Cadillac Williams has horribly horrific rushing numbers. Kareem Huggins is hurt yet again. Injuries, as usual, have found their way to Earnest Graham. And the guy Raheem Morris was so excited about two games ago, LeGarrette Blount, can’t get a helmet on.

From an on-the-field standpoint only, Joe was not jumping for joy when Derrick Ward was released, simply because Ward showed a couple of strong runs against Jacksonville in Game 3 of the preseason and the Bucs were painfully thin at running back, in addition to not having a true No. 1 running backs. The subpar running backs corps was something Joe harped on through the offseason.

Then, Bucs insider/radio guy TJ Rives wrote that Ward’s release had a lot to do with money. And then Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud called cutting Ward a business decision.

Now Ward is running wild again in Houston. Click here to watch Ward truly create today and bust a run outside for a 38-yard touchdown. The Bucs probably don’t have a guy on the roster who can make this play.

Joe brings this all up because Ward is such a polarizing figure among fans and the Bucs’ running game is putrid. The Bucs probably made the right call on Ward, but it doesn’t feel that way right now.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune beat writer Tom Balog has penned a postgame story exploring whether formerly notorious hothead, kill-for-my-teammates Jeremy Trueblood has lost his angry edge.

Balog zeroes in on the situation surrounding today’s ugly late hit on Josh Freeman’s knee out of bounds by Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins and Trueblood’s tame reaction to his quarterback getting popped.

The proper course of action would have been for Trueblood to start an MMA war against the Saints.

 Because for how the Buccaneers played Sunday, that’s the only way the sprinkling of Bucs fans who stayed to the bitter end would have got their money’s worth.

Joe suggests you click the link above and check out the whole piece.

Joe’s not a big fan of the kindler gentler Trueblood. It sure seems like he and Davin Joseph have lost their nastiness. Although Joe has to give Trueblood credit for dialing back the penalties.

As a point of note, this is what happens when the Bucs do a whole lot of nothing for an entire game; beat writers start searching for compelling stories and write, in this case, about a guy not getting mad.

Lost in the mess of today’s Bucs beating was the announced crowd of 51,759, per the total posted on ESPN.com. That means about 14,000 seats went unsold.

When the “actual attendace” total is reported, that number will be in the high 40 thousands. 

So there were the surprise 3-1 Bucs taking on the Super Bowl champs, and the stadium was about 78 percent sold and the game was blacked out. What’s striking to Joe is how far off the Bucs are and how attendance is down from last year.

In 2009, actual attendance for the Bucs-Saints home game was 49,542, which means that game likely drew more people than today’s game, and those Bucs were a one-win team still operating the heinous Jim Bates Experiment.

Has the economy fallen off that much in 11 months, when the Bucs last hosted the Saints?

Stuffing his face at Lee Roy Selmon’s in Fort Myers with Bucs fans on The Blackout Tour (Rams game tickets now available), Joe had an immediate case of heartburn watching Tampa Bay take a knee at its own 36 yard line following Cody Grimm’s interception.

Down 17-0, this decision had no stake in the outcome, for sure. But it was as if the Bucs killed their own momentum and gave up.

Raheem Morris always talks about opportunities to learn for his young football team. Joe would like to know what is learned by taking a knee.

Surely the Bucs have a play in Chucky’s  playbook that calls for a 25- or 30-yard completion in eight seconds and a 50+ yard field goal attempt. What a great opportunity to try? Or what about the Hail Mary, rolling Josh Freeman out and letting him step into a throw? The Bucs have the tall bodies to get up for a ball.

Again, Joe knows this decision was ultimately meaningless. But it seemed to go against what the Bucs are trying to be about.

There’s no sugarcoating what happened to the Bucs today.

They were manhandled, outcoached and humiliated at home.

Their 3-2 record aside, you can’t be a good team in the NFL and get humiliated in back-to-back home games. The violent team Raheem Morris wants is a fairy tale at this point. Joe’s not sure why the Bucs seemed completely unready to play.

One of the organization’s stated goals of 2010 was to be competitive every game. In that specific category, the Bucs are 3-2, which is not good.

Sure, the 2010 season was bound to be a rollercoaster with a roster of young players and few star-caliber players and an ascending head coach. But Joe’s not sure the low should ever hit such a rock bottom.

Barrett Ruud was quick to speak to how manhandled the Bucs were by the Saints today on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game.

“The scoreboard maybe didn’t show it enough,” Ruud said.

Thank you for some reality, Barrett. Joe was annoyed after the Steelers ran yet another 200+ yard day on the Bucs two games ago and the Bucs’ brass was talking about how it didn’t feel that bad. That was some smelly positive spin. This smells much more fresh and real.

Asked what went wrong, Ruud said, “We didn’t stop them at all. … I don’t know.” Ruud went on to say the key is the Bucs learning from the game. “Last year we were kinda playing for pride. This year we’re playing for more,” he said.

Joe’s as aggravated now as the next fan. It’s one game. If the Bucs come out and beat the Lambs next week, then the Kool-Aid returns and they’ve done what very few expected was possible.

Bucs fans, with some merit, have been howling about the Bucs’ (lack of) running game.

Those howls may turn to shrieks this week as the flavor of the month, in these circles also known as the cure of the month, will be LeGarrette Blount.

The former Oregon stud who nearly missed a year for stupidly trying to take on a Boise State crowd by himself, and who was later cut by the Tennessee Titans, looks to be the focal point of Bucs fans in the coming days.

For months, over a year, the cure was Kareem Huggins, who left the game today with an ugly right knee injury. Joe doesn’t expect him to be back soon.

Then the cry was for Earnest Graham to move back to tailback. Today, Graham left in the first half with a hamstring injury, which is especially troublesome to running backs.

Now with the Bucs running backs’ depth paper-thin, Bucs fans will be screaming from every rooftop for LeGarrette Blount.

Before calling Joe’s good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM tomorrow to plea for Blount to save the Bucs’ season, keep in mind this is a guy who was already cut by one NFL team and his second team in as many months. And the Bucs think so highly of him that he was inactive today.

If Blount truly is Ricky Williams dressed in Bucs’ clothing, ya’ think there may be a reason two separate coaching staffs saw fit to use Blount as little more than roster fodder?

Joe hopes Blount indeed becomes the next Williams and runs for thousands of yards. Joe, however, can’t get past the fact that Blount struggles to make it on an active roster on game day.

A lot of Bucs followers and watchers — Joe included — thought this would be the year for Aqib Talib. With an uneventful offseason and coming off a 2009 campaign where he was one of the better cornerbacks in the league, many fully expected Talib to establish himself as an elite cornerback.

He’s not there… yet.

Talib is good, don’t get Joe wrong. He is not yet a star.

We all remember how he bobbled a near-interception in the zone against Pittsburgh that turned into an early Mike Wallace touchdown for the Steelers. Later, Talib had an would-be interception go through his hands on a critical third down play against Pittsburgh on what turned into a Steelers scoring drive.

That nasty near-interception bug bit Talib again today. And it was ugly.

Drew Brees connected with Lance Moore on a 41-yard touchdown that Talib had position on and went for the interception. But his pink-gloved hands were empty and the Saints had six points.

In the aforementioned plays, Talib was not out of position, please do not misunderstand. Talib, instead, went for the big plays and swung and missed each time.

Elite players make big plays. Talib’s not.

Not yet.  

There was chatter, whispers, rumors and innuendo that the Bucs’ rush defense was soft.

Today, it may have been worse.

When the Bucs jettisoned Jimmy Wilkerson and Chris Hovan in the offseason — not terrible moves — it left the Bucs vulnerable up front. They were more than vulnerable today; they were a sieve.

With rookies Gerald McCoy and Brian Price in the middle, sometimes punctuated with second-year tackle Roy Miller, it was a risk Bucs general manager Mark Dominik was going to take. Without veterans up front, young players, specifically rookies, were going to get exposed while at the same time gain valuable experience. Historically, rookie defensive tackles do not shine, not even Warren Sapp was a stud as a rookie.

The defensive front was jostled, mocked and robbed today. Saints tackle Jon Stinchcomb literally would take out two players at a time on some running plays.

With youth up front, the Bucs need or needed a monster middle linebacker. Sadly, there are few middle linebackers that fit that mold. Barrett Ruud certainly isn’t that type of a linebacker.

And no, there are no linebackers like that walking the streets currently.

The NFL is a copycat league. Other teams will watch this tape and one can be sure future opponents of the Bucs will try to replicate what the Saints’ running game did today.

Lost by some in last week’s win was that Cedric Benson was gouging the Bucs rush attack time after time. Then, for some unknown reason, angry Marvin Lewis decided to throw the ball.

McCoy, Price, and yes, Miller have a lot of growing up to do in just a few days. If Benson can hammer the Bucs defense, if the immortal Chris Ivory can run for 158 yards on 15 carries, imagine what Steven Jackson might do?

One of the reasons, if not the reason, the Bucs jumped out to a 3-1 record in their first four games was the play of quarterback Josh Freeman.

Local scribes typed accolades. National talking heads gushed. Freeman is the real deal and he will lead the Bucs to the promised land.

Not so fast. Freeman is still a young quarterback but as Bucs general manager Mark Dominik noted last week on Sirius NFL Radio, Freeman has yet to start 16 games, a full season.

That showed today.

Freeman looked very much the young quarterback. He overthrew receivers all day. Too often, he and his receivers were not on the same page. Receivers would run hooks when Freeman expected them to run go-routes. Receivers would turn right when Freeman expected a break to the left.

Receivers were open. Freeman, for whatever reason, missed his targets.

Granted, the Saints were getting pressure on Freeman. But as he noted in his press conference ,which can be viewed on Buccaneers.com, he didn’t take the cop out and use limited time to throw as an excuse.

“That comes with a young team,” Freeman said of too common instances of miscommunication. “Fortunately for us we have room to improve. [Lack of time] wasn’t an issue.”

This is one of those games to forget. Go out, have a beer (or two), put it behind you and grind tomorrow morning at One Buc Palace.

The Rams come into the CITS next Sunday. In recent years, they have been an elixir to many teams’ woes.

Saints 31, Bucs 6

This was a beat down by the Saints. If today’s loss shows anything, it demonstrated the Bucs can take care of themselves against average or below average teams. Elite teams like the defending champs or perhaps the best team in the AFC (Pittsburgh), well, there’s some work to do. Maybe a lot.

The running game, which was dicey at best, is now thin. It doesn’t look like Kareem Huggins may be back soon after an ugly right knee injury. Earnest Graham has a hamstring injury and those things will nag at an athlete for weeks, maybe months.

Please check in early and often with Joe. He’ll have more later.

Week 6
Saints at Bucs
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
TV: Blacked out locally. Outside the Tampa/Orlando TV markets, the game can be found on DirecTV Channel 708.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 158.
Weather: Per Accuweather.com, not a bad day to watch football, not bad at all. Temperature at kickoff is expected to be 83 under sunny skies with limited wind or humidity. It’s expected to gradually warm up throughout the game.
Odds: Per Bodog.com, Saints -4.5.
Outlook: The Bucs will be the darlings of the NFL if they can beat the world champs. This may be a difficult task. Sure, the Saints are a shell of their former selves, having been decimated by injuries in the backfield. Part of the problem with the Saints offense has been dropped passes. If Sean Jones’ back issues creep up again, that means Sabby and rookie Cody Grimm will have to stop Drew Brees who enjoys passing over the middle. Gulp. The Bucs have their own issues with injuries on offense as well. Mike Williams, Josh Freeman’s new favorite target, will be a game-time decision whether he plays. Jeff Faine is out, though Jeremy Zuttah did an admirable job filling in for him last week. It looks like the Bucs are going to have to win this game the same way they won previous games: force turnovers.
Video: All sorts of video available to get a break down of today’s game. NFL Films looks at the rivalry between the two NFC South teams, Joe Theismann, Sterling Sharpe and Brian Billick give a look-see into the Bucs chances (Sharpe is chugging the Josh Freeman Kool-Aid) and could there be a safety controversy with the Bucs? … Also, good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times takes a deeper look at the success of the Bucs. … Josh Freeman sounds off on the NFL Network about the Bucs quick start. Also, Mike Mayock of the NFL Network has a fascinating piece on the pros and cons of Freeman.
Sunday morning reading: Vic Carucci of NFL.com writes that the Bucs themselves don’t know if they are a good team.
Fun facts: Aqib Talib has a streak of three game with interceptions. … In nine career starts against the Bucs, Brees has a 100 passer rating. … New Orleans’ Lance Moore has seven receiving touchdowns in his last seven games against NFC South opponents. … When Cadillac Williams has at least 22 carries in a game, the Bucs are 13-0.

Joe suspects Lincoln Kennedy is still bitter the Bucs crushed his Raiders in the Super Bowl.

Or, Kennedy needs glasses.

Or, Kennedy was just making stuff up on FOX Sports Radio this afternoon, aired locally on WDAE-AM 620.

Kennedy briefly broke down the Bucs-Saints game on the air and was confident the Saints will bounce back in a big way.

All the former offensive lineman had to say about the Bucs was that “they look to be slow on defense.”

Now there’s a lot of negatives about the Bucs’ defense one could intelligently hurl out there, but “slow” surely isn’t one of them.

That’s got to be the most ridiculous, ill-informed Bucs commentary since yesterday, when a local beat writer downplayed the Bucs’ nine interceptions.

Joe once again brings you Derek “Old School” Fournier, lord of WhatTheBuc.net, and his weekly Bucs game preview.

A few days ago, Joe had the chance to chat with Bucs safety Sean Jones. The first-year Bucs player spoke about the Bucs defense, what he brings to the table as a safety, and the team’s relationship with head coach Raheem Morris.

JoeBucsFan: How much of a difference has it been coming from Philly to the Bucs? Is there that much of a difference between the X’s and O’s?

Sean Jones: Totally different. In Philly, we pretty much blitzed every play. Here, it’s pretty much a Tampa-2 and we play a lot of coverage zones to stop the run. It’s a different kind of scheme.

Joe: Are you still trying to become comfortable in this system? Or are you comfortable in this system?

Jones: I’m definitely real comfortable in this system. It’s similar to the system we played in with Cleveland. Our base defense in Cleveland was very similar.

Joe: So was coming here like putting on an old pair of shoes? What I mean by that is this was a defense you knew, you just sort of had to shake the rust and cobwebs off.

Jones: Yeah. This is a great defense. In this defense, we just have to be physical and make plays.

Joe: Raheem Morris is both the head coach and he also has the title of defensive coordinator. He used to be the secondary coach. How hands on is he with the secondary?

Jones: He’s very hands on for a head coach. He’s always in our meeting rooms. He’s always in our defensive backs room. He’s always giving his pointers. As defensive backs, we have a great deal of respect for him. We ball out to make him look good.

Joe: What are some things you learned from him?

Jones: Yeah, defense. X’s and O’s of our defense.

Joe: Give me an example of something you learned. You know like, ‘Oh, wow, that will help.’

Jones: (Laughs) No, man, I can’t do that.

Joe: (Laughs) OK. We won’t go there. What would you say is your strength is as a safety?

Jones: Hhhmm. I’d say my speed and I’m a good tackler. I just want to be an all-around player, be all over the field.

Joe: Now Kellen Winslow for example, he just raves about Morris. Says he wouldn’t want to play for another coach. Do the rest of the players have that kind of respect and admiration for him?

Jones: Most definitely. Rah is a great young coach. He’s full of energy. A lot of players can relate to him. We just want to go out there and win and play hard for him, each and every week.

Gregg Rosenthal is absolutely chugging the Josh Freeman Kool-Aid in this NBCSports.com video.

Joe sniffed around tight end stats on NFL.com and saw Kellen Winslow parked at No. 17 on the list of receptions among NFL tight ends.

Winslow has no touchdowns.

Yeah, the Bucs are winning. Yeah, Winslow has made huge third-down catches. And Raheem Morris says stats are for losers. But Joe knows Winslow has got to have bigger numbers for the Bucs to be successful. He absolutely has to.

Winslow’s knees are suspect. There’s no reason to save him. This is his prime.

Joe hasn’t seen or heard anything that would lead him to believe Winslow is having trouble getting open. He appears at the top of his game. Mike Williams is now having problems with his foot.

Joe hopes Greg Olson starts feeding the Bucs’ most talented receiver.

Click here for more info. Buy your tickets up until 10 p.m. Saturday night!

Can’t afford to enjoy Sunday’s Rams-Bucs game at the stadium?

Can’t stand watching the game on your computer?

Joe’s got a solution for you. You can travel with diehard Bucs fans to  Lee Roy Selmon’s in Fort Myers to watch the game there on a 6-foot HD screen, and catch the other 1 o’clock games at the same time.

Roundtrip on the bus, plus a FREE draft beer and a FREE plate of wings is only $24.95.

It’s known as The Blackout Tour. Joe can tell you it’s a comfortable luxury bus ride and a great time with diehard Bucs fans.

Get your tickets now for Sunday’s Blackout Tour. More than 75 Bucs fans have enjoyed themselves on The Blackout Tour to date. Get your tickets now.

Now Joe is sure all his readers fly to Vegas to wager legally, versus placing bets with the guy whose cell number changes every week. 

Regardless of how or why you wager, Joe knows there are many aspiring handicappers reading. So to please the gambling crowd, Joe has turned to superpicker Bob Fox. A writer for various sports publications over the years, Fox flashed his stellar picking skills back in 2008 on JoeBucsFan.com, when Joe had a contest here among sports media members.

Fox will be here weekly to give you a few games. Fox is 6-2 over the past two weeks.

By BOB FOX
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Wisconsin Badgers 23, Ohio State Buckeyes 20

No. 18 Wisconsin always plays well under the lights at Camp Randall Stadium when the the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes come to town. In 2003, the Badgers beat the defending national champion Buckeyes 17-10 — and also stopped OSU’s 19 game winning streak — in Madison. In 2008, it took a Terrelle Pryor touchdown run in the last minute for the Buckeyes to beat the Badgers. Like most Badger teams of recent history, the 2010 team has an explosive running game led by the 2009 Big Ten offensive player of the year John Clay and freshman phenom James White. The two have combined for 1,177 yards and 17 TDs. The Buckeyes play the run very well, at least so far. Pryor will once again be they key. He’s a threat to pass and run, although he was hampered last week by a left leg injury and didn’t run much Bottom line, I see the Badgers being able to run on the Buckeyes with their two-headed monster, plus I don’t see QB Scott Tolzein making the mistakes he made last year in Columbus. I see Pryor making some big plays, but it won’t be enough.

Minnesota Vikings 27, Dallas Cowboys 21

Anyone who thinks Brett Favre won’t be able to continue his consecutive starting streak that started in 1992 (289 straight regular season games) because of elbow tendonitis, would get a reaction from John McEnroe. As in, “You can not be serious.” Favre will play, and he will play well, even with the Jenn Sterger story hanging out there, much like his text messages to Sterger. Favre has never won a game against the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas, but he has also never lost a game against the ‘Boys at home. This game is a desperation game for both teams. Both squads come into this game with 1-3 records, and a loss here might dig a hole too deep to get out of for the loser. Favre has struggled, as he only has a 67.0 QB rating and has tosseed five touchdown to seven picks. But in the second half of the Jets game last week, he finally showed some of the magic he displayed in 2009 for the Vikes, although he once again threw a late pick to seal the game for the Jets. ,QB Tony Romo meanwhile, has a 92.7 QB rating and has thrown seven TD passes to five interceptions, and his big weapon is WR Miles Austin. Still, somehow I see Favre, Adrian Peterson, Randy Moss and company doing enough to win a badly needed game at the Humpty Dome.

Tampa Bay Bucs 20, New Orleans Saints 17

The 3-1 Tampa Bay Bucs face their biggest test of the young 2010 season, when the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints come to the Ray Jay. The 3-2 Saints have been inconsistent, evidenced by the loss last week in Arizona to the Cardinals. The Bucs have been winning “ugly” as some would say, plus they always seem to play the Saints tough. In fact, the last loss of the 2009 season for the Saints came from the hand of the Bucs in New Orleans. Josh Freeman has done what he has needed to do this year, although he only has a 84.8 QB rating, along with five TD passes and three interceptions. Drew Brees, meanwhile, has 95.7 QB rating and has thrown nine TD passes and five picks. Brees has many weapons to use, but the Bucs’ pass defense this year is ninth in the NFL. The Saints are ranked in the top 10 in both offense and defense, while the Bucs are ranked 20th in offense and only 18th on defense. On paper, the Saints should win the game. But games aren’t played on paper, and the Bucs will once again find a way to win “ugly.” The win will look beautiful though to the throng of rabid Buc fans at Raymond James Stadium, even if the game isn’t a sell out.

New England Patriots 17, Baltimore Ravens 14

The Pats (3-1) host the Ravens (4-1) in a game that will pit QB Tom Brady and his now Randy Moss-less passing offense against the third-ranked defense in the NFL. But Brady still has weapons like Wes Welker and the recently reacquired Deion Branch, plus Brady leads the entire NFL with his 109.0 QB rating. QB Joe Flacco has many weapons as well, with receivers like Anquan Bolden, Derrick Mason, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, not to mention RB Ray Rice. But Flacco has struggled, as he only has a 72.1 QB rating, as he has thrown just five TD passes, compared to six picks. Flacco should be able to do something in this game, though, as the Pats are only ranked 28th in pass defense. The Pats will squeak by the Ravens at home.

Jason Horowitz and Pat Kirwan break down the Saints-Bucs game Sunday in this CBSSports.com video. Hint: Kirwan explains why he loves Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. But Sabby at safety? Kirwan doesn’t think that much.

What do you think of Kirwan’s full comments?

Joe hears it. Joe reads it. Bucs fans are screaming that their team is 3-1, yet the Bucs are getting scant attention compared to the current dregs of the NFL, Minnesota and Dallas.

Well, that’s what you get for watching BSPN (which Joe is proud to admit he has blocked on his DirecTV along with NBA TV, the glut of shopping channels, and LOGO).

Leave it to eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune to explain this to the masses Kaufman, in a recent TBO Bucs question-and-answer feature, details why network TV producers are not (yet) aroused by the Bucs.

Q: Why are the networks so high on teams that have losing records (Dallas, Minnesota, etc.) and pay little or no attention to the Bucs who are 3-1? I’m getting tired of watching Sports Center and only seeing highlights of big-name teams even though they keep losing! How can a team that is up and coming like the Bucs gain fan support if the media doesn’t help them?

Angelo Kotz, West Palm Beach

A: The networks are fixated on stars, and the Bucs don’t have much national buzz because they lack stars like Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Tony Romo and Demarcus Ware. They aren’t America’s Team like the Cowboys and they are not a traveling circus like the Vikings. Their time will come in the network spotlight if they keep winning. The league’s flex schedule could give them some nationally televised games down the stretch. Meanwhile, enjoy their impressive start under the radar.

— eye-RAH! Kaufman

Bingo. As Joe once heard a high school basketball coach tell his team whose players thought they were being ignored by local papers, “Win and the media comes around. It’s that simple and it’s all in your hands.”

If the Bucs win, so too will the glare of the national spotlight.

Beating the Super Bowl champs tomorrow will be a big leap forward in that respect.