Ex-Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback. Plus, he’s a really cool dude.

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

It’s been two weeks since their last game, with a bye week to get healthy and assess their proficiencies and deficiencies. And perhaps most important, time for the Bucs to make the kind of mid-season adjustments that they have been making at halftime of most of their games because of the awfully slow starts on both sides of the ball.

I fully supported the decision to go to London early, but now understand that at least some of the “youngry” Bucs treated it more like a Las Vegas vacation (what happens in London stays in London) than the successful business trip that the older and wiser Bears went on. 

A micro look so far says there are issues for both coordinators and the head coach to address. A macro look says they are 4-3 and playing for the division lead at the halfway point, and I don’t think anyone can be unhappy about that. Any disappointment means the overall expectations for this team have grown and that’s a tribute to those same coaches. There’s also been loads of inconsistent football throughout the league.

I don’t believe that overconfidence is Josh Freeman’s problem for his early season passing woes, but rather simply slow, poor decision-making and some simply poor throws.

His receiving corps has lacked explosive play-making all season, with Mike Williams reminding me of Michael Clayton’s sophomore campaign following their rookie breakout seasons. I just hope he doesn’t continue to follow Clayton’s career trend, and I don’t think he will, but he needs help from a slot receiver that can occupy the safety, so that he can get one-on-one and let Josh Freeman have the confidence to let it rip to the No. 1 guy.

I don’t believe the argument that the rest of the receiving corps is capable enough to compete at the highest level of the NFL is correct. They do need to be faster, tougher and better across the board.

Freeman needs to be able to just drop back and throw the deep ball (man-to-man coverage on the outside) with confidence that his guy will either catch it or make sure the other guy doesn’t. I haven’t seen him try it all year. They need more YAC from everyone! 

I won’t make a big deal about it, but I would like to see them have another wideout with speed and get Winslow off the field on 3rd and 7+. He has made a few noteworthy plays, but I think they would create more big play opportunities matching speed with the “nickel” corner that defenses substitute in these situations and maybe “5” won’t get stuck on “82”.

Generally, the Bucs are not catching the ball on the move enough, which is partly the play design and partly the execution. 

I have been disappointed that LeGarrette Blount wasn’t ready to help on third downs to start the season, but took half of his second year to get the protections down (attribute that to the lockout, but I thought he should have taken it upon himself to get that worked out before the end of training camp). The NFL has become a shotgun league on 3rd and 2+, but now with Blount available the Bucs can stay in “regular” people and have more options to pick up first downs, keep drives alive and out of the hands of Drew Brees and company.

Maybe it is just his flowing mane that catches my eye, but as the Bucs finish up their mid-season bye week, I think the most impactful player on the team is Adrian Clayborn. His constant effort and pressure on the backside make him the MVP at the halfway point.

 If the rest of the team took his example into their play, this team would be off-the-charts and all those slow starts wouldn’t be a topic of conversation.

You’ve all read THE PESSIMIST, who spews his Bucs-related anger like no other. But Joe also brings you THE OPTIMIST. 

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the Buccaneers goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t.

Ask your average Bucs fan what he thinks about Gerald McCoy, and you’ll get every grade in the book.

You’ll hear what a future star he is, and you’ll get the “bust” word, too. He get’s compared to Booger McFarland and, of course  Warren Sapp. The truth is, he is all of those, and none of them.

McCoy only has 18 games to his credit. He started from Day 1 in 2010, but was injured and his season was over after week 13. Some would say McCoy was just starting to come on around week 9 playing Carolina at home. He had his first five-tackle
day, with two passes defended and a fumble. The next week he got his first sack against the 49ers, then two more sacks the next week against Baltimore. After that McCoy went down.

This year McCoy got a sack in week 4 vs. the Colts, part of a six-tackle night. He got hurt the next week at San Francisco and should be back for the Saints game this tomorrow. What is not measured, however, is the penetration that McCoy gets and the 
disruption that makes QBs feel uneasy. It’s exactly what he did in college, and it’s exactly why the Bucs drafted him. It’s also the same reason Bucs fans are calling him a bust.

To understand we have to do a little history lesson; Gerald McCoy’s best year at Oklahoma got him 6.5 sacks, his junior season. He went down to six in his senior year, with a grand total of 14 sacks in all three of his years with the Sooners. The Bucs did
not draft a sack machine; they drafted a defensive tackle that brings an explosive first step, quick penetration, major disruption; everything the Bucs covet from the position.

The problem in all of this is a fella we see on the NFL Network who is headed to Canton one day. Warren Sapp played the 3-technique on the Bucs D-Line just as McCoy does, but as I said, Sapp is headed to the Hall of Fame one day. Sapp is one of a kind,
once in a  lifetime. To expect GMC to be another Sapp would be the same as the 49ers to expect Alex Smith to be another Joe Montana, or Bills running back Fred Jackson to be another Thurman Thomas.

Will Gerald McCoy play better? Truthfully he’s not playing that bad right now.

He is causing disruption, and that’s what the Bucs want. In the future, you’ll hear his name more and more, but it may not be sacks, it may just be pressures, which do a lot of the same thing — create turnovers.

This info. is not lost on the Bucs; they know quite well what kind of player GMC is. And yes, spending a top pick on a DT who can
control the line of scrimmage and do what you want him to do IS worth the pick.

What the Bucs are doing is drafting defensive ends around McCoy who can bull rush to the QB. The sacks won’t come from the defensive tackle positions, but from the ends instead. You can only double team one or two players; someone else is going to get to the QB.

It was sort of funny this week when after Josh Freeman appeared on the NFL Network with a bandage, a brace, something around the thumb on his throwing hand, Saints coach Sean Payton threw a hissy fit while balancing himself on his crutches and screamed to the NFL that the Bucs were playing games with the team’s mandatory injury report.

Freeman wasn’t on the report until Payton began whining.

Well…

Seems as if Payton got his hand caught in the cookie jar a few times doing the very same thing(s).

As Pat Yasinskas of ESPN points out:

In fact, you could make a case that the Bucs might want to put in a call to the league office because New Orleans right tackle Zach Strief and linebacker Will Herring are not on this week’s injury report. Both were inactive Sunday, although Herring might have been a healthy scratch. But both players had been out with injuries for multiple games.

In fact, the Saints have a notorious past, specifically outrageous was the last time the Bucs visited the Big Easy, as documented by Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

During the New Orleans Saints’ regular-season finale against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, three key New Orleans players — safety Malcolm Jenkins, tight end Jimmy Graham and running back Chris Ivory — were sidelined with injuries.

Reporters’ inboxes and Twitter accounts were bombarded by fans seeking status updates, yet no official updates were given, even though the league requires teams to do so in a timely manner.

When a Buccaneers player went down later in the half, a reporter requested an update from Tampa Bay’s media relations staff. He was told they would issue a report when the Saints issued theirs.

Later in Duncan’s article, he explains how Payton all but admits he’s one of the worst violators of reporting injuries in the NFL.

If only Joe was confident he wouldn’t be sued, Joe would love to tell the story about, in college, when Joe caught Payton …

Sorry, Joe can’t go there. Not yet anyway.

If there’s anyone wondering whether Tanard Jackson has remained humble in the face of recently jumping off his couch after a year-long suspension, getting two interceptions in two games, and a new multimillion dollar contract, then his latest interview on the Buccaneers Radio Network should answer that question.

Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski interviewed Jackson for a segment that will air Sunday on the Bucs pregame show on WDAE-AM 620 and other network affiliates. But Joe heard a snippet on the radio yesterday.

Jackson was asked to share his feelings on his comeback and said he didn’t want to credit “luck” but he can’t rule it out.

“I’m still wondering how this is all happening,” Jackson said. “It’s a blessing.”

Count Joe among those still amazed by what T-Jax has accomplished. Sadly, though good for Jackson, he leads the Bucs with two interceptions. Five other Buccaneers have one.

However he got to this point, Joe’s damn glad the Bucs’ ball-hawk-in-chief is the secondary.

Joe loves food, and Joe is proud to say that Mugs Grill & Bar in Clearwater serves up some of the finest quality and value in the Tampa Bay area.

The wings at Mugs Grill & Bar wings have won more awards than Derrick Brooks, and everything on the menu is extraordinarily fresh and homemade. And if you find a colder draft beer, you’re lying. Mugs has great domestic pitchers for only $6.25 during all football games.

Joe loves the wings but often grabs Mugs’ phenomenal filet mignon tips, real grouper sandwich, or chili cheese fries with bacon.

Don’t forget to join the Mugs E-Club for free nachos for 2 (click above), plus great discounts and deals all year long. You’ll be glad you did.

Mugs also is a dynamite spot to watch all college football, MLB and NFL games.

Veteran WTSP-TV, Ch. 10 sportscaster Dave Wirth offers some advice for Josh Freeman and examines the keys to Sunday’s Bucs-Saints game. This is exclusive video for JoeBucsFan readers.

Now Joe has heard Raheem Morris say his young receivers need to step up and help their quarterback.

But Joe must say that line sounded a little odd coming from center Jeff Faine.

Asked yesterday by a  sports radio caller to The Jeff Faine Show why Josh Freeman isn’t running the ball much this year, WQYK-AM 1010 host J.P. Peterson interjected an answer for Faine saying teams are spying Freeman and he doesn’t have clear running lanes. But Faine jumped in saying that’s more of a secondary reason.

“Josh is trying to make plays as a quarterback and relying on his arm and his receivers to make plays,” Faine said. “It’s up to his receivers to take the stress and pressure off him.”

Joe gets that Freeman doesn’t want to run, but as long as he can physically run successfully, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t tuck the ball in and go versus forcing the ball into unopen receivers.

Joe’s not big on blaming receivers, but if they’re not performing like they did last season, per a veteran captain and the head coach, then Joe has to wonder why this young and hungry unit has regressed?

The Bucs’ dreadlocked rookie defensive end, Adrian Clayborn, sat down Friday with the curator, creator and guru of ProFootballTalk.com, Mike Florio.

The two spoke roughly 10 minutes about all things Clayborn, England, sacks, rookies and more.

Clayborn also talked about leadership along the defensive line. He fingered Gerald McCoy as its leader but then sort of said D-line leadership is evolving.

The good folks at NBCSports.com didn’t provide those fancy embed codes to watch it here. So you’ll have to click here to view the interview.

Last week the Saints got literally seal-clubbed by the lowly Lambs in St. Louis, with A.J. Feeley leading the way — A.J. Feeley! Also, Saints quarterback Drew Brees was put on the ground six times. But Pat Kirwan, along with Jason Horowitz, explain how the Bucs don’t have the personnel to duplicate what the Lambs did defensively in this CBSSports.com video.

Injuries are piling up for the Saints and that’s nothing but good news for the Bucs.

This afternoon, the Saints announced that stud rookie fullback Mark Ingram will be watching the game from the sidelines and Pro Bowl linebacker Jonathan Vilma may very well join him, so reports Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

New Orleans Saints tailback Mark Ingram has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with his lingering heel injury. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma is listed as questionable after missing practice again Friday. Coach Sean Payton said Vilma will be worked out on game day before the team makes a decision. He said there hasn’t been a setback with Vilma, but the team is continuing to monitor the lingering knee injury.

Defensive tackle Shaun Rogers did not practice Friday because of an illiness, but he is listed as probable. Everybody else has fully participated in practice for the Saints this week and should play.

Of course Joe never wants to see a player hurt. But if said players, key cogs for the Saints, have to sit out a game to mend their bruises, better it be when the Bucs travel to the Big Easy.

Reading Saints head coach Sean Payton’s assessment of Adrian Clayborn really caught Joe’s attention.

Payton wasn’t just spitting out cliches. He seemed eager to express what all Bucs fans with a clue are seeing. Clayborn is a relentless menace on the field, so documented Tampa Tribune scribe eye-RAJ! Kaufman in an excellent feature story.

Clayborn prides himself on a relentless style that has quickly made him a favorite among teammates and a player that has caught the attention of opponents.

“He’s physical, he’s got a variety of pass rush moves and he loves playing,” New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. “The one thing I would say about Adrian Clayborn is he’s 100 mph for every play – and that is a fantastic trait for any player.”

Joe suggests you read the whole feature. There are quotes in there from defensive line coach Keith Millard talking about Clayborn’s improvement against the run. (Yes, Joe knows the Bears just gashed the Bucs left and right on the ground.)

Today, Clayborn was snagged for a national interview on NBCSports.com. Joe will post that tomorrow. It seems Clayborn’s three sacks in the last five games have turned some heads. Another two on Sunday in New Orleans, and there’ll be a lot more people talking about the rookie on his way to double-digit sacks.

Not even Joe is his most drunken state would dare to suggest Drew Brees is not an NFL elite quarterback. Shoot, he’s looking at a bust being made for him in Canton.

But Brees is hardly ready to anoint his team as an NFL elite squad, not should he after getting woodshedded by the lowly Lambs last week.

Brees explains the details to James Varney of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

So just what sort of team is the Saints? That answer must come now, as New Orleans faces back-to-back divisional opponents, beginning with Tampa Bay at home Sunday.

“Not right now, we haven’t proven it,” quarterback Drew Brees said. “I believe we have the ability to be, but we haven’t proven it, yet. We’ve got to win games like the one last week. We have to be able to put together good performances consistently and show that we can win in a lot of different ways. That we can win when maybe, hey, we just don’t have our best stuff, for whatever reason. We can win when we’re a little bit banged up. We can win with offense, we can win with defense, we can win with special teams. But no matter what the situation or whatever we encounter, just find a way. And when I look at us over the last three years, I feel like we’ve been very good at that. I can definitely point to games where you can say, ‘Man, we shouldn’t have lost that one, and we did.’ But I can also point to a lot of games where, man, we found a way. As you look at this season, though, and this moment and this opportunity, what kind of team are we going to be this year? Because I feel like we have all the pieces in place. And when we do play well, we play extremely well. We just need that to be on a more consistent basis.”

After walking through the games to date, Brees concluded again that for the team to realize its goal of playing in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, things must improve.

Joe has great respect for Brees. But Joe’s of the mind that the Bucs should pound LeGarrette Blount until the Saints can prove they can stop the run.

Thus far this season, New Orleans has not done so.

Jeff Duncan, James Varney and Mike Triplett debate what’s the deal with the Saints and preview  Sunday’s game in this New Orleans Times-Picayune video.

In one of the more interesting fan questions during a player radio show, a guy called in to The Mike Williams Show on WDAE-AM 620 last night to put the Bucs’ top wide receiver on the spot.

The caller asked Williams what he does above and beyond the call of duty from his coaches to make himself a better receiver, ala some of the great personal training stories of Issac Bruce and Jerry Rice.

Williams had an answer.

He said he takes 75 balls a day from the JUGS machine before practice and has receivers coach Eric Yarber work with him one on one throwing him bad passes from six yards away so he can practice quick reaction to those balls. Also, Williams said he works on mentally preparing to never taking a play off in practice.

On a lighter note, during the show Williams asked fans to interact with him on Twitter, @MikeBuc19. But apparently Williams wasn’t a fan of all the Tweets shot his way and let out a frustrated sigh on the air. Host T.J. Rives explained to the audience that Williams received some unflattering messages from fans.

So it goes on the Internet. It’s a rough crowd out there. Even Joe gets a regular flow of hate mail.

The dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, told his many tens of thousands of listeners yesterday why the Bucs didn’t pursue a veteran running back to replace injured Earnest Graham.

Duemig said he made a direct query to the powers at One Buc Palace and shared that he was told “the offense is not conducive to a quick study,” even for a veteran RB.

Joe wonders whether this complexity in the Bucs offense is a byproduct of using so much of Chucky’s old playbook? Probably.

Joe polls his readers a few times a month, but this is an official JoeBucsFan/WTSP-TV 10 News Poll. How about that! Joe’s pulling a Zobgy. Results here may be used during a Ch. 10 sports report.

Back for his weekly trip to the end zone of the NFL universe, popular sports radio personality Adam Schein travels through football space and time outs. Check out what Schein says about the Bucs this week. Consider yourself sucked in to the latest episode of Cosmic Schein!

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=a842a4f0-5773-48ca-bf9a-78b0eee9051f" target="_new" title="">Cosmic Schein: Week 9</a>

Forbes magazine is at it again. The publication notorious for lists has come out with the Top Ten Best/Worst owners in the NFL.

The list seems to be judged by solely on-field record. Why else would it list Tom Benson as one of the best. He did his best to move the Saints to Texas after Hurricane Katrina and only returned when promised the sun and the moon by New Orleans officials.

Since it’s been — how long? — since the Bucs have been in the playoffs and given the apparent criteria Forbes has for picking its best owners, Forbes has ranked Team Glazer as No. 8 among the bottom 10.

The Worst: 8. Malcolm Glazer – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer also bought the iconic Manchester United soccer franchise between 2003 and 2005.
Five-Year Franchise Value: 2% increase.
Five-Year Win Percentage: 44%.

Joe thinks this is poppycock for several reasons but Joe totally dismissed this list, not just because Benson is in the top 10, but it has Alex Spanos rated ahead of Dan Rooney if you can imagine such a thing. Alex Spanos???

Lauren Shehadi and Pete Prisco discuss the Bucs-Saints game Sunday in this CBSSports.com video.

Last week against the horrid Lambs, the Saints stunk up the Edward Jones Dome worse than a men’s room stall at The CITS following a September afternoon game.

Drew Brees couldn’t hit the broad side of Busch Stadium. The Saints defense gave up runs worse than those after Joe inhales a pot of gumbo followed by several beers.

Despite the fact the Saints allow over five yards a carry on the ground and the Bucs get LeGarrette Blount back, popular sports radio personality Adam Schein isn’t buying. He expects the Saints to prevail Sunday, so he writes for FoxSports.com.

New Orleans’ three losses this year all have come on the road, against the Bucs, Packers and Rams. This is a different team playing in the Superdome. Drew Brees was interception-happy against St. Louis. This cat is usually a surgeon with his accuracy. I don’t see him falling short again.

Running back Darren Sproles and tight end Jimmy Graham are matchup nightmares. Graham leads all NFL tight ends with 49 catches for 713 yards. He destroyed Tampa last time out with seven catches for 124 yards. Marques Colston plays well against the Bucs, and he had seven catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in the October meeting. Robert Meachem has four touchdowns in his past five games against the Bucs.

All of this against a Tampa defense that is coming off a bad game against Chicago before its bye week.

Schein makes an interesting point. The Saints have stunk on the road whereas at home, it’s a different team.

Joe is still of the mind that, barring turnovers, Blount will carry the Bucs to victory.

The dynamic duo of eye-RAH! Kaufman and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune discuss why the Bucs should give up on London and discuss the game in New Orleans this Sunday in this TBO.com vlog.

There really has been nothing coming out of One Buc Palace this week to suggest running back LeGarrette Blount would not play this week, coming off a knee injury suffered against the 49ers.

But any doubt about Blount’s status has been laid to rest, thanks to Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski. Blount granted Pawlowski an exclusive interview, to be heard during the Bucs pregame show heard on the Bucs radio network hosted by Pawlowski himself.

Pawlowski, otherwise known as “The Commish,” wrote about his interview with Blount on his website.

To my surprise, when Blount and I entered the hallway, he told me that he enjoyed talking with me, which is when he told me that he will be playing on Sunday.

“It feels good. It feels real well,” Blount said about his knee. “No soreness, no pain, so we’re gonna test it out on Sunday.”

It is my opinion that the Buccaneers refrained from rushing Blount back from injury to soon to make sure he was fully recovered for the stretch run.

This is great news to read and of course no one is more happy about this than Joe.

Hope the knee is fine LeGarrette. You should be getting the rock 25 times Sunday.