The leader of the New Schiano Orders says conditions are ripe for “frustrated” Dallas Clark’s emergence

Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson are ripping the top off NFL defenses.

Their yards-per-catch numbers are stunning. Among receivers with 10 or more receptions, Williams ranks second (22.1 ypc) in the NFL and Jackson ranks fifth (18.5).

This kind of deep threat is going to quickly draw significant attention, says Greg Schiano. And the head coach expects life to change for “frustrated” (Schiano’s word) Dallas Clark.

“I want to get Dallas [Clark] more involved, myself. But you know what, when things are there you take them,” Schiano said on WDAE-AM Monday. “And I think what’s going to happen here soon, there’s going to be a lot more over-the-top coverage, which is what’s natural to happen when guys are making plays down the field. That opens up the middle of the defense. And hopefully Dallas and Luke and all the guys can have a bigger impact in the pass game.”

Schiano went on to say he knows Clark is down on his lack of action.

“I know he’s frustrated,’ Schiano said of Clark. “Heck, he’s been such a productive player for so long. But you wouldn’t be able to tell it by the way he’s acting on the sideline, and in the practice and in the meeting rooms. Certainly, I’m hoping we can get him the ball and he can feel personal satisfaction as well as team satisfaction. But he knows how much he means to this team and how he’s playing a big, big part. It’ll happen. It always does. It goes in cycles.”

Joe also would expect teams to try and take away the deep ball and make Josh Freeman beat them in the short game and over the middle. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a ton of work for Clark.

More over-the-top coverage also plays to strengths of Jackson and Williams. Neither is a one-trick pony, and both are good on slants and short routes.

Not that long ago former Bucs quarterback Shaun King, one of only three quarterbacks to lead the Bucs to an NFC title game, suggested Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman needed a shrink.

In retrospect, there is a pattern developing with Freeman that lends credence to King’s words.

In short, Freeman needs to be hypnotized.

In the first half of games this season, Freeman is Trent Dilfer-like, only to channel his inner Joe Montana in the second half of games, so documents Dan Parr of ProFootballWeekly.com.

What the heck? QB Josh Freeman’s Jekyll-and-Hyde routine in the past couple games cannot be amusing for the Bucs. He has completed only 51 percent of his passes in the first half in the past two games before turning it on in the second half, where he has completed 70 percent of his passes in the same span. Freeman has thrown a TD and two picks in the first half in his last two outings. He has thrown three TDs and no interceptions in the second half over that span. Freeman has to end the emerging pattern of putting forth less than complete games. It works against the Chiefs, but it will not work against good teams.

Pretty striking, huh? But this likely has more to do with gameplans than anything else, and to the point, that Bucs coaches can adjust on the fly that helps Freeman and the Bucs offense.

So, yeah, if Freeman truly needs a shrink, as King advised, then Freeman (and maybe some offensive coaches) need to be hypnotized that the first half is actually the second half, and the second half is still the second half.

The very part-time young running back with a career average of 4.7 yards per carry isn’t pouting. He’s not moaning and getting all diva because of limited work. And his head coach respects that.

The leader of the New Schiano Order offered great praise for LeGarrette Blount yesterday evening during The Greg Schiano Show on WDAE-AM 620.

“Well, I’ll tell you. I think LeGarrette’s shown great maturity in the way he’s handled the whole situation,” Schiano said of Blount of accepting his reduced role. “Certainly, there’s one or two ways you can take it: you can be frustrated and act out, or you can just keep workin’ and be part of the solution. And that’s exactly what he’s been. He’s done some really good things and I look forward to it the rest of the year.”

Joe still shakes his head when thinking of Blount not getting more action. Yeah, it picked up Sunday, but a lot of that was with the Bucs up by three scores in the fourth quarter, “garbage time” as Marv Albert would call it.

But kudos to Blount. He’s running hard, working hard and clearly healthy.

Joe’s not calling a conspiracy here by any stretch off the imagination. But Joe is puzzled why the Bucs and the NFL are not going all out to promote the free game replay of the Bucs-Chiefs game available for the past 36 hours on NFL.com — in glorious HD to those with IP addresses in the Tampa and Orlando markets where the game was not televised.

Joe understands and supports the blackout rule, but if Joe were adopted into Team Glazer, Joe surely would pound the URL of this game video to the Buccaneers’ 600,000 or so followers on Facebook and Twitter, and provide a big ol’ link on the team website. Hell, Joe would even ask the players to fire it out on Twitter.

Last season, NFL.com ran banner ads after blacked out Bucs games promoting a direct link to watch those games free. This season? The banner ads are gone and the link to the blacked out Bucs game is buried deep — real deep. (It’s also only available free for another big handful of hours.)

Joe would encourage everyone to share the link above, including Joe’s media brethren. Exposing a blowout win like this is a public service and can only translate into good things.

Joe hears so many of his media colleagues shouting from rooftops and typing with vigor while calling for the immediate jettisoning of Aqib Talib.

They’re calling Greg Schiano a hypocrite. They demand to know how the New Schiano Order mantra of “Trust, Belief and Accountability” could possibly include suspended Talib’s return in a few weeks. 

Tampa Bay Times columnist/WDAE-AM 620 host Tom Jones even said this morning that Talib’s situation is very simple, “like a dog peeing on the rug,” and that dog needs to be leashed and taken outside otherwise he’ll continue to soil the house.

Joe gets the passion, and Joe wouldn’t cry if Talib is cut tomorrow. Not at all. But Joe hardly believes that Schiano isn’t capable of making Talib “accountable” without cutting him.

Does anyone really believe that’s not possible? If so, Joe’s got magic beans to sell you.

Also, there’s that concept of a clean slate for players that Schiano talked about many times in the offseason. Players’ commitment levels were evaluated to a high standard for more than six months, and then decisions were made on who stayed.

Talib earned a spot in the new family of “Buccaneer Men” and got high marks for his commitment. His slate was clean for this regime. That’s got to mean something and not just be talk.

Yes, Talib has dirtied his slate. But for all Joe knows, Talib’s teammates want him back, his captains want him back, and his coach already has explained how Talib will be made accountable before his return, perhaps a new conditioning test and more, and perhaps Talib will be made to earn his job back if he gets back on the roster.

Again, the concept that Talib can’t be held accountable without getting cut his ludicrous. Holding a teammate, family member or co-worker accountable is rarely about kicking them out of your world.

And then there’s that accountability to fans. Yeah, lots of fans want Talib gone, but that won’t help the Bucs if they need him late in the season, or if Talib is on another team shutting down Mike Williams in a key game. There also are lots of fans that don’t care about the drama and just want to see the best players on the field. Increasing Myron Lewis’ role is not Joe’s idea of “accountability.”

Joe still cares most about winning. Talib is an idiot, yes, but not a sleaze like Jerramy Stevens. For Joe, there’s a big difference there.

Perhaps trying to come back to soon or maybe he’s an incredibly fast healer, defensive end Da’Quan Bowers is scheduled to resume practicing tomorrow, so Bucs coach Greg Schiano explained yesterday, by way of Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times.

The Bucs defensive end ruptured his Achilles tendon during conditioning in May, but on Wednesday he’ll re-join his teammates in practice now that he’s permitted under guidelines governing players on the physically unable to perform list.

Players on PUP cannot practice during the first six weeks of the season. But after that, teams have 21 days in which to decide whether the player is ready to resume practicing. In this case, Bowers already has convinced the Bucs he’s there, coach Greg Schiano said.

“He’ll do some stuff the rest of this week and we’ll just observe and kind of go from there and see how he responds,” Schiano said.

Now generally, an Achilles injury takes a year to fully recover, if not more. Bowers was injured at One Buc Palace during a routine training workout — five months ago.

Granted, just because Bowers is practicing, limited practicing that is, doesn’t mean he will be reinstated to the 53-man roster. The Bucs have until the first week of November to make that decision.

As Joe has written before, the more the Bucs win, Joe believes the chances that Bowers will be reactivated increase; if the Bucs fall out of the playoff race, Bowers’ chances of playing this year decrease.

All things equal, Joe would much rather Bowers sit out this year. An Achilles injury is nothing to monkey around with. Rushing to play a handful of games when thinking of the big picture, well, it’s not worth it.

Announcers and coaches fear saying his last name. Hopefully quarterbacks will fear him, too. He’s Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, Adrian Clayborn’s replacement, who has been solid at right defensive end.

He was in the Chiefs backfield against the run Sunday, and he laid a huge hit on Brady Quinn that would have been a fumble in the old days.

“I thought Daniel played really good football for us. Did his job,” Greg Schiano said today.

Joe caught up with Te’o-Nesheim to see how he feels about his game.

JoeBucsFan.com: You’ve got the starter’s job now. How have you settled into that role and where’s your game at now.

Te’o-Nesheim: I think today was an improvement, but there’s a lot of stuff I need to do, especially on third down getting to the quarterback, being more productive as a pass rusher.

Joe: So you were a 2010 third-round pick in Philadelphia and the Bucs got you off their practice squad last season. Do you feel you just hadn’t caught a break until now?

Te’o-Nesheim: I’m never going to blame me not succeeding on anything but me. I’m just glad to have gotten this opportunity and hope to be productive enough to stay in the spot.

Joe: The Chiefs were the NFL’s No. 2 running team coming in Sunday. Can you talk about how the line played together and executed a great run defense.

Te’o-Nesheim: Just seeing all different guys on the line make tackles for a loss and nice plays, like Gerald [McCoy] and Mike [Bennett] and Roy [Miller] and Gary [Gibson]. It’s such a team effort. People don’t realize how when you play good run defense the wealth is spread to all positions, all depths. Just everyone excecuting their assignments, someone’s got to make the tackle.

Speaking to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club this afternoon from One Buc Palace, Bucs coach Greg Schiano sure kept the door open for the possibility that troubled Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib has played his last game as a member of the Bucs organization.

Talib was slapped with a four-game by the NFL for failing a drug test for banned substances and Talib confessed he had popped Adderall without a prescription (which is an illegal act; buying prescription pills without a prescription).

Pressed by eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune if Talib “with certainty” will return to the lineup once his four-game suspension is lifted, Schiano adamantly said he would be back but passed on the opportunity to say the future transaction was locked in stone.

“He’s going to be back with us. There are no absolutes in anything in this world, right? I may not be back here when he comes back. How do you know? That’s the plan, yes, and we are going to move forward at that point. As I have said in everything, as I say all the time to our team, things change day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month guys. I can’t tell you exactly how things are going to be a month from now. I hope that we have won a bunch of games in a row, that’s one thing I hope. So, yeah, the plan is, yeah, to have him back here with us.

“Look, every decision we make as an organization has one thing in mind and that is what is best for the organization. I guarantee you no one is always right. But I guarantee you every decision we are going to make is strictly for one reason and that it is best for the organization. It’s not just winning. Yeah, that’s what we do, that’s what you do in this league. There are 32 teams and we are all chasing one prize. But when you are part of a community — yeah, there are a lot of things that go into the decision. I can just tell our fans and all the people who care about this is, we are going to do what is best for the organization which is going to be best for everybody. So you will have to just trust us on this one.”

That sure is a qualified answer to Joe. “The plan” is to have Talib back, yet there are no absolutes. Plans, as we all know, can change.

If one is to ascribe motives, this decision on Talib’s immediate future may not be strictly Schiano’s alone to make. It almost smells like the decision will be influenced, or made directly, in an upstairs office at One Buc Palace.

How frightening was the Bucs offense in the first half yesterday? Bradenton Herald columnist Alan Dell suggests it was too unnerving for innocent children to witness; they would have been better off being frightened out of their pants by the local ghouls and goblins who will soon knock on their front doors, and by living-room ambushes of TV commericals warning of the coming annual plague of the non-basketball association.

Dell, however, also marveled at how Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman turned from homely to Cinderella in the second half.

As he has often done this season, Freeman lost his GPS, couldn’t find his receivers and then just forgot about them. Outside of Williams’ TD catch, he completed 4 of 12 passes for 60 yards in the first half.

But Freeman is a smart guy and knows if he wants to remain the Bucs quarterback in the future he needs to take advantage of the talented receiving corps he has at his disposal — weapons such as Williams and Vincent Jackson are precious commodities and Tiquan Underwood, the man Bucs’ head coach Greg Schiano cut not too long ago, is a nice security blanket.

They did a lot to earn a free dinner from their quarterback with big yardage after catches and circus catches.

It sounds simple, almost in a mocking way, to say Freeman should just throw the ball up and let his receivers make plays. The NFL is not backyard football. There’s a little more complexity than just that.

If anything, working with a new coaching staff, a new playbook and a new offense, Freeman needs confidence most of all.

Joe is hopeful the second half yesterday, and the numbers Freeman put up, will buoy his psyche.

Formerly lettuce-bearded Mike Williams — yes, he shaved — spoke loving words yesterday about his suspended teammate, one-time-only-Adderall-user Aqib Talib.

Talib is a true team player 99 percent of the time. And Williams, who is lighting up the NFL as a deep threat this season, credits Talib with three years of regular mentoring.

“Having Talib at practice everyday and working against him and talking about what corners are trying to do, it’s helping me everyday,” Williams told Joe. “He and Ronde, they let me know how to get off of jams, what release I should use, what corners are looking at. If had to grade Talib’s impact on my career, I’d give him a good amount of credit on my career because Talib has been there since Day 1 with me.”

“As a team we gotta fight and get back. We’re here cheering for him. We know he’s got to do his time and whatever. I hope he gets out of his situation cool and gets back.”

Joe realizes loads of fans want Talib cut yesterday, but it’s not going to happen so fast, if at all.

Joe’s confident Talib won’t return in 2013 — he’s a free agent after the season — but Joe wouldn’t ditch Talib just yet. The Bucs might need him down the stretch, and there are other ways to hold Talib accountable for his actions.

Yes, it’s Monday, and that means the very first thing Joe read today — and every Monday of the calendar year — was the must-read piece for football fans of all ages, the words of cricket-loving, Marriott-sleeping, popcorn-munching Peter King of SI.com.

Though the Bucs won Sunday with a strong second half, after an ugly, offensive first half, King pointed out how Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman nearly set up Kansas City with a springboard for an upset with a ghastly interception.

2. I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 6:

a. Bad decision by Josh Freeman, throwing right to Justin Houston with the Bucs headed for a score in the first quarter.

It was a terrible interception and Joe’s groan at the play said it all. It wasn’t just a bad decision by Freeman, who for reasons unknown may not have seen Houston running towards targeted receiver Dallas Clark. Freeman simply floated the pass. Never mind that pass shouldn’t have been thrown to begin with, you can’t float a pass to the sidelines, especially in field goal range.

The Bucs were fortunate it wasn’t a pick-six.

Freeman was shaky in the first half, one-hopping a pass to an open Tiquan Underwood and, with enough time to make an appointment with a dentist, threw to a totally wide open Doug Martin roughly six-inches off the ground.

Freeman rallied in the second half, fortunately. For some reason, it seems Freeman has trouble with short passes. Long passes are in his wheelhouse. Joe can’t say if this is just a quirk in his control or bad footwork or what.

That written, Joe has confidence Mike Sullivan will right Freeman’s ship.

Joe remembers that faction of Bucs fans that wanted to see left tackle Donald Penn kicked to the curb and have the Bucs draft Matt Kalil back in April.

Those fat-haters said Penn had eaten himself out of his bloated contract and was part of the problem.

Joe found that thinking thoroughly ridiculous. And now the slightly slimmer but hardly svelte Penn is back in Pro Bowl form. Just watch the tape from yesterday; Penn played a near perfect game, often up against Chiefs beast Tamba Hali. The Bucs also spent much of yesterday running left behind the twin mountains; Penn and Carl Nicks.

Joe’s a big Penn fan and is glad to see so many haters have been silenced.

Joe’s raising a donut in Penn’s honor.

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Notorious Bucs critic Ian Beckles, who played guard for the Bucs from 1990 to 1996, seems to have become a complete believer in the New Schiano Order’s brand of defense.

Beckles’ words kissed the feet of Schiano during the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 today.

“I don’t know what [Schiano’s] done to turn these guys around so fast after what we saw last year. We can stop the run. Period!” Beckles said.

Beckles went on to rave about the Bucs’ success against an old school, run-committed offense like Kansas City’s, and about Mason Foster, who replaced Beckles’ favorite punching bag, Barrett Ruud.

“Mason Foster is attacking. He’s five times more physical than he was last year. That’s coaching,” Beckles said.

Joe agrees that the Bucs’ run-stuffing transformation has been extraordinary. Hell, the sheer metamorphosis of Roy Miller should get Schiano an ESPY nomination. 

It’s only slightly audible on the game broadcast, but Josh Freeman was showered with hometown boos late in the first half Sunday against the Chiefs.

Freeman had just thrown a third-down, one-hopper that fell short of Tiquan Underwood at the Chiefs’ 21 yard line. The play essentially ended an inconsistent, 5-for-13 first half for Freeman, who tossed a red zone interception on the opening drive and had other rough moments.

Of course, Freeman bounced back for a monster second half, but he still is searching for a complete, 60-minute game.

Joe found the boos interesting, only because they illustrate the growing impatience with Freeman among the Bucs faithful. Fans want to see Freeman be an upper-tier quarterback immediately. The tolerance for mistakes is nearing zero.

Joe sees this as a good thing. There’s no reason not to have high expectations for Freeman. He’s got all the tools, quality weapons, and consistently good protection.

LeGarrette Blount told Joe the Bucs finally got their two-headed rushing attack going in the win over the Chiefs.

Could it be that Bucs fans saw a glimpse of the future yesterday in the Bucs win over the Chiefs? LeGarrette Blount thinks so.

The Bucs’ rushing game seemed to improve. Part of that, Joe believed, was because Blount got more carries than he has all year.

Blount graciously spent time with Joe after the game. He claimed his success Sunday had nothing to do with more touches. Rather, Blount said it was the fact Bucs coach Greg Schiano was determined to use the two-headed monster of a running attack that he has warned Bucs followers he would do since the OTAs.

“It’s not so much as, ‘Give me more carries,’ but we are getting more towards the one-two punch with me and Dougie [Martin] that we have been aiming for,” Blount said of his performace Sunday. “Coach Schiano has told both of us, ‘You can’t win a Super Bowl with just one back.'”

And as he has stressed since the day Martin was drafted, Blount is on the same page with the Bucs and there is no evil competition between him and Martin.

“I am working hard to get to my carries and [Martin] is working hard to keep his carries,” Blount said. “Moving along, hopefully we can get more roles like [the Chiefs win] to both go out there and show what we can do. This is definitely something we are going to work hard for and look forward to doing more often the rest of the season.”

On opening day, Blount was dinged with a neck stinger and, one could assume, had limited carries as a result. But Blount waved off any suggestion that his stinger set him back in playing time.

[Getting hurt] “has nothing to do with it,” Blount said. “Coach Schiano is a smart guy. He makes good decisions on what he sees and what he feels and he has made good decisions so far.”

The Bucs won for just the second time in their last 15 games. Veteran columnist Gary Shelton gives his take on the win in this Tampa Bay Times video.

Here are quotes from various parties of both teams after the Bucs beat the Chiefs this afternoon. Quotes are courtesy of the two teams’ media relations staffs.

GREG SCHIANO

(On limiting Kansas City’s run game)
“I thought, in general, just shutting down the run game that was the challenge. They came in as one of the best running teams in the National Football League. I thought the guys did an incredible job – I think it was something like 2.7 yards per carry. If you can do that in the NFL, you have a chance to really play good defense.”

(On the Tampa Bay defensive performance)
“I think Bill Sheridan and the defensive staff have done a really good job of getting the guys to understand each play is its own entity, and you have to do your job on that play. Today I think our guys really did a good job of executing their jobs. That’s the whole secret with us: if you do your job and 11 pieces add up, it can be a good result.”

(On QB Josh Freeman)
“It’s a big day for our offense and for our team to get back on track. For Josh, especially; I thought he kept his cool throughout the game when things didn’t go well, and I think he did a great job on some of those runs that popped. That was all him. He identified and it wasn’t an easy identification. He identified, changed the play and we hit some nice runs. So not only throwing the ball, (but) it’s that hidden stuff that I think he’s really growing in and becoming a complete quarterback. Sure, there are going to be throws he’s going to wish he had back and things he wished he did differently. It’s a slow process, but he’s getting better.”

(On RB Doug Martin’s big reception)
“I think it was really similar stuff. The one pass he caught and made the big gain on, he was not the primary receiver. I thought that was an excellent job of Josh going, ‘1-2-3, okay, I still got him,’ throw the checkdown, and let Doug do the work. (Doug) had a guy right on him and he made him miss; it’s like a 35-yard gain after that.”

(On finishing the game)
“I think it’s important. I promise you we never relax; the (earlier losses this season) we didn’t finish out (and) we have to learn to do that. This is too simple and people don’t want to hear this, but all it is is staying focused on your job and doing it the whole 60 minutes. I thought our guys did that, but you could hear it on the sideline. It was very, very evident: play this whole game. I’m proud of the guys for doing that.”

(On enjoying the win)
“Very rarely are you 38-10 in any league, so that was a nice way to have a little fun with players. We work so hard and I’m always, ‘on to the next thing and on to the next thing.’ I want to make sure when we do something like this, we do enjoy it a little bit. Tomorrow we will watch the tape and be sick about 1,000 things and have to get it fixed. The nice thing about a one o’clock game is that you actually have a couple hours to enjoy it, then we will get back on and get ready for New Orleans.”

(On the receiving corps)
“Just having Vincent (Jackson) out there helps coverage scheme-wise. But I tell you, Mike (Williams) has done some incredible things with body control. I saw it when we first got here and our coaching staff saw it and said, ‘Well let’s see if it happens in a game.’ It’s happening. Five games it has happened. Mike is an incredible weapon. If they are going to try to take away Vincent then just keep going and all of the sudden Mike makes a few, now you start going to Vincent. That’s a nice ham-and-egg there that you can do. We need to make sure we keep doing that. Then Tiquan (Underwood) makes that big play in the slot, great concentration, that’s a big play in that game. We keep growing at that position and Josh keeps growing, that can be real potent.”

QB JOSH FREEMAN

(On the playmaking ability of his receivers)
“Mike (Williams) is a guy that has been (making plays) since his rookie year. Vincent (Jackson) is a guy that we know is going to make those plays. It’s only my first year with him, but, even then, he’s made so many plays for us. Even Tiquan (Underwood) stepped up and made that play that he did. We have all the faith in the world in those guys. When we get a one-on-one matchup, we like to take advantage.”

(On what he expected from WR Vincent Jackson this season)
“We knew the kind of player Vincent was. You know he’s going to go out and make plays. It’s great to have Vincent, great to have him as a teammate, a fellow captain. He’s a leader and he goes out and he makes play after play on Sundays.”

(On WR Mike Williams’ 62-yard touchdown reception)
“He makes those catches. If you have one-on-one with a DB you just give him a high ball, give him a chance. I can’t say I’ve ever seen or played with a guy with the ball skills like Mike Williams. It doesn’t really matter where you put it, he’s going to find a way to make a play on it.”

(On putting the game away in the fourth quarter)
“I thought it was great to come out and see how we ran the football. I mean, Doug (Martin), LeGarrette (Blount), and the whole offensive line were at their best when we really needed it at the end of the game.”

(On bouncing back from his early interception)
“You can’t let a negative play or a really positive play affect how you approach each snap. You’re going to throw interceptions, it’s the National Football League, but you can’t buy into the, ‘Oh, you threw a pick, now the rest of the game is downhill.’ You just have to play it one play at a time.”

(On how big of a win this is for him personally)
“Nothing anybody says outside of our building has any effect on us. People will say they want to throw the ball deep or they want to run the ball, but we know who we are and you just have to continue to work, continue to prepare like we’ve been preparing, then go out on Sundays and just play. We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the pieces, we just have to go out and play.”

S RONDE BARBER

(On the victory)
“The win is what we want. I think everybody had a little bitter feeling going into the bye week after three straight losses. It wasn’t that we weren’t playing hard, it (was) just that none of our hard work was reaping any rewards for us. We all went in (to this game) with a purpose, came out with a purpose, had a good plan and executed very well, got some turnovers, and won a good football game.”

(On his 78-yard interception return for a touchdown)
“Just two slants, (and) I was covering the inside slant. EJ (Biggers) actually made a great play; he’s gotten the assist on a couple of my interceptions the last couple of years. Give him more credit than me, I just snatched it off the ground before it hit, and then it was a pretty easy 78-yard run from there.”

(On being a statement game)
“We’re not trying to make any statements; we are playing one week at a time. This is our Kansas City season, as Coach (Schiano) likes to say, and we won that one. We’ll look at it tomorrow; see the good things, obviously some bad things in there as well. Get ready for the next season. We’re not gloating – just like we didn’t pout when we lost those other games – we just keep going to work.”

S MARK BARRON

(On his interception)
“I was excited about it. I actually wanted to score with it, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t get my balance and get my head up, but I was happy with it.”

(On being a rookie)
“I feel like I’m getting more and more comfortable with each game I play. That’s going to help me out a great deal, because once I get comfortable, I can play faster, so hopefully I just keep getting better and better as the season goes on.”

(On slowing down Kansas City’s running game)
“It was just execution. Everybody communicated, everybody was on the same page, everybody did their job, and when we execute, we can play like that.”

WR MIKE WILLIAMS

(On his touchdown reception in the first quarter)
“It was just called ‘double go.’ I told Josh, we knew they were going to give us single-high man press coverage. We [have] been saying all week that it’s disrespect towards us. They [are] both good corners, but we still think that’s disrespect towards a receiver when you play single-high man coverage and he [Josh Freeman] called double go and he threw it up.”

(On catching the ball at its highest point)
“That’s just like I’ve been saying my whole career. Every time somebody asks me, man, just put it in the air. I’m not going to fail you, because it’s either going to be incomplete or it’s mine.”

(On his relationship with WR Vincent Jackson)
“It started throughout training camp, us gelling together, us working together. Us realizing both of our strengths and weaknesses [so] that we can go out here and do some damage to some corners out here with some defenses if we work together, and that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

(On Jackson as a teammate)
“It’s great, man. They couldn’t have brought in anybody better. It’s outstanding, I’m glad they got him. He’s an awesome teammate. I hope we play a lot more years with him. He helps me after practice, before practice, before games, in the film room. He changed my game a lot by meeting the mental aspect of the game.”

RB DOUG MARTIN

(On the victory)
“To come out with a victory is awesome. It feels good; we did a good job on special teams, defense, and offense. It was a full team effort.”

(On his long runs)
“The line did a good job on staying on blocks and finishing guys and the holes opened up and sometimes I did my job and made the guy miss. Overall, the offense was just clicking.”

(On G Jamon Meredith)
“He stepped in and played very well. He had a good practice and he’s doing an awesome job. He did a good job staying on blocks and staying low.”

WR TIQUAN UNDERWOOD

(On his 62-yard reception)

“It was a great play by the defender, he got inside and had a great PBU (pass break-up) but fortunately enough, the ball bounced where I could still catch it. I just had good concentration and just tried to make a play for our offense.”

(On the offense)

“Coming into it we knew these guys played a lot of man (coverage) and rightly so, they got some great corners on the outside in (Brandon) Flowers and (Stanford) Routt. Guys stepped up and just made plays today. Josh (Freeman) put the ball where it needed to be and we were executing pretty well throughout the day.”

(On what the offense did well today)

“We know as an offense that, when we’re balanced, we’re pretty tough to stop, and we did that today. We just executed pretty well and the defense helped out giving us the ball. We’re just going to build on top of this victory.”

WR VINCENT JACKSON

(On the offense)

“That’s the way we play, you know what I mean. We are going to take our shots each and every week. You know if we got a one on one matchup we are going to be aggressive. We always talk about being aggressive toward the ball. We may not make every play but we’re going to fight for it and we’ll win our share of battles out there.”

(On his relationship with WR Mike Williams)

“It’s been great. You know, Mike (Williams) has been a professional. He jumped in when I started with the team in March and we came in, sat down and talked, and our relationship has been great. He’s a hard working kid, he wants to be great. We come out each and every day, we make sure we work hard and make each other better. With a guy like Josh there’s no room but to improve and sky’s the limit for us.”

(On how he has helped Williams)

“Probably just focusing on daily routines. Just each and every day, and each and every practice, focus on the small details of your game, whether it’s releases or block-ins, just trying to be a complete receiver.”

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
ROMEO CRENNEL

(Opening remarks)
“We are disappointed about the way we played today and the final outcome. I don’t understand why we played the way we played. We were still in it at half time, but we came out in the second half and couldn’t get anything done. At this point if we keep turning the ball over, keep getting penalties and keep giving up scores like we did on defense, it’s going to be hard to win games. So we got to go see what we can do to try and fix it and that’s all that we can do. We will try to work on it and try to get it fixed, but it was disappointing today, the way we executed. It was not the quarterback’s fault; he came in and he wasn’t as sharp as he would have been if he had plenty of reps, but he wasn’t the cause of it. It was a team effort that screwed things up and we got to fix it as a team.”

(On Tampa Bay S Ronde Barber’s interception)
“We thought that it hit the ground and then bounced up and he caught it, but they couldn’t tell definitely on the replay, so they ruled it as a touchdown.”

(On today’s game)
“We couldn’t make the plays today. That hurt us, but when the talent does what it’s supposed to do, then they perform pretty good. When we don’t do what we are supposed to do, then it hurts us and it hurt us today.”

(On the team’s performance)
“Well, we didn’t take a step forward, you can’t say that. Like I said, until we tighten up the penalties and tighten up the turnovers and execute the way we are supposed to execute, it will be tough.”

(On QB Brady Quinn’s interceptions)
I thought he commanded (the offense) pretty nicely. He wasn’t as sharp with some of his throws as he needs to be. But, like I said, it wasn’t his fault, it was a team thing and everyone was involved in it.”

(On the Kansas City run game)
“The (Tampa Bay) defense made it tougher. But that doesn’t mean we are not going to run the ball, because they are a pretty good run defense. You’ve got to attempt to run and there were some spots we thought we could gain some yards and we weren’t able to gain the yards we felt we could gain.”

QB BRADY QUINN

(Opening remarks)
“Going into today, we felt extremely confident. We knew the task at hand in regard to the running game and (that Tampa Bay) did well at stopping the run. We needed to utilize more outside, which we did at times, but, overall, there wasn’t enough consistency. We continued to stall out and shoot ourselves in the foot. There were, again, turnovers that continue to plague us or penalties.”

(On Tampa Bay S Ronde Barber’s interception)
“I got hit on the play, but thought I put the ball in a good spot. All of the sudden, I looked up and saw him running. It was a tremendous play on his part, and I couldn’t tell on the replay. From my point of view it hit the ground, but he made a great play.”

(On keeping team morale high)
“For me personally, it is going to come down to my faith and belief in each other and ourselves. We put in a lot of work and I think the hardest thing for us right now is when you see plays like (Barber’s interception), where you see a (opportunity) and then it turns into a big play for the other team. At some point the luck is going to turn our way and I think we need to keep believing in ourselves and the tides are going to turn. We’re going to get a win and get on a roll. So it is just a matter of getting that win, getting that feeling again and then moving forward.”

(On the season)
“We’re at where we are at. We can only control each day, one day at a time. I think if we continue to work hard, continue to go to the drawing board, try to do the things we do best, and be competitive, I think we can be a good team. But we can’t continue to stop ourselves. Hats off to Tampa Bay, they played a good game, but we can’t continue to do things that are stopping us out there on the field.”

(On what to continue working on)
“Hopefully we’ll be able to find some things that we can lean on in tough times or tough parts of the game – that’s our go-to, whether it’s an offensive play call or coverage. We just have to find some things that we do best, continue to execute that and find a way to get a win.”

LB EDGAR JONES

(On his touchdown)
“I was surprised. Once I saw (Tampa Bay P Michael Koenen) pick the ball up in the end zone, he looked as if he was running the ball, but he just kind of looked at me and threw it. So, I’ll take it. They had guys downfield. I was even downfield. I was trying to block my guy, but the only reason I turned around was because I heard the fans. So, I turned around and I was thinking he’s just going to run the ball but he just threw the ball to me.”

(On the game)
“All we can do is keep fighting. A crazy day, but that’s the game of football. A lot of things happen. Some things we can control, some things we can’t control. But we just have to keep taking it one day at a time and focus on what we can do to make ourselves better.”

LB DERRICK JOHNSON

(On the overall team performance)
“We didn’t perform well at all. Hopefully we can bounce back. We had won one game; they had won one game. It could’ve been a lot better of a game than it was.”

(On what needs to be improved)
“In general, we just have to play better overall. We were just messing up in everything and we’re not playing like a very good football team right now. So, we got to make changes real soon.”

(On Tampa Bay’s performance)
“They just made more plays than we did. That’s all. They didn’t do anything different than what we had prepared for. They just made more plays. They wanted it more.”

S KENDRICK LEWIS

(On what happened in the second half)
“I can’t tell you what the exact problem is. I’ll just tell you that we have to get better. We’ve got to learn how to play defense for four quarters no matter how the game is going and that’s the bottom line.”

(On how he felt)
“I wouldn’t have gone out there if I didn’t feel comfortable. I put my best foot forward and did what I had to do. There are still some things that we need to correct, need to concentrate on to make ourselves better as a team, and that’s all it’s about, looking at each individual and trying to better ourselves.”

(On the upcoming bye week)
“It’s good. At a time like this we need it. It could not have come at a better time, even though we planned on coming in here and getting a win. Now, we can sit back and reevaluate ourselves and know how to attack the second half of the season.”

WR DEXTER MCCLUSTER

(On the Barber interception)
“It’s just one of those things that happens one (time) in a million and that was the one.”

(On the bounces going against his team lately)
“They’re definitely not going our way. It has been happening to us and there’s nothing we can do about it but just keep fighting. We just hope it will start going in our favor now.”

(On playing in front of friends and family)
“At the end of the day I am home and they did come to support me, but the mission was to come out here and get a win. I’m happy they’re here, they were able to see me, they rarely have the opportunity to, but we didn’t get the win so that’s kind of disappointing.”

CB STANFORD ROUTT

(On the game)
“It’s football, you know what I mean? It is what it is. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you never get down on yourself. It happens. Sometimes you got to go and tip your hat to the other guy.”

(On the season thus far)
“It’s always sunny because there is always another day. We only have one win right now and we have to get our second one. I know the season is not lost.”

DE JAMAL CHARLES

(On the Kansas City running game)
“(Tampa Bay) had a great game plan on trying to stop our run. They were coming for some of them.”

(On the game plan)
“We feel like if we would have stayed in the game plan, feel like we would have got a better chance to win.”

Martin talked about the Bucs gameplan. And Joe wants to know why D.J. Ware gets reps over the rookie.

Doug Martin had a huge catch-and-run for 42 yards today, seen here via NFL.com highlights. (If you want to see how NOT to block, watch the right side of the Bucs’ offensive line, and then compare it to the left side.)

It was a fantastic move and acceleration, and a lot of what Bucs fans envisioned when Martin was drafted in the first round this year.

“It was a turn route, expected outside versus man coverage,” Martin told Joe. “I was manned up and that’s what I did. Josh put it right on me and I was able to make a move and get downfield.”

Joe liked seeing Martin taking tosses and running wide. What a concept! It was all part of the plan for the Chiefs, Martin said.

“It was the game plan. We were addressing outside run plays,” Martin said. “That’s what we wanted to see coming in. LeGarrette and I working inside and outside. Pound the rock.”

Martin says he’s fine running inside or outside, but it’s clear to Joe he’s more dangerous outside the tackles.

While Martin had a couple of dropped passes today, a major no-no of the New Schiano Order, Joe would still like to see Martin get more work.

Why D.J. Ware is in over Martin on third down is a mystery. Joe has heard rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano say repeatedly that Martin is an every-down back. If so, get him on the field. Let the kid get those valuable reps.

When Joe watched so many training camp and preseason practices this summer, there was one player who jumped out repeatedly: Tiquan Underwood.

The former Rutgers (always important) and Patriots wide receiver was making play after play in each practice, and continued to do so in preseason games.

Yet, when the final cuts were made, Joe was flabbergasted to learn Underwood was a causality. Joe just couldn’t believe this and still Joe shakes his head.

Early in the season, Underwood was brought back when Sammie Stroughter went on the injured reserve list and Preston Parker was sent packing.

Underwood showed again today why he is a valuable receiver, and perhaps the Bucs new No. 3 receiver when he fought Chiefs defensive back Kendrick Lewis for a pass that turned into a 62-yard reception.

Underwood spoke about the play, and what it meant to return to the Bucs and play significant roles in games.

“We made plays for [Josh Freeman] today,” Underwood said. “[Lewis] actually tipped it, I was trying to reach for it, we were righting for it, fortunately, I was able to catch it. As receivers, we do a lot of ball drills and with [Bucs receivers coach] P.J. Fleck, we work on a lot of things.

“For me, I just control what I can control, and that is my play. I cannot control who they cut. I can’t control roster moves but I can control my play. I did that in the preseason and I am trying to do that now.”

OK, so Joe isn’t Paul Brown. OK, fine. But it doesn’t take a clockmaker to figure out there was something strange going on in the final moments of the first half of today’s Bucs win against the Chiefs.

When Brady Quinn passed to Shaun Draughn on third down for a modest gain, there was 1:55 left in the half and the Chiefs lined up to punt just inside Bucs territory.

Now’s the time to call a timeout for the Bucs, right? Have a modicum of time to perhaps run a two-minute offense and maybe get a score, right? At the time, the Bucs held a slim four-point lead at 7-3.

But no, Bucs coach Greg Schiano did not call a timeout, instead, watching precious seconds tick off the clock. The clock finally stopped when the Chiefs were hit with a delay of game penalty.

On first down after taking over at their own one-yard line, the Bucs call for a run, and then a timeout. After a timeout, the Bucs run the ball again.

What? Call a timeout to set up a run? Why?

Naturally after the second run, it was the Chiefs, not the Bucs, who were calling timeouts.

It just seemed strange to Joe.

It seems suspended Aqib Talib will be welcomed back to One Buc Palace when his four-game suspension is finished in three weeks, following the Bucs-Raiders game in Oakland.

Various Bucs Joe talked to about Talib today didn’t let on any vibe that Talib is a goner, a soon-to-be excommunicated Buccaneer Man. The leader of the New Schiano Order even gave a vote of confidence for Talib.

“When he gets back, then we go with him,” Schiano said after the Bucs win against the Chiefs.

Schiano went on to praise E.J. Biggers and said the secondary didn’t miss a beat, before explaining he expects Talib to be ready.

When Aqib’s suspension is up, I really believe he’ll work hard and be ready, and then we’ll go from there,” Schiano said

Joe knows most fans view Talib as a pill-popping waste of talent who has gotten far too many chances. Joe wouldn’t cry if Talib is, in fact, cut soon. But Joe has no problem if the Bucs play wait-and-see with Talib and keep him on the roster for a while.

There are other ways to make players “accountable” other than cutting them. It’s crazy to talk playoffs, but the Bucs have no business cutting Talib this season if they’re in the hunt for a playoff spot when he returns.

Make Talib re-pass the dreaded conditioning test. Make him re-earn his spot. But don’t cut him to prove a point when you don’t have  to. The Bucs might need Talib’s services down the stretch. And that’s accountability to the fans who want to see winning football first and foremost.