Yesterday Joe brought news that angry Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, perhaps still bitter at the Bucs for not hiring him in 2002, spouted off about some perceived shady player transaction by the braintrust at One Buc Palace.

In short, Lewis was steamed that the Bucs would overpay for a practice squad player, a premise Joe thought to be, well, refreshing.

Word of Lewis’ words reached Bucs head coach Raheem Morris who didn’t hold back in his thoughts, documented by Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris shot back, with a reference to the Bengals’ deal with Bryant, noting the delicious irony of the overspending Bengals accusing another team of overpaying a player.

”That’s a first,” Morris said in his post-practice press conference. “I’m really not concerned about Marvin Lewis’ comments about how we run our organization. It’s a credit to our management and our ownership, in what we want to do and how we want to go get them. I heard that comment. That’s Marvin’s opinion. Good for Marvin.”

With the dregs of society that the Bengals have drafted and signed over the years, all under the watchful and approving gaze of Lewis himself, and those two attention-starved children he has at wide receiver, Lewis should be more concerned with his own lot than what the Bucs do.

Or maybe Lewis should learn how to defend himself better the next time one of his players punch him?

The Bucs have won three consecutive road games, and Raheem Morris was pressed for a hidden reason why during his news conference today.

The defensive mastermind/head coach obliged with an answer, which had nothing to do with Xs and Os. It seems his young Bucs thrive on being ripped by opposing fans.

“A little bit of the advantage we have is we’re so young, I think we kind of like the adversity a little bit. They kinda thrive on it. They kind of thrive on the boos. They kind of thrive on the middle fingers, you know, rolling into the stadium,” Morris said. “You know, they kinda get a little bit of energy of just being angry because everybody hates them. …They kind of thrive on it a bit, that negativity, or that us-against-the-world mentality because they are kind of a young football team and we all listened to Tupac [Shakur] growing up.”

Whatever works to get the Ws. If the Bucs need to be abused to bring on victories, then there’s no reason to limit that to road games.

Team Glazer could hire some F-bomb throwers, middle-finger wavers and angry hecklers to harass players from the moment they pull into the players parking lot off Dale Mabry Highway. They could even pipe in a montage of sports radio talk show hosts’ Bucs takes through the public address system.

Or, they could just have an old-fashioned, no-restrictions banner day, which surely would unleash some ugliness at the players favorite coach.

Perhaps Peter King’s oatmeal-slurping mug next to “2-14” on the JumboTron. Oh, the possibilities.

How bout those Bucs massively overpaying for a free agent!

Who knew?

Apparently, during his conference call with Bucs beat writers today, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis cried about the Bucs flashing fat cash and signing a rookie sixth-round pick he released but planned to put on the Bengals’ practice squad, so documented Anwar Richardson, of The Tampa Tribune.

The player in question, wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe, was offered about 3 1/2 times the minimum practice squad pay after he was cut by Cincinnati and jumped to the Bucs, reports Richardson.

Instead, Tampa Bay signed Briscoe and offered him a contract worth the rookie minimum salary, which is $325,000. Practice squad players typically are paid $5,200 per week, roughly $90,000 for all 17 weeks, but Tampa Bay exercised its option to go above and beyond to obtain Briscoe.

Lewis was not happy by Tampa Bay’s contract offer to Briscoe.

“He was in camp for us, but when you overpay a guy on the practice squad, you create a problem in the system for teams,” Lewis said. “I don’t know that teams want to set the precedent and they did with Dezmon.”

Lewis moans and groans even more. You’ll have to read Richardson’s story.

This bitching by Lewis is ludicrous. He cut Briscoe. And when rookies are cut, their agents (at least the good ones) are pouncing on every possible offer and trying to find the best potential spot for their clients.

Surely, the Bucs were a preferred desitination for a young receiver like Briscoe, given Tampa Bay’s interest in young players and it’s extremely inexperienced receiving corps.

Luring potential practice squad guys with extra money is standard practice, despite the way Lewis shamefully whines about it. Last year, Bucs quarterback Rudy Carpenter personally told Joe that the Cowboys offered him a big raise to stay on their practice squad, but he jumped to the Bucs because he thought had a real shot of making the roster here. And it turns out he did.

Just a hunch, but Joe suspects that somehow Lewis’ bitterness towards the Bucs front office is related to Antonio Bryant and the costly medical debacle that he was for the Bengals.

Joe hopes Lewis is a sore loser again on Sunday.

Update: 8:15 p.m.

Ok. Ok. The post below was corrected by Joe but didn’t need to be. After some enlightenment by esteemed Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings, of the The Tampa Tribune, his published stat about the Bucs not having a 100-yard rusher in 29 regulation games is correct.

Cadillac Williams rushed for 120+ yards in New Orleans last year but gained about 40 of it in overtime, as the Bucs grinded out the win.

Joe is hanging his head in shame. It happens. 

Corrected: (See post above) In a story about the Bucs’ running game and Cadillac Williams’ take on it, Woody Cummings, of The Tampa Tribune, rolls out the statistic that shows 100-yard rushers have only shown up on the Bucs stat sheet nine times in the past 68 games. 

That’s not surprising. Last season, the Bucs were often behind early and had little rushing attack in most games and rarely showed a commitment to get the running game going.

Chucky, of course, had the same quick trigger on the running game in 2008, but that season Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn did rush for more than four yards par carry, which would feel like a blessing from the heavens right now.

Cummings offers more numbers and a take from Mark Dominik.

Since the start of the 2006 season – a span of 68 regular-season and playoff games – Tampa Bay has produced a 100-yard rusher in a game only nine times.

Earnest Graham reached that mark five times during that span, while Williams reached it three times and Warrick Dunn once. The Bucs’ record in that span is 27-41, which shows how important it is to get the running game on track.

“I think you’re looking for a way to make it all work together,” Dominik said, “and I think Coach Morris hit it right on the head when he said, if a guy gets really hot, then he becomes the guy.”

The guy right now is Williams. That hasn’t changed. Yet.

It could, though, especially if Williams can’t get going. And with the Bucs bent on looking at other options, he seems to realize that.

Joe suggests you read the entire Tribune piece. Cummings makes a case that the Bucs’ offensive line is the key player in the running troubles.

For Joe, if one wants to play the blame game, then one would need two hands for all the fingers that would have to be pointed.  

Joe loves pool parties — beer, bikinis, body shots, barbecue. Is there anything better?

It seems Raheem Morris has forgotten the importance of this great Florida pastime and that rounding up the honeys for poolside shenanigans is always in order.

The head coach is trying to keep his mind on loftier goals, so says the St. Pete Times. 

“This town doesn’t deserve to throw a pool party every time we get a win,” Morris said. “This town deserves the Rays, what the Rays have been able to do. Playoff bound, out there fighting and going out there and winning the AL East. You guys probably wrote them off, too. That’s what they went out there and did, and we want to be that.

“I’m not saying we’re going to do that right now, or when we’re going to be able to do it, but that’s what we’re building for. I told you guys a long time ago, we’re going to build a team that has long-lasting winning, and we’re starting that. We’ve got young players, ascending players, and we’re growing in the right direction. I hope I can get there faster than what you guys think I can because then I can come up here and make you guys look bad.”

Joe’s all for keeping perspective and keeping ones eyes on the prize. But please, coach, a pool party is always in order.

The Bucs will need to find a way to get to immobile Carson Palmer.

One way the Bucs were able to win at Carolina was because the Bucs’ front defensive line, jostled, mocked and robbed Panthers quarterback Matt Moore.

This brought great joy to Joe’s heart.

The Bucs knocked Moore out of the game and maybe out of a career.

Carson Palmer of the Bengals will easily be the best quarterback the Bucs defense will have faced yet this season. But he’s also, perhaps, the most immobile quarterback the Bucs have faced this season.

This nugget of information did not pass by eye-RAH! Kaufman, of the Tampa Tribune, who Twittered on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed that getting to Palmer will be critical.

The Bucs know exactly where Carson Palmer will be Sunday — in the pocket. The question is, can they make him uncomfortable?

When a defense faces a quarterback who is about as fleet-footed as a statue, it’s critical to make his life uncomfortable, otherwise, said quarterback will make the defense uncomfortable.

Over at CBSSports.com, the Bucs are being covered by local reporter Scott Purks, a man Joe has had a few chilled beverages with over the years.

Apparently, Purks chatted with Mark Dominik today and the Bucs general manager defended the Bucs’ rushing attack, which is not very good.

It’s too early to say the running game (ranked 20th overall) is below average, general manager Mark Dominik said. “It’s only been three games, and in the Pittsburgh game (a 38-13 loss), we got behind early, which hampered our running,” Dominik said.

Joe appreciates the optimism of the GM, but the Bucs’ running game has been ugly outside of the hope rookie LeGarrette Blount injected against the Steelers last week with his six carries.

Earnest Graham fumbled on the goal line on opening day. Cadillac Williams’ numbers are atrocious (2.5 yards per carry). And the Bucs, as Purks notes, are ranked 20th in the league in rushing. Take away Josh Freeman’s deft scrambles and there’s not much there.

Cincinnati’s run defense is ranked No. 15 after games against Baltimore, Carolina, New England and Cleveland, not exactly a shabby bunch of rushing attacks.

The Bengals will be an excellent test for the Bucs’ offensive line and what looks like a three-headed attack of Cadillac, Blount and a now healthy Kareem Huggins on Sunday.

Joe suspects Freeman and the defense will be who wins this game for the Bucs — if they win.

The funny, foul-mouthed guy who runs Bucstats.com has written an entertaining account of his invitation-only visit to One Buc Place.

“Scott,” the longtime guru of Bucstats.com, documents being invited by the Buccaneers media relations department for a summer bonding session with Bucs bloggers and team officials. And he details his subsequent visit, which included one-on-one time with Mark Dominik and Bryan Glazer.

Joe has verified with the Bucs that the account is legitimate.

Here’s a small snippet: Joe suggests you read the whole thing (parental guidance is strongly advised).

After a few minutes of watching practice, Bryan Glazer walked out and Dominik went over to greet him and they chatted for a while. Then Glazer came over and introduced himself to me. “Yeah, the Bucstats guy,” was what he said. The owner of the Buccaneers knows who I am.

I’d like to stop for a moment to remind myself about the countless hooker jokes and all the times I confessed that I cannot adequately satisfy a woman and all my semi-gay mancrushes. Bryan Glazer probably read all those.

Glazer asked how I liked the tour so far and we talked about the direction the Bucs were going in, the youth movement and, again, the media’s treatment of the team. One thing that seemed to bother Glazer is the perception of his brothers and him as hands-off owners. He has only missed one home and one away game since they bought the team in 1995 despite the reporting from the local media that they are just check writers. And he desperately wants to win. He knew the 3-13 season was coming and he’s committed to sticking to the plan, but I could tell the losing season wasn’t any fun for him. I’m convinced that this isn’t just an expensive hobby for the Glazers that they could discard if they got bored with it. I’m sure Manchester United is important to them, too, but Glazer was there with a briefcase and obviously working on the Buccaneers, not just basking in the glow of owning a major sports franchise. If they had wanted to sell it, I’m sure they could have done it by now.

Joe finds it interesting that the Bucs have reached out to bloggers this season. It’s a wise move, considering the readers of these websites are their core audience, the hardcore fans that buy the tickets, purchase the gear, and spew their passionate opinions and shape public opinion of the team.

As for the Bucs reaching out to Joe for this blogger camping trip, well, Joe’s going to withhold all comment.

Joe will say he’s had a sometimes ugly, sometimes pretty relationship with the Bucs for the past 2+ years, much like any other media outlet.

Reading Geno Hayes’ take on the impact of crazy numbers of Steelers fans in the house last week, Joe got a vibe that the Bucs might not have been mentally prepared for the hostile-at-times environment that sadly enveloped them on their home turf.

NFL.com buries a blog on its website for each team, and the talented Jenna Laine writes most of the Bucs coverage. And she had an extended postgame chat with Hayes.

While Hayes said the mistakes on defense are correctable, he added that the most discouraging part of the loss was seeing Raymond James turn into Heinz Field, mimicking a Super Bowl celebration from two years ago.

“Once the game started going into their hands, it started having a negative effect because now they’re getting into the game, and they’re loud like they’re at home, and really making our offense have to hurry in there and be loud with their checks, [Hayes said]. So it was kind of hard towards the end of the game.”

“That’s amazing right there, to sit back and watch another team that’s actually in your house but it’s like their house, ya know? It’s kinda tough.”

In the NFL.com post, Laine reported that more than half the crowd was black-and-gold clad Steelers fans.

Joe wonders why Hayes gave the comments he did. One would think Raheem Morris would have thoroughly prepared the Bucs for a road game, complete with piped in crowd noise during practice and more.

Of course, Hayes is only one Buccaneers player giving one opinion. But was the team unprepared for what met them out of the tunnel?

The Bucs’ running game is basically anemic. It frustrates Joe as much as it does other Bucs fans.

Looking at the numbers and the scars on his knees, it appears that the Bucs braintrust has concluded that Cadillac Williams is no longer the go-to guy in the Bucs backfield. That’s the suggestion from Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune who writes the Bucs are already making plans for the post-Cadillac era in Tampa Bay.

Few believed he could overcome two serious knee injuries to play in the NFL again. Most thought his career was in jeopardy after the first surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in 2007. Williams’ career seemed just about over after his second season-ending knee injury in 2008.

Although Williams returned and was productive last season, Tampa Bay is seemingly laying the groundwork to find his replacement.

Tampa Bay (2-1) plans to incorporate rookie running back LeGarrette Blount and Kareem Huggins into its running attack against Cincinnati (2-2) on Sunday. Williams is in no immediate danger of losing his starting position, but his reps could decrease if Blount and Huggins flourish.

Look, no one appreciates Caddy more than Joe. The guy has the heart of a lion. If half of the NFL players had as much desire to produce at his craft (rather than chase a Kardashian, ahem) as Caddy, man, the NFL would be truly special.

But it just comes down to simply physics. A running back, in his upper-20s no less, playing on two man-made knees, is not a good thing.

Men glued to the NFL Network during the offseason saw endless highlights of Terrell Owens beating Aqib Talib in Buffalo for a touchdown in 2009.

Raheem Morris even referenced once how that clip played over and over and Talib couldn’t escape it.

Obviously, Talib is on the cusp of greatness, but he has missed on his share of big-play opportunities during his tenure, and he’s been beaten at key times. Morris was asked about this at his news conference today and defended Talib’s production.

“He’s really taken more than he’s given up. You know, it’s just that when you’re a corner, it’s always easy to remember the bad ones rather than the good ones,” Morris said. “You know, I believe the young man, at his position, for the same amount of time, has more interceptions than anyone he came in with. And we could certainly sit here and name every touchdown he’s given up.”

Talib is doing what young almost-great players are supposed to do: make plays and make mistakes. Joe hopes he’ll tighten his game to hit his Pro Bowl potential, but if Talib doesn’t improve at all, he’s surely already good enough to play for a lasting contender.

The Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach said he’s still determining how the Bucs will defend Bengals receivers Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens, who was thrown to 15 times Sunday and caught 10 balls for 222 yards.

 “They got two guys. [Talib] can only cover one,” Morris said. “It might be a week for E.J. Biggers to have to step up this week.”

Joe’s more interested in the Bucs reviving their pass rush that disappeared against Pittsburgh. Despite Carson Palmer’s big statistical day Sunday, he was sacked four times and looks like a guy ripe to get busted up and sidelined by a few good hits. 

If rookie defensive tackle Brian Price gets more game action, then who’s going to sit?

Will Gerald McCoy play even more snaps at defensive end? Have the Bucs given up on Kyle Moore rushing inside?

And what about Michael Bennett, who Raheem Morris said last week might be in line to get his first action of the season as the Bucs look for answers to their pass-rush issues.

At Morris’ news conference today, he talked about Price getting more time, so Twittered the Bucs front office.

Another rookie who is going to start seeing more playing time after the bye is DT Brian Price, who has looked sharp in limited time so far.

Joe can’t even hazard a guess as to what will shake out on gameday in Cincinnati along the D-line. The Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach wants to be unpredictable, and Joe expects the multitude of combinations will continue.

Surely there were plenty of surprised Bucs fans watching NFL highlights yesterday.

Front and center on all the networks was Kardashian-chasing Derrick Ward busting a first-quarter, 33-yard touchdown run for the Houston Texans in his first significant action of the season.

Ward finished the day with 80 yards on 12 carries. Very impressive, especially off the bench.

Now Joe went on and on during the preseason and offseason that the Bucs’ running backs were average at best. However, Joe made it clear that Ward, along with the other veterans, were excellent No. 2 running backs. The point was the Bucs only had a stable of quality reserve backs in Ward, Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham.

That’s why Joe was a bit concerned when Ward was cut and thought he likely would have a solid season with his new team. The concern was not because Ward is a great player, it was because of who was behind him (Kareem Huggins) and who was in front of him (Cadillac Williams), plus Graham’s move to fullback and that Ward had shown real flashes in the third preseason game against Jacksonville.

It was Joe’s opinion, at the time of final cuts, that the Bucs could have used the depth Ward offered. And it perplexed Joe a bit that Bucs staff members and St. Pete Times beat writer Rick Stroud,were saying the Ward release was, in part, about money. Because Joel Glazer did say “money will never be an issue.”

Regardless, Joe gets that the plan is to build with young players, and Ward was never going to be around here to raise the Lombardi Trophy. So there wasn’t much point to keeping him, even if the Bucs could have used him.

The lovely Tiffany Simons talks Cadillac Williams and the Bucs in this NBCSports.com video. She really doesn’t tell Bucs fans anything new, but who doesn’t want to gawk at Tiffany on an otherwise depressing Monday morning?

Though Bucs receiver Arrelious Benn was drafted in the second round, Mike Williams, drafted in the fourth round, has upstaged him.

Part of that has been that the two are far different receivers. One is a stretch-the-field kind of a guy, Williams. The other, Benn, is more of a possession, YAC kind of a guy.

It also hurt Benn in that not only is he learning to play a different receiver position with different responsibilities with the Bucs, he also had to wrap his mind around an NFL offense, as opposed to that gimmick college spread-option that Illinois ran.

But Raheem Morris has all but declared Benn a finished product. In other words, expect Benn to see plenty of playing time against Cincinnati this weekend, so reports Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

“Benn came on slow,” Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris said. “He had the breakout (two touchdown catches) in the Houston (preseason finale) game as far as production on the field. Now, in practice every week, he’s been able to show that he’s picking all of his packages up. He’s starting to learn his position even more.”

Said Benn: “When I was at Illinois, I played the slot, the split. Certain plays were named for me. So pretty much I’m learning an offense that’s very different from a traditional spread in college.”

Last week in practice, Benn was taking many of the snaps at flanker that normally Sammie Stroughter would take. So it’s not out of the question that Joe, along with other Bucs fans, could see Benn start in place of Stroughter come Sunday.

Somewhat surprising events in the NFC South today. The top teams looked very mediocre.

The Saints squeeked out a victory at home against winless Carolina, 16-14, likely thanks to the Panthers’ putting themselves out of field goal range after a five-yard loss on third down late. Carolina played an extremely physical game.

Atlanta had to mount a comeback at home against winless San Francisco. They also were victorious 16-14.

Both the Saints and Falcons sit at 3-1, with the Bucs at 2-1 and waiting to head to Cincinnati next week. The Bengals’ passing game was back in full force Sunday, but they fell to 2-2 in what was a darn good game in Cleveland.

Of course, all this means a whole lot of nothing. In Carson Palmer, the Bucs will see the best quarterback they’ve faced to date this season, and they’re going to have to re-establish a pass rush.

After watching the Bengals today, Joe would have to say Sunday is a winnable game, although the Bucs must manufacture a running game.

There are few words in Joe’s vocabulary that he can use in polite company that properly describe the stupidity displayed by Bucs safety Tanard Jackson.

Because he couldn’t put the bowl down (allegedly), he cost himself untold amount of cash as he was due to be a free agent.

Well, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports thinks he has a figure. Cole believes Jackson’s habits likely meant losing out on some $10 million.

But the real disaster in the Jackson story is that he has probably cost himself any chance of ever getting a really lucrative contract. Jackson, who was in the fourth and final year of his contract, will now have to wait until 2012 to become a free agent. Worse, Jackson will probably need two years to regain any confidence from another team, even though he’s really talented. Throw in that safety is generally a low-priority position and it’s fair to say that Jackson threw away anywhere from $10 million to $15 million in possible earnings.

Joe just hopes whatever Jackson was smoking (allegedly) was some really good s(p)it to be worth eight figures and being set for the rest of your life.

Hope it was worth it, Tanard!

No, the Steelers didn’t manhandle and push the Bucs’ defense around the field. It was the Bucs defense that fell apart mentally and was out of position trying to make plays.

That’s how Barrett Ruud described what went wrong last Sunday. Ruud revealed this during an interview on WDAE-AM 620 last week.

“I think we kinda panicked a little bit, too. I think we tried to do too much. Tried too hard to make plays, when a team like that, they’re not going to make mistakes. You gotta just play. Do your job. Do what we’ve done all week in practice and slowly chip away. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that,” Ruud said.

“Overall, literally 95 percent of the plays that were made by them, it was something that we did to give it up. It wasn’t getting manhandled. It wasn’t getting blown back. …It was guys getting out of whack. … It was us not making the plays compared to Pittsburgh making the plays.

Ruud went on to say he played a “good” game but would like to have a few plays back. “There wasn’t a whole lot of opportunities [for me] to make big plays,” Ruud said.

Well, giving up 200 yards on the ground sure seems like getting manhandled to Joe.

That said, Joe’s not surprised the Bucs would show the mental weakness Ruud illustrates. The team is so young, it’s bound to fall apart in a big way at times. The Steelers scored three offensive touchdowns last week on just 10 plays — 10 plays!

Joe’s looking for Raheem Morris to correct those prolonged breakdowns through his leadership, and by sucking more leadership out of guys like Ruud, who called the Steelers game “great learning tape” for the defensive line. It’s not going to magically fix itself on its own — not this year.

Those who have watched Raheem Morris news conferences have seen the head coach do his Aqib Talib impression many times.

However, Joe knows many of his readers have never heard Talib himself speak. Joe can’t find an analogy to describe Talib’s voice, although he probably has a future in cartoons.

In this Buccaneers.com video, Elbert Mack grabs a microphone and asks some Bucs, including Talib, what their plans are for the bye weekend.

The Rays have taken it down to the wire. Win this afternoon in Kansas City and grab the AL East crown from the hated Yankees.

The Rays do own the tiebreaker with the Yanks, so if both lose today, then the Rays still get the glory. 

As for the headline here, a photo of Rays rookie hazing has emerged, which shows Reid Brignac wearing an interesting costume, as well as other young Rays.

It’s all at JoeRaysFan.com, which is hands down the best Rays site online. Joe challenges you to find a more comprehensive and entertaining Rays site.

Now every Bucs fan knew Chucky had a doghouse. And it was a pretty busy kennel at times.

Joe remembers Michael Clayton and Joey Galloway fighting for kibble in there with Dexter Jackson and Michael Bennett, as they all stared at the Kenyatta Walker pictures on the wall.

But could player’s coach/master communicator Raheem Morris have a doghouse?

Anwar Richardson, of the Tampa Tribune, says Morris does and Sabby Piscitelli is getting his mail there.

In this latest TBO Video Blog, Richardson and Bucs beat colleague Woody Cummings talk about Piscitelli, and whether the Bucs are hurting themselves by playing Cody Grimm ahead of him at free safety.

Joe won’t spoil it for you. Check out the video.

NFC South beat writer Pat Yasinskas, who is employed by the that fancy Disney sports outfit, was chatting with his followers Friday and offered an opinion on Raheem Morris’ job security.

For Yasinskas, Morris only has to finish the season out 4-9 with some good things happening to earn a return trip to One Buc Place next year. Yasinskas spit out this take during a live chat on ESPN.com.

JC (MS)

What record keeps Raheem Morris’ job? 8-8? Go Penn State!

Pat Yasinskas: 

Don’t think it has to even be that good. I think six wins and some positive signs mean he stays

Joe’s unsure how the employment landscape might have changed for Raheem after opening the season 2-0. The Bucs have four very winnable home games remaining, Seattle, Detroit, Carolina and St. Louis.

Taking those — and only those — would give the Bucs six wins and give them a winning record at home. Is that enough success for Team Glazer to let Raheem take the young Bucs another step? Has the bar been raised?

There’s really no way to know at this point. But Joe would specualte that barring a serious injury to Josh Freeman, Raheem needs to hit the six-win total. Joe can’t imagine a scenario in which the Bucs finish out the remainder of the season 3-10 and Raheem doesn’t feel the pain of the hot seat after the final whistle.