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Big game today for the Bucs. In NoCal, northern California, San Francisco to be exact.

While some may love the other bay area for its constant not so warm climate or its, well, free-living society, the home of Nancy Pelosi has been rather unkind to the Bucs.

Veteran columnist Gary Shelton documents in the St. Petersburg Times some of the horror stories the Bucs have had in San Francisco over the years including a reference to a nightmare known to Bucs fans as the immortal Trent Dilfer.

This was the place where Keyshawn Johnson had his meltdown, and when Simeon Rice had his lost weekend, and when Sam Wyche decided it was perfectly logical to start rookie Trent Dilfer against the best defense in the NFL.

This was where Jeb Blount started his first game, and Mike Rae started his last game, and Jack Thompson started his best game, and every time, the Bucs lost. Frankly, it doesn’t seem to matter whom the Bucs start at quarterback. They are 1-11 in San Francisco, and the 11 losses belong to 11 different quarterbacks.

This was where the Bucs lost games to Joe Montana and Steve Young. And also to Cody Pickett and Shaun Hill. This was where they lost when they had clinched the playoffs and when the playoffs were on the line. This was where they lost to terrible 49ers teams and to terrific ones.

In short, Joe firmly believes the time is now for the Bucs to oust their haunted ways in San Francisco the way right-thinking Americans exorcised the radical ways of San Francisco hero Pelosi earlier this month.

Win the damned game and the Bucs are in the playoff hunt. Lose, and start working on next spring’s draft.

Gregg Rosenthal discusses the sieve that is the Bucs rush defense in this NBCSports.com video.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

There is without a doubt no player on the Bucs that fans like to throw arrows, stones, beer cups, obscenities and untold other objects at than linebacker Barrett Ruud.

Simply put, the man is not a run-stuffer and never pretended to be. But when the Bucs’ rush defense would have difficulty keeping Countryside High School’s running attack in check, naturally fans are going to unload on the middle linebacker.

Fans want, crave, desire a Jack Lambert, a Ray Nitschke, a Ray Lewis to make a running back’s teeth shatter if he comes through the defensive line. Ruud will never do that.

In the latest TBO Bucs vlog, video star Anwar Richardson and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune decide to give shoutouts to players who have been ridiculed by Bucs fans but should, they believe, start receiving pats on the back.

Joe asks that you listen to their analysis of how and why each player is improving and give your feedback.

In this video from 49ers.com, various coaches and players discuss what they like about the Bucs and what concerns them.

It saddens Joe that cool cat Stylez White is having a less than stellar season. Joe likes Stylez and Joe has gone over too many times why Stylez (and the defensive front as a whole) is struggling.

But Stylez may get a boost. Seems as though 49ers starting left tackle Joe Staley got banged up in the 49ers win over the Rams last week and that means little used Barry Sims, described as “less athletic,” will likely start for Staley, so reports Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury-News.

Barry Sims, who might be called upon to protect Troy Smith’s blind side, entered this season with his eyes wide open. The 12th-year veteran knew he was on the roster only as an insurance policy and was unfazed about spending his season wearing sweats instead of shoulder pads.

Sims spent eight of the 49ers’ first nine games on the inactive list. But, starting Sunday at Candlestick Park, he could be as active as a lineman gets.

“It’s just about being a pro,” Sims said. “You’re always one play away from being in there. As a pro you have to prepare yourself accordingly.”

The Bucs could use any boost they can get against the mobile Smith. Joe doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the 49ers have come back to life since Smith was inserted as San Francisco’s newest treat.

Surfing the many MSM outlets that cover the 49ers, Joe is not suprised how much buzz (almost excitement) there is about the Bucs-Niners game becoming an old fashioned soggy Candlestick mess Sunday.

Having lived out there, Joe knows the locals embrace the November through February rainy season and believe 50 degrees and rainy and muddy is glorious football weather.

But the Bucs might get lucky.

While it’s supposed rain in San Francisco tonight into the wee hours, the kickoff forecast, per Weather.com, has now changed to only a 30 percent chance of rain during the game. The temperature is supposed to 53 degrees with a 14 mph wind at kickoff.

Matthew Barrows, of the Sacramento Bee, lays out some challenges of kicking in messy weather and how the Bucs and Niners play tight games that come down to kicking.

The 49ers have played five games this season that were decided by three or fewer points, and the Buccaneers four. Sunday’s forecast, meanwhile, calls for a 70 percent chance of showers.

Punter Andy Lee, who will serve as Andrus’ holder, said blustery Candlestick Park is one of the trickiest venues in the league, especially for a young kicker. But he said a rainy day can be beneficial because it usually means it’s not as windy.

“Later in the year, things aren’t quite as bad as early,” Lee said. “Now watch, me saying this it will be horrible this weekend.”

Said Andrus: “I played over in NFL Europe, so I’ve been a part of some pretty disastrous kicking conditions.”

Joe knows the Bucs’ punter and kicker are short on experience, especially in rough conditions. Joe hopes/prays that’s not a factor.

As for the return game, Joe perked up when he read in the Bee that Niners head coach Mike Singletary likes to keep things ultra conservative on runbacks and is not a fan of taking chances in that phase of the game even with dangerous Tedd Ginn, Jr. returning all punts and kicks.

The 49ers rank 21st in the league in kick-return average – 21.6 yards – and have two returns of 40 or more yards. They rank 22nd in punt returns with a 7.8-yard average.

When the season began, the 49ers intended to use sixth-round pick Kyle Williams on punt returns and Ted Ginn Jr. on kickoffs. Williams, however, has been banged up since the preseason, and the 49ers have resigned themselves to having Ginn do both.

He’s been sure-handed at the position, but he certainly hasn’t been explosive like he was in Miami where he ran two kickoffs back for touchdowns in 2009. Ginn fair-caught all five punts Sunday against St. Louis.

Writing about weather and stats means Joe is gnawing his arm off on a Saturday in anticipation of this Bucs-Niners game.

Josh Horowitz and Pat Kirwan take a look inside the matchup in tomorrow’s Bucs-49ers matchup in this CBSSports.com video.

The more Joe does his homework on this Niners-Bucs game Sunday, the more Joe realizes the game is extraordinarily winnable for the Bucs and nearly a must win if they want to make the playoffs.

Joe just suffered through last weekend’s 49ers-Rams game and watched Troy Smith lead the Niners to a stunning 0-for-11 mark on third down. (That’s not a typo.) … The Bucs will have plenty of opportunities to move the ball Sunday. 

Yeah, Smith converted a 4th-and-18 to lead the Niners to a near miracle overtime victory at home, but it was anything but pretty.

Smith hasn’t really made big mistakes in his two starts, but he hasn’t faced a secondary near the quality of the Bucs’. 

Smith was barely wanted this offseason, as the Ravens slapped a fifth-round restricted free agent tender on him in the spring and there were no takers. Nobody else thought the former Heisman Trophy winner was worth the fifth-round draft pick and $1 million, so he was cut and has hung on in Frisco, and now he’s the starting QB against the Bucs on Sunday.

Dress him up however you want, the guy is a backup quarterback.

Kurt Warner, color analyst Sunday for the Bucs-Niners on FOX, is hardly sold on Smith and says it’s likely a matter of time before he gets exposed, so Warner told the San Francisco Chronicle.

[Warner] just wonders how long before opposing defenses figure out Troy Smith, a relative unknown with four career starts. He said it’s like baseball hitters who struggle at first against new pitchers but find a way to adjust, and that the jury is still out on him.

“Eventually, teams are going to say, ‘OK, we’re going to try and keep him in the pocket, we’re going to change up some of our coverages, we’re going to see if he can do these kinds of things,” Warner said. “Eventually, he’ll be forced to do some other things, and that’s going to be the true sign of how good he can be.”

Joe’s braced for Frank Gore to have a 100+ yards with the usual big chunks on first and second down, the kind that get Joe hitting the Tums bottle every week. But the Bucs should be able to move the ball up and down on the Niners and they just can’t freakin’ lose to Troy Smith and come away thinking they’re a contender.

As Joe said during an interview on 620 WDAE-AM this week, the playoffs in 2010 are nothing more than a fantasy if the Bucs lose Sunday.

It seems someone at The News Center is upset with the Bucs. This person thinks that because Mike Williams blew a breathalyzer test below the legal limit the Bucs are a virtual Cincinnati Bengals and the Hillsborough County jail on Orient Road should swing its doors open for all the hoodlums the Bucs have on the roster.

That’s the implication given by someone not brave enough to slap their name to the piece, an unknown journalist if you will.

Since the first of this year, at least seven members of the Bucs organization have been arrested or disciplined by the National Football League for misdeeds that include two DUI charges and a domestic battery complaint.

Safety Tanard Jackson was suspended for at least a year for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Tight end Jerramy Stevens was released by the team after officers pulled him over on the way to a team meeting and said they found enough marijuana in his car to charge him with felony possession and intent to distribute.

Cornerback Aqib Talib was suspended by the league for the season-opening game against Cleveland after police said he slugged a cab driver who was driving him to Tampa in 2009.

Now this. Williams was arrested Friday at 2:48 a.m., hours before he was scheduled to fly with his teammates to San Francisco for a big game on Sunday.

While Joe thoroughly cannot understand how someone who makes a living in the NFL cannot call a cab or a limo company like Paradise Worldwide Transportation, to try to connect the dots between Williams and Talib and Jackson is outrageous.

Let Joe be clear: To date, Williams has not broken any laws. His breath test was below the legal limit. Repeat that last sentence to yourself.

How on earth anyone can somehow lump Williams in with the misdeeds of Talib and Jackson, well, Joe has a very difficult time doing the math there.

A weekend of football is not complete unless one drinks in the advice from Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620 and his sage fantasy guidance. In this video, Justin explains why a unit is a good thing. As one can expect, Pawlowski’s advice is fair and just.

After Sunday’s beat down of the whining Carolina Panthers, Joe had a chance to chat with wide receiver Arrelious Benn. The rookie talked about how tricky it was learning an NFL offense and his relationship with Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman.

JoeBucsFan: When you played at Illinois you were in a spread-option offense which is a far cry from an NFL offense. How difficult was it to learn an NFL offense?

Arrelious Benn: It was pretty difficult. I just had to know the terminology. Once I learned the terminology I was able to go out there and ball out. It wasn’t like I couldn’t run the routes, I just had to figure out the terminology. So I pretty much worked hard, studied my playbook. My coach helped me a lot, Coach Yarber, and he helped me to where I am now.

Joe: When you say it was such different terminology, was it sort of like learning a different language?

Benn: Almost. Almost. In fact, I had to come in and learn a whole new offense. Learn the new terminology. Learn the new offense. Get comfortable with it and understand my role.

Joe: When did you start becoming comfortable with the offense? Was it just a couple of weeks ago?

Benn: I’d say the end of preseason. That’s when I got comfortable.

Joe: Obviously you never want to see a teammate get dinged up. But when Sammie Stroughter got dinged up and hurt his ankle, you started getting more playing time and it seemed then you started to blow up, that you took advantage of the playing time. Was that all you needed but a chance for some playing time, just to get on the field?

Benn: All you need is opportunities and when opportunities present itselves, you had to change [advantage] just like anyone else would. The great thing about us, the receivers here in Tampa, we are all hungry and young. The biggest thing is, neither one of us is selfish. We all want to see each other striving and so what we need to do so we all push each other.

Joe: How much did it help when you were drafted and Josh [Freeman] called you up and said, “Let’s go to work?”

Benn: Big time! That’s the franchise guy. That’s our quarterback. To hear a guy like that tell you to run a certain route, go this way, go that way, that’s pretty big.

This morning not long after the news broke that stud rookie wide receiver Mike Williams was cited for a DUI despite his breath test being below the legal limit, video star Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune documented that Williams would still start.

Adam Schefter, star NFL reporter for BSPN, decided to swoop down from his lofty perch in Conneticut and declare, no, Williams will not start.

Well. This afternoon Richardson, dapper Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger and good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times buttonholed Bucs coach Raheem Morris and confirmed their initial information was accurate, despite what someone from Red Sox country was reporting.

@TBO_Buccaneers: Anwar: As I told you three hours ago, #Bucs WR Mike Williams will start on Sunday. Raheem Morris just confirmed it.

Then, learning he was wrong, in typical BSPN fashion, Schefter — who Joe respects a great deal — decided, likely at the point of a sword from the Bristol Bolshevics, to pile on as if he broke the story, via Twitter.

@Adam_Schefter: Tampa Bay will bring WR Mike Williams to San Francisco and will start him, despite this morning’s arrest.

Um, Adam, it was you who started all this by posting erroneous information in the first place. Joe understands you are trying to be first in everything but at least fess up and admit you were the lone person reporting Williams would ride the pine despite numerous sources to the contrary.

And people wonder why Joe loathes those Soviet Disney mice!

Memo to BSPN: Just strick to the non-basketball association, chicks basketball, golf and whatever other kind of schlock you are trying to shove down America’s throats.

And that goes for g@ddamned Ed Werder too!

"You better believe Mike Williams is playing."

Nobody seems to care about football when there’s a DUI in the room. That’s what Raheem Morris can take away from his seven-minute news conference this afternoon at One Buc Palace.

You can watch it on Buccaneers.com and see the head coach’s frustration after getting barraged by nothing but Mike Williams and team discipline questions from beat writers and assorted MSM types.

Raheem said Williams used crappy judgment on a couple of fronts.

“Very disappointed about the bad decision that [Williams] made to be out late, and about the worse decision to have a drink and drive,” Raheem said. “He’ll be disciplined but it won’t have anything to do with playing time. We’ll deal with it internally like we always do.”

Williams’ playing time will not be cut, Raheem said, in part because it would punish fans and the team.

Joe’s not sure he agrees with the decision to play Williams on Sunday in San Francisco.

A decision to sit him might have been an important disciplinary move for not just Williams, but for the entire team. Joe wonders whether a player of lesser importance would have received the same treatment. …Still a lot to learn, though, about what really happened in the wee hours this morning.

Horribly overrated Suzy Kolber, Mark Schlereth and Tedy Bruschi break down the Bucs-49ers game in this BSPN video.

Joe makes it through The Josh Freeman Show every Thursday on WDAE-AM 620 so he can share anything of interest with the roughly 10,000 daily visitors to JoeBucsFan.com. 

But it’s not always easy. Freeman might be the most politically correct Buccaneer to hit the airwaves since Derrick Brooks. And combined with gushing homer host Scott Ledger, The Josh Freeman Show isn’t exactly riveting.

Joe did perk up last night though when a caller asked Freeman about a future change at offensive coordinator and how hard that might be to handle.

Of course, Freeman gave the dude a serious and respectful answer, before subtly revealing that he thought the question was as ridiculous as it sounded.

“With that being said, the only reason for that would be sucking. And I feel like we’re finding ways to win and continuing to get better. And as a young team you want to keep that going,” Freeman said.

If Joe were to even consider the job security of Greg Olson, Joe could make a case that Olson’s gig as offensive coordinator is more secure right now that Raheem Morris’ job as head coach, considering the Bucs offense is carrying the team and this team is all about No. 5.  

But there’s no reason to even go there. This entire coaching staff is sure to return barring a second half meltdown of epic proportions. Or as Freeman called it, “sucking.”

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

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the team goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.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.

Trap Game? Only if Tampa Bay completely ignores its own deep dark history when it travels to San Francisco — that place where Buccaneers dreams go to die.

No, not Philadelphia, that was a three-year dungeon, and we blew the doors off that place in back-to-back, cross-season games (2002 NFC Championship at the Vet, 2003 Monday Night Football opening day at the Link). It’s not Carolina.

In fact, it’s not any place you can think of easily because this transcends timelines and teammates. It goes beyond presidential parties, because it goes back beyond “W” and his father even. George Bush, the father, was not even a vice president yet. Mount St. Helens still had its top, and AC/DC still had its Highway to Hell singer. The skyway bridge still had two spans, and Star Wars was one great movie. The Empire was just about to Strike Back!

That’s how long it has been since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have beaten the San Francisco 49ers IN San Francisco — 1-11 all-time at the home of the Golden Gate, which has not been so golden to the team from the Sunshine State trying to play in the OTHER Bay Area.

Now sure you can explain quite a bit of it just because the teams we’re talking about made double digits famous. The Bucs double digit losers from 1983-1994, and the 49ers who had double digit winning seasons around the same stretch of time.

But what about recent history when Tampa Bay has been a respectable team and the 49ers have been just trying to restore a once proud tradition?

The world champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers went into Candlestick and got beat down 24-7.

In 2005, the Bucs went into the land of sunflowers and dye t-shirts off a bye week in which their No. 1 defense would help Chris Simms feel his way around. The defense did its part holding the 49ers to five Joe Nedney field goals. Simms went 21 of 34 for 264 yards but it wasn’t enough. Only a Joey Galloway simple slant taken all the way for 78 yards got the Bucs score to look respectable. Once again, the Bucs left the Bay area with a loss like they have so many times before.

A playoff bound 2007 Bucs team kept their starters in for the first half against the 49ers, but a Christmas-clad San Francisco team wearing their old SuperBowl era uniforms made the best out of the Bucs backups in the second half.

Luke McCown led a comeback at the end of the game, but the team that hadn’t won in 28 years there was not going to make it look easy. Mike Clayton could not get both feet inbounds on the 2-point conversion; and now it’s 30 years.

So if you hear anyone say this is a trap game for the Bucs, just remember what a trap is. I’m not sure the Bucs are the ones with the trap to look out for.

St. Petersburg Times Bucs beat writer good guy Stephen Holder appeared on “The Opening Drive” this morning to speak with co-hosts Andrew Bogusch and Peter King, heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio, and gave the duo an update into the Mike Williams DUI arrest.

Stephen Holder: Mike Williams is going to travel with the team this afternoon and will play and likely start. That may be for a couple of reasons; it’s a little bit of a cloudy situation. His blood alcohol level was below the legal limit but he failed the field sobriety test. I’m going out on a limb a little but here, I’m taking some assumptions, that is why the team will let him play.

A urine test could mean a couple of things: If cops suspect something other than alcohol, they ask suspect to submit to a urine test to maybe try to find another way [to nail a suspect for DUI]. Only the officer on the scene can speak to that and he has not yet been cleared to speak with us.

Peter King: It’s awfully hard not to jump to conclusions given his [college misdeeds].

Holder: He was weaving after drinking. Not smart.

King: With his collegiate rap sheet, you want to be clean.

Holder: He’s a good kid. He does have a past that he is trying to live down. You are right, a mature kid is going to be smart about this and not give people a reason to look in his direction. He already has lost dearly over what happened in college. He slipped to the forth round. He lost millions. Doing the smart thing? This isn’t it.

King: How will Raheem Morris handle this?

Holder: He needs to step up and be firm. Jerramy Stevens was arrested for possession of a considerable amount of marijuana and he was released a couple of days later. That won’t be the case here. Stevens was on his last chance but Raheem took an opportunity to make a point. He needs to make a concerted effort to make a point here: Be smart. There has to be a constant with this team. They have to stay on them. They are young and they can think they are invincible. They need to know if you stay out late and not make smart decisions, [there are repercussions].

[Update: Contrary to Adam Schefter’s Twitterings, at 10:20 a.m. TBO also reported that Williams will play per Bucs officials.]

Let’s just say Joe’s going to guess g@d damned Ed Werder won’t like this. It’s your weekly visit to the end zone of the NFL universe. It’s Cosmic Schein!

Video: Cosmic Schein: Week 11

Noooooo.

Bucs stud rookie receiver Mike Williams was locked up by authorities this morning after a 2:48 a.m. arrest for driving under the influence near the intersection of 301 and Causeway Blvd. in Brandon.

Here’s the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s report: While the report says Williams’ blood alcohol tests were below the legal limit (.065 & .061), Joe’s experience covering law enforcement tells him Williams could have failed field sobriety tests or the police suspect he was high on another substance. The report says “pending urine” but Joe is unsure whether Williams submitted to a pee test.

All that said, it is beyond Joe why a rich young football player wouldn’t take a limo in the wee hours after enjoying some hard-earned adult beverages.

Jeez. Joe’s partners at Paradise Worldwide Transportation will take anyone home in a limo in and around Hillsborough and Pinellas counties for only $69 one way, often cheaper than a cab.

Williams may be technically innocent of these charges, but it’s heinous judgment to be cruising around town just before 3 a.m. …Joe doesn’t care how fine the piece of ass might be.

Call for a ride.

Several offseason moves made Bucs general manager Mark Dominik a virtual rock star inside NFL circles.

There was the thievery of drafting Mike Williams in the fourth round. There was snagging Arrelious Benn in the second round. There was scooping up Cody Grimm in the seventh round.

But an argument can be made that signing Alex Van Pelt as the Bucs quarterback coach was the most important of all.

Under Van Pelt’s tutelage, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman has skyrocketed to enter the conversation of NFL Offensive MVP. Joe even remembers interviewing Peter King at the Super Bowl where King stated hiring Van Pelt was a stroke of genius.

This move is also not lost on eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune who believes it was Dominik’s sharpest transaction as Kaufman Twittered on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.

The Bucs have made a lot of smart acquisitions in 2010 and hiring Alex Van Pelt as quarterbacks coach might be at the top of the list.

The way Freeman has played, it’s hard to argue with this logic. Freeman has even hinted that last year he has little time with Greg Olson who was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator just before the season began.

So the dots can be connected that Freeman’s ascent into near-elite status can be directly related to Van Pelt’s hiring.

Rick Stroud and good guy Stephen Holder discuss how Panthers coach John Fox is still whining about Aqib Talib’s legal hit on Panthers rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen in this shaky St. Petersburg Times video.