It’s been about 23 hours since kickoff, and Joe’s emotions are still running wild. There is nothing to compare to opening day of the NFL season after such a long hiatus. Hope is always alive, and when the good guys win, it’s a lasting rush.

First place!!

As Joe munches his sandwich, he’s trying to take a bird’s eye view of the Bucs. And despite all the great storylines and game situations to dissect, Joe’s brain keeps going back to the franchise quarterback, Josh Freeman.

Yesterday’s game was an extraordinarily gutty performance by Freeman coming off a significant injury and scant time with his receivers in preseason. The kid showed the toughness he needs to be the commanding leader the Bucs must have on that side of the ball.

The defense is far ahead of the offense, comparitively, but the Bucs just seem to be in wonderfully good hands with Freeman, whose legs should carry the offense a long way, as well.

Sure, he struggled. He admittedly had problems with the thumb, but he made a perfect, game-winning throw and looked poised beyond his years. And all that with a collapsing pocket, a subpar running game, newbie receivers and a new injury in his head. 

There are plenty to go around, but Freeman gets a game ball from Joe, as well as a copy of the JoeBucsFan.com home game.

Last week when Josh Freeman missed a practice, watching from the sidelines with his injured thumb wrapped, Joe wasn’t the only one that had alarm bells go off in his head.

Many of Joe’s readers scoffed, suggesting this was a devious ploy to fool the ever-so-sharp Eric Mangini into thinking Josh Johnson may start and that Freeman was, in fact, good-to-go.

Joe dismissed this notion immediately as something a two-bit high school coach wouldn’t lower himself to.

Seems Joe’s inclination was accurate. Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times Twittered today that Freeman in fact had a setback from taking snaps in practice last week.

Bucs QB Josh Freeman did not test his broken thumb until Sunday after taking snaps earlier in the week aggravated the injury with swelling.

Joe knows fans want to believe NFL coaches are a bunch of Jack Bauer wannabes, skilled in the art of espionage, but this type of stuff generally faded away in high schools in the 1970s. Not even the Manginis of the world are fooled by such a low-rent trick.

Speaking at his news conference moments ago, the Bucs’ head coach talked more about how pleased he was with Gerald McCoy and the Bucs’ pass rush.

Asked about the Bucs’ pass rush needing to get more pressure off the edge, Raheem Morris was almost taken back. Like he wanted to say, “MORE PRESSURE?” in his best Jim Mora, Sr. impression.

The head coach praised Quincy Black, Tim Crowder and called out Stylez White for having one of his best games as a Buccaneer.

“White’s production on the day was awesome,” Morris said. “One of his better games since he’s been here. …Those guys forced some bad situations.”

Joe will let former Bucs defensive end Steve White give his assessment of the D-line in his popular, unrivaled Bull Rush column, which should be on these here pages today or tomorrow.

Joe thought Crowder and Stylez created lots of havoc, even if they didn’t rack up sack numbers. While Joe was surprised to see Michael Bennett inactive, the Bucs didn’t miss him.

Every hardcore Bucs fan has heard Raheem Morris deliver his one-liner philosophies.

• Be your best self.
• Be true to your core beliefs.
• Be violent.
• Establishing men is about taking off your underwear and putting your face on people.

So Joe’s wondering who replaced Morris with a sissy when the Bucs had the ball with 39 seconds left, a 4th-and-1 situation on the Browns 5 yard line leading 17-14?

After a timeout, the Bucs came out and showed they have no identity and no confidence in their goal line offense. Josh Freeman dropped back to pass, looked to his right, didn’t like his chances and took a six-yard sack.

Where were the core beliefs? Where was all of Raheem’s desire to be like the Giants, Steelers and all the other violent teams he loves?

The Bucs have a veteran offensive line and veteran running backs. They brought in Keydrick Vincent to move a pile. Heck, they even have a giant of a quarterback who could hammer into the line for a yard. 

Instead of taking their underwear off, Greg Olson and Raheem decided to put a skirt on.

A team better than the Browns could have made them pay dearly.

Yesterday wasn’t just a season-opening game for Bucs tight end Kellen Winslow. It was also a chance to give a little payback to a team he once played for, a team that drafted him and a team Winslow has quite a bit of mixed emotions about.

Winslow wanted the Bucs to win yesterday badly. So much so he carried a Bucs flag in pregame ceremonies and waved it in front of the Browns bench. He had four catches for 32 yards and nearly made a sick catch where he skied over Browns defenders and looked as if he was picking apples, only to lose the ball when he hit the ground.

After the game, Winslow didn’t deny he was fired up to win, as reported by the Associated Press.

“I have nothing against the players,” the seventh-year pro said. “This is our job. So, when you get traded or demoted or anything like that, it’s personal. So, you want to get some revenge and you want to play as well as you can.”

Winslow spent five at times tumultuous seasons with the Browns. He had a pair of 80-catch seasons and made the Pro Bowl once in Cleveland, but couldn’t shake a perception that he was a troublesome presence.

“We didn’t win very much over there. When I got traded, it felt very personal. I’m in a better situation now with a coach like Raheem Morris.”

Joe could even see how Winslow was emotional on the field just by his play. Joe’s not suggesting anything to the contrary here, but Joe would love for someone to hypnotize Winslow into thinking he is playing the Browns each week.

Joe has made no secret about how much he respects and enjoys reading Peter King of Sports Illustrated. Ugly Monday mornings are slightly tolerable thanks to his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback columns.

Not all Bucs fans agree and not even Joe agrees with everything King writes. So Joe understands how Bucs fans erupted at King when the long-time NFL reporter predicted the Bucs would win a grand total of two games this year.

Already, the coffee-slurping King is issuing a mea culpa, largely because of the play of Bucs wide receiver Mike Williams yesterday.

I think I was wrong about a lot of things in my predictions, as usual, and one of those might have been picking Tampa Bay to win two games. I like what I saw out of Mike Williams Sunday. The fourth-round rookie from Syracuse is an athletic, physical receiver who looks to have tremendous confidence in himself.

Joe wrote this yesterday but it bears repeating: Williams circus catch for a touchdown was the best catch by a Bucs receiver since Joe Jurevicius made a volleyball catch against Philadelphia when the Bucs opened the NFL season on Monday Night Football as defending Super Bowl champions.

Meanwhile, here’s a cool video on what makes King’s Monday Morning Quarterback so popular.

Raheem Morris and his defense knew Jake Delhomme too well.

While many national pundits, as well as Browns bossman Mike Holmgren, were trying to talk up Jake Delhomme as the next savior in Cleveland, the Bucs knew that he could be fraudy quarterback.

Despite his 9-2 record against the Bucs entering yesterday’s game, the Bucs just knew him too well and that is what led to the Browns’ downfall, writes former Bucs beat writer and current Sports Illustrated columnist Don Banks.

That was a very ill-advised sidearm interception thrown by Browns quarterback Jake Delhomme in the first half at Tampa Bay, the kind of brain cramp that led to him relocating to Cleveland in the first place during the offseason. The good folks in Carolina have seen that kind of dubious decision-making out of Delhomme before, and Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber read Delhomme like a book, from cover to cover, before returning the pick 65 yards to the Browns’ 3.

The turnover-plagued Delhomme wound up throwing two interceptions in Cleveland’s 17-14 loss at Tampa Bay, a game the Browns once seemed comfortably in command of, at 14-3. Not a good development for Mike Holmgren’s rebuilding program in Cleveland. If the Browns can’t defeat the Bucs, who can they be expected to handle? And if Delhomme keeps throwing two picks a game, my prediction of Seneca Wallace as the team’s starting QB by October has a great shot of coming true.

While BSPN was waxing poetic about Josh Freeman winning the game, Joe sides with Banks. It was the Bucs’ defense that stymied the Brownies after they jumped out to 14-3 lead in the second quarter.

In this BSPN video — the Disney syndicate didn’t provide embed codes, the mooks — Jim Basquil and Cris Carter break down the Bucs win over the Browns yesterday to open the 2010 season.

Seems as though Cris Carter is suddenly smitten with Mark Dominik and Josh Freeman.

Carter explains how Freeman — and not the Bucs’ defense — won the game and lauds the prowess of Dominik without naming names.

Monitor the video and tell Joe if you agree with Carter’s analysis.

In this TBO.com video, Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune discuss the Bucs win over the Browns to begin the 2010 season and, as Bucs players are wont to say, “The race to 10.”

The Bucs are always saying they are building from within, not unlike the mid-1990s Bucs did.  Cummings explains why the defense wasn’t the only thing that reminded him of the mid-1990s Bucs.

The duo also chat about what this win means to the psyche of the young Bucs players.

Joe was stunned and saddened to see Ronde Barber stop running hard about 25 yards into his 64-yard interception return late in the first half, which ended at the Browns’ 3 yard line and set up the Bucs’ first touchdown.

Joe was happy for a brief moment that the game was blacked out. The replay was ugly, showing Barber appearing to quit on the runback, running like a tired D-lineman.

So how was fit Barber unable to run hard on just the fourth play of the Browns’ drive and still in the second quarter? Barber explained to the St. Pete Times.

In his younger days, Barber would have taken the interception to the house. This time, he ran out of gas and collapsed in the driveway.

“I’m just not a young man anymore,” Barber said. “It was a hot day.”

Joe gets that Barber is “not a young man,” but it’s a bit disconcerting that Barber was gassed so quickly, given his adrenaline must have been flying immediately following his 38th career interception and a shot to get in the end zone. 

Time waits for no man.

Is Barber struggling with his conditioning? Is it just a byproduct of light work in the preseason?

Again, Joe’s glad the replay of Barber’s return isn’t in the minds of most Bucs fans.

Joe, like most, would like to see Barber keep producing and remain the lone link to the Bucs’ heyday on the roster for years to come.

Chucky’s old pal Rich Gannon, a noted Bucs basher over the past year on Sirius NFL Radio, served as color analyst on the CBS telecast of today’s Bucs-Browns game, which was blacked out in Tampa Bay area.

Joe got to take in the broadcast and wanted to share a few of Gannon’s comments.

First, Gannon was critical of what he considered missed/incorrect audibles by Josh Freeman in the first half. All stuff he diagrammed on-air and attributed to Freeman’s inexperience and not recognizing the defense.

Gannon also repeatedly cited the Bucs’ lack of overall discipline all over the field, and he was exceptionally hard on Tanard Jackson’s play against the pass, which, as Joe wrote earlier, surely was justified.

Also, Gannon pointed out the Bucs’ defense had an extended walk-through session on Saturday to defend the Browns’ various Wildcat looks.

In all, Joe thought Gannon was pretty tame and fair with the Bucs.

Veteran sports columnist Gary Shelton gives his take on the Bucs win over Cleveland in this St. Petersburg Times video.

The man in the middle for the Bucs, Barrett Ruud, sure didn’t have incredible success against the run, as the Bucs’ alllowed 100+ yards through three quarters and benefited from the Browns mysteriously abandoning its ground game in the fourth quarter.

However, Joe has to give it up for Ruud for making the big play, in Joe’s mind the biggest of the game.

The Browns were moving the ball early in the third quarter, and Ruud’s big stick right up the gut of the stripped Peyton Hillis and stopped the Browns then 68-yard drive. It looked absolutely beautiful on the TV replay. Just a first rate stick.

So many fans have been on Ruud to become a big-play guy. Well, he did it today, plus he had eight total tackles.

Fifteen more games like this one and Ruud is a Pro Bowler squeezing the Bucs for a massive payday.

Great job, Barrett.

For those less-fortunate who didn’t go to the game nor went on the wildly successful Blackout Tour —  you just don’t know the fun you missed! — Joe has a reminder and perhaps a big surprise.

As earlier reported, NFL.com will have a rebroadcast of the Bucs win over Cleveland at midnight. The game will be available to watch at any time for a 72-hour window.

But that may not be all.

Per Joe’s scheduling grid on DirecTV Channel 705, it appears at midnight, and rebroadcast several times throughout the next 24 hours, will be a 30-minute condensed version of the game. This is not listed on DirecTV’s schedule grid on its Web site so Joe isn’t sure this is some programming error on DirecTV or not but just a heads up,  it may be a nice little surprise.

And a reminder, the Blackout Tour Web site is taking reservations for all future home Bucs games at BlackoutTour.com. Reservations are fully refundable in case of a lifted blackout so don’t be left out in the heat cold and get on the bus!

Today was a thorough blast!

Workhorse warrior running Cadillac Williams deserves all the respect in the world, but the Bucs’ running game was atrocious.

Caddy busted two good runs negated by holding penalties before his 20-yard scamper late. He ended with 22 carries for 75 yards, and it’s pretty obviously to Joe that Greg Olson is petrified to hand the ball off the Kareem Huggins, who didn’t get a carry.

Earnest “Insurance” Graham had a couple of important runs, but he looked more like a bad policy from one of those low rent outfits that always send Joe junk mail when his auto insurance is up. Graham’s goal line fumble was hardly offset by his 10 yards on the ground from six carries.

Joe knows the Bucs have to run the ball to take pressure of these young receivers and give Freeman more legitimate play-action opportunities in short yardage situations.

How much can Cadillac shoulder before he starts to slow down. Six games? 10 games?

Yes, the busted tip of Josh Freeman’s thumb was an issue Sunday.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game,Freeman, not one to cast blame, even said the thumb was “something I had to work on” and was a factor in his interception. “[On the interception,] the ball didn’t come out right. It happened a couple of times,” Freeman said. 

Freeman went on to say his thumb did NOT get hit during the game. Joe was most concerned about that, specifically.

No word on whether Freeman’s thumb led him and Greg Olson to channel Chucky and make two yard passes on 3rd-and-long.

Yes, these are highlights. Whenever the Bucs win, there are highlights, as always from the good people of the NFL Network.

First up is one of the best catches you will ever see, courtesy of Bucs rookie wide receiver Mike Williams.

Josh Freeman’s 33-yard run.

Old man Ronde Barber nearly housed Jake Delhomme.

Catch Michael catch. Michael Spurlock’s touchdown.

E.J. Biggers gets an interception in his first start.

A package of game-highlights from the NFL Network crew.

And finally postgame press conferences from Raheem Morris and Freeman.

Brian Price takes aim on Cleveland quarterback Jake Delhomme in the Bucs season-opening win.

What was cool for Joe to watch late in the game was how late in the game the Bucs defensive line swarmed like angry hornets whose nest was just kicked.

They Bucs defensive, specifically the defensive ends, hounded Delhomme, chased Delhomme, hit Delhomme, punished Delhomme.

It was only the third time in 12 meetings the Bucs defeated Delhomme and likely his last now that he plays for an AFC team.

If not for a defensive holding call late, the Bucs may have had a safety. Tim Crowder was held in the end zone as he was chasing Delhomme out of the pocket but the play was nullified.

That’s the way to put a team out of it’s misery: hound and pound the quarterback. Don’t let your opponent off the mat.

The Bucs did just that.

E.J. Biggers' interception was a key turning point in the game.

It’s irresponsible if not idiotic to call a win in Week 1 big but it was certainly significant for these young Bucs.

The offense was struggling early. Lethargic. The Bucs, built to beat the heat, seemed wilted by the conditions, with a heat index on the field of well over 100 degrees. Even Dave Moore  on the Bucs radio network was suggesting the Bucs were on the brink physically in the second quarter.

But as all Bucs fans have become familiar with over the years, the defense turned the game around. First it was Ronde Barber nearly housing Jake Delhomme, returning an interception to the Browns-3.

Later in the game, Cleveland was constantly picking on cornerback E.J. Biggers, playing for the suspended Aqib Talib. Biggers, who missed his rookie year with an injury, played like a veteran, was targeted clearly. The Browns picked on him and picked on him and picked on him before Biggers picked on Cleveland, picking off Delhomme in the fourth quarter.

Seemed as if Cleveland never got over that.

So yeah, the defense did the job. Again. The offense may also have learned how to win.

If nothing else, Josh Freeman and Mike Williams appear to be a pitch-and-catch combo Bucs fans will become used to for years to come.

Bucs coach Raheem Morris was anything but his normal gregarious self as he left the field and spoke on the Bucs radio network. Morris was asked about Mike Williams circus catch to pull the Bucs within 14-10 late in the first half but Morris wasn’t dancing cartwheels.

“We’re making too many mistakes,” Morris said. “We should be up. We have to go in and fix it. Kudos to Mike Williams but we have to play better in the second half.”

Indeed. But Bucs look lethargic. Dave Moore on the Bucs radio network believes it’s fatigue. Josh Freeman looks rusty but even Joe could have predicted that with only throwing eight passes in the preseason.

Sabby Piscitellli is not a strong safety to emulate, yet Tanard Jackson is doing his goatlike best.

What’s happening, T-Jax?

Jackson’s been bad in coverage and has taken horrendous angles in the first half,  including a worse-than-Sabby run from his deep position to miss a Mohamed Massaquoi by three yards over the top for Cleveland’s first touchdown, a 41-yard strike.

On their second TD, the Browns had a simple bounce run called to their left, and Jackson was slow to the edge corner and also had an atrocious angle.

Joe is in great agony. Now Sean Jones opens the second half by failing to wrap up and allowing a big play.

C’mon, Bucs.

So far there is no question who Josh Freeman’s favorite target is: rookie Mike Williams.

Freeman has targeted Williams many times in the first half of the first game of the season and had Freeman been a bit more accurate and not rushed some of his throws (because he was about to be beheaded) who knows what the halftime score would be?

But the Bucs got on the board thanks to a circus catch by Williams late in the second quarter. Near the back of the end zone a pass to Williams was tipped. Williams circled inside, kept a bead on the ball, leapt up and caught the ball in the back of the end zone, somehow getting his feet inbounds.

In Joe’s eyes, it was the best catch by a Bucs receiver since Joe Jurevicius volleyballed a pass in the corner of the end zone in the Bucs season opener as defending Super Bowl champs.

Mike Williams, you are already a star.