Bucs icon Ronde Barber was not a happy man after the humiliating loss to the heinous Eagles today.

Interestingly, Barber said the Bucs don’t have what it takes in the secondary. That’s no surprise, but it was surprising to hear from Barber.

“Guys gotta step up and do their jobs better than the guys across from you. To be very frank we haven’t done that. You want to hear reasons for it? I don’t care to get into them.We’re not good enough right now, especially on the back end, to win games like this,” Barber said.

Perhaps Barber was flashing some bitterness toward Eric Wright and Aqib Talib? That’s just Joe speculating.

Barber went on to cite lapses in coverage in the secondary and said the Bucs were outplayed by a rookie quarterback.

Joe hopes this losing streak isn’t helping push Barber toward retirement.

The hope and promise of the proverbial “next year” is the only thing soothing Joe right now following the heinous debacle against the Eagles and their rookie quarterback before a packed house in Tampa today. And what’s intriguing about 2013 is how the Bucs will approach their defensive line.

Michael Bennett, with two sacks today, has nine on the season. Bennett plays the run like a beast. And Bennett rushes inside and outside — one of his sacks was off an inside rush today — and he only turned 27 a few weeks ago.

Translation: Bennett is adding bags full of money to his inevitable unrestricted free agent contract coming after this season.

Joe doesn’t know of any effective, young pass rusher who doesn’t get paid big bucks in free agency. Then throw in the versatility in Bennett’s game, and he’s going to be in demand when the free agency whistle blows in March.

Will the Bucs invest heavily in Bennett? Joe doesn’t see how they have any other choice, unless they’re going to use one of their prime draft picks, which improve weekly. He’s the best of the Bowers-Clayborn-Bennett trifecta.

Bucs coaches say they have confidence in their quarterback, and they pay one of the best and biggest wide receivers in the NFL an eight-figure salary. Then why the hell did the Bucs play chicken crap football at the end of the game?

It was 3rd-and-8 on the Bucs’ 33 yard line with 2:55 left in the game, and Mike Sullivan, or more likely Greg Schiano, opts to run Doug Martin up the middle.

C’mon. Throw the damn ball!

What was the rationale there Coach? To set up your award-winning secondary to win the game for you? The Bucs have weapons all over the field, and running up the gut was wasting every last one of them.

The Bucs punted and never got the ball back. Game over.

Joe was somewhat soothed to hear former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht on the Buccaneers Radio Network hating that call after the game. Joe didn’t feel alone in his anger.

That’s just weak football, and it tells Joe the head coach isn’t as confident in his quarterback as he states publicly.

A handful of minutes after the Bucs coughed up a win to the hapless Eagles on the last play of the game, all but cementing yet another season without a playoff win, much less a playoff appearance, Bucs offensive lineman Jeremy Zuttah seemed to sum everything up in one sentence after the game.

“We had a chance to close out the game and we shot ourselves in the foot,” Zuttah said.

Joe knows specifically what Zuttah was talking about. With 2nd-and-7 on the Bucs-24 with just over three minutes left, Ted Larsen was called for holding, essentially killing the drive.

Just because Kenyatta Walker was in the house for the Bucs 2002 Super Bowl reunion doesn’t mean the Bucs needed to get whistled for holding, especially at that moment.

But it wasn’t just that episode. When the Eagles got the ball back, the Bucs were busted for 12 men on the field when Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was spiking the ball. What in the world are you trying to change defenses for at that moment?

The Bucs were also nailed for defensive holding on that fateful drive.

For the Bucs to make the playoffs next year (or beyond), they will have to learn how to put away their toy guns in order to not make the silly mistakes that can easily turn a playoff team into an also-ran in close games in December.

“Get Smart” was a great TV show, but playing Maxwell Smart in football games is rather dumb.

Bucs corner Danny Gorrer falls to his knees after the Eagles beat the Bucs on the last play of the game.

The Eagles were marching and, sadly, Bucs fans had seen this too many times on the very same piece of real estate — at the very same end of the field earlier this season.

Philadelphia was moving the ball on a must-convert drive in order to win in the final seconds. As any Bucs fan should have expected, the Bucs’ secondary was struggling.

Then, rookie third-round pick quarterback Nick Foles threw down the middle on third down trying to hit Marvin McNutt. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Bucs cornerback Danny Gorrer jumped in front of the pass and had the ball in his gut, but couldn’t hang on.

If he did, game over, Bucs win and the playoffs are still alive.

Instead, three plays later, the Eagles win on a touchdown pass on the game’s final play and the Bucs, again, will be watching the playoffs on TV just like the rest of us.

Gorrer was a destroyed soul after the game, all but placing the loss on his shoulders.

“What I saw, I got excited and as I said earlier, the great corners in this game make those plays and get the team off the field,” Gorrer said. “If I want to be a leader, and be great, I have to make that play.”

It was Eagles ball, fourth-and-five from the Bucs 23. Some 16 seconds left. It was do-or-die for the Eagles. The Bucs make a stop, and the win is theirs.

Instead, quarterback Nick Foles, a rookie third-round draft pick, looked far more the franchise quarterback than his counterpart for the Bucs. He stood tall in pressure and connected down the middle for a 22-yard gain to Jason Avant.

We all know what happened after that. Touchdown, ballgame, see ya, playoffs.

In Michael Bennett’s eyes, that play should have never have been completed.

“That sprint out play, that is the play we practiced,” Bennett said in a mausoleum-like Bucs locker room after the game. “We went over that play several times this weekend. We should have been ready for it. We had to make one more play. That is their No. 1 go-to play. And we had to have it.

“We studied that play. We should have made the play.”

Put away your calculators and your hopes. The Bucs’ shot at the playoffs is gone.

Dallas, Washington and Minnesota all rose to the occasion today and won to move their records to 7-6, while the Bucs fell to 6-7. Dallas and Washington both have the key head-to-head tiebreaker edge on the Bucs and better conference records, also a potential critical tiebreaker. And they play each other later this season.

The Rams at 6-6-1 even leapfrogged the Bucs, and at the time of this post, Seattle is clobbering Arizona.

The Bucs need an absolute miracle to get in to the playoffs with a 9-7 record. But that would mean running the table in New Orleans, home for St. Louis and at Atlanta — and that would be a bigger miracle at this point.

One reason the Bucs are fond of saying it is all about No. 5, and wanting to get all the toys for No. 5, is to find out if Josh Freeman will be the long-term solution for the Bucs the rest of the decade.

After nearly three full years as a starter, right now Joe dosn’t know if Freeman is “the guy.”

At times, Freeman is spectacular, as he has shown in many games this year, and a few times during the 2010 season.

Then there was last season … and too many times this season, even when surrounded by Pro Bowl skill players.

Today was a shock to the system that demonstrates Freeman has quite a ways to go before his name can be spoken among the game’s elite, much less being able to lead a team to the playoffs.

Last week, Freeman got rattled by Von Miller and vanished for a good quarter of play, maybe longer, which allowed the Broncos to rally and win. Today, Freeman couldn’t hit the proverbial Tampa Bay if he fell out of a boat, one-hopping passes and generally missing targets by a disturbing margin.

On top of that, Freeman wasn’t making the smartest of decisions either. Why Freeman chose to check down to D.J. Ware who was covered like a blanket for a seven-yard loss of a reception (to be fair, Ware should have dropped the pass) rather than just throwing the ball away is a mystery.

Simply put, this shouldn’t be happening to such a talented quarterback with so many starts under his belt.

For a moment, Joe thought Josh Johnson was the Bucs quarterback, not Josh Freeman.

Then there is Nick Foles, the Eagles rookie quarterback making his fifth career start, a third-round pick from the noted quarterback factory of the University of Arizona. Foles, under pressure, delivered passes today, on the money, exactly the opposite of Freeman under pressure. In Joe’s eyes, Freeman crumbles under pressure far, far too often.

And when the Bucs offense only needed two first downs to seal the game, Freeman couldn’t get the offense to do even that. Then the ball was turned over after a punt to the Eagles and Joe is convinced, with the Bucs’ embattled secondary, every person at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway knew what was coming.

To be blunt, Joe doesn’t know what the Bucs have at quarterback other than a talented, gifted, inconsistent signal-caller that doesn’t seem to have the ability to overcome adversity consistently.

Is Freeman the long-term answer? Joe can’t answer that. Can Freeman lead the Bucs to the playoffs? He hasn’t been able to yet, even with a closet full of toys.

With games like this from Freeman, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has more and more bargaining power when/if it’s time to extend Freeman’s contract after it expires following the 2013 season.

Barring some miracle, Bucs fans will now endure 10 years and counting without a playoff victory.

Thank you Jeremy Zuttah.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network after today’s embarrassment to the Eagles, the Bucs’ left guard said there was “no excuse” for the Bucs’ ugly performance on offense in the first half. Zuttah was clear that getting shutout in the first 30 minutes was unacceptable and puzzling.

Frankly, there was no excuse. But there are reasons, from bad handoff exchanges to high throws to Josh Freeman passing on open running lanes for himself to not looking like a hungry playoff team.

What’s scary to Joe is the Bucs likely will have to score 35 points to win next week in New Orleans. Joe certainly wouldn’t touch that bet right now.

The Bucs got spanked by a rookie quarterback and a crappy Eagles team.

Joe can’t sugarcoat this garbage outcome to a garbage team.

For the first time this season, the Bucs started a game slowly, blanked by a lousy defense in the first half behind ugly quarterback play by Josh Freeman. That’s two straight clunkers by No. 5.

The Bucs rallied back but couldn’t keep away from dumb penalties, 12 men on the field — didn’t that happen twice last week? — and couldn’t make a play when they needed one. Danny Gorrer will be kicking himself for a long time.

The Bucs are a talented football team that is now a losing football team, and one that has a lot to prove to its fans in these final three games. The Bucs were a good team a few weeks ago, but not anymore.

Happy football day boys and girls and welcome to Bucs Super Bowl Reunion Day. Joe already saw Warren Sapp on the sidelines wearing his No. 99 jersey doing a spot for the NFL Network.

Fans here at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway are geeked for this game. The Beagles stink and the greatest Bucs team to ever take a field is back, along with Chucky.

So this will be fun. Bucs need a win or Joe will start worrying about the draft. Feel free to share your thoughts on the game.

Yes, the Bucs have released the weekly “Michael Smith list,” and as usual each and every week this season, running back Michael is inactive.

So too is starting defensive tackle Roy Miller.

Here is the full list of Bucs inactives, per the Bucs official Twitter feed.

DT Roy Miller

CB LeQuan Lewis

RB Michael Smith

LB Najee Goode

WR David Douglas

WR David Gilreath

DT Matthew Masifilo.

Week 14

Eagles at Bucs

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13. DirecTV Channel 708.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); SiriusXM Channel 84.

Weather: Per AccuWeather.com, the morning fog and overcast skies should clear by kickoff and the day should turn into a beautiful west Florida December afternoon. Expect the game to be played under sunny skies with a kickoff temperature of 80 with virtually no wind. The temperature will gradually drop in the second half to about 76 at game’s end. Simply a perfect day to honor the 2002 Super Bowl champs.

Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs -7.5

Outlook: It has come to this: If the Bucs hope to be playing playoff football come January, they pretty much have to run the table, which begins today against the Beagles. While Joe gets what Gerald McCoy told him this week, “This is the NFL; You never have a cakewalk,” a playoff team should pounce on the Beagles, a team in disarray and freefalling, losing eight in a row, putting coach Andy Reid firmly on the hot seat. Another reason the Bucs need to hammer the Eagles is that rookie quarterback Nick Foles is making his fifth start. A team hoping to be in the playoffs cannot, simply cannot lose to a rookie quarterback at home. Today, Joe is guessing Doug Martin gets back on track. While he had rough sledding last week against Denver (combine struggling interior blocking with a talented defense, and that is usually the result), the Eagles are soft up the middle. Joe believes this game is as simple as getting Martin rolling. If he racks up 150 yards, the Bucs should have this game in hand.

Know the enemy: Here are quotes from Eagles coach Andy Reid and quarterback Nick Foles on the Bucs:

Andy Reid: “I knew quite a bit about Greg Schiano. He coached right up the street here. He had taken a Rutgers program and changed it around, a whole team, a whole culture around. I’ve had great admiration for him. I think he is a heck of a football coach and I didn’t think of anything less than when he went to Tampa Bay. I thought he would bring great energy to that organization. … (On 2002 Bucs) Yeah, [Ronde Barber] got us. He was heck of a player then, he’s still a heck of a player. He switched position which is a tribute of his ability to adapt to a couple of different positions which is mark of a good football player. I have a lot of respect for him and I have a lot of respect for Jon Gruden who is a friend. I am happy for him. I can’t tell you that I am excited to see that whole group again. When I see John Lynch I get upset but he is also a great person and a great kid. They had a good football team. Beat us fair and square. Wish it didn’t happen but it did. I’m glad they have a chance to honor that group. … (On Bucs defense): Listen, they have young players that are all working together to get better. I think they have a real good group, a nucleus, for the future on the defensive side. On the offensive side, they built this thing around Josh and added Doug to the mix. Josh is playing good football and they have a good offensive line, one of the best offensive lines I think going. He has those big receivers that he loves throwing to and rightly so. They have a good group of players and they are playing well.”

Nick Foles: “[Starting in the NFL] it is fast but the more you play it, it is football. (On Bucs defense:) They are very talented group. I mean, you have Barber back there who has been in the league a very long time. They have a very strong defensive line. They are a very talented defense. I just have to execute to the best of my ability and call the right plays. The NFL is football all day. It’s your job. In college you have to go to class and do papers and study for class.”

Joe’s been a bit surprised he hasn’t heard Malcolm Glazer’s name mentioned amid all the endless hype surrounding today’s 10-year anniversary celebration of the 2002 Super Bowl champion Buccaneers.

Say what you want about the elder Glazer, who’s been about of the public eye for years because of serious health issues, it was his winning-is-everything mentality that drove the Bucs’ glory years.

Essentially, Glazer bought the team in 1995 and went all out to build a winner from arguably the worst-run franchise in professional sports.

He chased big-name coaches, strong-armed the community to build a stadium, and spent gobs of money on payroll and wasn’t satisfied with merely being a lasting contender. A title was the primary goal, and the historic future-mortgaging ransoms paid for Keyshawn Johnson and Jon Gruden (four first-round picks and two second-round picks) were evidence that Glazer would pay any price. As Raheem Morris might say, “Glazer took his underwear off, put on his big boy pads, and put his face on people.”

Glazer intentionally shunned the limelight but was greatly involved. Consider these St. Pete Times quotes from Chucky and Rich McKay back in ’04.

“The reality is he’s very much with his sons on top of the everyday goings on here,” Gruden said. “I’m not just talking about the X’s and O’s. I’m talking about player personnel, the facility, every aspect of the organization.”

Rich McKay, the Bucs’ general manager from 1995 to 2003 who now holds the same job with the Atlanta Falcons, said Glazer does not micromanage. “He states his expectations and does it in a simplistic manner. You know what results he wants. … He told me the big picture and you run with it.”

Joe just felt, given how much the founder of Team Glazer has been ignored this week, that it was important to remember his contribution to the title.

Many times when an NFL team puts in a rookie quarterback who was drafted in the third round, it is panic time.

The Bucs don’t see that with Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles, the rookie from Arizona. Especially linebacker Mason Foster.

When Joe asked Foster whether he was looking forward to helping baptize a rookie into the NFL, Foster quickly shook his head and advise Joe not to disparage Foles.

“Not really,” Foster said when asked if he was excited about facing a rookie quarterback. “A lot of times, a coach will put a guy in there because he is well-rounded and he can make a lot of plays for a team.”

That’s partially Foles is playing. Sure, Michael Vick, dangerous as he is, is dinged up, but Vick was playing sloppy with too many turnovers.

So far, Foles has handled himself well. In four games, Foles has completed 60 percent of his passes but does have one more pick (three) than touchdowns thrown (two).

The one thing that will help the Bucs is Foles is not a runner. He’s a classic, NFL dropback quarterback. He’ll only run as a last resort, unlike Vick who was at risk of taking off on just about any snap.

Hopefully, with Foles being a pocket passer, the Bucs’ front defensive line will be able to key in on him more and put pressure in his face.

Joe will take his chances with a rookie making his fifth start over a dangerous guy like Vick.

“The Eagles are a really good team,” Foster said. “Their record may not show it but they have players and playmakers. It will be a challenge.”

The Bucs find themselves in a pinch as we countdown the hours to kickoff of the Eagles-Bucs game. Simply put, if the Bucs lose another game, it’s time to start breaking down cornerbacks in next spring’s draft.

Oh, don’t worry. The Bucs are aware of this all too well. Joe got a chance to talk to right tackle Demar Dotson last week about the Eagles.

“They play real hard, they play tough, their record doesn’t show how hard they play. They get up the field with two inside guys really good and Trent Cole is good. Then you have Andy Reid one of the best coaches. They will fight to the end.

“We have to get back rolling. It is do or die time. We have to get a streak going.”

As Joe stated before, it’s hard to believe the Bucs can suffer another loss and be playing in January. Yes, the Eagles are talented; they also stink. You are what your record says you are.

Time to man up and do the 2002 champions proud while they are in your house.

This is a cool video. Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb (remember him, Ronde?) talks about the Bucs offense. McNabb seems frightened by a certain running back he constantly refers to as “The Muscle Hamster” in this CSNPhilly.com video.

After watching this video from the “Playbook” team at NFL Network, it’s almost in double digits now how many experts Joe’s heard claim that the Eagles defense has quit on the 2012 season.

This time, Brian Baldinger, Sterling Sharpe and Donovan McNabb show the alleged quit in the Eagles on film and on the stat sheet. Baldinger is adamant the Eagles have quit, and McNabb calls the Philly defense “non-effort and non-effective.”

Every sign points to the Bucs lighting up the scoreboard tomorrow. If Josh Freeman can play consistent football, this game should be a laugher by late in the third quarter. There’s just no reason to believe the Eagles should be able to slow down the Bucs.

Rice ripped off sacks like few others in the history of the game, and definitely was among the unique NFL characters of all-time. “I was unblockable,” Rice said today recollecting the 2002 Super Bowl champs.

Who else starts an interview with “What’s up playboy? What’s good?” That’s how wild, wacky, intelligent and football-nasty former Bucs defensive end Simeon Rice opened an interview with J.P. Peterson on WDAE-AM 620 this afternoon.

Rice is always a fun and intelligent listen. Asked who tried to block him during the Super Bowl, Rice said, “It was a white guy.” … “I’m one of those people who compartmentalize. I move forward. So a lot of that, it’s a blur now. Like some guys remember everything. Me, I went out there. I wanted to make a point. I wanted to show I was the best defensive end in the game. I played that way. I trained that way.”

Rice went on to say he put away his Super Bowl ring when he got it and hasn’t touched it since.

Enjoy Rice and Peterson below.

Former NFLer Brian Westbrook breaks down the attributes and faults of talented Eagles rookies quarterback Nick Foles and running back Bryce Brown in this CSNPhilly.com video.

Say what you want about Michael Vick, but the guy has played in a couple of playoff games, even once beat the mighty Green Bay Packers in a January game at Lambeau Field, a rare feat.

So when Joe got a chance to speak with Bucs defensive end Da’Quan Bowers earlier this week, Joe did a double-take when Bowers waxed poetic about Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, a rookie from Arizona, who has supplanted Vick as the Eagles signal-caller.

“Noles is just as good as Vick is,” Bowers said without blinking. “He doesn’t have the footspeed Vick has but throwing-wise, and mechanics-wise, he is just as good as Vick. He presents a challenge.

“We will have to bring our A-game.”

It is hard to believe Bowers would say this about a rookie. But Bowers explained to Joe that Foles isn’t playing like a rookie, thus he should be respected.

“That rookie is like a second- or third-year player in the NFL,” Bowers said. “He’s starting for a reason.”