monday about how an offseason program will benefit the team. Raheem Morris himself happily fielded a question about next season yesterday during his news conference.

Raheem was asked about his 2012 defensive line and the coach rattled off an answer that spanned almost 1 minute and 45 seconds that concluded like this.

“… especially to get with their coaches this offseason. Grady [Stretz] and Keith [Millard], you know those guys have been shuffling the deck all year, never had the chance to really lock in on anybody and get’em all going and get’em all excited,” Raheem said. “So hopefully you get these guys in the offseason to build on some of their fundamental things, to build on some of the things that they believe in, to build on some of the get-off, and build on playing together.”

Is Raheem serious? That his D-line coaches haven’t had a chance to “lock-in” on anybody and “get’em all going” and “get’em excited?”

Before this season, Joe never before heard of OTAs and minicamps as such a panacea for a team.

Raheem loves to preach “mentality before reality.” But Joe really doesn’t know how that core belief factors in when you’re talking about next season with two games remaining on your schedule, and you’ve got a mentality that your coaches haven’t gotten your players going.

Sure, the missing offseason didn’t help any team. But that just means this Bucs coaching staff needed to be more creative in everything they’ve done this season to overcome. Other teams with bigger obstacles like new coordinators and quarterbacks have done just that. The Bucs didn’t get it done.

Regardless, Joe’s not getting the vibe that the Bucs are completely dialed in to beating the Panthers on Saturday. Joe suspects the 5-9 Panthers are far more focused.

It’s gotten to the point with Bucs fans — watching the Bucs tailspin into an eight-game losing streak and counting, many of those losses with the team being completely worked over by inferior opponents like a two-bit bookie in an alley who won’t cough up winnings to a couple of wiseguys in the outfit — that many are no longer interested in the outcome of games, but pining for the moment embattled coach Raheem Morris cleans out his desk.

But as Joe has written all along, the only thing Joe is confident in is that Team Glazer would at least allow Morris to finish out the season.

Some, such as eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, are not ruling out the very real possibility that Morris will still be the Bucs coach when the 2012 season kicks off.

Kaufman appeared on the Primetime show earlier this week with Tom Krasniqi and Ronnie Lane, heard on WHBO-AM 1040, and explained his informed opinion.

“I don’t think the Glazers really want to make a move. They are not anxious to fire Raheem Morris. They picked him. The first year he gets a wash because the cupboard was bare. Then the team goes out and wins 10 games the next year and then has a terrible year [this season].

“You would think on the surface he deserves one more year, but to end with a 10-game losing streak, players not playing hard, seats are empty and the fans booing in front of the Glazers’ suite.

“It just doesn’t add up for Raheem right now, I’m sorry, it just doesn’t. … Two months ago the guy could have run for mayor. Boy, has that changed.”

It is a precipitous drop for the Bucs leader in such a short time, a span of a few weeks. The anti-Morris crowd had gone from aghast two years ago to a feint grumble last year to now, a roar for his head.

Not even that lout Vince Naimoli was able to have an entire community turn on him as what has happened with Morris.

Joe is the kinda guy that embraces all. Heck, even Thomas 2.2 is allowed to rant freely.

So even though Joe may be a bit late, he’d like to wish all his friends of the Hebrew persuasion a very Happy Hanukkah season!

In honor of Hanukkah, Joe will feature his favorite Hanukkah song. Actually, it’s the only Hanukkah song Joe knows of, but it may have the best line in music history:

“Some people think Ebenezer Scrooge is [Jewish}; well he’s not. But guess who is? All THREE STOOGES!”

Bucs icon Derrick Brooks says he believes Raheem Morris will return next year, the Bucs have plenty of talent, and the team will benefit immensely from a full offseason.

“This didn’t become a talentless football team overnight,” said Brooks, speaking today on WDAE-AM 620 in defense of the quality of the Bucs roster.

Brooks also scoffed at the notion that the Bucs would have any problem hiring new assistant coaches if Raheem is a “lame duck” coach for the 2012 season.

Now Brooks is almost always a pro-regime kind of guy in public, during interviews and as a guest on WDAE and as a personality on NFL Radio. It’s almost like Brooks spent so many years masterfully towing the Bucs’ company line that he doesn’t know another way to be. And this isn’t just Bucs stuff, Brooks often falls on the side of any organization and coaches and players regardless of the sport.

Joe’s unsure of what to make of Brooks’ comments. Is it possible to believe the Bucs simply need more time to gel with the current plan and to stay the course? Joe’s not in that camp, and neither are most fans, especially with what’s developing around the Bucs in the NFC South.

But a plugged in Bucs icon has spoken. Whether Brooks is strictly offering an outsider’s opinion or there’s more juice to his words is anyone’s guess.

"Olie, this is your week. Fast, hard, smart and consistent."

While a potential new era for the Bucs is around the corner, there’s still a game in Carolina on Christmas Eve afternoon.

Joe’s still holding out hope that the Bucs show up when the opening whistle blows. (Not win, but at least show up.)

If the Bucs do manage to muster an effort, the Panthers and their porous banged up defense are waiting to be gutted. The Panthers have been riddled with injuries on their defense all season and it’s getting worse, especially in their secondary, notes the Charlotte Observer.

Injuries forced the Panthers into contingency plans in the 28-13 win at Houston, where backup corner R.J. Stanford saw action at safety and rookie corner Brandon Hogan made his NFL debut filling in for Captain Munnerlyn.With only four days to prepare for Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay, the Panthers (5-9) could be short-handed in the secondary again. Three of the team’s top five defensive backs missed or were limited for Tuesday’s practice.

It’s really time for Greg Olson to channel the old days of whatever he did through much of the second-half of 2010, or the first two series against Jacksonville.

Letting Mike Williams get shut out against the Cowboys last week was a travesty, much of which has to fall Olson. Find a way to get the ball in your playmakers’ hands. The slant pass shouldn’t be a recurring allergy.

From the wailing of Bucs fans on sports radio and on message boards and on this very site, it seems Bucs fans are in near-unison they want embattled Bucs coach Raheem Morris rousted from the premises of One Buc Palace at the earliest possible moment.

But just because a new man will be stalking the sidelines of the football stadium on Dale Mabry Highway doesn’t mean the proverbial switch will be thrown and all of a sudden, a double-digit-win season will magically appear.

This is the gist of a Bucs fan’s query to the TBO Bucs Q & A feature recently.

Q: I’m a die-hard Bucs fan in the Atlanta area. We have a punishing running back in Blount that never seems to get to carry the ball. Is there a chance that we will fire Raheem, and hire Marty? I think we have the perfect team to play Marty Ball.

Jerome, Douglasville, GA

A: You’re right about Blount not getting the ball enough. That’s an issue that must be addressed. And yes, there is a chance Raheem will be fired and replaced, but I’m not sure which Marty you’re talking about. Marty Feldman, Marty Schottenheimer or Marty, the character that won Earnest Borgnine an Academy Award?

— Woody C.

May Joe kindly suggest to Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, who answered this question, that the Bucs fan in Georgia could also have been referring to Marty Mornhinweg.

But yeah, if Marty Chokenheimer came here the days of this nonsense of giving Blount the ball a handful of times, only to see him sit on the bench from mid-second quarter on would be over.

But like a new coach may not automatically bring success, hiring Chokenheimer brings its demons as well. While Chokenheimer is fabulous at turning around teams, he’s also notorious for gagging away playoff games, in particular first-round playoff games.

And if losing first-round playoff games is the goal, then we are right back where we started with Team Glazer jettisoning Chucky.

When Jim Bates was defrocked and run out of town during the 2009 season, the Bucs could have simply kept his title and job in place and let him serve as an active defensive advisor to Raheem Morris after the head coach took over the reigns of the defense.

Hours before Bates was sent packing, Raheem had explained how Bates insisted on changing the defense on the fly that led to a Quincy Black interception and a near win in Miami. Even after Bates was defrocked, Raheem spoke of how much he had learned from Bates and treasured their relationship.

One would think the elder Bates would have been mature enough to handle it. But the Bucs opted to push him aside completely, still pay him, and let Raheem run the show.

This is one reason why Joe now thinks it’s unrealistic to strip Raheem of his defensive coordinator hat and let Raheem sit back and play No. 2 voice on defense to a new guy. Is Raheem mature enough to handle that? Apparently the veteran Bates wasn’t. And where else has that happened around the NFL? Let alone happened successfuly.

Now Joe knows that Raheem considers himself one of the most mentally tough individuals on the planet — he’s said that many times — but getting stripped of his defense would be the equivalent of getting sucker punched in the gut or gettting brazenly kicked in the balls.

The complete disaster the Bucs defense has become is a major factor here. A defensive coordinator would have to take over the defense and couldn’t just be a glorified yes-man for Raheem, who has proven he’s a bottom-tier defensive coordinator.

Listening to former Bucs DE Steve White (1996-2001) last night, on Two-Hand Touch on WQYK-AM 1010, Joe heard him say with certainty that if Raheem is to return next season, the Bucs would have to get him a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator and a bunch of new players outside of the talented core currently on the roster.

Months ago, Joe suggested the Bucs hire a consultant to help figure out the Bucs’ slow starts and other woes. And Joe has written many times, starting months ago, about how a defensive coordinator would/could help Raheem. But for Joe the game has changed a bit with Raheem leaving no doubt that he deserves an F grade as Bucs D-coordinator through 14 games. A new guy would have to be the alpha dog and it would take a minor miracle for that to be a smooth transition.

Maybe the Bucs offense would be better if Raheem had more time to be up his offensive coordinator’s ass? Maybe the defense would be better if Raheem had less on his plate?

Those are questions for optimists, and Joe’s no optimist when it comes to the head coach. The more Joe studies the Bucs’ plight, the more it appears that starting with a new head coach is the move with the best chance of success.