"Oh, man, I almost fooled the ref on another play, too."

The reality hammer came crashing down on Sabby Piscitelli during The Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 this morning.

Co-host and former Bucs guard Ian Beckles didn’t miss a beat being all over Sabby. It felt like a flashback to last year, when Bucs fans were subject to 16 games of Sabby at safety and pundits clubbed him mercilessly.

“He’s glaringly out of place a lot. Teams will come after him,” Beckles said, among other comments about Sabby.

While Beckles said he hadn’t rewatched the game and wouldn’t point a finger at Sabby for Ravens tight end Todd Heap’s 65-yard touchdown catch and rumble, Joe has the highlight of the play here. Joe would love for readers to explain what Sabby is doing.

In discussing the play after the game, Heap said “the safety” was out of position.

For diehard Rays fans out there, when Joe sees Sabby on the field it reminds him of Shawn Camp trotting out to the mound in 2007. Sheer terror runs through Joe.

Joe would love to see Corey Lynch get some playing time. Tanard Jackson letting his team down is looming large right now.

It was said the Ravens defense would try to intimidate the Bucs and crush them in the trenches.

Clearly that was not the Bucs’ problem Sunday.

LeGarrette Blount only had 13 carries, but he and Bucs running game showed enough to draw heavy praise from the physical Ravens defense, per The Baltimore Sun.

“In the NFL, everybody has high-profile backs. They’re not the most high-profile backs, but those kids bring it,” [linebacker Jaret] Johnson said. “That kid [Blount], I was real impressed with how hard he ran. A big kid, physical guy. They can bring it. We always take it as a personal challenge. Especially last week, giving up all those yards, that was [baloney].”

Joe thought overall the offensive line was up to the task against the Ravens.

They blocked well enough versus the most physical unit they’ll see the rest of the season. Jeremy Zuttah stepped right in effectively for Davin Joseph. Ted Larsen made a huge hustle play to break up Josh Freeman’s ugly shovel pass that was nearly intercepted. Jeff Faine seemed like he got his legs back.

As Joe wrote yesterday, the gameplan and playcalling is what really let the team down.

It wasn’t as bad as the pistol-whipping the Steelers handed the Bucs, but the physical nature of another AFC North opponent, Baltimore, left the Bucs with a number of serious injuries.

While safety Cody Grimm is likely lost for the season with a broken fibula, Bucs fans are holding their breath over the status of right guard Davin Joseph who injured a foot.

The way Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune described in the injury, it seems only somewhat serious.

Bucs G Davin Joseph sustained a foot injury in the first quarter and was replaced by Jeremy Zuttah. Joseph would not expand on his injury when asked after the game but did not wear a protective boot and could walk without crutches.

Joe doesn’t like the chances of Joseph playing next week against the Dixie Chicks.

If there is a bright spot, it is that Joseph was replaced by Jeremy Zuttah. Two years ago when Zuttah was a rookie, Joseph missed a handful of games to start the season and Zuttah replaced him.

Rarely if ever was Zuttah’s name called. That’s high praise for an offensive lineman.

Joe has a lot of respect for referees of all sports. It’s a thankless job that Joe wouldn’t want for any amount of money short of $250,000 annually.

(Yes, even Joe can be bought).

That written, Joe expects officials to have a modicum of decorum. If a player gets out of hand, defend your case and walk away. If the player persists, there are many options available for officials to deal with a disruptive player from tossing a flag to an ejection to writing up a report to the NFL office and warden commissioner Roger Goodell.

By no means or measure should an official involve himself (or herself) in a verbal bout of profanities with a player and it is beyond the pale to call a player’s performance, using a vulgar term for a woman’s genitalia.

That is exactly what happened yesterday when Aqib Talib, an emotional player if not something of a loose cannon, berated an official after the Bucs loss to the Crows, and the referee, in full view of the Bucs press corps, retorted with the aforementioned profanity.

So if said zebra has the cajones to call out an NFL player like that — who by the way played every bit like the man he is — at least don’t compound the matter and act like said woman’s genitalia and hide.

But that’s just what happened reports dapper Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger. He tried to query the officials as to the roots of the incident, and Brown was told via a pool reporter of all things, in so many words, to go take a long walk on a short pier.

The officials, through a pool reporter, had this to say: “We only make comments to the pool reporter when it’s about a call that was made on the field,” said officiating supervisor Neely Dunn. “So, we have no comment about whatever you’re talking about. That’s the only thing I’ll say right now. We have no comment about it. If you want to ask us something that happened out on the field, we will entertain that. But we’re not going to entertain what you’re talking about.”

Joe thinks this is just rich. Though this may be a bit harsh, the official in question should never work another NFL game. If he did this with Talib, who is to say he’s never done this before with another player and won’t do it again? Certainly his crew cannot work a Bucs game if he still is employed.

Already this official is tainted. How can he work another Bucs game and be objective? It’s none of an official’s business how a player plays so long as a player abides by the rules.

This official who crudely went after Talib certainly didn’t abide by simple good taste or professionalism expected from a man in his position.

The NFL doesn’t need to turn into baseball where umpires have rabbit ears and often try to bait players and managers into arguments.

Joe was sad this morning to see that cheap seats — together — for next Sunday’s Bucs-Falcons game are still available on Ticketmaster.com.

A little surprising that the limited number of $40 tickets, plus a $10 coupon floating around, are sitting there when the town knows this is a huge December game when the Bucs will induct John McKay in the Ring of Honor.

To Joe, this means any hope of the game selling out by Thursday to lift the home TV blackout is gone. There’s likely too much ground to realistically make up.

If you can’t go to the game, Joe suggests you get on board The Blackout Tour when the Falcons come to Tampa on Sunday, Dec. 5. More than 100 Bucs fans have enjoyed The Blackout Tour this year.

The Blackout Tour is a great time with fellow Bucs fans who travel to watch blacked out games live in HD-TV at Lee Roy Selmon’s in Fort Myers.

Cold beer. Great food. Great atmosphere. Great fans. Affordable.

If you can’t go to the game, go ahead and join Joe on The Blackout Tour. It’s a rolling tailgate in a Paradise Worldwide Transportation luxury bus to Selmon’s in Fort Myers. All Blackout Tour goers get a free draft beer and a free plate of wings at Selmon’s.

Visit BlackoutTour.com for all the details and to buy your seat for just $24.95. Order now. (Next person to buy three tickets gets a Reebok replica Sabby Piscitelli jersey.)

Classy postgame press conference by Raheem Morris.

The head coach didn’t point fingers at officials or players and kept himself steady after an emotional loss. But Raheem did show a little frustration in the closing seconds of his media chat by saying the Ravens “outexecuted us in the four-minute drive without a fullback.”

Emphasis was on “without a fullback,” referring to Baltimore losing Le’Ron McClain earlier in the game.

The Bucs shut out the Ravens in the second half and clearly knew Baltimore wasn’t going to get fancy on their final drive with 3:05 to play. But Baltimore Jim Batesed the Bucs and put up three first downs on five plays and took a knee.

Essentially, the Bucs knew what was coming and were outplayed. Obviously tough to swallow for Raheem after such a strong defensive performance.

"Hey, Olie, you're not feeling my vibe."

THE PESSIMIST is a diehard Bucs fan whose negative writings appear occasionally on JoeBucsFan.com. His views surely do not necessarily reflect those of Joe. However, Joe sure gets a kick out of them.

Any idiot can see LeGarrette Blount is the real deal. He gets yardage that isn’t there. He moves the pile. He’s a load to take down. He breaks the big one.

But Greg Olson isn’t buying it. No, that Chucky wannabe isn’t sold.

Over and over again Olson wouldn’t give Blount the ball on 3rd-and-short and wouldn’t let him pound the rock and wear down the Ravens today.

How in a tight game with the defense playing well Blount manages just 13 carries is a mindblowing travesty. That’s as bad as Bruce Gradkowski throwing 50 times at Giants Stadium.

Freakin’ shameful.

THE PESSIMIST has heard the head coach say a hundred times how the Bucs want to be a physical, violent heavyweight. Is Olson tuning out the coach? Will Raheem chew him out?

Stop throwing on first down so much. Let Blount hammer away and setup play action and more manageble second downs for Freeman.

Hey Olson, you’re the same guy that sadistically pounded ill-equipped Cadillac Williams into the line 25+ times a game early in the season because you thought it was necessary for the offense. Make up your freakin’ mind.

Just give Blount the damn ball 20+ times. It’s not that complicated.

Josh Freeman didn’t have the best of days. He manned up and shouldered much of the blame for the Bucs loss while being interviewed after the game on the Bucs radio network.

“The game didn’t go as we wanted it to go. We didn’t make the plays that we needed to win the game. Then we had to jump into the two-minute mode to try to get points on the board. We had drives stalled, unable to get into a rhythm, unable to get it done. It’s unacceptable. We hurt ourselves. We were unable to sustain drives. When you play that poorly — myself — it’s tough to win.

“[Baltimore was] just good out there. We didn’t hit any of our shot plays. At the same time when the opportunities were available, we didn’t take advantage of them.

“The execution in the fourth quarter has to be better and we have to find a way to win. We didn’t do what we came out here to do. But it’s still a winnable division.”

The quote from Bucs media chief Jonathan Grella was loud and clear earlier this season. The Bucs gobbling up unsold tickets to avoid local TV blackouts was “not a sustainable practice” for the business of the Bucs.

But what about a one-game practice?

What about a one-game Glazer deviation so many hundreds of thousands of local fans can see the exciting young Bucs next Sunday at 4:15 at home against the NFC-leading Falcons?

By Joe’s estimation, Team Glazer would have to cough up about $500,000 or so to get the game on TV (Joe doesn’t feel like breaking down the math here now). Wouldn’t that be worth the exposure? The Bucs do spend money to market the team. Surely that would be money well spent.

Joe agreed wholeheartedly when Grella gave that quote months ago. Team Glazer put every game in 2009 on the tube, clearly investing a pile of cash to eat unsold tickets.

If Joe owned the Bucs, he wouldn’t be forking over millions of dollars again this year so fans can watch a whole season on TV. That’s no way to build a business and sell tickets.

But next Sunday is different. It’s a one shot opportunity that could have a major impact long term.

C’mon, Team Glazer. Go for it!

It seems that the bitter loss to the Crows this evening may have gotten the best of Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib. It also got the best of a game official.

Per Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune, Twittering on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed, Talib and an NFL game official were seen cursing at each other.

Anwar: Bucs CB Aqib Talib and an NFL official just cursed each other outside the locker room

Now Joe understands how Talib could be upset and he should know better than to do this. But for an NFL official to engage in a cursing match with a player is unspeakable and simply unacceptable.

Joe suspects NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell to come down on Talib for this but if he does, he should come down equally hard if not harder of the foul-mouthed official.

UPDATE:  Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times also witnessed the exchange between Talib and an NFL game official and documented some of the content on his Twitter account, and per Stroud the incident nearly turned physical.

One official on Carl Cheffers crew told Talib in response, “You played like a p—-.” Talib then had to be held back by teammates.

Talib responded to the official’s comment by saying, “I’ll (hit) you in your b—- a– mouth.’ Talib would not talk to reporters Sunday

Joe’s sorry, but Goodell needs to reprimand this game official. There is no call – none! — for an official to call a player a “pr!ck.”

UPDATE II: Good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times also Twittered that the NFL game official in question mocked Talib.

Talib used foul language and official used very foul language too, saying “you played like —–” I cant use the word. They both used it tho

Again, Joe believes for an official to pull a stunt like this is beyond the pale.

UPDATE III: Joe texted some people he knows were at the scene and can confirm the profanity the NFL game official called Talib was in fact a vulgar reference to female genitalia.

Josh Freeman may have had a bad game and his numbers support such a premise. But Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson had a much, much worse game.

First off, what’s with all the long throws and bombs on third-and-short? Clearly Freeman was having trouble with his accuracy all day. It was like a flashback to his Kansas State days. It was almost to the point where you wondering if Josh Johnson should come in and take a few snaps from the shotgun and run out of that formation.

The Bucs were desperate to put together a scoring drive or two against one of the NFL’s nastiest, violent, physical defenses. Just when the Bucs seemed to be getting something going, the Bucs would find themselves in a third-and-short and Olson is calling for Freeman to heave the ball deep downfield?

Why?

You have LeGarrette Blount. You have Cadillac Williams. Hell, you have Freeman. With Freeman missing more passes than Joe in a clothing-optional establishment, why in the world would anyone call for Freeman to wing the ball for low-percentage pass completions when he was struggling with high-percentage completions?

This was just unbelievable to Joe.

As FOX’s Tim Ryan said at the start of the second half, Olson should try a no-huddle offense to switch things up when the Bucs clearly were struggling offensively so. When the Bucs did do that, the Bucs scored a touchdown, but it was far too late.

Sure, Freeman had an off game tonight.

Olson had a worse evening.

Joe hopes Greg Olson got a good look at Josh Freeman’s bruising, Blountesque quarterback sneak for about five big yards on the Bucs’ final drive today.

The guy is the toughest QB to drag down in the NFL. Has Freeman ever missed on a QB sneak?

Now Joe suspects Freeman called that himself, but Joe’s quite certain Freeman didn’t make the call forego the sneak and hand the ball off to LeGarrette Blount with the game on the line in Atlanta.

Yeah, Joe’s still bitter about that and couldn’t let it go after seeing Freeman’s sick sneak today.

Forgetting for a moment how well Cody Grimm was playing and how key he was in the Bucs’ resurgent run defense, Grimm’s ugly broken ankle today means Sabby Piscitelli is back in the starting lineup as the Bucs try to march to the playoffs.

Oh, my.

Grimm surely is headed to injured reserve tomorrow.

Joe is impressed, however, by Piscitelli’s ability to fake getting held, something he put on display late in today’s 17-10 loss to the Ravens. Maybe he was held by Anquan Boldin, but it sure didn’t look that way at all. Sabby’s theatrics likely saved a touchdown on the play.

Joe hopes Sabby can keep finding creative ways to make an impact. Joe suspects he’s not going to pull it off on talent and savvy.

See you next year, Grimm.

UPDATE: Good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times writes on Twitter than Grimm’s injury has been clarified. It is a broken fibula, not a broken ankle.

Kellen Winslow caught the second TD pass thrown to him in the back of the endzone, but the first one he dropped was critical.

Joe hopes the Bucs are good and sick over this loss, a game that was in reach, one that would have shocked the NFL world.

A dropped touchdown by Kellen Winslow and a crap call pass interference by the zebras stuck them in a hole they couldn’t dig out of. Micheal Spurlock sure didn’t help dropping a touchdown that would have given the Bucs more time to mount a comeback.

But there were the Bucs clamping down for another second-half shutout on the road against a team many consider a Super Bowl caliber club. The run defense showed up again and so did the pass rush.

The Bucs’ playcalling made Joe pull his hair out over and over, but they were able to flick a switch late against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Surely the Bucs have more than enough to win three more games against crap teams like Washington, Seattle and Detroit still to play — and to beat Atlanta at home — but that doesn’t make this one feel any better.

Much more to come all through the night. Come back often to JoeBucsFan.com.

Week 12
Bucs at Crows
Kickoff: 4:15 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally, DirecTV 711
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 90.
Weather: Per Accuweather.com, a sunny but a c-c-c-c-cold day along the Chesapeake Bay. Temperature at kickoff is expected to be 45 with little to no winds and will drop into the 30s as sun sets.
Odds: Per Bodog.com, Crows -7.5.
Outlook: When the Bucs prepared to play the Steelers, despite having an undefeated record at the time, Sirius NFL Radio host Ross Tucker said of the game, “Playing the Steelers is big boy football.” We all know how that turned out, don’t we? The Crows are a mirror-image of the Steelers. They play punishing, bruising, suffocating defense and an equally punishing ground game led by Ray Rice. Though the Bucs did a marvelous job in stuffing Frank Gore last week, who Joe believes is every bit as good as Rice, Joe has to wonder whether that was an aberration or the start of a pattern? Once again Joe believes for the Bucs to win they have to get the Crows out of their running game and to do that, get a lead early. But that could be a pick-your-poison scenario. The Crows have some damned good receivers, including Anquan Boldin who loves mixing it up with cornerbacks. If Aqib Talib is the Pro Bowl cornerback Bucs fans think he can, it’s time for him to win battles with solid receivers, unlike the battles he lost when playing the Steelers and Saints. That too, will be a key. Joe knows that Bucs fans hate this, but until or unless the Bucs beat a team that has a winning record, there will be doubts and questions about the Bucs. Sure, the Bucs hung with the Dixie Chicks, but they didn’t get the job done; the Bucs lost. If the Bucs are to be taken seriouslyas a playoff contender, a win over the Crows on the road in the cold were be a major first step towards that goal. Oh, and with a win the playoffs are damned near a lock.
Video: NFL Films has its preview of the Bucs-Crows game. … the TBO.com gang looks as the smart moves by Team Glazer and the career of Ronde Barber. … good guy Stephen Holder and Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times discuss GMC and Cody Grimm. … slur-hurling Trey Wingo, Tedy Bruschi and Marcellus Wiley of BSPN break down the Bucs-Crows. … “The Professor,” John Clayton discusses how important this game is for the Bucs.
Fun facts: Crows coach John Harbaugh has never lost to an NFC opponent at home. … Terrell Suggs has three sacks in his last three games. … Josh Freeman has won six of his last seven road starts.

Much has been written of the close relationship between Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris. They’re so tight Raheem has spoken of their weekly chats and offseason frolicking.

Barry Barnes, of Fanhouse.com, goes so far to say that Tomlin has helped the Bucs prepare for Ravens this afternoon.

Players/Coaches to Watch: Steelers coach Tomlin and Bucs coach Raheem Morris are closer than teeth to gums. They worked together as assistants for the Bucs coaching staff from 2001 to 2005 and vacation together with their families during the summer. The Bucs have a Steelers-type team that plays with a black and gold style of a physical running game and a speedy defense, but they lack experience given their youthfulness. Believe it or not, Tomlin has helped his buddy to prepare for the Ravens and if the Bucs prevail, if would help the Steelers gain an advantage again their AFC North rival.

Tampa somewhat resembles the Ravens of two seasons ago as a team that wasn’t expected to accomplish great feats but made it to the conference championship game and Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman has the “why not us” attitude. Hopefully, Tomlin told Morris that his players should wear some extra padding against the Ravens, as well. 

Joe’s not sure how Barnes knows Tomlin was in Raheem’s head about the Ravens, but it’s surely a safe bet Tomlin was.

That written, the Ravens beat the Steelers 17-14 in Pittsburgh this season (gulp), so Joe’s doubts Tomlin exactly has the answer to the Ravens’ punishing defense and versatile offense.

The old man who had three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons for Tampa Bay, the guy Raheem Morris said Sammie Stroughter would be wise to emulate, Joey Galloway, was cut by the Redskins today.

There’s a warm spot in Joe’s beer-soaked heart for the 39-year-old Galloway.

Here’s a link to Galloway’s 700th career catch, a very sweet adjustment on the ball. What’s a bit baffling by his release is the fact he caught three balls for 32 yards last Sunday.

Joe wonders if Skins general manager Bruce Almighty waited to cut Galloway so he wouldn’t land with the Giants, the apparently masochistic club that signed  Michael Clayton this week.

Joe still wonders why a man of Chucky’s great offensive intellect couldn’t figure out how to play Galloway and Antonio Bryant at the same time. One of the great mysteries in Bucs history.

Given the sudden resurgence of the Bucs pass rush, Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net believes Joe Flacco may be in for a pounding. “Old School” brings his preview of the Bucs-Crows game.

During winter, Joe was not subtle when he hinted that Cadillac Williams may have lost the tread on his tires and that the Bucs’ lack of rushing was not due to the lack of an offensive line.

While LeGarrette Blount has been a major find for the Bucs rushing attack, Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times suggests it has been the play of the offensive line, not so much Blount, that has resulted in a reborn Bucs rushing attack.

“It wasn’t all Cadillac early on,” Olson said. “Schematically, we’ve simplified some things a little bit. He had some looks early on where, some of it was unfortunate luck and (defenders) were in the hole.”

That certainly sounds familiar. There was not much room to run on many occasions. Of course, Blount has also encountered some similar issues and “made his own hole,” as Olson admits. But Williams was the victim of some offensive line miscues. Those miscues appear to have been eliminated now that coaches have made the necessary changes.

“If you (turn) on the film and watch us, you’ll see it’s night and day,” he said. “I think the offensive line is playing as one now. There’s lanes and alleys there. You have to give those guys up front a lot of credit because those guys are doing a heck of a job.”

Joe has long stated there were holes to run through for Bucs running backs. It appears those holes are there more consistently now.

Whatever is working, don’t stop. Joe is a firm believer in not fixing something that is not broken.

Joe knows this is an irritant to many Bucs fans. But like a nasty wart on the forearm, it’s not going to go away unless something is done about it.

The Bucs have yet to beat a team with a winning record. So it’s hard for anyone to objectively claim the Bucs are one of the best teams in the NFL when they can’t beat an opponent which has more wins than losses.

Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune notes that for the Bucs to lose this image, they have to have a signature win. Until then, Raheem Morris’ claim that the Bucs are the best team in the NFC is hollow.

You have to love the way Raheem Morris lives in denial. He’s so hunkered down into the NFL head coach, head-in-the-playbook survival mode, that he needs a shovel to dig his way up to reality sometimes.

Among Tampa Bay’s seven victories, I’m still looking for the one that shows that the Buccaneers convinced anybody that they are arguably “the best team in the NFC,” as Morris once proclaimed, before the loss in Atlanta.

”You make me laugh every week with your creative way to ask me, ‘Can I get a signature win?’ ” Morris said to me in his Wednesday press conference, downplaying the implications of Sunday’s upcoming game against the 7-3 Ravens in Baltimore.

It isn’t just Balog who is asking. It is the frauds on the take in Bristol. It’s the mousse-laden empty heads like Dull Patrick. It’s virtually every football fan outside of the Tampa Bay area.

With a win Sunday the Bucs can join the NFL elite. It’s really that simple.

Now go do it.

The lovely Tiffany Simons and Gregg Rosenthal discuss how the Bucs are one of the few consistently good teams in the NFC in this NBCSports.com video.

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