Party and relax on ESPN AT SEA with their great “Big Game” cruises out of Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale in 2013. Super Bowl time is always a great time for a cruise.

All kinds of former NFL greats are accessible on the cruises, as well as stars from the soccer world, cruise cheerleaders and much more. There are so many options to choose, plus parties, and a discount for JoeBucsFan.com readers. Click below to sniff all the deals and check out the Royal Caribbean ships.

Lavonte David and his tackles for a loss greatly help the Bucs’ struggling pass defense.

When Bucs coach Greg Schiano was hired as to take over the Pewter Pirates, he went on SiriusXM NFL Radio and was appalled at the Bucs rush defense and said giving up on running plays was simply “unacceptable.”

So Schiano jumped in the defensive pool with both feet to turn around the Bucs rush defense, and he has. The Bucs have gone virtually not from worst to first, but from grotesque to envious.

Now some have suggested that the attention to detail on the run has come at the expense of the pass defense, which has been woeful for the Bucs. However, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune dug up a stat that begs to differ.

@IKaufmanTBO: When Buc opponents face 3rd-and-11 or longer, they have converted only 3-of-34 opportunities. That’s why all those tackles for loss are key

It’s an interesting point. Now, sure, if you get a tackle for a loss it stunts a drive by the offense. That goes without saying. It’s almost like a penalty.

But the figure Kaufman offers is striking, and considering it deals with one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, it’s more striking to Joe.

Let’s not pretend otherwise: the pass defense has cost the Bucs at least two wins, likely three wins and may just be the difference in a playoff appearance or the Bucs watching the playoffs on TV.

If an offense struggles that badly against a pass-awful defense, then Joe can see why Schiano is so adamant that the Bucs focus on choking opponents’ run games.

Watch Herm Edwards and an ESPN roundtable crew take themselves far too seriously in discussing who they prefer, Josh Freeman or Cam Newton.

Whoa! It’s the “Car Of The Weekend” from Joe’s friends at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa.

Drop in for a free digital alignment check and/or top flight service and take a look at this beauty.

CAR OF THE WEEKEND – SK#145810K 
2004 Mercedes-Benz $20,990, Convertible, Leather, Low Miles 

“Jaws,” Ron Jaworski of ESPN, goes X’s and O’s and details why Josh Freeman is lighting up NFL defenses this season in this ESPN video.

The Bucs’ secondary has been roasted and basted like a Thanksgiving turkey this season. There is no denying the numbers and the painful viewing.

The Bucs pass rush isn’t as ugly as in past years. However, it’s surely average at best by NFL standards. The defensive line is sack-challenged again, and Bucs blitzes only have had modest success.

But despite the woes in pass defense, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan insists the Bucs have strong pass rushers and that the inconsistent secondary has the ability.

“I think our front, for the most part, does a great job of pushing the pocket. It’s not like we’re getting stonewalled and we’re not advancing the quarterback. That’s happening,” Sheridan said yesterday. “You know, we may not have sack numbers to prove that, but we have quality pass rushers, even if we just rush four guys. And those guys are getting to the quarterback.”

As for the defensive backs, Sheridan said successes in the secondary leave him confident moving forward. 

“I’ve seen our back end guys play good coverage enough I know they can do it,” Sheridan said.

Joe appreciates the optimism, but Joe is no believer in the pass defense.

Joe isn’t seeing how the Bucs are going to get much more out of two first-time safeties, banged up Eric Wright, E.J. Biggers and the rest of the group. These guys already are coming up with big plays game after game, and it’s still not enough to avoid getting grilled for huge yardage.

Joe could see the pass rush improve, as DaQuan Bowers gets in top form, and Gerald McCoy’s young motor stands out as the march for the playoffs presses on.

Here are the regions of the nation where local FOX affiliates will broadcast the Bucs-Panthers game. Looks like Fort Myers and Gainesville gets the Bucs this week but Tallahassee is out of luck. Map courtesy of the506.com.

You really don’t want to miss this. Joe had so much fun with the Kilt girls during the Bucs’ Thursday Night Football appearance, it was remarkable. This time will be even more fun.

Joe’s got plenty of jerseys and hats to give away, and the Kilt’s food is awesome. Click through above or below to learn more.

Joe really got a kick out of Panthers head coach Ron Rivera moaning in this Charlotte Observer video about his “decimated” offensive line and how hard it is to use a backup center.

Boo, hoo, hoo. What a softy. The Bucs are racking up huge numbers with a troop of reserves on their offensive line.

Joe found one stat revealed in the video rather interesting; the Panthers lead the NFL in yards-per-play on first down. For Joe, that illustrates how inconsistent Cam Newton has played along with the entire Panthers offense, which is among the worst in the NFL (18.1 points per game).

On paper, there’s really no reason the Bucs should lose in Carolina on Sunday.

While the (physical) hits keep on coming, the Bucs somehow, someway find ways to plug the holes.

Much has been written about the offensive line, with only Donald Penn remaining in his original spot due to the line being decimated by injuries. And it may get worse with Jamon Meredith’s bum left ankle.

But not a whole lot has been written about the defensive line. Adrian Clayborn was lost earlier in the season with a blown knee and Da’Quan Bowers has had to rally from his Achilles tear as a result. Fellow defensive end Michael Bennett has had to battle through injuries himself.

This created an opportunity for Daniel Te’o-Nesheim to step in, and of late, he has handled himself quite well on the field. So much so that the football thinktank of ProFootballFocus.com awarded Te’o-Nesheim as an unsung hero.

Against the run he had a Run Stop Percentage of 9.5%, with two of his three solo tackles resulting in defensive stops. That paled in comparison to the damage he did as a pass rusher, however. With all 34 of his pass rushes coming from the right, Te’o-Nesheim registered a sack and seven hurries on Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. That gave him a Pass Rushing Productivity Rating of 18.4, the second-highest among 4-3 defensive ends in Week 10. His lone sack of the game came on 1st-and-10 with 3:53 left in the game, with the Buccaneers leading by 7. Beating left tackle Michael Harris to the inside, he was able to get to Rivers quickly and record the sack for a loss of 10 yards.

Now Joe has never played in the NFL much less coached in it. The closest Joe has sniffed the NFL was being coached in high school by a guy who just retired from the NFL, and Joe to this day is blown away by how much his old coach knew about football (his football bloodlines traced through John Madden, Tom Landry, Gene Stallings and indirectly, Bear Bryant).

Given that so many Bucs have come out of obscurity to fill holes caused be injuries and played well tells Joe that these guys are simply coached up. Albeit from a very different level of football, Joe has experienced this first-hand.

How many teams have had this many guys fill in for injured starters, and yet there has been little to no dropoff of play? That tells Joe the reserves (as well as the starters) are getting coached up big time.

How refreshing is that?

This Boston Herald story claims it was Bill Belicheat who initiated the call to trade for Aqib Talib at the 11th hour.

For those who want to see Talib run around at his first Patriots practice, the video below is for you. In it a Herald reporter refers to Talib as the Patriots “big gun” … not the best word choices.

Earlier this week, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman appeared on the Mike and Brady Hoke Show broadcast nationally each morning by the four-letter network.

When asked, in so many words, why the Bucs are succeeding of late rather than tanking it last year, Freeman all but said the team is playing p!ssed off.

If the Bucs make it to the playoffs, Freeman said the turning point of the season was the very first practice after the bye week.

“Any time guys get a new coach and he preaches his philosophy, there are going to be guys in camp going, ‘Is this really going to work? Is this what we have to do?’ Looking back, going into that bye, it came just at the right time. New regime, new coach, a lot new faces and you drop three straight. Going into that bye, I remember, ‘We better come back loaded and ready to go.’ and guys were all on deck and when we got back to work, we snapped right into it. We threw pads on the first day after a four-day break. Guys were flying around getting after it. It was a very enthusiastic practice. Where in the past, ‘Man, we are in pads?’ Guys would be hesitant to go back at practice like that.

“I think that day set the tone. Guys stepped up and said, ‘This is going to be who we are. We are going to be a team where we do our job and we are going to prepare as well as we can.’”

Later, Mike and Brady Hoke asked Freeman what it is like to play for such a drill sergeant like Bucs coach Greg Schino and Freeman laughed, suggesting Schiano is not like the image many portray him to be.

“Honestly, it is great [playing for Schiano]. It really is. When that poll came out [where NFL players voted Schiano the coach players least wanted to play for], we had a captains meeting the next day and we all thought it was hilarious. He has that reputation but if you look back, you look at his teams at Rutgers, he got his players to play to their ability. They battled.

“He is an awesome coach. He lays out the plan to succeed, the steps, the goals and what to expect, it’s simple. He lays it all out and the coaches say, point blank, ‘We expect you to give your very best on each and every snap and every rep.’ Guys have taken that personally. And you develop a culture that, rather than guys worried about being tired and ‘Man, coach is too hard on us,’ we are all trying to one up each other in each snap and each practice and keep pushing and you see the improvement. Then, you see the growth and the development of the team from a skill standpoint, from a mental standpoint, from a physical standpoint. Yeah, we lost some close ones, but that is in the past. It’s all about the next game.“

Is there any wonder why such me-first clowns like [currently unemployed] Kellen Winslow, Jr. and Sir SmokeALot Tanard Jackson and reality TV star wannabe Dezmon Briscoe were run out of town by Schiano? Joe smelled that transaction coming months ago, and no, it was not the smoke coming from Jackson’s bong (allegedly). These guys were cancers!

It’s the New Schiano Order. And we are currently seeing the results of a culture change at One Buc Palace. That change is the win-loss column and a postseason run.

To listen to the full interview Freeman had with Mike and Brady Hoke, click here.

A renowned scrambling quarterback from Buccaneers days gone by, Shaun King, one of three QBs to lead Tampa Bay to the NFC Championship game, likes what he’s seeing from Josh Freeman’s feet.

Speaking on the Ron and Ian show today on WDAE-AM 620, King said a deeper look at Freeman’s recent scrambling reveals a quarterback that his comfortable and confident.

“What the tells me is he’s becoming better acclimated with that offensive system. For a guy to get back and go first read, second read, third read and then automatically run, that means he’s really in tune with what they’re doing offensively,” King said. “Josh is improving at that.”

King said Freeman and his feet should be able to evolve into a third-down weapon in situations such as 3rd-and-4 and 3rd-and-5 when safeties might be glued in coverage to Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson. A couple of first downs a game in those situations, King says, could become another deadly weapon in the Bucs arsenal, though King  wants to see Freeman slide faster to stay safe.

Of all the weapons at Freeman’s disposal, it’s refreshing and exciting to hear about his running ability discussed as a potential emerging force as the Bucs attempt a run at the playoffs. Freeman was the second leading QB rusher in the NFL in 2010. So Joe’s confident he can make good decisions on the move.

You can catch the whole King interview below.

Party and relax on ESPN AT SEA with their great “Big Game” cruises out of Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale in 2013. Super Bowl time is always a great time for a football cruise.

All kinds of former NFL greats are accessible on the cruises, as well as stars from the soccer world, cruise cheerleaders and much more. There are so many options to choose, plus parties, and a discount for JoeBucsFan.com readers. Click below to sniff all the deals and check out the Royal Caribbean ships.

In this SI.com video, host Maggie Gray asks coffee-slurping, popcorn-munching, scone-loathing, Marriott-sleeping, cricket-watching, craft beer-guzzling, oatmeal-loving, coffee-slurping Peter King what teams have been rebuilt the best this season.  King gushes unabashedly about the job Bucs coach Greg Schiano has done in turning around the Bucs and his ability to lean on Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for sage advice.

You really don’t want to miss this. Joe had so much fun with the Kilt girls during the Bucs’ Thursday Night Football appearance, it was remarkable. This time will be even more fun.

Joe’s got plenty of jerseys and hats to give away, and the Kilt’s food is awesome. Click through above or below to learn more.

Is former Rams guard Roger Allen the next man up?

The leader of the New Schiano Order gave Bucs fans little hope today that Tampa Bay won’t resort to a third-string right guard for Sunday’s game against Carolina.

Jamon Meredith, Davin Joseph’s capable replacement, had his ankle injured late in practice yesterday, Schiano revealed today.

Schiano said team staff is “aggressively treating” Meredith and gave no hint as to who could replace him. Guard Roger Allen, who signed with Tampa Bay two weeks ago and last saw regular-season action for the 2009 Rams, is the official depth-chart backup to Meredith.

Gulp!

Raheem Morris once set out to sell the world that his team was the best in the NFC. “Yeah, I said it,” continued the worst defensive coordinator in Bucs history.

Well, it seems Greg Schiano will make no such comments unless he reaches the Super Bowl. Per Donald Penn, the leader of the New Schiano Order went out of his way to tell his team before the Chargers game, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”

Penn’s said Schiano’s words were especially directed at the offensive line after its record-setting and eye-opening performance in Oakland. “It don’t mean nothing if we came out [against San Diego] and lay an egg,” Penn told Joe of Schiano’s message.

The head coach has said many times that he doesn’t really evaluate his team’s performance as a whole during a season. Joe suspects Schiano won’t waver unless the Bucs capture the NFC crown.

“That’s one thing coach is on us about, not ever looking ahead,’ Penn said. “When you start looking ahead, you can get the slightest bit complacent. We’re not going to do that.”

Yes, Bucs linebacker Quincy Black is gone for the season. The maligned outside linebacker’s improved play is one reason why the Bucs’ rush defense has gone from the absolute worst to the best in the league in less than a year.

Black won’t see the field again for the Bucs in 2012, as he perhaps has major nerve damage. The extent will not be known until a battery of additional tests are completed in a few weeks.

Bucs coach Greg Schiano discussed Black’s condition and future at length yesterday at One Buc Palace.

“He’s down as you can imagine, he is a professional. I have visited with him every day and he knows what is in front of him now, he knows he has to get better and get well and get him back there.

“The wait-and-see was to get more information. As it turns out, we will wait two or three more weeks to do another test because they say with the swelling, you can’t see what you need to see. What Quincy has is not a normal thing; you have to see a specialist for what he has. Our doctors have been awesome, on the phone all over the world talking to people, finding out what is the best course of action and that’s when we learned about the two or three weeks [to wait] after talking with all those doctors, they told us, it is not even a consideration [to play] for this year.

“I know [Bucs cornerback E.J.] Biggers had something similar, I’m not a doctor but it sounds similar. They are not even sure what is going to happen yet. Probably in a few weeks we will know better what the timeline is. We are all confident he will be back. The shame of it is, he played his best game all year Sunday. [Linebackers coach Bob] Fraser, had to pick him up a little because [Black] finally played the way we knew he could play. But we will get him back and get him working.

That’s a shame. Black had played pretty well in Joe’s eyes this year, and if he played his best game last week against the Chargers, man, that linebacking corps could have been something the rest of the season.

Joe clearly hopes Black has a speedy and uneventful recovery.

Bucs fans seem content to be entertained by Mike Williams and the high-flying Bucs from the comfort of their homes.

Last night, Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune dropped a phone call to the “Mark Cook Experience,” starring (you guessed it) Mark Cook, heard locally on WHFS-FM 98.7, to talk Bucs football.

And as is the habit of local sports radio far too often, the boring subject of what strangers do with their cash (attendance) rose it’s ugly head, though the subject was not initiated by Cook.

Thankfully, it was not Rays attendance.

Cummings suggested Bucs fans are missing out on a quality product with all the blacked out home games, and Cummings was scratching his head in trying to figure out why the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway is not packed.

“They are an entertaining football team right now, an extremely entertaining football team. I’m a little surprised the fanbase hasn’t picked up on this a little more and bought into the team,” Cummings said. “They are missing a good show, is what they are missing, on both sides of the ball. Obviously the offense is dynamic and plenty of things to see there. But on defense, there is Mark Barron who is arguably already one of the better safety prospects this team has ever had, and Gerald McCoy is worth the price of admission and Lavonte David — if you think Doug Martin is the “Rookie of the Year,” this guy [David] has a better chance of at least wining the “Rookie of the Year” as a Buccaneer. In all likelihood Andrew luck has a better chance of winning; they always choose quarterbacks anyway. But Lavonte David is having just as good if not better season than Doug Martin and is probably more consistent. He’s been making big plays since the beginning of the year. They are entertaining on both sides of the ball.”

While Joe understands where Cummings is coming from, “this Joe” will once again repeat that we are in the midst of a cultural change as how fans consume sports. No longer is going to the games the preferred method. Hell, even NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged this. Yeah, HDTV and the convenience of home (cheaper/better food/beer, quick access to a bathroom sans a line) is a big reason, as is the plague of fantasy football.

Here’s another reason: Red Zone Channel.

Joe has only watched this once or twice and it was too ADD-ish for him. Joe enjoys watching how a game unfolds, not just glorified highlights.

For those unaware what the Red Zone Channel is, it is a channel run by the NFL Network broadcast only on Sunday afternoons. Whenever a team enters a red zone, the channel picks up that game’s broadcast feed. The broadcast bounces from stadium to stadium for the next six hours or so. Joe understands that fantasy football types are drawn to this channel like a hungry Doberman Pinscher is to a steak.

And, oh by the way, now that Red Zone Channel is carried by Bright House Networks, nearly every home in the Tampa Bay area has access to the Red Zone Channel, whereas prior to this season, that was not the case.

Throw in the fact that NFC South foes do not draw fans anywhere close to the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway like the old NFC North teams, and there’s little wonder to “this Joe” why the Bucs, even with one of the most exciting teams in the NFL, struggle to reach the 85 percent capacity of non-premium seats.

It’s hard to convince consumers to pay more for less. Fans preferring to stay at home is a trend, a cultural trend, that is not likely to be reversed any time soon.

Once one wraps their arms around this, the attendance debate becomes little more than white noise for lesser sports radio hosts.

The ol’ ball coach once challenged local media and said, “I dare you” to write something bad about blocking icon Michael Clayton.

The comment was funny and sad at the time (very un-Schiano-like) and, of course, the blocking icon went on to dig his own grave, aided by hands of stone and deposit slips. 

Recently, the blocking icon provided an intriguing peek into Bucs history during an interview with Joe’s friends over at OffTheRecordSports.com.  Clayton essentially wrote something bad about himself, admitting to having a shoddy work ethic during some of his time with the Bucs.

After that, people said I fell into coach Gruden’s dog house. You know, I’ve never had any issues or problems. I’ve always played hard and had a great relationship with my coaches and been respectful. But, you go through that ordeal and I didn’t know what that was all about. And then it was just the NFL was looking for somebody to blame. I got a lot of praise behind closed doors, but I got a lot of blame in the media. But, overall we just weren’t that good, weren’t winning many games. Had a lot of injuries. Had a lot of different quarterbacks I played with. I played with almost nine quarterback’s in my six-year tenure with the Bucs. There was a different quarterback…sometimes I had two or three quarterbacks in a year. As a receiver, that’s never a situation that’s going to give you those big numbers that you want. A lot of great receivers have suffered personal goals because of that. So that’s really what happened.

But for me mentally, after going through that for a few years being young, not fully devoting myself was another part of it. I felt that they weren’t committed to me and I lost that mental battle of not being totally committed to my job. It was a situation that I had to go through and had to mature from. Learn how to be the better man. Played special teams to redeem myself from the hole that I had for myself. I eventually got my job back by humbling myself and working my way back to the top by playing special teams. A lot of things happened and I learned a lot. It put me in position to play for the New York Giants for two years and win a Super Bowl. Because I was mentally prepared to be a true professional and lead older and younger guys. I was thankful for my tenure with the Bucs.

Now it’s unclear when Clayton wasn’t “totally committed” during his Bucs tenure. But regardless, that comment makes one of rockstar general manager Mark Dominik’s biggest signing blunders look even worse. Though it’s interesting to note that Clayton went on to earn the respect of Tom Coughlin and earn a Super Bowl ring.

You can click through above to read more.

Joe’s so glad Dominik finally relieved Bucs fans from the dark days of having to watch the blocking icon disappoint repeatedly.

Helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, Adderrall-popping, coach-cussing, referee-charging, pistol-friendly, granny-hassling Aqib Talib appeared at his first Patriots practice today, and Bill Belicheat praised Talib for three days of hard work since his suspension ended Monday.

Joe’s intrigued by the marriage of Talib and his new head coach, a couple of cheaters united. Also, it’s been amazing seeing the reaction out of Boston, where Talib is being viewed as a savior of the Pats defense in many circles.

Belicheat was asked today about why he’s sure Talib won’t have off-the-field trouble. Belicheat responded saying the Pats only sign players they’re confident in. Good luck with that, Bill.