Joe knows some haters like to pick the Bucs apart. We are talking about a 1-7 team here, people. But stop with the nonsense that Lavonte David is not playing well. David is the least of Lovie Smith’s concerns.

Another player who Joe hopes Lovie has stopped worrying about is Johnthan Banks. The second-year man from Mississippi State is arguably the best cornerback on the roster. [read more]

Before someone tries to brand Joe a hater, there may not be a nicer guy in the Bucs locker room than Da’Quan Bowers.

The defensive end has come nowhere near the player folks thought he would be coming out of Clemson. Unlike others, however, who are shadows of their college hype, Bowers never hides from reporters (coughmarkbarroncough) as if the fourth estate is responsible for their suckiness on the field. [read more]

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 regular nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback to wear No. 5 ever in the state of Florida. [read more]

Lovie Smith demands the Bucs take advantage of the Falcons’ rookie left tackle

It’s the battle of ankle excuses questions on Sunday at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

Rookie left tackle Jake Matthews lines up for the Falcons against the apparition known as Bucs defensive end Michael Johnson. [read more]

The most chill hour of radio in Bucs history was back on the WDAE-AM 620 airwaves last night, Total Access with Bucs safety Dashon Goldson and Ronnie Lane, aka Hawk Radio.

Again, the show felt like a couple of cats kickin’ it with some top-shelf brandy and talking football as they awaited a knock from classy ladies on their door. [read more]

The offense under Marcus Arroyo is very basic, said NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell.

Joe knows what a hand grenade in a china store it was when Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford had to step aside due to his health issues. All the work done from the moment he was hired, through OTAs and minicamps and training camp. and then preseason, and poof, all gone.

For folks who think it is no big deal, it is a major deal.

In stepped Tedford’s lieutenant, Marcus Arroyo, who has scant experience as an offensive coordinator, all at second-rung college programs. [read more]

TampaBay.com Bucs beat writer was Twittering non-sightings from Bucs practice this morning and revealed unsettling but expected news. [read more]

Stop blubbering that the Tampa-2 defense is a relic and Lovie Smith needs to ditch what’s not working.

That’s the message from the guy who coached linebackers under Monte Kiffin years ago, the former Bucs scout and Jets personnel chief Pat Kirwan, now a media hound for CBS and SiriusXM NFL Radio. [read more]

After Sunday’s nut-kick loss to the Browns, Gerald McCoy spoke out and said he didn’t think anybody on his team is upset enough about losing.

Dashon “Hawk” Goldson was not on board with that call. [read more]

Though Lovie Smith may argue to the contrary, for Joe, the benching of the quarterback of the future Mike Glennon for turnover-prone journeyman Josh McCown is a move reminiscent of the French army in 1940.

Surrender! [read more]

Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy had interesting things to say Thursday at One Buc Palace and implied players may be scared of Lovie Smith and, thus, are not playing his way.

GMC spoke a lot about how Lovie is laying the law down. [read more]

Dungy speaks out against the Bucs’ quarterback change

So many Bucs fans celebrated as if they won the lottery when Team Glazer announced Lovie Smith would be the next head coach.

Why? Because so many Bucs fans never got over their fetish for Father Dungy and believed the hiring of Lovie was the closest thing to Dungy’s return.

It seems, however, the patriarch is not in line with his right-hand man. [read more]

Lovie Smith’s $24 million (guaranteed) man, defensive end Michael Johnson, is having a scary season in his first year in pewter and red. Scary in a very, very bad way.

Johnson, brought in to be the edge rusher necessary for defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to roam unabated, has been anything but a rusher. Or a tackler. Or anything, frankly. [read more]

Joe’s downright scared of the Falcons’ passing game right now.

Alterraun Verner missed his second consecutive practice with a bad hamstring. You can just about write him off for Sunday. [read more]

Cornerback Johnthan Banks seems to embody what the Bucs defense is supposed to be all about on November 6, 2014.

Banks started slowly in a new defense but has progressed to where he’s regularly in position to make plays. [read more]

It’s time for Joe’s weekly podcast with Joe and silky-toned Ronnie Lane of the Buccaneers Radio Network and WDAE-AM 620.

Joe got a little emotional and dove into a variety of subjects. [read more]

Rookie QB Derek Carr has kept Raiders fans from climbing the Golden Gate Bridge.

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 regular nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback to wear No. 5 ever in the state of Florida. [read more]

Healthy receivers have Matt Ryan excited

The Bucs have the NFL’s 31st-ranked pass defense and a shaky pass rush, and Pro Bowl cornerback Alterraun Verner has a bad hamstring.

The Atlanta Falcons have a franchise quarterback, four healthy, dangerous receivers, and the seventh-ranked NFL passing attack (im)balanced by a garbage running game. [read more]

Joe’s head was dizzy yesterday listening to and reading the words from Bucs coach and overlord of football operations Lovie Smith. To be polite. none of it made a lick of sense.

Mike Glennon was “great” but he is benched. Lovie wouldn’t answer when asked if he would have been benched if Glennon played like Tom Brady. Glennon is the still the darling of Lovie’s eyes, the quarterback of the future, and quarterback of the past but not quarterback of the present. [read more]

Evan Dietrich-Smith weighs in

Joe spent his hard earned cash in September to fly to Atlanta and watch what may have been the worst Bucs beating in history.

Boy, that sure was fun! Regular readers here can only imagine Joe’s state of mind when Tampa Bay trailed 56-0 in the third quarter. [read more]

In these unsettled times of devastating Bucs losses, constant change and growing pains, Joe thought it would be wise to bring back THE OPTIMIST.

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the Buccaneers goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t. … Of course, THE OPTIMIST’s opinions are his alone and are not influenced by Joe. [read more]