The Bucs have several key cogs on the shelf

Ouch!

Lavonte David’s bad hamstring will keep him sidelined for the second consecutive game. [read more]

Bengals (7-3-1) at Bucs (2-9)

Kickoff: 1 p.m. [read more]

Seven months younger than rookie running back Charles Sims, Bucs second-year RB Mike James has been a forgotten man this season.

A year ago, he dazzled the NFL in Seattle with 158 yards on 28 carries. [read more]

Was Lovie Smith trying to light a fire under his struggling defensive end?

Or was the Tampa Bay head coach just casually chatting about his team? [read more]

Look for a change at center

A minor Bucs transaction yesterday could be quite meaningful this afternoon against Cincinnati. [read more]

Louis Murphy has resurrected his career

It’s fashionable to say the Buccaneers’ giant free agent class has been one thorough bust.

But that’s inaccurate. There have been positives. [read more]

Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. on BSPN

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, national champion James Winston, the pride of Florida State University, continues to look like a much better quarterback prospect than Mike Glennon and Josh McCown.

It’s Joe’s daily nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback to wear No. 5 ever in the state of Florida.

Joe’s already predicted the Seminoles’ first loss. No, Joe is NOT a Gators fan.

Bang your comments here all game long. It should be a good one.

Bucs icon Ronde Barber often joins his twin brother on national CBS Sports radio to talk football.

Joe must say, Barber is much improved as an analyst, as he climbs the FOX ranks as a game color man. [read more]

Rey Maualuga and the Bengals have been stingy against the run of late.

Joe thinks Doug Martin is one of the nicest guys on the Bucs roster. But numbers don’t lie. Martin is having a brutal season that just may get him jettisoned in a few weeks.

Martin ranks dead-last in the NFL in yards per attempt. There is no way to sugarcoat that. [read more]

You asked for it, you got it. It’s the TV map for tomorrow’s game between the Bengals and the Bucs, live from the Den of Depression.

If you are a resident of Florida or Ohio, there is a better than average chance you won’t have to run to a local bar or find someone with NFL Sunday Ticket to watch the game. [read more]

The Bucs thoroughly imploded against the Bears last Sunday. The Tampa Bay offense crumbling and giving the game way to a truly garbage defense was astounding.

But it was the way they folded that was most troubling. Veteran Buccaneers failed them across the board.

Here’s a breakdown. [read more]

Joe calls it today

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, national champion James Winston, the pride of Florida State University, continues to look like a much better quarterback prospect than Mike Glennon and Josh McCown.

It’s Joe’s daily nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback to wear No. 5 ever in the state of Florida. [read more]

It is in season to bash Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. No, he will never remind folks of Andrew Luck. He won’t remind people of Trent Dilfer, either.

Dalton is an uneven quarterback, inconsistent. At times, he plays like one of the top signal-callers in the nation. At other times, he plays like a Bucs quarterback. [read more]

Gerald McCoy and the defense will have their hands full with the Bengals’ rush

Earlier today, Bucs coach Lovie Smith stated his team has “improved in so many ways.” No, he wasn’t doing schtick. Joe doesn’t think.

Well, one area of improvement, for sure, has been the defense. [read more]

The red zone offense makes people want to hide their eyes

Bucs fans don’t need an explanation of why the offense is struggling. Blame the quarterback, blame the line, blame the running backs, the trail of bread crumbs ends at the same destination: awful red zone offense.

How bad is it? Well, Joe believes the offense is so bad, especially in the red zone, that the cannons at the Den of Depression are faulty due to rust. [read more]

As it currently stands, Bucs stud outside linebacker Lavonte David should be ready to rock and roll Sunday against the Bengals. That’s coming from the mouth of David himself.

“I am good, I am good, man,” David said after practice today. “All signs pointing up and we will see how it goes from there.” [read more]

Does Tampa Bay have a home field advantage?

There’s no evidence of that, which is why Joe has referred to the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway as the “Den of Depression.” [read more]

A former Buccaneer says the Bucs are primed for Jameis.

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, national champion James Winston, the pride of Florida State University, continues to look like a much better quarterback prospect than Mike Glennon and Josh McCown.

It’s Joe’s daily nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback to wear No. 5 ever in the state of Florida. [read more]

Not just rookie love for Mike Evans. (Photo courtesy of Buccaners.com)

During the rare times that helmet-hair Mel Kiper isn’t studying all things NFL Draft, he’s diving into NFL film.

Kiper, behind a BSPN pay wall, shared extensive study and data of the NFL’s incredible class of rookie wide receivers. Of course, that included Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans. [read more]

Tough day on the radio for Logan Mankins. Will the Bucs pay him the $6.75 million due him next year?

Man, the failures all along the Buccaneers’ offensive line are troubling Anthony Becht.

The former Bucs tight end and current film analyst for Buccaneers.com sees the same issues on the O-line week after week. [read more]

Sunday’s meltdown in Chicago did little to erode fans’ confidence in Lovie Smith.

Perhaps it’s the recurring signs of defensive improvement? [read more]