Eric Wright’s career with the Bucs could be turned upside down after being slapped with a four-game suspension by the NFL.

It’s is very possible that troubled Bucs cornerback Eric Wright has played his last game with the Bucs.

It seems that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has a nice little clause written in wright’s contract, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com that if Wright was popped for PED’s — he was nailed for taking Adderall — the Bucs could release him after the 2012 season and his two-year contract with the Bucs would be null and void.

In short, the Bucs would be released from owing Wright some $7.75 million next year that was previously guaranteed.

Wright, per Schefter, appealed his positive test for Adderall claiming he had misplaced the medical paperwork. Joe calls that nonsense. Doctors — at least those practicing with a license — keep accurate records of everything they give to patients. Everything.

If Wright misplaced the paperwork, all he had to do was get another copy of said paperwork from his doctor’s office, simple as that. Unless said (ahem) doctor doesn’t have a license to distribute prescription medications.

Granted, Wright’s suspension is four games, four crucial games, and he is eligible to return for the Bucs season finale against Atlanta. But if the Bucs are out of the playoffs at that time, what’s the point?

Below is Wright’s written statement concerning the suspension released by the Bucs, via TBO.com.

“This is a result of taking Adderall at the end of July for health issues I was experiencing,” Wright said in written statement released by the team. “I am extremely disappointed that the suspension was upheld at my appeal.”

“I apologize to the Glazer family, General Manager Mark Dominik, Coach Schiano and the entire Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, my teammates, our great fans and my family, who have stood by me through this entire process. I will continue to prepare myself and look forward to rejoining the team.”

Lots of Bucs fans, not Joe, had issues with the Bucs attempting a 56 yard field goal on 4th-and-7 at the Falcons 38-yard line trailing by one point with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the game yesterday.

Joe’s read lots of comments — and heard the sports radio chatter — saying that the Bucs should have gone for the first down rather than kick.

Well, it turns out, going for it on fourth down was Greg Schiano’s third option, so the coach strongly implied on The Greg Schiano Show tonight on WDAE-AM 620.

Schiano was asked about the decision-making by a caller, and Schiano responded by only talking about the option to punt or kick the field goal on that play and then Schiano was finished with the caller. Host TJ Rives followed up by asking Schiano about whether he considered going for the first down.

“You know, what I try to do is look at all the options, so certainly it was considered, but (laughs) not for very long. I didn’t think that was one of the better ones,” Schiano said of potentially going for it on that fourth down.

This answer by Schiano was surprising, especially the little chuckle from the head coach at the idea of going for the first down.

Joe was all on board with the field goal attempt in that spot, but a punt from the 38 yard line? That would not have been playing to the Bucs’ strengths or playing to win. How punting could have been the second option ahead of Freeman dropping back to pass, Joe will never know.

Thankfully, that punt never happened and Joe was spared a Maalox moment.

Ronde Barber also was guilty on the same play

Joe hates loafs, especially after serial loafer Sean Jones treated Bucs fans to far too many.

So since last year’s heinous 10-game losing streak, Joe has been particular sensitive to loafing. And, through Joe’s eyes, there was an ugly one committed yesterday by Leonard Johnson. (Here’s the video.) The loaf was clear as day in person but less so on the video.

Johnson was beaten deep by Julio Jones and then Jones broke Johnson’s attempted tackle en route to the end zone. OK, stuff happens. However, Johnson gets up after the missed tackle and doesn’t hustle after Jones streaking for the end zone.

In Joe’s mind, not only should Johnson have finished the play hard. He especially should be doing that after getting beaten — twice. Joe’s confident Johnson heard about it during film sessions at One Buc Palace today.

Yeah, Joe knows some fans will think Joe’s an ass for writing about this, but Joe’s all on board with the New Schiano Order. Joe’s not tolerating any loafs.

*Update: Upon further review, Ronde Barber also loafs badly on this play. Joe hadn’t noticed previously since Joe was dialed in on Johnson’s effort after first noticing Johnson’s loaf while viewing the game from the press box.

Wait a minute. Last week Eric Wright said he had no idea why he might not be available to play for the Bucs this season.

Well, it seems Wright either was in need of an Adderall or a shot of espresso when he commented on his availability before Joe and Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune. Or Wright just wasn’t up to speed on the happenings at Roger Goodell’s New York palace.

Today the Bucs announced that Wright will be suspended for four games. It’s presumably for violating the NFL substance abuse policy. Jay Glazer of FOX reported several weeks ago that Wright would be suspended for testing positive for the stimulant without league permission for using the drug. 

Joe actually wouldn’t be surprised if Wright was somewhat clueless on his pending trouble with the NFL. Joe’s known plenty of southern California types like Wright that are so laid back they don’t care about what’s going on if it’s not right in front of them.

There were times yesterday Matty Ice could have finished a crossword puzzle before a Bucs defensive lineman laid a finger on him.

There were a lot of things to point to for the Bucs dropping a completely winnable game against the Dixie Chicks yesterday. Leaving points on the field, missing receivers who stood alone in their own zip codes, missed field goals… Joe could go on.

But what is developing on this sad Monday is the narrative that the Bucs’ defensive line hung the Bucs’ subpar corners out to dry.

We’ve heard this from two prominent sports voices in the area and now columnists are picking up the mantle such as Alan Dell.

The Bradenton Herald scribe takes the defensive line out for a verbal lashing of sorts, claiming when the Bucs needed the defensive front perhaps more than in any other game this season, they were ghosts.

The Bucs can talk all day about how they are the better team and the Falcons made one or two plays more, but that was not the case. When three of your four leading tacklers are defensive backs — as it was for Tampa Bay on this day — that’s a problem.

The Bucs front four did a disappearing act. Gerald McCoy didn’t have a tackle, and Michael Bennett, who has been their best in the trenches this year, had one.

Dell has a point. A team can get away with having undrafted free agents and guys off the street (Danny Gorrer?) guarding the likes of Julio Jones and Roddy White so long as your defensive front is bruising Matty Ice regularly.

If your defensive line is playing patty-cake with the Dixie Chicks offensive line, and you are scraping the NFL barrel for warm bodies to play corner, then you are basically turning the game into a glorified, high-paid seven-on-seven flag football track meet that rarely ends in your favor.

In one of the rare times Matty Ice felt the breath of a Bucs defender, it came from a blitzing corner. The Bucs must have better results from the defensive line for any postseason dreams to come true.

The Bucs are in a battle for their playoff lives after giving a game away yesterday to the Dixie Chicks. Joe wondered if Bucs coach Greg Schiano did his best Dennis Green impersonation inside the walls of the Bucs locker room prior to the doors being flung open for the pen and mic club?

Well, this morning, college football-ignorant, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, seemed to have conflicting thoughts in his must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback.”

In one element of his column, King believes the Bucs will be squeezed out of a Wild Card berth by the Packers and Redskins, and on the very same page he writes how he senses the Bucs are on the cusp of beginning a roll that may just end in New Orleans in February as he ranked the Bucs the ninth-best team in the NFL.

9. Tampa Bay (6-5). The more I see the Bucs, the more I think they might do what the Giants of 2007 or 2011 did — get hot late and get on a January run that could take them very far. Not saying I think this will happen. Just saying it wouldn’t surprise me if the Bucs were the NFC’s sixth seed and made some big noise.

Joe sort of gets where King is coming from, but there’s a big difference.

Sure, in recent history, teams have gone to the Super Bowl with woeful secondaries. While the Bucs are average to solid with safeties (Mark Barron still struggles in pass defense and Ronde Barber is playing at a Pro Bowl-level in his first year as a safety), without Eric Wright the cornerback position is frightful (though E.J. Biggers may have had his best game yesterday).

Also, said teams which have gone far in the postseason with weak secondaries usually had a scary front line. The Bucs do not have that. There were only a few times yesterday where Matty Ice, not fleet of foot, heard footsteps from the Bucs and one of those few times those footsteps came from a blitzing corner (Biggers).

That’s borderline unacceptable.

If the Bucs are going to make a postseason run to the French Quarter, the Bucs’ defensive line is going to have to transform, and transform in a hurry.

There’s just no way to believe the Bucs will make a January run for the ages if the defensive line lets the Bucs’ depleted corners hang out to dry like yesterday.

Times columinst and 98.7 FM co-host Gary Shelton fired a sharp arrow at the Bucs’ defensive ends

Veteran Tampa Bay Times scribe Gary Shelton, also of Gary and The Commish on 98.7 FM, sang a sky-is-falling, unrehearsed duet this morning with former Bucs guard Ian Beckles. 

Both voiced over-the-top radio shots at the Bucs’ defensive line. Shelton targeted the defensive ends, saying, “It’s a tough question when you ask whether your DE’s are worse than your corners.”

Considering the Bucs’ healthy cornerbacks yesterday are clearly a bottom-tier NFL bunch, Joe calls that comment a sharp dagger. And Shelton followed up to clarify his position on the DEs, “They’re that bad.”

Hmmm, Joe suspects Shelton will be quite stunned when he sees the money Michael Bennett commands in free agency this offseason, money the Bucs would be wise to shell out.

Yes, the Bucs’ defensive line didn’t get the greatest grades yesterday, but Joe thinks Shelton and Beckles are going way overboard.

In addition to his first rant Joe referenced earlier, Beckles went on to hammer Gerald McCoy. Beckles is appalled that McCoy has only 20 tackles in 11 games, “You’re the leader of the team. Got hit the quarterback,” Beckles bellowed.

Beckles also went on to say former Bucs defensive end “Steve White was better than Gerald McCoy.” The take was not a knock on White, just a comment that guys drafted far below McCoy with far smaller salaries were more valuable that McCoy. Of course, this is bizarre consdering White was a DE and McCoy is a DT.

Joe finds the Shelton and Beckles takes completely wacky in this case, and Joe finds himself saddened that tens of thousands of their listeners surely took it as gospel.

Prim Siripipat and Cris Carter take a closer look at the Bucs’ one-point loss to the Dixie Chicks in this ESPN video.

The forked tongue of former Bucs guard Ian Beckles began jabbing the Bucs defensive line this morning during the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620.

Beckles called Matt Ryan “the most comfortable quarterback of the weekend,” and Beckles remains perplexed as to why Gerald McCoy and friends can’t generate more pressure.

Beckles used hyperbole (or he missed parts of the game) saying not one defensive linemen upset Falcons QB Matt Ryan all day yesterday. But inaccuracy aside, his point was clear and accurate; the Bucs D-line had a substandard day.

Joe dove into the same point yesterday. Despite all the wacky line stunts and the unthinkable two-man rush on third down that aren’t their fault, the Bucs defensive line didn’t win overall in the trenches. Michael Bennett wasn’t very much contained, and McCoy and Roy Miller are playing at least a quarter-notch below what they were earlier in the 2012 season.

Regardless, the Bucs defense did enough to win yesterday against the high-powered Falcons. It was the Bucs offense that left an awful lot of points on the field.

Joe’s posting this photo because it gives a good look at the crowd in the upper decks.

Joe thought there might be a bigger crowd yesterday for the Bucs-Falcons game. And Joe’s logic was simple. On Dec. 5, 2010, when the two teams squared off for a game in Tampa with similar playoff implications and team records, attendance was 53,955.

Yesterday’s number was announced at only 85 more fans, 54,440. Joe supposes that could be considered progress, but it’s certainly not much. For Joe, that shows there are bigger factors at play than fans not believing in a head coach (Raheem Morris) or the economy (it’s better now than in 2010).

Yeah, the Bucs (6-5) lost yesterday, but so did the Seahawks and Vikings, the teams that were tied with the Bucs for the final NFC Wild Card spot entering the weekend.

And the Saints (5-6) were clobbered, another key result for Tampa Bay, as New Orleans was a game behind the Bucs and owns the tiebreaker advantage with Tampa Bay.

Washington, and its 31st ranked pass defense coached by Raheem Morris, also is a game back of the Bucs with the tiebreaker edge and a stronger conference record. Sorryass Dallas also is 5-6. Green Bay owns the top Wild Card spot. The Packers are alone with a 7-4 record.

As Joe’s written earlier, the Bucs likely have one game of wiggle room, meaning they have to go 4-1 the rest of the way to finish 10-6 and make the playoffs. Given the Bucs’ tiebreaker issues with other teams in the playoff, it’s highly doubtful a 9-7 record will be enough. 

One possible bonus for the Bucs, they finish the regular season in Atlanta. By that time, the Falcons likely will have home field advantage in hand and will be resting starters.

It will be a play that could haunt the Bucs for a calendar year.

The Bucs, as Joe pointed out yesterday, left way too many points on the field. At least nine points by Joe’s recollection and perhaps as many as 12.

There was the Mike Williams pass to Vincent Jackson down to the Dixie Chicks-3 which the Bucs could not pound in. There was the E.J. Biggers forced fumble on Matty Ice in Falcons territory. The Bucs could only muster a field goal from it.

Then there was missing Mike Williams.

It was early in the second half and Williams, along the right sideline in the end zone, was so alone he could have been an orphan.

And Josh Freeman missed him. Missed him badly, nearly putting the football in the seats he overthrew Williams so much.

Freeman, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune documents, was kicking himself over that play after the game.

Freeman was initially looking for Tiquan Underwood on an underneath pattern and by the time Freeman went through his progressions, his overthrown pass for Williams sailed out of bounds, forcing the Bucs to settle for a field goal and a 13-10 advantage.

“There were a few,” Freeman said of Tampa Bay’s missed opportunities against the NFC South leaders. “Obviously, there’s the one on the right sidelines going to Mike. (Cornerback) Asante Samuel fell off and I was initially trying to get it to Tiquan. In hindsight, we had an opportunity and didn’t capitalize. Asante is really good at baiting you.”

Teams that miss those plays are on their couch watching playoff games in January; the playoff teams make those chances, of which the Bucs had plenty.

Is there a reason to jump off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge this morning? Of course not. The Bucs showed they can go toe-to-toe with the squad that owns the NFL’s best record.

Letting this game slip off the hook, the Bucs have now afforded themselves scant wiggle room if they are to be playing into January. Any more than one more loss, and it will likely be time to start researching April’s draft.

Veteran columnist Gary Shelton offers his views on the Bucs 24-23 loss to the Dixie Chicks in this Tampa Bay Times video.

Here are quotes from various figures from both the Dixie Chicks and the Bucs following the one-point Bucs loss Sunday. Quotes courtesy of the media relations staffs of both the Bucs and Dixie Chicks.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

GREG SCHIANO

(On missed opportunities throughout the game)
“It was a hard-fought football game by both teams; a very physical game. But I do think missed opportunities (were) a big part of it. There were some chances both offensively and defensively and in the kicking game. We hadn’t been making all of them but we had been making a lot of them and today we only made some of them.”

(On game-planning)
“Someone asked earlier in the week, ‘Do you plan on it being a shootout?’ I don’t think you can plan on it being anything. Every game has a personality and a life of its own. This one certainly did. We had three possessions in the first half. It felt like we couldn’t get the ball, we couldn’t run plays. We had 19 plays at the end of the first half. This personality, this game wasn’t what would be predicted. It usually happens that way.”

(On the Tampa Bay secondary)
“Well, 80 (yards) of it is in one play. You don’t give up the big play, like that monster play. It’s against a very good quarterback, you have to hang in there, but we did give it up, and therein lies the issue. That’s been a little bit of our Achilles heel and we’ll get it corrected and we’ll keep getting better at it. It just didn’t happen today.”

(On the 48-yard field goal attempt)
“There were a lot of thoughts. There were thoughts of pinning (Atlanta) down, there were thoughts of going for it on fourth down, there were thoughts of, ‘We’ve made a field goal longer than that, from that exact spot on the field and the wind was coming from the ship.’ The reason we did it was my confidence in Connor (Barth) that he was going to make it. I still have confidence in him. If I had to do it another time, I believe he is going to make it. That’s the kind of kicker I think we have. That’s not unfounded, at least my time with him. He’s proven that to be the case. Again, just one of those missed opportunities. Not easy. It’s not like every day he has to hit a 56-yarder and we call it a day. That’s a tall order, but we have one of the best kickers in the National Football League. I’m confident in him.”

(On QB Josh Freeman)
“I thought he played well. Like everyone else he’s going to say, ‘I wish I could have done this a little differently,’ but he hung there in the pocket, he took some hits and made some big-time throws. There are probably a handful he would like to have back, but, overall, I thought he played well.”

(On scoring following turnovers)
“I think that falls in the missed opportunities column. We have been very good at scoring touchdowns off of takeaways. When you come up with field goals, it’s hard to win games by threes. Sevens add up considerably quicker.”

QB JOSH FREEMAN

(On leaving points on the field)
“Every time you lose, you question whether or not you could have gotten more points on individual drives, no matter what the situation was. But the bottom line is we didn’t score enough points to win.”

(On the game)
“At this point we’re looking strictly at the next game; it’s a one game season. We’re not looking at divisional opponents, (as) that’s something that will take care of itself down the road. We’re focusing on putting on the best performance we can against the team we have out against us.”

(On Atlanta containing RB Doug Martin)
“They loaded the box, they did a lot kind of outside of their tendencies, and I think all in all, when you contain a guy like Doug, as explosive as Doug, I think that’s saying a lot. Doug had a few runs that he got away on, but it’s tough. At the same time, the main issue is just not scoring enough. It’s having those drives and getting down and getting three points rather than seven.”

(On the lack of possessions)
“(Atlanta) has a very good offense; their third down conversion rate is one of the highest in the league, so you know that they’re going to sustain some drives. They’re going to go out and do the thing; they’re going to convert at a high rate. Knowing that, you know it’s not going to be a game where you have ample chances, ample possessions. We had three possessions and 17 plays (in the first half). I thought our defense did a tremendous job holding them to three (points) on that first drive and the stand at the very end of the half. Like I said, it’s one of those games, and it’s even more amplified in the fact that you kick a field goal rather than score a touchdown.”

(On failing to capitalize on turnovers)
“No question, I’m trying to look back and see what exactly happened on third down, but our defense coming into this game, against a team with that many weapons, I thought those guys did a great job. They gave us two turnovers and set us up in a prime position and we just couldn’t score a touchdown, kicked way too many field goals.”

(On moving forward)
“I think we’ll be just fine. I think guys will go in and go to work and continue to do their job. They’ll try to out prepare themselves. I think we have a very strong team. We hate to lose; it’s tough, but we have a great group of guys, great coaches, and we’re going to get prepared to take this team to Denver.”

CB LEONARD JOHNSON

(On the Tampa Bay secondary)
“(Atlanta QB Matt Ryan) made some plays. We were able to make some plays also. (Ryan) was just able to make a few more plays than we made.”

(On giving up big plays)
“I can’t really make an excuse for us giving up yards. All I can say is that we need to correct the small stuff, go back and get back to it.”

(On today’s game)
“Every loss is a tough loss – whether it’s a division loss or a regular loss. Of course you don’t want to lose, but we just need to get back to it. We need to regroup and get back to what we’ve been working on.”

DE DA’QUAN BOWERS

(On the 48-yard field goal attempt)
“It could have gone either way. We were confident that Connor (Barth) would have made it. If you had to do it all over again, I would have put all my faith back in him. That’s the type of guy he is and we put all out trust in him.”

(On the offense)
“It’s our job to get those guys the ball. Once you give it to them, it’s not the defense’s job to determine what they do with it. Our job is just to get it for them; that’s what we do. How it ends doesn’t matter for us, our job is to go back and get it for them again.”

CB E.J. BIGGERS

(On the game)
“A lot of credit to (Atlanta). We always have to go back and watch the film to see what we can correct. Like I said, they are a great team. That’s what they do. They made a couple more plays than we did, but, like I said, we are going to go in and watch film. We are going to get better and we’re going to get ready for Denver.”

(On his sack-fumble)
“Great call by the coaches. Everybody did their job on the play and, like we always say, when everybody is doing their job, great things happen.”

DT GERALD McCOY

(On the close nature of the game)
“It’s one of those, ‘They made one or two more plays than we did’ type of games; (an) evenly matched game. They have an explosive running back, we have an explosive running back. They have two explosive receivers, we have two explosive receivers. They have a good quarterback, we have a good quarterback. Even on defense, it was an evenly as matched game as you’ve seen all year. But when that play needed to be made, they made it and we didn’t. All credit goes to them; they played a really good game and the Falcons did a great job of not making mistakes.”

(On scoring off turnovers)
“I mean, we get turnovers. It’s our job to get the ball back, then we just depend on our offense to go score. If they don’t, you don’t see it as, ‘Aw, [the offense] didn’t score.’ You just go do it again and give them another chance. That’s why it’s a team game.”

T DONALD PENN

(On the game)
“It didn’t swing our way. We were out there trying to score touchdowns like we always do when we get in the red zone. We tried to score; we came out with field goals. They made one or two more plays.”

(On the comparison to last year’s team)
“It’s a different team out there definitely. Everybody sees that. Last year has nothing to do with this year right now. It doesn’t mean (anything). We still have a lot of football left to play and we just have to get this behind us and win.”

ATLANTA FALCONS

MIKE SMITH

(Opening statement)
“You can always count on close games when you come down to play an NFC South game and that was no exception today. I thought it was a very hard-fought game. I thought our defense did an outstanding job, again. They were put in some tough situations after turnovers and I thought our special teams did a very nice job covering kicks today.”

(On Atlanta’s run defense)
“I thought that our run defense played very well. (Tampa Bay RB Doug Martin) is an outstanding running back that had over 1,000 yards coming into this game. We knew it was going to be one of our ‘musts’ and I thought we did a nice job with our run defense. I thought we played the run extremely well, controlled the line of scrimmage. That is an outstanding running back.”

(On trying to run out the clock)
“Well again, we were in our four-minute mode but we felt like we had to do what we do offensively. Sometimes you’re going to have to throw the football and we did. I thought we did an outstanding job of managing the clock at the end of the ball game. It was something (if) we made the field goal, but we didn’t. It ended up being a heck of a finish for the fans and we’re glad we got the win.”

(On LB Sean Weatherspoon)
“Sean Weatherspoon is one of our best football players. We’ve missed him the last three weeks and having him back was a big boost for us. Not only in the way that we play the run but the volume that we can have. We have him in there; he’s very efficient at what we want to do and getting us into the right fronts based on some formations.”

(On running the ball early)
“We felt like we need to try it. We felt like we could do it, too. We challenged our guys. We wanted to come down here – this was the number one rushing team in all of the NFL – and we wanted to see if we could do it. We felt like we could, we got the looks that we liked and we were efficient doing it.”

(On the final drive)
“We felt like we were going to be able to throw the football coming in to the game. We got into our no-huddle package there in the fourth quarter and Matt (Ryan) did a very nice job getting us into the plays that we needed to be in, in terms of the looks that we were getting.”

QB MATT RYAN

(On his 80-yard touchdown pass to WR Julio Jones)
“Julio made a great play. We had one-on-one coverage. He inside released him (Tampa Bay CB Leonard Johnson) and just tried to get back to the outside. I tried to throw it down there high and outside so he could make a play on it. He did, he made a great adjustment. That was a really big play for us this game.”

(On the upcoming short week with Thursday Night Football)
“It’s going to be important for us with the short week to get some rest tonight, to get home, enjoy this win, but get some rest and get back to work tomorrow. We played New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, so that game and their schemes are probably still pretty fresh in our minds. We’ve done this before. We know how to handle it. It’s just going to take a good effort this week.”

(On the sack-fumble play)
“Just a mistake on my part. We had the protection sliding that way and able to handle one off the edge and they brought two. Just a mistake.”

(On the running game)
“I think it’s important. We ran the ball effectively when we needed to today. I thought two touchdowns down in the tight red area was huge for us. Mike (Turner) did a great job of that. Quizz (Jacquizz Rodgers) did a great job of coming in and picking up some yardage for us as well. I thought in the four-minute situation at the end of the game we ran the ball really effectively. I thought we ran the ball pretty well today.”

(On his impression of Tampa Bay)
“I think they are a good football team. I think they are playing with a lot of confidence. It’s always been a tough place for us to come play. They play with great effort and I think they have a good football team.”

TE TONY GONZALEZ

(On Atlanta’s final scoring drive)
“The last drive, that’s something we’ve done before this season. I really think that’s a positive for us, to be able to come up with plays when we have to like that; to close the game out, because we certainly didn’t want to give them back the ball. I mean, (Tampa Bay) has got a pretty potent offense, even though our defense did play very well today. I’m really happy with the way we responded in that drive, it was good.”

(On Atlanta’s record)
“10-1 is great, but I’ll tell you what I’ve said since the beginning of the season: we’re just jockeying for position. We just want to put ourselves in the best position, playing the best football. Right around this time is when you want to start gelling as a team and take it on into the playoffs, because that’s the most important thing. It doesn’t matter what your record is, you just want to be playing some good football come playoff time and right now we’ve got to hopefully put something together and try to get that home field advantage.”

(On the close nature of the game)
“It’s good, because we’re going against a good team. They won four in a row, they were hot. Everyone was saying they were the hottest team in the NFC South and they probably were. Just to be able to come in here, in this type of environment and stop their momentum… to be honest, we could have played a little better, but when you win close games like that, it’s only a positive. Knowing that you can come up with plays when you have to, and the defense stepped up when they had to, offense stepped up when they had to. Our special teams wasn’t working like we wanted to as far as the kicking game goes, (but) we just kind of have each others’ backs and that’s all it does, it keeps your confidence going forward.”

(On his impression of Tampa Bay)
“They’ve absolutely improved (from 2011). They’ve always played hard though; they’ve always been very physical. They got on a roll last month and we knew that coming into it. We read the papers, we watch the television, we watch ESPN and all that stuff and some people didn’t pick us to win today, but that’s fine with us. We just have to keep our heels to the grind and not worry about that, but I give them a lot of credit, and they played us very tough today.”

LB SEAN WEATHERSPOON

(On his return to the field)
“It felt great, man. Before the game I was emotional. Coming off of Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful for, and I was just thankful to be back out there with my guys. I was kind of emotional at the beginning of the game, but once I got back out there with my guys it just felt like being out there at the beginning of the season.”

(On Tampa Bay RB Doug Martin)
“He’s a tough guy to tackle. He’s like a big muscle, obviously, but we did a pretty good job defending him. We have to be upset about the two touchdowns he got on the ground, but ultimately we have to be pleased with the way we defended the run.”

(On being a leader)
“Any time I can go to war with these guys, I work with them throughout the week, I see the way they go about their business and care about the game. Going out there, playing for each other, it’s one goal that we have and you can tell. So just to get back out there with them, it’s awesome.”

WR RODDY WHITE

(On the game)
“It was a good win because it was a road win. (Tampa Bay) has been playing tough all year long and came in with that mentality and we tried to match those guys today. We went out there and played physical with them and just found a way to win. Julio (Jones) did an excellent job today of giving us a big play and we just grinded it out until the end and it was a good win in the division.”

(On Atlanta’s confidence)
“We feel really good where we are at. We’ve got a game coming up against the Saints on Thursday night and that’s going to be a big one for us in the division. So we’ve got to move past this one and move on and get ready for the next game.”

RB MICHAEL TURNER

(On establishing the run early)
“We wanted to come out and try to get something going on the ground. We didn’t want to be one-dimensional today, and I think we caught them off-guard a little bit coming in with so many run plays.”

(On his role as a closer)
“It’s a question of being in that situation and just being there for my teammates when they need me.”

(On Atlanta’s record)
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but we’ve just got to keep fighting and keep moving to try and get home field throughout the playoffs.”

CB DUNTA ROBINSON

(On stopping the run)
“We really worked on it, we focused on it all week in practice. We understand what kind of defense we can be when we stop the run. We came out here and did a great job about that. Some of the mental errors, if we can get better with those, we will be an even better football team. Stopping the run was the number one goal of this game, and the defensive line did a great job.”

(On the game)
“It feels good to win any football game. This was a team that was hot; they were a very hot team, winning four out of their last five. To come in here, away from home and get this win, it’s huge. We have a lot of football left, we just have to continue to play hard.”

(On RB Doug Martin)
“I like him. I think he’s a good, young running back. I’m just not into all of the hype. Let’s just play football, make people earn everything they get. We definitely had a chip on our shoulder and we definitely came out here and played like it.”

WR JULIO JONES

(On his 80-yard touchdown catch)
“It came through my headset, he said ‘Go get this’, he just put it up there and gave me an opportunity. He said ‘You have man-on-man on this play, I’m coming to you, just go get it.’ He just gave me an opportunity and put the ball up there and I made a great play on it.”

(On the upcoming short week)
“It was nice to win (this) game, everybody really wanted that game. Everybody is happy we won today, but we are going to go home, rest, and get ready for (Thursday Night Football). This game is over and done with; we have to worry about the New Orleans Saints.”

It seems each week, Bucs defensive end Da’Quan Bowers is getting better and better. Slowed by an Achilles injury prior to the season, Bowers is becoming a force on the Bucs front line.

Today, he showed his skills by getting pressure on Matty Ice, not just once, but also hurrying the Atlanta quarterback into throwing an interception made by Ronde Barber.

Still, despite his improved play both on the pass and the run, Bowers was upset over the one-point loss.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do,” Bowers said. “I think we did a decent job against the run. They just made a few more plays than we needed to get them off the field. We had breakdowns in our defense but we we will go back to the drawing board, figure out what we did wrong, fix it and we will see them again in five weeks.”

The one thing Bowers certainly was doing right was getting heat on Matty Ice in the second half. He clearly was the man behind Barber’s pick.

“Each man has to do his job to help this defense,” Bowers said. “I was doing what i could. I was trying to get pressure on Ryan, hoping he would just throw it up. Ronde did a good job in getting the pick.

“We should have made a few more plays like that and we would have been victorious.”

Joe knows the Bucs do some bizarre stuff along the defensive line. Bucs coaches don’t seem comfortable turning loose the front four consistently to straight-on rush quarterbacks.

The Bucs pull  run all kinds of stunts and drop linemen in coverage in head-scratching ways. Today the Falcons had a 3rd-and-3 on their 32 yard line trailing 7-3 early in the second quarter. The Bucs only rushed two linemen, dropped the others in coverage, and Matt Ryan was comfy-cozy and tossed a 20-yard toss for a first down.

Joe can’t hang that on the D-line, but the bottom line is the line didn’t get much done when it did get to battle straight-up rushing four. And the run defense, while very solid statistically, did have its hands full with speedy Jaquizz Rodgers, who hadn’t been having a strong season.

Joe has no doubt the Bucs are going to keep blitzing and stunting and doing what they do. Clearly, it’s been enough to win games. But in all the defensive line has to improve.

With just under six minutes left in the first half and the Bucs trailing the Dixie Chicks 10-7, Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan called one of the coolest plays Joe can remember being run by the Bucs.

Josh Freeman dropped back and threw across the field to a wide open Mike Williams. But Williams had no intention of taking two steps forward. Instead, he rared back and tossed the ball to Vincent Jackson just inside the 10-yard line.

Jackson juked one tackler but couldn’t avoid a second and was dropped at the Dixie Chicks-3. As Joe pointed out earlier, the Bucs’ inability to punch the ball in from the three would haunt them. Joe quickly remembered Jackson getting caught from behind at the Saints-1 a few weeks ago, and the Bucs also unable to cross the goal line then proving fatal, as well.

“The double-pass was wide open,” Williams said. “It was kind of my fault [for the play not being a touchdown] because I wanted to lead him a little bit and I didn’t want to overthrow him he was so wide open.”

Williams refused to believe that not scoring a touchdown after that play was the turning point in the game, noting that the game was tied after the field goal.

Jackson himself noted he was so eager for the ball to get to him, it was as if the entire play unfolded in slow motion.

“Yup, yup, it took some time but that was a play where we got the defense that we wanted,” Jackson said. “It was a good play to get us downfield and get us in scoring position.”

Williams refused to believe not scoring a touchdown at that point would doom the Bucs later.

“I don’t know what the turning point in the game was,” Williams said.

It was a down day for Doug Martin

Doug Martin ran hard today against the Falcons, no evidence of any kind of “rookie wall” in his leg drive, but Martin couldn’t get much going.

The Falcons’ run defense was ranked 26th in the NFL entering the game, likely the Falcons’ biggest weakness, yet Martin was stymied for 50 yards on 21 carries and never broke one long. LeGarrette Blount and D.J. Ware were denied carries.

So what happened?

Joe talked to Erik Lorig after the game and Lorig said he had no insight without watching film. Nothing stood out as a problem, Lorig said.

Maybe Martin’s vision wasn’t sharp? Joe’s reaching here. It was just uncommon to see Martin have a tough day.

Perhaps Martin could have used more work? Following Martin’s best rush of the game, 10 yards to end the third quarter, Martin took a handoff on the next snap and gave the Bucs a 19-17 lead with a one-yard TD run. Then leading 20-17 after E.J. Biggers’ sack/forced fumble, the Bucs recovered the ball on the Falcons’ 36 yard line with 11:23 left in the game. It seemed like the perfect time to pound Martin and see if he could stay hot, and eat some clock and try to grind out a long touchdown drive. But the Bucs didn’t run the ball on that possession and settled for a field goal.

Joe’s just hoping Martin and the offensive line aren’t starting a downward spiral. Sizzling Denver’s run defense, which the Bucs will see next Sunday, is far more stout than the Falcons’.

The inability of the Bucs to convert this Gerald McCoy fumble recovery into a touchdown loomed large.

Here’s why Joe is going to need several brews to fall asleep tonight (and no, it has nothing to do with a lonely Bucs cheerleader wanting comfort on a chilly night). The Bucs all but gave this game away to the Dixie Chicks.

First there was the near-touchdown on the Mike Williams bomb to Vincent Jackson. The play seemed to be in slow motion Jackson was so open. Williams eventually got the ball to Jackson who was tackled at the three-yard line after juking out a would-be tackler.

Then the Bucs, for reasons unknown, couldn’t put the ball in the end zone. That was four points right there. Joe couldn’t help but think of the bomb Jackson caught against New Orleans but was caught from behind and the Bucs too failed to get six and lost to the Saints in a tight contest.

In the irony of ironies, Dixie Chicks coach Mike Smith this week spoke in glowing details about how the Bucs were so good at turning turnovers into points. When E.J. Biggers flattened Matty Ice forcing a fumble recovered by Gerald McCoy, the Bucs couldn’t muster a first down and had to, again, settle for three.

The Bucs lost by one, after leaving as many as eight points on the field.

Ahmad Black’s positioning on Julio Jones prevented a touchdown in the third quarter, but Black wasn’t so fortunate later in the game.

Let’s just say Ahmad Black and the zebras don’t see eye-to-eye.

With 8:06 left in the game and the Bucs leading 23-17, the Dixie Chicks were marching, as they often did today in what turned out to be one of the poorer performaces by the Bucs defense this season.

But suddenly it appeared the Bucs rose up and stopped the Dixie Chicks. On third down from the Bucs-5, Ryan appeared to want to go to Harry Douglas short who was covered by Black near the goal line. With other receivers covered (!), Ryan threw the ball well out of bounds way over Douglas’ head.

But just as soon as the ball hit the ground, so too did a yellow rag from one of the refs. Black, who did make contact with Douglas on the play, was whistled for holding.

That gave the Dixie Chicks first-and-goal from the Bucs-3 where the Dixie Chicks promptly scored. Ballgame.

Black was unapologetic after the game and downright angry about the call.

“I think the ball was thrown out of bounds,” Black said. “There was no possible way — even if I didn’t touch him at all — that he was going to catch that ball! What am I supposed to do, stand there and just look at him the whole time?”

What left Black more rankled about the flag wasn’t so much that the Dixie Chicks got new life from it, but that Black hinted that call let his teammates down on what would have been a fantastic goal line stand.

“Great, great effort by the guys on first down and second down and then on third down when we needed a play, we force the quarterback to check down and then throw the ball away and unfortunately, we get a holding call,” Black said.

Ronde Barber’s second-quarter interception was a stunner, just a pure read of Matt Ryan from a savvy veteran underplaying his assignment and jumping a route back to the middle of the field. (Here’s the video)

It was Barber’s team-leading fourth pick of the season.

But as Barber marches toward the Hall of Fame, he isn’t playing out the string physically, mentally or emotionally.

Barber, for the first time Joe can remember, didn’t hang out to talk to media following the loss. Barber usually is one of the last out of the locker room but was a quick exit today.

Sure, Barber might have had a postgame commitment, but that would be a unique exception. It’s far more likely that Barber was overcome with emotion by this loss. The game was that big, especially considering the Vikings and Seahawks lost today and the Bucs could have given themselves a one-game lead for the final Wild Card spot. The Bucs also effectively have lost their shot at the NFC South crown.

For a guy like Barber who yearns to get another crack at the big stage and knows he has limited time, Joe can understand why he wasn’t around to talk. In some ways it’s a good thing. It shows Barber still has a burning fire, perhaps enough to get him to return in 2013.