Lovie Smith still won’t name Mike Glennon his No. 1 quarterback, and he’s not a big fan of the question. (more…)

Joe isn’t sure why, but it sure seemed as if Lovie Smith was doing his best to replace cornerback Johnthan Banks. Shoot, Lovie even went out and signed the notorious Mike Jenkins, and despite Jenkins missing virtually all of training camp and preseason, Lovie insisted Jenkins was a starter.

Joe watched closely and just shook his head. Mike Jenkins! (more…)

Fear is in the air and it’s not even Halloween.

Yes, there are highs (Mike Glennon), but the lows have analysts freaking out. (more…)

Good news is on the horizon. Joe hopes it soothes the excruciating pain of the overtime beating in New Orleans.

Yesterday, Bucs general manager explained there’s a shake up coming at running back. (more…)

Lovie Smith sure was happy with Mike Glennon while speaking to media after yesterday’s painful loss.

And Lovie is not alone. (more…)

Bucs RB Bobby Rainey scores in the third quarter. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.

Entering the season, the Bucs running game seemed to be a strength. Five games in, the Bucs are still looking for one.

Doug Martin is going on a near one-year rut of underperforming. Bobby Rainey, at times, shows some splash, but there is the ever-present fear of him fumbling. (more…)

Lavonte David took over defensive playcalling duties throughout yesterday’s game. (Apparently, Dane Fletcher couldn’t cut it).

And then David proceeded to drill Jimmy Graham and wound him for the rest of the game en route to 10 solo tackles. (more…)

“We thought it would be unfair to ask the fans to be patient with us,” Jason Licht, March 2014

“We just decided that we couldn’t ask our fans to be patient anymore,” Lovie Smith, July 2014

As a passionate Bucs fan, Joe is really struggling this morning. This Saints loss was especially painful. Joe is no masochist.

The toll of the Bucs winning just 12 of their last 47 games is weighing heavy. (more…)

A long look at the Bucs yesterday, today, and what to expect tomorrow and beyond.

NEW ORLEANS — Joe nearly had acid reflux last night, and no, he didn’t go to a Cajun joint for dinner, and he only had one beer, though it was a big beer.

For a team with an alleged defensive wizard head coach, who made his bones on defense and who makes no bones about the fact his team will be strong and physical and tough defensively, the Bucs coughing up 202 yards in the fourth quarter and one drive of overtime is beyond the pale. (more…)

Logan Mankins weighs in

Yesterday, flags flew in the Bucs-Saints game like seagulls when someone walks the beach with an overflowing bag of French Fries.

Just in the Drive from Hell, the drive that went in reverse, like a senior citizen punches the wrong pedal on his car (you know the kind, when a garage door is blown through, or new window is created in a donut shop), there were three penalties in six plays. That turned the game around and doomed the Bucs in the fourth quarter. (more…)

Right tackle Demar Dotson had strong words for his offensive teammates

Alterraun Verner was not the only man in the Bucs locker room who issued blame for the frustrating loss in New Orleans. Bucs right tackle Demar Dotson was honest and up front when he stated the Bucs’ offense, which shined for three quarters, didn’t get the job done when the team needed it most.

Dotson made no excuses and pulled no punches. (more…)

Lovie Smith seems to like his new quarterback. (more…)

One of the ugliest drives in recent Bucs history ended in a safety and seemed to be a turning point in today’s loss.

It will go down as one of the most painful, ugliest drives Joe can remember. It tops the leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman meltdown in New York last year.

At a time when one Bucs score could have sealed the game, the gruesome series gave up points at a terrible time. (more…)

There wasn’t just pain in the Buccaneers’ locker room. There was a little anger and frustration, too. (more…)

Trust Joe, in the past few years Joe has seen some bad losses. And don’t think the Bucs take those lightly. They wear on players because those are these guys paying with sweat and blood.

The scene in the Bucs’ locker room today was maybe the lowest Joe has ever experienced. The players knew — just knew — they had the game won if they only played average football. Yet in the final minutes, the team imploded on both sides of the ball. (more…)

How does that expression go? The more things change the more they stay the same.

Back in 2012, the Tampa Bay pass defense literally was inches from having the worst-ever NFL pass defense. The Adderall Twins got things rolling, and guys like E.J. Biggers, Leonard Johnson, Danny Gorrer, LeQuan Lewis, and safeties Mark Barron and Ronde Barber, kept the train moving in the wrong direction. (more…)

Was Mike Glennon good enough to win today?

No.

Is he still the worst starter in the NFC South?

Yes.

But Glennon did enough on the road to encourage Joe and look like a legitimate NFL starter for the second week in a row. (more…)

Greg Schiano blubbered about how the Bucs were the “laughingstock” of the NFL with all their discipline issues on and off the field under Raheem Morris.

But Schiano’s team was terribly undisciplined between the white lines last year, and Schiano had no answer.

In comes Lovie Smith, and the Bucs look like a toddler eating an ice cream cone in July. (more…)