Joe engaged in a virtual group hug with heavyweights over at ESPN. And as a result, Joe is proud to present the amazing ESPN at Sea cruise leaving from the Port of Tampa. On this fantastic Royal Caribbean cruise, you can hang out and watch the “BIG GAME” with Mike Alstott, Jermaine Phillips and other former NFL players (more should be announced soon), along with greats from the world of soccer.

Click below to check out Joe’s special page at the ESPN at Sea website, where you can find the discount code joebucsfan, and learn about the cheerleaders on board. There’s also a great “BIG GAME” cruise from Ft. Lauderdale.

If both Aqib Talib and Eric Wright are unavailable Sunday, Bucs coach Greg Schiano indicated Myron Lewis could get a starting nod.

The leader of the New Schiano Order, Greg Schiano, took to the podium at One Buc Palace today and before a question was asked about a certain cornerback who has a certain history with pills, who has allegedly been tested positive for Adderall, Schiano explained he was prohibited by NFL policy from commenting about what is or is not happening with Bucs cornerback Eric Wright.

Despite not speaking about the issue, neither the Bucs nor the NFL is denying the report by FOX NFL insider Jay Glazer that Wright tested positive for the league-banned Adderall.

The Bucs already have a cornerback serving a four-game sentence for the very same charge, embattled Aqib Talib.

If Wright is suspended before the Bucs play Oakland on the left coast Sunday, the Bucs will be down both of their starting cornerbacks, both for Adderall. Schiano explained that is is business as usual with the Bucs if or until the NFL comes down on Wright.

What’s unknown is whether Wright has or will appeal, which would delay his suspension. In the Bucs locker room today, not surprisingly, Wright was nowhere to be found.

Schiano did explain why Wright was seen early this afternoon working on a stationary bike — proof that he has yet to be suspended, as suspended players cannot step foot in a team facility. Schiano said Wright has an Achilles injury not considered serious.

Even if Wright is not suspended, the Achilles could force him to the bench. If the Bucs are without both Talib and Wright Sunday, Schiano said both Leonard Johnson and Myron Lewis will be the next men up.

“I really cannot discuss it and neither can Eric,” Schiano said of the situation. “That comes down from the league. It’s not appropriate [to discuss].

“He was on the bike; he has an Achilles that is a little bit of a concern. I think he will be OK, but I cannot predict.

“We always have depth at corner. That’s one of the key positions — we always try to have depth. I was really pleased with the play of Leonard Johnson the other night. That is important, he is getting a lot of repetitions out there today, Myron Lewis got repetitions out there today. These guys prepare as if they will be the guy and if they get their chance you hope they are ready.

“It is the age old definition when preparation meets opportunity; hopefully that is what is occurring, if that is going to be the case.”

“Look, Mark, fumbles aside, Preston Parker was seen watching Scarface and eating hot fudge on his frozen yogurt.”

Much has been made of Greg Schiano’s obsession with room temperature, and of his alleged pasta noodle fixations. But there are more details, and perhaps more pressing details, to be micromanaged under the New Schiano Order.

Buccaneers Radio Network color analyst Dave Moore, a 16-year NFL veteran, enlightened Bucs fans this morning during the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620.

“He’s very conscious of when these guys are going to eat. He doesn’t want hot meals at certain times, cold meals, room temperature, hallway temperature, plane temperature, half the plane was under blankets last week,” Moore said. “But that’s just how he manages the team. He’s a guy that is attention to the detail, and his details are everything from meal to room temperature to what you’re watching on the plane. You know, certain movies. He’s all about getting the fair advantage, and he’s taking it to another level.”

Carl Nicks: Hey Coach, you mind if I melt the cheese and toast the bun on this turkey sandwich.
Greg Schiano: C’mon, Carl. You know nothing hits the gums over 65 degrees between between 10 and noon on Wednesdays.

Joe would love to learn more about Schiano’s hot-food-cold-food philosophies. Perhaps Joe could apply those tactics to enhance his performance on these here pages? (Sorry, warm beer is not happening.)

Of course, the Nicks-Schiano exchange above is a joke, but the Dave Moore quote is completely serious.

And none of this should be surprising. 

One could have a lot of fun speculating on the movie restrictions. Gerald McCoy’s favorite movie is no doubt off-limits. 

Joe can only imagine how much more behavioral legislation is in place.

Joe was at the world-renowned Tilted Kilt last Thursday when the Bucs chain-whipped the Vikings on national television. It was a beautiful thing.

The watering hole literally erupted whenever Bucs running back Doug Martin dragged defenders down the field for a first down. But Bucs fans with a drink(s) in their hands weren’t the only people geeked over Martin’s success.

So too, it seems are Martin’s teammates.

Last week Joe spoke with a handful of Bucs who talked about what a great asset Martin is, emotionally, to the team.

“Definitely, it is exciting,” Bucs linebacker Adam Hayward said. “Especially a strong guy [like Martin] to get on the turf and go off like that. It’s awesome to see. That guy is a workhorse for sure.”

Players told Joe that as much as the offensive line gets pumped when Martin abuses defenses using the holes they made, so too are defensive players on the sidelines watch Martin slice through defenses.

“Martin is just Martin,” defensive end Michael Bennett said. “He has a tenacity that he doesn’t want to go down. He just plays hard every play.”

Martin’s performance Thursday was the fourth-best performance for a running back in Bucs history.

Martin’s big night was not lost on D.J. Ware who was energized by watching his fellow running back.

“Oh, great game, great game,” Ware said. Martin “shows he has the ability to run the ball hard; as many times as they gave it to him and get him the ball out of the backfield.

“I don’t know if he helps me out but he helps out the team, his productivity, how he gets the offensive line going and the wide receivers going. The defense feeds off him as well. Any time you have a running back who is running hard and making plays, it just energizes the team.”

One reason the NFL pushed back the trade deadline for two weeks — the trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. — was to, indirectly, create buzz among fans.

Just take a look at the number of articles and traffic to specific-sports related sites like MLB and NHL when the trade deadline nears each year. That is just the opposite in the NFL largely because and early trade deadline few teams were willing to move players.

There are far more trades just before or during the draft each year than there are at the trade deadline.

Joe thinks that may change this year. What seems to have changed is the amount of trade chatter — at least on NFL-related sites and on sports radio — that has amped up recently.

Some of it has to do with Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount. While there are no specifics that teams have asked Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for Blount’s services, CBSSports.com’s Jason LaCanfora says within the NFL’s inner circles Blount is expected to be traded by some.

Overall, there has been little trade chatter, even for role players, general managers said. “I haven’t heard a thing,” said one GM who has been a willing deal-maker in the past. “It’s crazy.” Said another aggressive GM: “I haven’t heard a thing, honestly.”

However, several of those same execs said they would not be surprised if little-used back-up running back LeGarrette Blount of the Bucs was dealt by 4 p.m. Tuesday.

As Joe stated recently, he doubts Blount is dealt unless someone really knocks the socks off of Dominik.

The way running back Doug Martin is used heavily, there is always the chance of him going down with an injury, God forbid. Without Blount on the roster, who does Bucs coach Greg Schiano turn to, D.J. Ware?

No, Joe’s not holding his breath that Blount will be dealt.

No, the Bucs have no plans to get rid of cornerback Eric Wright. He’s still with the team, and is. Today at One Buc Palace, Wright could be seen sweating on a stationary bike, nursing a minor injury.

Yesterday, of course, Wright made NFL news indirectly when he was fingered by NFL insider Jay Glazer as being caught, testing positive for Adderall, an NFL banned substance.

If true, and no one from the Bucs nor the NFL has denied the report, Wright is looking at a four-game suspension, just like fellow Bucs starting cornerback Aqib Talib, who has one more game to go to serve his sentence.

The fact that Wright was at One Buc Palace Monday is evidence he has yet to be suspended. Once a player is suspended, he cannot step foot on team premises nor speak with any club employee.

It will be very interesting for Joe come mid-afternoon when Bucs coach Greg Schiano meets with the Tampa Bay pen and mic club for his regularly scheduled press conference.

Palmer has been strong this season. The Falcons needed a late 55-yard field goal to beat the 3-4 Raiders in Atlanta.

When Joe thinks about the Bucs’ secondary, Joe doesn’t get all warm and fuzzy pondering what an effective veteran quarterback might do against it.

This is the main reason Joe is concerned about Sunday’s Raiders-Bucs game. Raiders QB Carson Palmer is playing very well this season, calling lots of the shots in the no-huddle offense, and his jersey has stayed far too clean for Joe’s comfort. Palmer’s has only absorbed 12 sacks in seven games. That’s the sixth-fewest in the league, hardly shabby for an immobile QB who has thrown more passes this season than Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan.

Raiders beat writer Steve Corkan notes that Palmer was better than his numbers appeared against the Chiefs yesterday.

The Raiders offensive line did a much better job looking after Palmer today, as promised. Palmer got smacked around pretty good against the Jaguars a week earlier, prompting the offensive linemen to redouble their efforts and make a point of playing better against the Chiefs. It worked. Palmer wasn’t sacked on 28 dropbacks, and he wasn’t hit much, either. Palmer did have at least three passes tipped at or near the line of scrimmage.
Overall, Palmer finished 14 of 28 for 209 yards. However, he had a handful of passes dropped that were right on the money.

The Bucs have to find a way to get to Palmer on Sunday without blitzing. Joe expects that to be a huge challenge, especially if Michael Bennett’s twisted up ankle isn’t 100 percent. On the upside, Joe has loads of confidence in the Bucs’ ability to outscore the Raiders in a shootout.

Think the drug suspension of Aqib Talib and the likely looming four-gamer for Eric Wright doesn’t upset Bucs players? Former Bucs tight end and current network radio analyst Anthony Becht says it does.

In fact, Becht could barely contain his disgust on WDAE-AM 620 this morning.

Becht, who played for the Chiefs in 2011, said the thought of a guy popping a banned Adderrall makes him shake his head.

“You put that in your mouth you know there’s a huge consequence with that,” Becht said, referring to all players knowing the list of banned substances. “Are you trying to stay up for a meeting? Drink a Mountain Dew or a cup of coffee. You might as well stick a needle in your butt and take steroids because you’re getting the same consequences.”

Becht went on to call out E. J. Biggers and Leonard Johnson to put the offenders where they belong. “Go win those jobs [Biggers and Johnson] … and maybe you keep them.”

Outside the emotion of it all, Becht said he believes Biggers and Johnson have flashed enough this season for fans to be hopeful they can be starters.

Joe appreciates Becht bringing his what-if-I-were-a-still-a-Buccaneer take to the suspension of Talib and, likely, Wright. It lets Joe know how pissed off many other Bucs must be.

After all, Greg Schiano repeatedly talks about how hard his “Buccaneer Men” work. And no hard-working man is pleased to have his teammate let him down intentionally.

Thursday night for the first time all season, Da’Quan Bowers suited up for the Bucs and took some snaps.

Bowers tore an Achilles working out at One Buc Palace in May, and Thursday marked a remarkable recovery by any standard. Before Bowers took off for Minneapolis with the team Wednesday, he told Joe he didn’t know if he would be activated or not (after a sitdown with Bucs coach Greg Schiano, he was activated.)

Bowers played exclusively at right defensive end and mainly on third down, sort of filling part of the void left by injured Adrian Clayborn. Despite his first game, and in some people’s eyes rushing back from a nasty injury, Bowers told Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune he was no worse for wear.

“There was no tentativeness there at all,” said Bowers, who was activated hours before kickoff. “I’d been on the field enough (in practice) so I wasn’t afraid to push or spin or turn or plant or anything.”

Bowers return sure helps replace Clayborn, thought Bowers, at least for a while, won’t be playing every play like Clayborn did.

At least Bowers gives the Bucs much-needed depth. Joe sure hopes Bowers isn’t pushing the envelope too much in trying to return to the field.

It seems Eric Wright likely has followed his Bucs brother Aqib Talib down the dark path of banned pill-popping.

Reliable FOX NFL reporter Jay Glazer, via ProFootballTalk.com, is reporting this afternoon that Wright is facing a four-game suspension for taking performance-enhanching ADD drug Adderrall without a prescription and/or permission from the NFL.

Joe’s not going to go all crazy until this is, indeed, official. But this is just preposterous, if true. Wright signed for huge guaranteed money in March. The guy didn’t even have much “pressure” on him to perform, if there ever is an excuse for letting your team down and cheating.

Joe’s now wondering whether Wright’s undisclosed non-football medical issue early in training camp had anything to do with this potential suspension.

If nothing else, a Wright suspension would all but guarantee that Aqib Talib will be a big part of the Bucs’ plans down the stretch this season. And it also means the football gods continue to insist that Myron Lewis stays gainfully employed.

Not since LeGarrette Blount was tearing through and jumping over defenders in 2010 did Joe get as excited about the Bucs run game than he did Thursday night watching Doug Martin make the Vikings look like a local high school team.

Then Josh Freeman opened it up and it was all a wonderful offense.

But to read the words of NFL.com’s Jeff Darlington (he graduated from Seminole High School, by the way), there was a paranormal property that seemed to appear whenever Martin ran the ball.

@JeffDarlington: Each time Doug Martin touches the ball tonight, it looks like there’s just a giant magnet attached to the goal post pulling him toward it.

Martin was sensational Thursday night and so was the Bucs offense. When a team can run the ball with authority, everything — and Joe means everything — will open up.

In the immortal words of Moe Howard, a good running game is essential. “It’s football, chump.”

Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud has tossed out silly rumor fodder for Bucs fans to consume today, citing the always reliable “speculation” that LeGarrette Blount is on the trading block before Tuesday’s deadline.

Joe finds that completely ridiculous, unless the Bucs are trading for a quality running back.

The way the Bucs have their offense constructed, they’d be foolish to part with their depth at the position. Blount has lost the fumbling that plagued him last season, so that cardinal sin of the New Schiano Order has not been violated. Blount is what he is, an inexpensive and very talented player backing up a better player at a key position. There’s no logical reason to ship him out, short of an incredible return, which won’t happen because of Blount’s soon-to-be-free-agent status.

If there has been one constant since the Bucs drafted Doug Martin, the Muscle Hamster from Boise State, it is the seemingly non-stop comparisons to Ray Rice of the Baltimore Crows.

Hell, Martin is compared to Rice so often, Joe almost thinks the Bucs actually drafted Rice.

Then, during the thrashing of the Vikings Thursday night, Mike Mayock even dropped the name “Emmitt Smith” in comparison to Martin.

These comparison have eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune worked up. Appearing on the “Rich and Booger Show” Friday on 98.7 FM, Kaufman scolded people who would compare Martin to others because Martin is talented enough to make a name for himself.

Booger McFarland: If you look at what Doug Martin did last night, if you look at the Bucs running backs since the Super Bowl, a complete back, Doug Martin has to be the best running back that we have seen in a very, very long time.

eye-RAH! Kaufman: I think he runs faster than he looks. I don’t see many catching him from behind. The blocking on that screen pass was sensational. Have to give Jeremy Zuttah some props. Martin is the real deal. When he was struggling the first few weeks and we were all wondering what was all the hoopla in trading up to get this guy in the first round to get him, [Bucs coach Greg] Schiano never blinked. Schiano told us privately and publicly that this kid was going to be outstanding. Now I don’t like the comparisons to Ray Rice and I certainly don’t want to hear the Emmitt Smith name mentioned as I am sure Booger doesn’t want to either. You are talking about maybe the greatest goal line runner in history, Emmitt Smith. He has records everybody is shooting for and that is not fair to Doug Martin.

No, it is not fair to Martin and Joe completely agrees with Kaufman.

The interesting thing about Martin’s development is the Bucs pass offense has exploded during the past three weeks while Martin has turned the corner as an NFL running back.

Not one bit of coincidence there. Not at all.

If people weren’t paying attention to the Bucs after they had the world champions on the ropes in their home crib, before letting the champ get the last knockout punch in, then the NFL sure took notice with how the Bucs chain-whipped the Vikings on the league’s own network before the eyes of the nation.

This may be a pattern of sorts.

Friday, scone-loathing, popcorn-munching, craft beer-guzzling, Marriott-sleeping Peter King of Sports Illustrated appeared on the “Rich and Booger Show,” co-hosted by Rich Herrera and Booger McFarland, on WHFS-FM 98.7 to talk Bucs and mostly, NFL.

King was asked about how kind of dude Schiano is and King, in so many words, said Schiano is anything but a guy who coaches from the norm, guy who is willing to be unconvention if that’s what it takes to obtain a victory. He’s different. King was pressed for details and explained.

Rich Herrera: What are the whispers you hear around the National Football League about how he is bucking the system?

Peter King: Only that — I will never forget, I remember talking in the offseason with Kevin Demoff, who formerly worked with the Bucs and now is COO of the Rams. They had a coaching decision to make and Demoff talked to Schiano at one point in the coaching search. No question in my mind if they lost out on Jeff Fisher they were going to go hard after Greg Schiano.

I think people in the league right now, [Schiano] will engender a lot of criticism because of things like trying to break up the victory formation and obviously being charged with, his players being charged with, trying to verbally disrupt the simulation of a snap, a cadence, which is illegal. But I think he is going to challenge the rules and I think he will go right to the edge of the rules to do as much as he can to try to win.

That was an interesting observation from King. Schiano has never struck Joe as a guy who is willing to bend the rules. Hardly. But Joe does see where King may be coming from.

If there is a rule that may be vague, and exploited to get an edge, why not test it? It’s an interesting observation King made.

Schiano’s image is all about structure, yet his coaching style may be a bit rogue.

[Hat tip Jerry Petuck.]

Congrats to undrafted rookie cornerback Leonard Johnson for accomplishing Thursday what Myron Lewis hasn’t done in three seasons: start a game and play pretty damn well.

Hell, Johnson now has more career inerceptions (1) and official passes defended (4) than Lewis has in his career.

Johnson, the former Largo High QB, revealed to veteran Tampa Tribune scribe Woody Cummings that he knew he would get the nod against the Vikings but sat on the information like a KAOS agent.

Johnson started at left corner when the Bucs moved regular starting left corner Eric Wright into the slot as a replacement for Brandon McDonald, who injured an ankle against New Orleans.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to psyche myself out or say anything to my mom or anyone else and have them all excited and put more pressure on me,” Johnson said. “I just wanted to stick to what I knew.”

The low-key approach worked rather well. Johnson recorded two tackles, three pass breakups and had his first NFL interception when he sealed the victory by picking off Vikings QB Christian Ponder on Minnesota’s last offensive series.

In addition to Johnson’s late pick, he likely got jobbed by the zebras on another.

Yeah, it’s one game. But Johnson has earned a lot more playing time. And given that Aqib Talib remains sidelined for putting a funny pill in his Pez dispenser, Joe suspects the Bucs will go to Johnson again in Oakland.

Bucs fans and media are darn good at knee-jerk reactions.

For example, a few weeks ago Joe was fielding calls to oust Josh Freeman and maneuver for Geno Smith.

Hey, Joe’s been guilty before, but Joe thinks he’s far more reasoned than most.

In the category of way-too-early-to-react, ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas is declaring that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik will have to work on the fixing the Bucs’ tight end situation for the third consecutive offseason, so Yasinskas typed during a live chat yesterday.

Justin (Minneapolis) : Is TE tampas greatest need? Clark is done and Stocker has done nothing

Pat Yasinskas: Well, Clark at least has gotten involved a bit the last two games. But they’ll have to address that spot in the offseason. Think defensive backfield also will be an area of heavy emphasis.

Jimminy Christmas! Yasinskas is jumping the gun. For one, Clark is in a radically different offense from what he had in Indianapolis and is coming on in his production. If Clark can be a weapon through the final nine games, Joe sees no reason why he can’t return next season. In that scenario, Clark should be even better in 2013.

As for Stocker, Joe hasn’t put in a lot of homework studying Stocker’s run blocking, but give the kid at least a little time before writing him off. Stocker is lacking what seems to be the necessary quickness to be a premier tight end, but he does have hands and the raw size and strength to be a good blocking tight end.

Joe’s not of the mind that one can make an October call that tight end is an offseason priority for the Bucs.

There were a lot of happy campers in the Bucs locker room this afternoon at One Buc Palace, still basking in the glow of a curb-stomping of the Vikings last night, on the road no less.

Perhaps the happiest of all the Bucs, at least to Joe, was defensive end Da’Quan Bowers. The second-year pro from Clemson had been out of action since May when he suffered an Achilles injury working out at One Buc Palace.

Bowers was pulled off the PUP list last week and activated to the 45-man roster last night before the game, where he logged his first snaps of the 2012 season.

Bowers had hopes of playing last night but as of a week agao had no idea if he could make a go of it; he’s still trying to get in football shape. The decision by Bucs coach Greg Schiano to activate him didn’t come until Thursday afternoon.

“It started early in the week, we talked about it, didn’t make any decisions and to see how it felt in practice,” Bowers said. “So I went through practice [this] week and felt good. I sat down with [Schiano] Wednesday night and we talked about it again on Thursday. I felt comfortable. I got enough reps in practice so we decided to go ahead and give it a try.”

For Bowers, the win over the Vikings means so much more than one win.

“I’m definitely excited to be back on the field, be a part of the action again,” Bowers said. “It’s been a long time.”

Lost a bit in the ecstasy of last night’s Bucs win in Minnesota was the late and still mysterious leg injury to Michael Bennett, who was seen needing help off the field.

This afternoon, the leader of the New Schiano Order said he expects Bennett will be “OK.”

That’s great news. Bennett absolutely is one guy the Bucs are not prepared to lose.

Bennett was walking without any noticeable limp in the locker room Friday afternoon while simultaneously reading from his iPad.

“I just got my [right] ankle twisted up ‘ Bennett said of the game’s final play. “I will be alright.”

A road win on a Thursday night is a surprising feat in the NFL, based on simple facts. But the Bucs blew that theory out of the water by pistol-whipping the Vikings last night.

The most surprised of Americans may have been Marriott-sleeping, cricket-watching, smartphone-censoring, scone-loathing Peter King of Sports Illustrated, who made no secret he was stunned by the Bucs win.

About Last Night …

Well, who saw 37-16, Tampa, coming? Not me. But the one thing that is patently obvious about the way the Bucs play is the emphasis on the run. Greg Schiano is using Doug Martin the way he used Ray Rice at Rutgers. Using a 53 percent-47 percent run-pass ratio, the Bucs ran Martin 29 times and passed to him six times (completing three, including a 64-yard touchdown catch-and-run). Schiano is defying the rest of the league — I have a feeling that’s going to be a recurring theme — by running so much with Martin, but why wouldn’t he? If he’s going to have a quarterback completing 50-something percent of his throws, which Josh Freeman has in each of his last three games, why not move the chains the way your grandfather did?

King makes a salient point, and it’s not his shock at last night’s outcome.

Sooner or later the rookie wall is going to hit Doug Martin and hit him hard. How well he is able to manage that wall will be interesting; some rookies can, some cannot.

It’s one thing to play 12 games in college, quite another to play 20 (including preseason games) with men.

Joe wonders if Bucs coach Greg Schiano has a pitch-count on Martin?

Joe is still geeked from last night’s game, a punch-in-the-face win over the Vikings in their crumbling crib.

It’s as if Joe has had a glass or two of Bushmills. But he hasn’t.

One reason the Bucs fared so well against the Vikings is that the team made history, thanks in large part to Muscle Hamster, Doug Martin.

Consider what the numbers geeks at ESPN dredged up for the Bucs:

Running back Doug Martin carried the load, becoming the first player in Buccaneers history with 135 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards in the same game.

Martin ran for 121 of those yards between the tackles, the second-most by a Buccaneers running back in the last five seasons (LeGarrette Blount had 126 in a game against the Indianapolis Colts last season).

Martin’s 65 yards after contact, between the tackles, are the fifth-most by a rusher this season.

Pretty impressive night for Martin, right? Joe just marveled at Martin’s vision last night. he was patient with his blocks and when there were bodies in front of him, he quickly shifted to the sight of daylight.

Very impressive.

Martin seemed to have turned the corner with performances over the Chiefs and Saints, both lame defenses. Now he sets a team record against one of the better defenses in the NFL, the Vikings?

Joe’s liking what he is seeing. Big time!

The Bucs routinely practice at game speed, even at the expense of gaining more reps at a slower tempo. They drill each other in pads once a week (per the max of league rules), and the entire practice experience is geared toward a gameday performance.

The New Schiano Order Bucs are even graded on hustle in practice. Subpar effort is not tolerated.

All this, per various Bucs players talking to Joe, is what gets them firing on gameday. Yeah, the Bucs are 3-4, but the incessant slow starts to games of the past regime have vanished. This team is ready to play physical football every week.

So it’s all the more exciting, and a great show of maturity, that the Bucs were able to manhandle the Vikings last night without having a normal week of practice. There was no practice in pads. There was no practicing at game tempo. The hours between the Bucs’ loss to New Orleans and flying to Minnesota on Wednesday were about rest and extreme mental preparation.

And the Bucs pulled it off in grand fashion.

Joe points this out because it shouldn’t be discounted. Most teams don’t have the mental toughness to succeed on Thursday Night Football on the road. Hence, the poor records of those team. The Bucs didn’t just win. They were dominant outside of the comfort of their routine.

Joe’s now very confident the Bucs will be ready and unfazed in Oakland in nine days. If the beatable Raiders go down and the Bucs pull to 4-4, Joe will dare to dabble in playoff talk.