Last year, the Panthers held opponents to 16 or fewer points in 10 — Ten! — of their 16 regular season games. They had a smothering run defense and the led the NFL in sacks. What exactly was expected from the Bucs’ offensive line Sunday?

The reality is they weren’t that bad. [read more]

“Shutup, Sully. That’s working, but we didn’t practice it enough to do it in the second half.”

Greg Schiano would have quite flummoxed if he listened to Josh McCown talk on the Buccaneers Radio Network last night.

You see, McCown discussed how Tampa Bay made in-game adjustments to the Panthers defense, which led to two late touchdown drives and a fourth quarter that left Bucs fans with hope. [read more]

You gotta love the urgency in the NFL, and the psychotic nature of its hardcore fans.

Even Lovie Smith, still on his Tampa honeymoon, heard boos rain down upon him in the first half of the season opener Sunday. [read more]

It’s good to have a short memory as a professional athlete. Good or bad, put it in the rearview mirror and move on to the next game or the next play.

Bucs quarterback Josh McCown, however, operates with a unique spin on that wisdom. [read more]

After injuring his ankle last week, it is unknown whether stud Lambs DE Chris Long will play against the Bucs.

When the Lambs come to town Sunday, they will involuntarily give the Bucs a break. Too bad Tampa Bay got the same break last week and blew the chance.

For the second week in a row, a Bucs opponent will be without its starting quarterback. [read more]

A prominent former Buccaneer weighs in with firm language

Jonathan Casillas already grinned in the sad Bucs postgame locker room Sunday and talked about how his former Saints teams were ones to play games with the NFL injury report.

That was in response to a question about the Panthers possibly lying about Cam Newton’s health. [read more]

With the regular season here, the popular “JoeBucsFan.com hour” kicks up a notch as Joe joins the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, every Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Joe dove deep this evening on a variety of subjects. [read more]

Bucs C Evan Dietrich-Smith discusses the Sunday debacle

The new Bucs sure seemed like the old Bucs Sunday, at least for three quarters. Horrible quarterback play. Zero pressure on the quarterback. Inconsistent blocking on offense.

For Bucs center Evan Dietrich-Smith, the offensive line needs only to look in the mirror, but it will get better. [read more]

Last Sunday, Solomon Patton was one of the very few bright spots on the field for the Bucs in a debacle loss to the Stinking Panthers. He averaged 26 yards a kick return fielding only two.

A day before, he had no idea he would even play. [read more]

Nothing quite like film study to get Joe aroused. It’s not cheerleader arousal, but still fun nonetheless.

Remember that big catch and run by rookie tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins on the Bucs’ opening offensive series Sunday? [read more]

About 100 days ago, Lovie Smith sized up Steven Means as “that prototype guy” while talking about defensive ends for his system.

Now, Means is a former Buccaneer. [read more]

The loss of Michael Bennett got a new twist today

Letting beastly young defensive end Michael Bennett walk away to Seattle after a nine-sack season in 2012, a season in which Bennett also was dominant against the run, is one of the more puzzling moves/non-moves in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history.

And this morning, former Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik made it sound like that critical call wasn’t his decision. [read more]

Left guard Garrett Gilkey weighed in on his new team and first performance, and drew Lovie Smith accolades.

New Bucs All-Pro guard Logan Mankins went down with a knee injury Sunday, and Joe’s going to guess most Tampa Bay fans have no idea who replaced him.

The fact is second-year man Garrett Gilkey, who arrived in Tampa last week after being among the Browns’ final cuts, did a solid job against the mighty Panthers defensive line, especially in pass protection. [read more]

Yes, it was just the first game of the season. Yes, it was a loss. No, the season is not over. But Bucs quarterback Josh McCown made such a lasting impression, and not a good one, that it may take a few weeks of solid play (and a few sick packs) for Bucs fans to forget what they witnessed.

McCown’s reckless disregard for ball security not only cost the Bucs the game, but scared the hell out of Joe that an 11-year NFL vet would have the same discipline as a scared high school sophomore. [read more]

Andrew Astleford of Fox Sports Florida believes the honeymoon for Bucs coach Lovie Smith is over after Sunday’s debacle.

Is Lovie’s honeymoon over? Joe doesn’t think so, but what we witnessed for three quarters Sunday was the equivalent of walking in on your new bride in a compromising position with the hotel concierge.

Man, Bucs fans were some kind of livid Sunday. And Monday. And likely today. Joe hasn’t seen this kind of September vitriol in a while toward the home Pewter Pirates. [read more]

Lovie Smith weighed in on his radio show

Lovie Smith has called Doug Martin his bell cow back.

But with the game on the line Sunday, the Bucs with the ball and driving for the winning score, it was Bobby Rainey on the field. [read more]

Was Josh McCown just feeling things out in Game 1?

Yes, Joe has calmed down somewhat from watching Josh McCown pretend to be a high school sophomore, the way he panicked under pressure and was so irresponsible with the football.

His rank careless Garo Yepremian impersonations led to Carolina picks, which directly led to two Stinking Panthers touchdowns.

And that, boys and girls, was your ballgame. [read more]

The Bucs’ special teams coach explains why rookie Solomon Patton is the man in the punt return game

Returner Solomon Patton getting called up from the practice squad to return punts against the Panthers wasn’t just a one-time thing.

The Bucs are extraordinarily high on him and believe Patton is already raising the play of those around him. [read more]

Adam Schein

Popular sports radio personality Adam Schein couldn’t believe his eyes Sunday. The host of “Schein on Sports,” heard exclusively on “Mad Dog Radio,” part of the family of sports channels on SiriusXM Radio, was monitoring the Stinking Panthers-Bucs game Sunday and thought for sure his guy Josh McCown would make journeyman/Browns castoff Derek Anderson pay for stepping onto the field of the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

As the game unfolded, Schein, who has a weekly column on NFL.com, was rocked when he saw how the Stinking Panthers chain-whipped the Bucs for three full quarters. [read more]

Lovie Smith found a bright spot on the stat sheet yesterday.

Man, he might have had to scan that thing a couple of times. [read more]