What a crazy day it was at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway, and it had nothing to do with the game today.

Long before kickoff the focus was on defrocked franchise quarterback Josh Freeman. Reports came out that Freeman had missed “more than one” team meeting this week and, on top of the unauthorized interview for BSPN, made the Bucs so livid he was inactive for today’s game.

This was sort of expected as Bucs commander Greg Schiano refused to deny a report Friday that he was going to deactivate Freeman.

Then came the report from ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortenson that teams were inquiring to see if Freeman was entering a substance abuse program before they talked turkey with Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for a trade. Then it was learned Freeman was banished from the team’s sideline by the Bucs and ordered to watch the game from a suite.

When Freeman walked out of the Bucs locker room after the heinous loss to the Cardinals, he bolted out of the stadium as if he was late for a limited free beer offer.

While running from a pack of reporters, Freeman over and over uttered the same phrase as documented by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

@RCummingsTBO: Bucs QB Josh Freeman left Raymond James Stadium on Sunday saying only that “I can’t comment at this time” on his status with the team

Later, Schiano noted that it was a mutual decision between him and the embattled signal-caller that he not be on the sidelines for the game.

The bye week came at the right time. This team is spiraling in a downward turn and perhaps the bye can stop the circling of the drain or enable the team to bounce back. Joe has never seen anything so crazy.

The leader of the New Schiano Order stood tall on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game. He spoke confidently that his Buccaneers will stay united.

“We’ll get it turned; there’s not a doubt in my mind,” Schiano said.

Schiano praised his defense. “I thought the defense played will the majority of the game,” he said. “Holding someone 1-for-10 on third down” is an accomplishment.

Mike Glennon did a lot of good things, Schiano said, and claimed No. 8 will shine in the future.

“There’s a lot to look forward to,” Schiano said of Glennon. “We’re going to get better offensively. We need to get better offensively.”

Any 0-4 head coach goes on the proverbial hot seat. That’s life in the NFL.

Greg Schiano, however, has failed in ways that makes his seat hotter than most.

1) Team looks undisciplined.
2) Regression from the previous season.
3) Lost nine out of 10.
4) Look thoroughly inept in one phase of the game: offense
5) Coach is getting clobbered by local and national media and fuels a circus atmosphere.
6) Losing despite a load of talent.

Schiano is now 0-6 in close games during his Bucs career. That’s not a coincidence.

Barring a miracle revival, the only thing that could save Schiano is his defense. It’s impossible to ignore how the Bucs defense has been overhauled under the New Schiano Order.

The Bucs have allowed a flimsy 70 points. That’s less than 18 points per game.

The Bucs offense has been abysmal all season, further magnifying what Gerald McCoy, Lavonte David, Darrelle Revis and friends have accomplished. Today’s effort was dynamite, just the way the Bucs fantasized in the offseason, blitzing pressure with raw talent and skill on display with interceptions by Johnthan Banks and Revis.

It was made clear by everyone when Greg Schiano was hired, including by rockstar general manager Mark Dominik on last week’s radio pregame show, that the Bucs are running “Greg Schiano’s defense.” Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan said it shortly after he was hired, and new linebackers coach Robb Smith told Joe in the spring that the Bucs defense was nearly identical to what he ran under Schiano at Rutgers.

The point is that Schiano deserves the credit. And the defense’s performance, assuming it continues strong, could very well keep Schiano employed in Tampa Bay, even if the Bucs struggle to five-win season.

Perhaps Schiano’s biggest challenge is keeping the defense playing at this level. Because to get those wins, they’ll likely have to play even better.

Greg Schiano said he expected Mike Glennon to play smart and throw accurately today. The rookie did that — a little bit.

Overall, Glennon looked just like what Joe figured: inconsistent and overwhelmed at times. No surprises. Glennon was rattled in the second half, making too many mental and physical mistakes.

The scouting report on Glennon painted the third-round pick as a pocket statue who had big-time arm strength. And Bucs fans saw not just zip on his throws but also some deft touch early. Yes, Glennon also was immobile. Among other wheels-free moments, Glennon’s intentional grounding early in the second half, because he was stuck backpedaling inside the hash marks, was evidence.

That penalty seemed to shake Glennon and he didn’t recover. His first of two fourth-quarter interceptions was intended for Vincent Jackson. It was a dreadful throw to an open receiver.

Glennon finished 24-for-43 for 193 yards and two interceptions against a below-average defense.

Glennon’s development should be aided by the bye week. Unfortunately, he won’t go into the break with a healthy dose of personal confidence — and the confidence of his teammates.

“Where was the Bucs offense, Honey Badger?”

Mike Glennon was not the answer today, unless you’re asking, ‘what’s wrong with the Bucs offense?’

The offense was beyond dreadful.

Idiotic Jeff Demps wasn’t the answer, either, moronically returning a late kickoff from nine yards deep in the Bucs end zone, which helped Arizona win the field-position battle late in the game en route to the winning field goal.

Joe feels lousy for the Bucs defense, which stuffed Arizona over and over and over again. Arizona was 0-for-6 on third down in the first half, when it was shut out and punted six times. It was a complete defensive effort, and the Bucs were led up the gut by Gerald McCoy, Lavonte David and Dashon Goldson. Joe would like to issue a “thank you” for Arizona completely avoiding Larry Fitzgerald in that first half. Darrelle Revis fear was in full effect. And Revis proved later it was justified with his first interception in red and pewter while covering Fitzgerald.

But how much can you expect a defense to do? Fitzgerald, of course, eventually made a couple of plays.

Conservative Greg Schiano calling a fake punt — a Dashon Goldson run — on 4th-and-inches at his own 25 yard line in the fourth quarter? Quite a surprising set of balls there by the head coach leading to a 22-yard gain by Goldson. But it made no difference.

The Schiano media circus is now in full gear. Schiano is now a whopping 0-6 in close games during his Bucs tenure. The head coach said the move to Glennon gave the Bucs the best chance to win today. Joe ain’t buying it.

The Bucs have lost nine of their last 10.

Stick with Joe through the day for much more out of this game. 

So here we are. No franchise quarterback Josh Freeman who, after being made inactive and missing “more than one” team meetings this week, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, has been ordered off the sidelines and forced to watch the game from a suite.

Fun times, eh?

At this point, Joe can’t blame Schiano at all for banishing of Freeman. Dude will be lucky to make $800,000 next year much less his current salary of $8 million. Meanwhile, the Bucs are facing the Desert Rats. Let’s see how well Glennon can play. What a circus this whole place has become.

Feel free to e-mail each other illegal streams of the game, but if you paste a link, you are begging to be banned.

Have fun and go Bucs!

The awaited exclusive Josh Freeman interview just aired on BSPN and, among other things, Freeman revealed that his missed team photo shoot was caused by a wee-hours power outage that left his alarm clock blinking and showing “12:00.”

Freeman said he saw the clock on the sun up on Labor Day and felt awful. “I think I took it a lot harder than anyone else” on the team, Freeman said.

On the switch to Mike Glennon, Freeman said he thinks Glennon has good skills but “I don’t really understand the decision.”

Freeman said teammates were uncomfortable with the move to Glennon.

Speaking on BSPN’s pregame show, Keyshawn Johnson said the benching of Freeman is the start of “the blame game” from a coach on a very hot seat. Others on the BSPN crew said it should be obvious that Freeman’s performance led to the change. Chris Mortenson went on to say many of those outside the Bucs organization, who once worked alongside Freeman in the organization, are telling him that Freeman’s career is salvageable because of the great leadership and work ethic reputation he had.

Here are your Bucs inactives for today. Josh Freeman, somehow, got demoted from No. 2 QB on Wednesday, per Greg Schiano, to inactive today. So now Greg Schiano believes Dan Orlovsky gives the Bucs a better chance to win in case of an injury to Mike Glennon.

Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams are ready to roll:

CB Michael Adams
T Gabe Carimi
TE Tom Crabtree
QB Josh Freeman
DT Derek Landri
CB Rashaan Melvin
DE Trevor Scott

Game 4

Desert Rats (1-2) at Bucs (0-3)

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: WTVT-TV, Channel 13 locally (the game is not blacked out). Outside the Tampa Bay area, DirecTV Channel 711.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM 103.5, and WDAE-AM 620); SiriusXM Channel 112.

Weather: Per Kate Wentzel of WTSP-TV Channel 10, expect a  sun-kissed Florida Chamber of Commerce day with a high of 87 under a bright sun with a slight breeze from the northeast which may affect field goals. For you hard core partiers, be careful. Kate believes there is a chance of rain around 5 p.m.

Odds: Per FootballLocks.com, Bucs -2.5.

Outlook: Today, the reign of franchise quarterback Josh Freeman officially ends as rookie Mike Glennon will start for the Bucs and the Mike Glennon Mob will be chugging beers toasting the Bucs’ first drive.

Obviously, starting a rookie quarterback, his first start, there’s really no way to guess what will happen. In the preseason, specifically against Miami, Glennon looked terrible. Now Bucs commander Greg Schiano likes to think his practices are about game-like speed and energy. But Joe thinks we all know now that’s a bogus concept. If Schiano is basing his belief that Glennon can help the Bucs win more than Freeman on practice, then it could be a long day.

Glennon is a stationary target. No shock there for Bucs fans. Good thing that Darnell Dockett, once a feared pass rusher, is a shell of his former self. Father Time is a cruel, cruel man. Joe believes the Bucs will do well against Carson Palmer. He, too, is past his prime and some believe should call it a career. If the Bucs can rattle Drew Brees, then they should do just fine against Palmer.

Key to this game is who is playing. If the Bucs are without Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, or they are slowed by their injuries, then the Bucs will be lucky to break double figures. Expect Doug Martin to get the workout of his life today. It wouldn’t shock Joe if Martin got the ball on traditional passing downs if Jackson and Williams are unable to dress.

This morning, BSPN NFL insider Chris Mortenson reports this morning that Josh Freeman has not sparked trade talks but has got teams investigating a potential trade with the Bucs.

Apparently, Mortenson heard the rumors of Freeman’s off-the-field troubles and explained that NFL teams are digging.

“Under the CBA, it is an inquiring team’s right to know of any player’s otherwise confidential status in the substance abuse program, whether or not Freeman is one strike away from a suspension,” Mortenson said. “Thus, his performance, his remaining salary of more than $6 million, his pending free agency, and off field concerns need to be clarified for Freeman to emerge as an attractive trade option who would bring value to the Bucs before the trade deadline.”

The anxiously awaited Josh Freeman BSPN interview didn’t air yet this morning, but the network did just play a new snippet to tease readers.

It’s a cut of Freeman saying, “Physically, I’m playing the best football I’ve ever played.”

It’s an interesting comment by Freeman. Did anyone ever question his physical gifts? He looked — “physically” — pretty darn good four years ago shaking off pass rushers and using his legs.

The Bucs want to trade Josh Freeman. But as Joe’s stated previously, the Bucs can afford to be patient before the Week 8 trading deadline.

There’s no reason to give Freeman away for the first seventh-round pick that comes Tampa Bay’s way. And there’s little reason to worry that Freeman will become some sort of locker room cancer. That’s not in his personality, and even if it were, Freeman knows that would hurt is trade prospects.

So the Bucs are very much on an injury watch. If Alex Smith gets roughed up in Kansas City, if Andy Dalton blows a knee, if Jake Locker separates a shoulder, then Freeman could suddenly become a hot commodity. There are many other potential teams that would be willing to gamble on Freeman saving a potential playoff season if their current starter was lost.

Joe’s not about to root for another player’s injury, but it’s something to watch closely. Quarterbacks go down every year, and there are few, if any, backups better than Freeman.

Mike Glennon will have his share of surprises today in the Arizona Cardinals’ defense. With a injury-devastated linebackers corps, talk all this week from Cardinals coaches was about how the team will move away from its 3-4 defense and use a lot more 4-3 looks because they’re shorthanded at linebacker.

Simply stated, the Cardinals will be mixing it up not just to confuse Glennon but to cover holes in their front-7.

Also, John Abraham, officially a linebacker in the Cards defense, is healthy. And he’s expected to move into a full-time role versus the pass-rush specialist situation he was in.

Consensus out of Arizona is that the Cardinals will make Glennon beat them, loading the box against the run and blitzing him relentlessly. Arizona has playmakers in the secondary, so it’s hardly a bad strategy.

It looks like a beautiful day today in Tampa Bay, but as we all know, the weather locally can change in a snap. WTSP-TV Channel 10 meteorologist Kate Wentzel brings news of what Bucs fans can expect.

Greg Schiano told everyone that would listen prior to Wednesday that Josh Freeman was just a small piece of the Bucs’ offensive troubles in 2013. Schiano even defended Freeman on Monday. But then Freeman got the axe, without any other apparent changes to the offense.

Joe wondered whether Freeman taking the fall would mean other players felt guilty about letting their signal caller down. Wide receiver Kevin Ogletree acknowledged his slippery-fingers role and reminded Joe of the cutthroat business of the NFL.

JoeBucsFan.com: From Doug Martin to yourself and other receivers, there have been a lot of dropped passes this season. Is there any kind of feeling in the locker room of, ‘hey, we let Josh down.’

Kevin Ogletree: Yeah. You know, of course. But at the same time we’re all working our hardest. Collectively we haven’t gotten it done. So we’re just going to go about it with a workers mentality committing to getting better every day and finding out how we can improve.  That’ll be taken on by the receivers and the running backs. Obviously, things haven’t gone like we wanted them. There have been too many plays that we want to have back. I’m sure Josh understands, just like any other big time quarterback in the NFL. You know, it is a business. That’s all.

Joe’s glad Ogletree mentioned the “business” side of the Freeman move. It’s often forgotten.

Joe was told by someone of extreme importance this week that it is accurate to equate the Freeman defrocking with the trade of Aqib Talib last season. Talib, per Bucs officials at the time, became expendable because the team had decided he would not return under any circumstances in 2013. So while Freeman’s performance was at the core of the change to Mike Glennon, his contract status played a role.

But make no mistake, Joe remains sure that Freeman would still be the Bucs’ starting QB today if Tampa Bay was 1-2, versus 0-3. 

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Three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Troy Aikman, appearing on FOX Football Daily, gives his take on the benching of Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman in this video.

There is too much beer to swill to get stuck in traffic going to the Cardinals-Bucs game Sunday. So let award-winning traffic reporter Holley Sinn of WTSP-TV Channel 10 guide you through the mess. Holley even gives up her shortcut to the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

Leave to the excellent Playbook crew and their NFL Network video team to document seven drops that victimized Josh Freeman in New England on Sunday.

Here’s the video. (Two drops not analyzed were ones Joe mentioned earlier by Doug Martin.) It’s former Pro Bowl center Shaun O’Hara who says he didn’t know that Josh stands for “just off somebody’s hands.

If the Bucs caught, say, four of those seven, Sunday’s scoreboard and Freeman’s stats likely look significantly different.

This could be great news for Bucs fans!

The offensive gurus of the New Schiano Order studied this film and determined Mike Glennon still gives the Bucs the best chance to win Sunday.