It seems all but one person who watched the Bucs lose to the Dolphins Saturday night came away outraged at the play (or lack thereof) of Kardashian-chasing Bucs running back Derrick Ward. In this St. Petersburg Times video, comrades The Mad Twitterer and good guy Stephen Holder debate Ward’s predicament. Holder believes people may be overreacting to Ward’s subpar play Saturday.

The Mad Twitterer, aka St. Pete Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud, has caught slumping Derrick Ward issuing a decree of forthcoming greatness.

Strangely, this decree is not of the Bucs winning games or moving the chains effectively as an offense. It’s a proclamation that he, Mr. Ward, will have a great game against the Chiefs on Saturday in the preseason home opener. This comes on heels of his horrible outing in Miami.

“I don’t feel it will hurt me,” Ward said. “I’ve been in this league for awhile and I know what it takes to win. I know what it takes to get back on track. That was just a fluke game. But I guarantee you this weekend, I’ll have a great game.

Huh? Joe can’t remember ever hearing a second-string running back talk about how much he’d kick ass in a meaningless game.

Wait a minute, Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas, of BSPN.com, seemed convinced Ward already played pretty well in Miami, despite 12 carries for 20 yards and two fumbles. Those BSPN guys are so lost. Even Ward knows he was awful.

Joe understands Ward wants to make up for his ugliness, but Joe’s not sure of what to make of all this big talk.

As is always the case, the most popular guy on any football field is the backup quarterback. So Joe understands why Bucs fans have so much love and affection for “career backup” Josh Johnson.

But it seems movers and shakers at One Buc Place may reevaluate their quarterback rotation, perhaps picking up a more veteran backup than 24-year old Johnson, he of the four career NFL starts and 126 passes attempted.

Woody Cummings, of the Tampa Tribune, noted earlier this afternoon, via the TBO Bucs Twitter feed, that Johnson’s poor outing may require the Bucs to make a move for another backup quarterback before the Cleveland opener.

One player who needs to pick his game up is QB Josh Johnson. He’s forcing the Bucs to rethink their plan to keep just two quarterbacks.

Well, certainly Rudy Carpenter is not the answer as the Bucs second-string quarterback. Put that thought to rest right now.

If the Bucs do move to get another second string quarterback, Johnson would have to switch official positions from quarterback to wide receiver or running back if the Bucs are to dabble with a Wildcat offense, which has been discussed.

It’s not like there’s much roster room available at wide receiver or running back as it is.

If feels like piling on a beaten man, but Joe can’t just skip it.

The first pass that came to blocking icon Michael Clayton was dropped on Saturday night in Miami.

Fourth on the depth chart entering the game, Clayton didn’t get it done. It appared the pass from Josh Johnson hit him in the hands.

The Bucs can’t possibly hold any hope of trading Clayton. And he’s got no place on the Bucs barring a catastrophic rash of injuries.

For Clayton fans, Joe suggests you shout him your well wishes and tearful goodbyes on Saturday at the preseason home opener.

Joe wonders whether Clayton will ever play another regular season down in the NFL?

It’s becoming clear that offensive coordinators don’t wield much power under Raheem The Dream and Mark Dominik.

Late last preseason, Jeff Jagodzinski tensely told Joe and a gaggle of reporters, “it’s not my decision,” when asked who his starting quarterback would be.

On Saturday night, WFLA-TV color analyst John Lynch said during the Dolphins-Bucs game that Greg Olson really wanted Josh Freeman to be the Bucs starting quarterback much sooner in 2009. “He wanted the young man in there,” Lynch said. “It wasn’t his decision.”

This is especially intriguing considering Lynch was on the record last year saying he would have made Freeman the starter from Day 1. Of course, the Bucs made Freeman the No. 4 starter from Day 1, costing him valuable reps in training camp.

Joe wonders how much freedom Olson will have this season, in comparison to his peers around the NFL.

Does he get phone calls from Dominik, too?

Joe knows you want to sport a new Mike Williams jersey around town or even have your lady wear a Gerald McCoy thong at the beach. Or perhaps you want to remember Gaines Adams and get his jersey for less than $20.

You can click on this fancy BucGear.com picture below to shop and buy. Tis the season.

As regular readers of Joe know, Joe thinks the world of Pat Kirwan. The CBSSports.com and Sirius NFL Radio analyst is usually dead-on in his observations.

Joe has liberally (and still has to clean out his notes) brought readers juicy nuggets from Kirwan’s recent day at One Buc Palace where he had full reign of the place and queried Bucs players and coaches in depth.

As a result, Kirwan typed a preview for the Bucs on NFL.com. In short, Kirwan likes the Bucs and believes they will be good. Just not in 2010.

Raheem Morris can motivate his young team, but until the real games start, it will be impossible to determine if this talented group can win games this year. A few years from now they could be a force in the NFC South with Josh Freeman, their 6-foot-6, 260-pound signal-caller. For now, however, they are a fearless group ready for an uphill climb towards respectability.

The Bucs have four of their first six games at home and a few of those games are winnable. A fast start would help their confidence, and allow them to build on last season’s 2-1 finish.

There are plenty of other morsels in Kirwan’s piece linked above that Joe strongly recommends readers to devour. But to finish, Kirwan believes it is “unrealistic” to expect the Bucs to finish .500 or better this season.

In 2008, Joe gave Pat Yasinskas, NFC South beat writer for BSPN.com, the nickname “Vacation Man.”

There was a simple reason: Yasinskas was a scheduled guest on The Fabulous Sports Babe Show to talk all things Bucs a couple of days after the Bucs-Cowboys game that season. And Yasinskas proceeded to get on the air and say he didn’t watch the game.

Joe was stunned, and Joe was even more stunned that he agreed to be interviewed as a Bucs expert after missing a game.

Today, Joe has reached a new level of amazement with Vacation Man. In his assessment of Saturday night’s Bucs-Dolphins preseason game, Vacation Man wrote that Derrick Ward looked pretty good after 12 carries for 20 yards and two fumbles.

Speaking of Ward, who’s fighting to earn more carries, he looked good at times. He even was having a nice run on a third-down draw play, until he fumbled. Turning the ball over probably will wipe out the rest of the good stuff he did Saturday. The Bucs aren’t going to be a team with a big margin for error, so they’re not going to give a lot of carries to a guy who puts the ball on the ground.

Nice job, Vacation Man. Apparently this is yet another game you didn’t watch before you offered your expert opinion. Even a novice Bucs observer could see that Ward was horrendous and visibly frustrated and down on himself on the field. 

Vacation Man should be ashamed.

It gets worse.

Today, lending his expert opinion again, Vacation Man writes a story about Michael Clayton being on the bubble to make the Bucs’ roster. And Vacation Man goes on to tell us how Clayton can contribute on special teams and is a Maurice Stovall clone.  Huh?

Draft picks Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn are going to make the roster. So is Sammie Stroughter. Reggie Brown is a guy the Bucs traded for, and he’s got a roster spot as well. After that, there’s Maurice Stovall and a bunch of young guys.

That’s where it gets down to numbers. Stovall and Clayton are basically the same guy, and either one can help you on special teams. The Buccaneers likely will keep five or six receivers, and that begs one question: Do you keep Clayton as a No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 receiver?

Since when is Clayton the same special teams player as Stovall, or any kind of special teams player?

All this latest Vacation Man genius comes on the heels of him and his Communist comrades at BSPN deleting part of his column last week that revealed Doug Williams to be very bitter at the Bucs organization.

Vacation Man is losing it. … Joe recommends a long vacation.

Joe's good friend Justin Pawlowski is not overly enamoured with the Bucs' rushing attack.

While a lot of Bucs fans are jumping up and down with excitement over running back Kareem Huggins more than Joe would be if a scantily-clad Rachel Watson walked into his bedroom unannounced, Joe is of a different opinion.

If Kareem Huggins is the star of the Bucs running backs that doesn’t say much for the running backs (no offense to good guy Huggins whatsoever), which Joe has been harping on all offseason. Sorry, the numbers don’t lie.

Seems as though Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski agrees. The “Commissioner” for all things football on WDAE-AM 620, who also hosts “The Blitz” on Saturday afternoons, wrote in his breakdown of the Bucs’ loss to Miami Saturday that he too is underwhelmed with the Bucs rushing attack.

The Running-back position will need to be addressed next off-season. Although the story of Carnell Williams’ comeback is remarkable, he is only the best of a very average group of running-backs on the Bucs roster. Derrick Ward was a monumental disappointment as he was all last season. I’m also going to temper my enthusiasm on Kareem Huggins until we see him running with the starters. At that point, we’ll have a much better understanding as to whether Huggins is a true contributor or just a nice story.

A lot of fans believe the Bucs rushing attack stunk last year because of bad offensive line play. Joe finds it very difficult to believe that Jeremy Trueblood, Davin Joseph, Jeff Faine and Donald Penn all forgot how to run block at the same time.

If any of those four offensive linemen were cut this morning, they’d be on another NFL roster before midnight.

Joe recognizes this isn’t really a Bucs post. However, it is interesting and it does give Joe a chance to post a picture of one of his favorite women of all time to start the week. That would be the lovely Carmella Garcia.

As readers here know, Joe scours the globe for all things Buccaneers. Back in 2008, Joe joined the media throng at the C.I.T.S. to write a feature story on Jeff Garcia for his hometown newspaper, the Gilroy Dispatch. At the time, the lively Bobby Garcia, Jeff’s football coach dad, was churning out a weekly blog in which he routinely revealed inner Bucs secrets and occasionally blasted Chucky.

This was truly great stuff, and Joe got a lot of mileage and attention out of delivering Bobby Garcia’s words from the tiny daily newspaper in California’s garlic farm country.

Joe went back to the Gilroy Dispatch this weekend to see if there was any news of Garcia joining the Omaha franchise of the UFL, where Jeff Jagodzinski is the new head coach.

What Joe found was a story about Garcia jumping into the UFL starting on Thursday, plus good ol’ Bobby Garcia spilling some news about the the Vikings interested in Garcia possibly taking over for Brett Favre. (Quite ironic considering Chucky fantasized of Favre taking over for Garcia in 2008.) And the elder Garcia said the Saints were calling his son, too.

Garcia played in one game for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009, and has been adamant about continuing his career. Rumors circulated that Garcia might return to the Eagles to back up first-year starter Kevin Kolb and his father, Bobby, a longtime football coach in Gilroy, confirmed that the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints had expressed interest.

But Garcia decided to take the snap in hand, rather than wait for an NFL option.

“Minnesota had called him and said ‘if (Brett) Favre doesn’t play are you ready to go?,'” Bobby Garcia said. “But, you know what? Favre is going to play.

“I said, ‘(the Nighthawks) really want you and are willing to make you one of the marquee players in the league.'”

Bobby Garcia, who said that the Nighthawks have already sold more season tickets than the entire league did last season, added that Jeff will report to camp next Thursday.

When Joe first heard of Garcia heading to the UFL, Joe figured Garcia must have had some serious sniffs from NFL teams and wanted to train and be seen versus waiting by the phone.

Joe can’t fathom any other reason why a guy who’s made $30+ million in his career would head to Omaha when he could be hot-tubbing it with Carmella in California.

Garcia and Carmella are never returning to Tampa, but if the Bucs had to win a game or two with Josh Freeman down, Joe still thinks Garcia’s probably a better option in that situation that Josh Johnson.

Former Bucs DE Steve White

By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Buccaneers defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) is a devoted student of the game. He’s even authored a coaching guide and coached defensive linemen at the University of South Florida. And after all those years breaking down film with former defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and the other architects and legends of the Bucs’ defense, White shares his knowledge with JoeBucsFan.com readers in his must-read Bull Rush column. 

Today, White goes very deep into analyzing all things defensive line out of last night’s Bucs preseason opener.

Joe advises you to grab a cold beverage, tell the old lady to leave you alone, and enjoy. This is great stuff.

FINALLY WE HAVE FOOTBALL AGAIN!!!

I’ll admit that I was more than a little anxious to see the Bucs-Dolphins game yesterday. After all the speculation and prognostication, we finally got to see the guys in action.

I’ll start off with some general comments on what I saw and then go player by player with a brief synopsis. Let me know if you like this format or not in the comments.

First, it’s worth acknowledging that the field conditions sucked yesterday. I know Coach Morris has said he won’t let that be an excuse, and that’s cool because a head coach isn’t supposed to allow any excuses. However, I’ve played on that infield and it’s always an adventure. The plain and simple truth is that it’s hard to play football in the trenches when you are slipping and sliding in the sand and mud.

Having said that, our guys seemed to handle the conditions well for the most part. A couple of times guys got put on skates (*cough* Ryan Sims *cough*) in a double team, but aside from falling down there really isn’t much you can do about that.

One thing I was impressed with was how we ran to the ball all night long. I didn’t see very many loafs from any of the guys who touched the field, and several times guys got assisted tackles down the field.

Our pass rush was close to non-existent with a few exceptions.The field conditions had something to do with that, as did the fact that the Dolphins were keeping six and seven in to max-protect at times.

Still, I would have wanted to see more actual pass rush moves made by the group as a whole. Also, one group tried a double TEX pass rush game and the timing was just AWFUL. The defensive ends are STILL not setting up the tackles and the defensive tackles aren’t penetrating. I swear it’s not rocket science. I know it was the backups, but honestly it looked exactly like how our starters ran it most of last year.

I also noticed that we got back to running some line stunts last night. Unfortunately, they weren’t run correctly several times, either.

What is supposed to happen on a line stunt is two guys go inside to penetrate then, once the nose tackle recognizes it’s a pass, he is supposed to cover those two guys who went inside by looping around outside for contain. I don’t think the “looper” did so all night.

It didn’t hurt us against the Dolphins because their quarterbacks aren’t especially mobile, but these days that’s the exception rather than the rule. We have to fix that or we risk letting quarterbacks escape the pocket and making plays with their legs, and/or making big plays in the passing game after buying time and allowing their receivers to get open.

One thing that was really impressive to me is that our offense turned the ball over three times in the first half. and yet the defense didn’t give up a score of any kind on those occasions. That’s big time when you think about it, and the defensive line definitely was a factor in that.

Stylez G. White: Stylez played well and ran to the ball well picking up a couple of assists down the field. I thought he should have tried a few inside pass rush moves as his offensive tackle was setting him for his outside rush. I also thought a few times he drifted up field a little rather than threatening the corner right away on pass rush. He played really well with his hands versus the run.

Kyle Moore: Kyle made several plays in the running game, had a nice hit on the quarterback off a bootleg and he also got his hands on a pass that was almost intercepted by Adam Heyward. Overall, it was a pretty good outing to start the season. Moore needs to work on his get-off, though. Sometimes he comes off the ball as if he is guessing the play instead of just getting off and adjusting as he goes. That would aid every facet of his game.

The Bucs decided to have a special 3rd down pass rush group again, and they moved Moore inside paired up with rookie first rounder Gerald McCoy. I’ve already stated plenty of times why I don’t like that set up and why so I won’t bore you with that again.

I will say this, however, I didn’t see Moore get any pressure from that alignment. Most of the time he was stuck in a “K Lang.” If you don’t remember, a “K Lang” is when a guy gets locked up with an offensive lineman on a pass rush and ends up stuck right in front of him for the most part without getting any penetration or putting any pressure on the quarterback.

If Moore was 6-foot-8 and was going to knock down a lot of passes, I guess that would be ok. But since he’s not, he’ll need to get better at rushing the guards for the Bucs to ever hope to justify kicking him inside on 3rd downs instead of just letting him rush from his position at left defensive end.

Another thing I noticed was that a couple off times when they went to this alignment there was no A-gap rusher. Both Moore and McCoy ended up rushing in the B-gaps leaving both A-gaps open. Again, this wasn’t that big of a deal because the Dolphins quarterbacks were pocket passers. But if that isn’t fixed, it will come back to bite them big time.

Gerald McCoy: McCoy did some really good things and some not so good things, typical for a rookie. I thought he really did well splitting a few double teams. He did, however, miss the tackle after he split the double at least once. He also was particularly active in running to the ball. He didn’t end up with any stats to speak of but he was hauling ass trying to get there.

One thing he has to work on is a slip-block where the guard posts his inside shoulder then continues up to the linebacker, and the offensive tackle to that side slips inside and cuts him off from his B-gap. McCoy allowed the tackle to cut him off several times last night but luckily the ball didn’t end up cutting back into his gap.

But trust me on this one, it will. Especially when teams see that he can be cut off on film. I don’t know if he needs to line up a little heavier (closer) on the guard or what, but the more he shows he can’t maintain his gap on that blocking scheme, the more he’s assured of seeing it.

On his pass rush the one thing I would tell him is to keep his hands closer together and not reach so much.

Coming up playing defensive line in little league on up through college you get taught to reach for the offensive lineman’s shoulder pad to make a move. The problem is most of the offensive linemen in the NFL are really good and those moves no longer work.

Worse still is when you reach like that you give them your chest to punch. What you really want to do is be able to knock their hands down right in front of your chest since you know that’s where they are trying to put them anyway, and continue on your rush. After you’ve done that a few times they start holding their punch back and THEN you can try swatting the shoulder.

But if you never knock their hands down they will just continue to punch you in that bullseye you are putting on your chest.

In fairness, McCoy saw the center slide his way most of the night on pass rush anyway. Which brings me to another thing about that third-down personnel. It appears that McCoy is going to just stay on the right side regardless of the formation/pass protection. That means if he does become the ferocious pass rusher we all want to see him develop into, it’s going to be very easy for opposing teams to simply slide the center his way most of the time.

If we have another guy whose we’re expecting to be as good rushing inside like maybe Brian Price, then that’s all good because that just means he will tear them up when they single-block him. But if not, if Moore is destined to rush inside on third-and-longs, then they need to have McCoy moving to the side away from the center slide in the cases where they can identify it.

Just my opinion.

Roy Miller: Roy played well in limited action. He looks like he has really improved at splitting double teams and staying low not giving up ground. He had a really nice play on Rickey Williams where he split the double and then made the tackle. That’s not something you saw a lot of last year out of any of our defensive tackles. He also had a nice assist running down the field after a quick pass.

He has to be careful, though, because I saw one play where he crossed the center on a pass rush. It wasn’t a pass rush game, either, and you don’t want to have both the A-gap and B-gap open on one side ever.

I know the tendency is to go the route of least resistance but sometimes you simply have to work your own gap even if it seems fruitless, so the rush lanes are even and the quarterback can’t step up or take off running when someone else gets close to them.

We also ran some zone blitz with Roy in the game where he has to cross the center’s face. This can be a perfect opportunity for him to get pressure from the nose tackle position. But he needs to be more sudden in his movements, and he needs to gain more ground with his inside step.

It would also help to throw his hip into the opposite gap, making it harder for the center to catch up to him and block him after he has already stepped to his initial alignment. We should be getting more out of Miller in that situation in my opinion and putting more stress on the offensive line to block the blitz.

Not sure if he has watched any old film, but he should try to find some with Brad Culpepper on it because he was great at crossing the center’s face and still getting pressure.

Michael Bennett: Bennett had the best game of any defensive lineman last night, and it wasn’t really close in my opinion. He has the best get-off of anybody on the team, and he is consistent with it.

He had a really nice sack off an inside move from the left side and almost had another hunting down the quarterback on a bootleg. I have been saying that I thought Crowder should be on the left side backing up Moore to give him a run for his money, but it turns out Bennett isn’t messing around, either.

I thought he flashed last year with his speed and athleticism, but I also thought he was more suited to the right side. I still believe that, but he showed last night that he is no slouch on the left side either.

He was also good on the run using his hands well against the Dolphins’ tight ends and moving well on a few line stunts and getting penetration making the running backs go laterally rather than downhill. Bennett almost made a helluva tackle for a loss also but just missed the tackle in the backfield.

One thing he should work on is ripping off blocks so that he doesn’t have to try to attempt so many arm tackles, especially when its a tight end blocking him.

The one thing I didn’t see coming was how well he rushed inside as a defensive tackle with the second 3rd-and-long group. He got some good pressure a couple of times and one time he beat two guys in very impressive fashion. Because I have actually seen him make moves and be successful (even though it wasn’t against the starters) I wouldn’t mind seeing him given an opportunity to rush on third downs if he isn’t starting.

That way Moore gets to stay outside at left end and get better pass rushing at the spot where he will be playing more than he will playing the overwhelming majority of his reps.

Just a thought.

He, like most of the other guys, needs to work on getting off the ball though. His technique is very sound and he is a very smart player, but he is slow off the ball and that gives the offensive lineman a fraction of a second of an advantage.

I think sometimes players get so conditioned not to jump offsides that they end up being afraid to jump the count, but you can’t let that happen. You want to be disciplined and you don’t want stupid penalties, but as soon as the ball moves you have to be coming out of your stance.

I think maybe Crowder and the others would also benefit from turning their heads in and looking at the ball. Many time nowadays guys are taught to see the ball out of the corner of their eye, but that’s kinda hard to do with a helmet on. We used to turn in and look at the ball and then change our focus once we got off. Not sure if that would help but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Ryan Sims: I referenced Sims getting put on skates in the infield but he played decent for the most part. He still has to work on staying lower and getting off the ball, but other than that one time he was pretty stout in run defense. And he was good on the line stunts.

The one thing that still drives me crazy about the guy, though, is that he doesn’t punish people with his power on pass rush. You can see him at times pushing guys back to the quarterback but he doesn’t seem to want to use a bull rush all the time.

If it were me I would tell him to use power until they could stop it, providing that when they sat down he ripped off to make the play. He is wayyyy too big to be messing around with finesse stuff, but you still see him doing swim moves instead of punching guards dead in their chests.

I still think there is a place for Sims on our roster but he is going to have to start making more plays as the preseason goes on, in my opinion.

Dre Moore: Dre had an up and down game. He was pretty good against the run but he also was one of the players who kept forgetting to loop around for contain on the run stunts versus pass. He got a really nice tackle when he crossed the face of the center on a base block. He also had a tipped pass. But then he also was too high on a goal line play and got punched back into the endzone. And he was also stuck in some “K Langs” in pass rush.

One thing is for sure though, he looks much better than he did last year. You can see that he has the ability to play but he has to sharpen up his skills and he has to concentrate on using his technique more than just reverting back to just going off athletic ability at times.

James Ruffin: Ruffin was in with the second 3rd-down group, and he looked ok rushing at right end. He didn’t get any hits on the quarterback, but he was coming around the horn pretty good and you could see him working moves. He did miss a tackle, however, and he got caught peeking inside on a reverse as well. Maybe most importantly, he looked like he knew what he was doing every play while he was in.

He was, however, one of the guys who ran the terrible double TEX game. If anybody reading this sees him, scream at him to get his tail up the field and really sell the game before he loops inside instead of being greedy and going early.

Carlton Powell: I had to vote on which guy was most dreading watching film today I would have to go with Powell. He had a rough one last night. He got pancaked twice and even when he managed to remain upright he got pushed around quite a bit. He also tried to do a spin move one time and ended up doing a pirouette right in place instead. And he was also a guy who didn’t loop for contain on a line stunt. I don’t say any of these things to make fun of him but just to tell the truth. And the truth is if he doesn’t get better, and I mean MUCH better, in a hurry well….you know the rest.

Eric Lorig: Lorig had an ok game. He showed a lot of hustle on one play when he ran down the running back across the formation on a run to the right from his left end spot. He also had a nice tackle when he folded inside after taking a zone drop in pass coverage off a zone blitz.
 
On the downside, the ball went through his gap on the TD. He just played to heavy into the offensive tackle and couldn’t get off the make the play. Oh, and he was also the left end running that terrible double TEX game. (See also Ruffin.)
 
I also noticed that he had a tackle on punt team, which can’t hurt for a defensive end. All in all a decent start for the rookie.

Brandon Gilbeaux: Didn’t get to see a lot of this guy but I did want to at least acknowledge his magnificent JOP (jump on pile) not long after he checked into the game. I know how it is when you wa\nt to get your name on the stat sheet by any means necessary. lol

That’s all for this week. Let me know what you think. And if you have a question, fire away in the comments.

Last year, there was hope the Bucs could cobble together a winning team, albeit feint.

The team, in its first season post-Chucky, was adamant it was not in a rebuilding mode. Just retooling.

This season, there’s no talk of a winning season. The team is not running from the term “rebuilding,” what with four rookies expected to be starters, maybe more.

Veteran St. Petersburg Times columnist Gary Shelton notices a difference, too. It’s not in the number of wins expected or how the team views this season. Rather, it’s the difference in quarterback Josh Freeman.

Being the starter from Day 1 for the first time, now in his second season, Shelton noted Freeman appeared “five years” wiser than last year and even Freemen noticed a difference.

“I feel completely different,” Freeman said. “Last year in my first game, I was thinking, ‘Wow, I’m playing against the Tennessee Titans.’ This year, it was, ‘All right, the first-team offense has some things we want to accomplish.’ ”

For two series, for a dozen snaps, Freeman played as well as you would have hoped. On a sloppy night and a swampy field with “a layer of mud between the ball and my hand,” Freeman was the smoothest thing in the stadium. If nothing else, there were clues that he has come a long way toward answering his biggest questions.

Accuracy? Did you see Freeman’s soft-touch pass down the right sideline for 30 yards to rookie Mike Williams? It was a nice throw, as fluid as a man tossing a wad of paper into a wastebasket. It was a throw you would not have expected from Freeman a year ago when he was busy throwing 18 interceptions in nine starts as a rookie.

As Shelton noted, it’s too small a sample size and far too early to get all giddy about playoff tickets. But it was certainly reassuring to Joe to see the first team offense appear polished in the muck of a rain-drenched baseball infield.

Though the Bucs lost in the preseason opener, there were some good things to come out of it. Feel free to choose which player made the biggest impression.

Joe loves the mental aspects of football.

If players don’t know precisely what to do, they typically get exposed, embarrassed and chewed out.

This was the case when seventh-round pick DE Erik Lorig fielded a short squib kickoff last night at the close of the first half and proceeded to run with the wet ball.

The play there for a plodding lineman with seven seconds left was to take a knee — primarily to avoid a turnover, but in a real game to possbily give the offense a play or two to set up a field goal.

Lorig screwed up and ate up four seconds. Special teams coach Rich Bisaccia was near midfield after the whistle to get in Lorig’s face.

Lorig, a Stanford superbrain who’s supposed to be special teams stud in the making, should have known better.

Just judging by the comments on Joe in the hours after the Bucs lost to Miami to begin the 2010 preseason, a lot of fans are down on Kardashian-chasing running back Derrick Ward.

Ward has done little since being signed as a free agent from the Giants. He’s gotten his name in the paper for hanging with a celebrity (?) more so than he has running the rock.

This doesn’t seem to be lost on Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune who posted the following little nugget on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.

Bucs RB Kareem Huggins needs to thank Derrick Ward for this golden opportunity to become a No.2 running back.

This illustrates the point Joe has been making all offseason. The Bucs running backs as a whole are below average.

If Kareem Huggins, a good, good guy and hard worker but also a running back that each NFL team passed on for their active roster last year, can make the leap to the No. 2 tailback, that obviously shows Huggins’ work ethic but it also reinforces that the Bucs’ running backs are subpar.

After last night’s Bucs loss in Miami, Joe gave Derrick Ward a grade of F- and detailed his horrid, angry night of crappy production and moaning to teammates.

Tom Balog, of the Sarasota Herald Tribune, in his ugly review of Ward’s effort, says Ward didn’t talk to the media.

No surprise there.

  And that’s an ominous thought in the National Football League, where as everyone knows, if you can’t run the ball, you can’t win.

 And nobody with the Buccaneers wants to find out what that could mean.

Because if it’s going to be another long year for Ward, the Buccaneers are going to be down to one effective back, with no one to pull them out of the bottom of the league’s rushing statistics.

In his postgame news conference, Raheem The Dream said there are no excuses for anyone on the field Saturday — not rain, mud or Fabiola nearby.

Raheem The Dream noted that Kareem Huggins had success running behind the same second-team offensive line as Ward.

Why “lowlights?” Well, in Joe’s eyes, if the Bucs lose, it’s lowlights, not highlights.

At any rate, videos courtesy of the good people at the NFL Network.

First up are Josh Freeman’s passes to Mike Williams and his touchdown pass to Sammie Stroughter.

Next is E.J. Biggers’s fumble recovery.

Kareem Huggins checks in with a 35-yard run.

Lastly, Cody Grimm makes some plays on special teams.

Joe had to laugh when John Lynch opened the game broadcast on WFLA-TV tonight saying Josh Freeman will be “an elite quarterback in this league for the next 15 years.”

Lynch just can’t say enough good things about the Bucs. Outside of saying there was too much sloppy tackling by the first unit (see Barrett Ruud and Quincy Black), Mr. Lynch is just high on all things Bucs.

Joe can’t imagine Lynch is angling for a job with the Bucs. Is he just that much in love with his old team?

Now soon after calling Freeman a Hall of Famer-in-waiting, Lynch qualified his comments by saying that Freeman hadn’t accomplished anything yet. Uhhh, thanks. 

Of course, Freeman went out and went 4-for-4, so maybe Lynch is on to something?

The reason why so many Bucs fans think of Sabby the Goat with the same reverence as they do crude oil washing up on Florida’s surgary white beaches is Sabby the Goat’s penchant for making dumbass plays.

If it’s not taking horrid angles at ball carriers or his numerous missed tackles, it’s just his knot-headed play that sends Bucs fans into orbit.

Oh, this was to be a new year, this 2010 season. Sabby the Goat was being pushed by Sean Jones. Sabby the Goat was no longer playing in the heinous Jim Bates Experiment. Sabby the Goat had a year of experience as a starter.

Yet late in the second quarter was proof positive that while the year on the calendar has changed, it’s the same old s(p)it from Sabby the Goat.

Miami had the ball with a second-and-10 on the Bucs-40 trailing 7-0 with 45 seconds left in the first half. Ronnie Brown was stopped for a two-yard gain, which would have meant a third down and eight yards to go well out of field goal range.

But no! Sabby the Goat decides to drill Brown well after the play was over.

Personal foul, Tampa Bay. First down Miami. Friggin’ moron!

Three plays later, Miami kicks a field goal with seconds left in the half to trim the Bucs lead to 7-3.

What did the Bucs lose by? Try 10-7, one stinking field goal.

Color Bucs TV analyst John Lynch was unimpressed with Sabby the Goat’s play. Asked by Chris Myers whether Sean Jones would beat out Sabby the Goat to start at strong safety, Lynch answered, “I would think so.”

Simply put, this kind of nonsense cannot be tolerated. Raheem the Dream was not a happy camper when interviewed on the Bucs radio network after the game about all the penalities, specifically the mental penalties.

Raheem the Dream didn’t mention Sabby the Goat. He didn’t need to.

Yes, this was only a preseason game, but it’s easy to see how Sabby the Goat’s stunts cost the Bucs wins. It’s time for Sabby the Goat to either get his head out of his ass or get his ass out of town.

No doubt this was Joe’s second favorite play of the Fins-Bucs game.

Cornerback E.J. Biggers was one-on-one with Miami’s superstar wideout Brandon Marshall. The pass was on target, and Biggers was in perfect position to hit Marshall and use his hands to strip him clean.

Joe could just hear the wind sucked out of the Sun Life stadium crowd, which expects Marshall to bring them a Super Bowl. Keep dreaming, fellas.

Biggers had a very strong night and got plenty of reps with the absence of Aqib Talib and the injured Myron Lewis, and Ronde Barber seeing little action.

With a good tackle in the backfield and a fumble recovery, Biggers probably all but locked up the starting nickel cornerback job.

At this point, there’s no reason to think he’ll be challenged.

Bucs coach Raheem The Dream was caught after the game on the Buccaneers Radio Network and gave his feedback on the loss to the Dolphins to begin the preseason.

“There were some positives; we want to remain the same. We want to run the football. Kareem Huggins picked up where Cadillac left off. He’s physical and he played hard,” Raheem The Dream said.

“We have to learn to play smart. Too many penalties. We can’t use mud as an excuse. They will try to [use the mud] as an excuse but I won’t let them.

“The mud didn’t seem like an advantage but [Josh] Freeman scrambled out of the mud and threw a pass to Sammie [Stroughter] for a touchdown. [Miami] played on the same field. We definitely played well at the beginning. The offense played well at the beginning and the second units lost focus.

“I was happy to see them play physical and with some heart.

“Freeman was a positive all night. He was able to step out of situations and make plays, made good decisions. That is what you have to do to play quarterback in this league.

“[Michael] Spurlock has been [catching balls] all offseason and in the OTAs and in training camp. I’m glad to see him do that under the lights. We just have to play smarter and if we do, we will win some football games.”

On Kareem Huggins: “Kareem has been doing that since he has been here. He now has an opportunity and a chance. I have known him for some time and he loves this game. And when you give him the opportunity, he will give it his best.”

Mr. Blocked Kick, Corey Lynch, took time out from sweating to speak on the Buccaneers Radio Network following the preseason-opening loss to the Dolphins Saturday night.

On the blocked punt: “I got free and stretched out. I couldn’t get up too easy in that mud. I think we will be a solid unit. We’re learning our roles. I was just able to beat my guy, feel [the play] out and if it’s there, take it.

“A knack for blocks? Oh, I dunno. If it takes making interceptions, making tackles, blocking kicks, I will do it.

“I almost feel like a new guy since we installed this defense late [last] year. I am just starting to mentally grasp this defense.”