Yes, this is a sad Christmas Eve tradition for Joe and it is a sad Christmas Eve to begin with as the Bucs are on the verge of another coaching change.

The following is an example to demonstrate how the snooping of the federal government upon innocents can get out of hand without proper checks and balances.

On his rounds from the North Pole this evening, Santa Claus was detained by TSA agents — tipped off by the IRS thugs — who have decided to call in the notorious Jack Bauer to interrogate Santa in the bowels of CTU.

(This, boys and girls, is why you cough up the $85 so you can utilize TSA Pre.)

Today a former Buccaneer made a case for Peyton Barber as the Buccaneers’ offensive MVP for the season.

Yes, he was of sound mind and body and acknowledged that Mike Evans has put up big numbers. [read more]

With one game to play across the National Football League, it appears seven teams will rush for 2,000 or more yards this season.

Five have locked up playoff berths. One won’t make it, and one will be in with a win. [read more]

BY IRA KAUFMAN

When the Bucs trudge off the field Sunday afternoon, some players will know they’ll be back in 2019. Some will know they won’t be returning.

And a big chunk won’t be sure, either way.

Another brutal season is lurching toward its conclusion as Tampa Bay tries to avoid a second consecutive 5-11 finish. The players want to win Sunday, the coaches want to beat the Falcons, but there are understandably mixed feelings among Buc fans — perhaps even among the ownership group. [read more]

Cameron Brate hasn’t had one game this season with more than 36 yards receiving.

That’s not why Team Glazer and Jason Licht opened the vault to pay him back in March.

[read more]

“Mr. Glazer, media should ignored except when consuming room temperature ziti on the third Tuesday of the month.”

The headline says it all here. [read more]

Joe was among the first guys doing cartwheels on St. Pete Beach and buying women cocktails in South Tampa when the Bucs announced they were re-signing Brent Grimes for 2018.

Joe was even happy to pay Grimes No. 1-cornerback money. [read more]

Yesterday morning, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network suggested because there are no sexy coaching candidates out on the market, it may be premature to start shoveling dirt in the face of embattled Bucs coach Dirk Koetter.

Not all of his colleagues are on board. [read more]

Joe’s going to try to keep this short today. It’s Christmas Eve and you shouldn’t be taunted by this endless Halloween nightmare. [read more]

Dirk Koetter appears to be doing a wonderful job dealing with a steady flow of Buccaneers losing. For Koetter, that’s an 11-23 run since his five-game winning streak in 2016. [read more]

Dumb mistakes discussed.

Writing this post, Joe just realized he failed to watch late Sunday night notorious Dallas TV sports anchor Dale Hansen. Joe can only imagine what he would say about the Bucs and their foot-shooting ways. [read more]

The Sage is hitting hard

BY IRA KAUFMAN

“On the road again. I just can’t wait to get on the road again.”

Not these guys.

The Bucs kept it close away from home for the second consecutive week, but let’s be honest — did you ever at any point in this game think the Bucs were going to shock the Cowboys?

Didn’t think so. [read more]

Gerald McCoy dropped one tackle on the stat sheet today in Dallas, but he won the heart of his head coach. [read more]

Telling time.

Midway through the fourth quarter the Bucs had a shot at pulling within one score with the Cowboys leading 27-13. [read more]

Cash register ringing.

If Adam Humphries wasn’t such a good dude, he would be smart to come down with the stomach flu or some other sort of ailment one can hide in order to hit the lottery. [read more]

Blasted

The Buccaneers pay 10-year NFL tight end John Gilmore to study film and analyze the team for the Buccaneers Radio Network. [read more]

“Time to call in Ryan Griffin.”

UPDATED 7:15 p.m. – As it stands right now, since the Rams held their 21-9 halftime lead on the Cardinals, your Buccaneers will have a heck of an opportunity in front of them next Sunday. [read more]

So there was America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, 3rd-and-5 on the Cowboys 34 yard line with the Bucs trailing 7-3 late in the first quarter. [read more]

Explains penalties.

Already today, Joe wrote that the countless times the Bucs offense gets into plus-territory and melts down, often by penalties, reflects a general lack of discipline with the offense. [read more]