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]

The oozing sore at the Bucs’ cornerback position, hand-picked veteran Tim Jennings, is not Sabby The Goat bad.

Jennings seems to know exactly where to be on the field, explains a great source familiar with the Bucs’ defense. [read more]

The Bucs entered the bye week victorious. Additionally, the Bucs entered the bye week with a home win, which has become about as rare in these parts as a snowplow. [read more]

Can TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins play in a smashmouth offense?

Soon, maybe as soon as Sunday against the Redskins, tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins will return from battling an injured shoulder he suffered in the win over New Orleans.

Joe is wondering how ASJ will fit in? [read more]

The right medicine for struggling defensive playcaller Lovie Smith.

There’s a reason Joe drank so much beer today. Suffering through four quarters of Redskins-Jets football will do that to a man. [read more]

Doug Martin gets loose against Jacksonville. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)

It began in training camp, where Doug Martin ran like a wild man. So much so that Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was scared by the defensive front and ran out to sign defensive tackle Tony McDaniel. [read more]

Given the bizarre illness of moldy Mike Koenen, the viral mess Lovie Smith cooked up in his Chicago basement during his year out of football, and the Bucs’ devastating pre-Lovie woes with the MRSA, is it any wonder Lovie just sold his suburban Chicago house to an infectious disease professor? [read more]

(Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)

It’s not a huge surprise that Lovie Smith ripped defensive end George Johnson from the starting lineup and replaced him with true manbeast Will Gholston, who has very little fat on him but still stands 6-6, 280 pounds.

Johnson and fellow defensive end Jacquies Smith were very skinny on the NFL scale for defensive ends. [read more]

Gerald McCoy dishes on “America’s Quarterback.”

Gerald McCoy, who enters the bye week with the most sacks of any defensive tackle in the NFL, hopped on “Movin’ the Chains” co-hosted by Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller last week. [read more]

Mike Jenkins and the Bucs’ secondary cannot continue to let receivers run free like coyotes in Pinellas County.

If Lovie Smith is watching gametape of his defense — and we know he is — then he must be galled.

That is the suggestion from the “Custodian of Canton,” eye-RAH! Kaufman, of The Tampa Tribune. [read more]

What better to do on a bye week Saturday than engage in deep thought about the Bucs’ logical and best next moves this offseason? [read more]

Bucs defensive end Jacquies Smith, the team’s reigning sack master, has more than the weight of the Bucs’ pass rush on his shoulders. [read more]

“America’s Quarterback” and other Bucs players are as passionate about college football as fans.

A neat thing about the Bucs’ locker room, and Joe is guessing it’s across the NFL, is that while players may be rock-solid teammates, when it comes to college football, their school passion pours out of their hearts. [read more]

The “Custodian of Canton” likes the play of Kevin Pamphile and the rest of the front five.

If you pressed Joe to identify the best element of a 2-3 team, that being your current 2015 Tampa Bay Bucs, Joe would say it is the development of the offensive line.

For Joe, that is a staggering admission. [read more]

An exceptionally broad range of rapid-fire Bucs topics were on the table this afternoon during Joe’s weekly visit to the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620. [read more]

More NFL honors.

Blowhard haters, you may want to skip this story.

For the second time this season, America’s Quarterback, Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, has been named “Rookie of the Week.” [read more]

Bucs legend Derrick Brooks is a skilled diplomat when he talks about the Buccaneers on his weekly show, Tampa-2 on WDAE-AM 620.

So it’s always noteworthy when Brooks offers a strong message of praise directed at a player. [read more]

As Joe wrote Sunday, if the season ended now, a two-win team would make the playoffs in the NFC.

Guess what? Your Bucs have two wins, and the NFC South just tightened up. [read more]

The Bucs had done their homework on DE Howard Jones long before last week. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)

Joe was like almost everyone in the press box of the Den of Depression last Sunday, not to mention hundreds of thousands of Bucs fans watching on the tube.

Joe joined in the murmur, “Who is that?” referring to the immortal Howard Jones. [read more]

Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers

America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, is just a 21-year-old rookie, but he doesn’t act like one, and his teammates don’t treat him like one. [read more]