In what surely will be macho locker room jabber for another Bucs opponent later this season, Josh Freeman has shared his high opinion of the 49ers defensive line and linebackers.

He thinks they’re the best the Bucs will see in 2011. Freeman laid it out for the San Francisco media yesterday, as documented by Eric Branch of SFGate.com.

“Their front seven is the best we’re going to see all year,” Freeman said. “You look at it and it starts in the middle with Patrick Willis. Obviously Justin Smith is a stud who was giving us issues last year. They’re a very physical defense … all around, they’re studs.”

The Niners are ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing defense, and iconic Derrick Brooks said yesterday on The Steve Duemig Show that the Bucs should be prepared for a far more physical game than what the Colts had to offer Monday.

This will be a very interesting test for the Bucs offensive line and LeGarrette Blount. Brooks points out that the Niners are largely playing a 3-4 defense that the Bucs aren’t used to facing and have a short week to prepare for.

Frankly, Joe’s not worried about the Bucs’ offense as long as it doesn’t get too cute and the commitment to Blount continues. Joe likes the odds running behind Davin Joseph, and everytime Jeremy Zuttah pulls there seem to be gaping holes in which to run. 

Jim Bates?

Todd Wash?

Raheem Morris?

Who the hell didn’t like Michael Bennett and helped keep him buried on the Bucs’ bench while sackless Kyle Moore was gifted a starting job and others played before him?

Speaking today on The Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620, Bucs personnel man and former linebacker Shelton Quarles describes the Bucs being divided about Bennettt before this season.

“He’s a fun player to watch. We had a few coaches around in the past that didn’t really care for him very much. So he didn’t see the field as much as we thought he should have from our perspective, a front office perspective,” Quarles said. “But he’s coming on. He’s played well … playing the run really good, rushing the passer when he has the opportunity. He’s big enough to inside, an inside rusher on third down but also be outside as well. He’s playing really well for us.”

Joe’s glad the ship has been righted and the front office won out.

Adrian Clayborn gets in the face of Dolts quarterback Curtis Painter Monday night.

Joe was among a gaggle of reporters who got a chance to speak with Bucs rookie defensive end Adrian Clayborn after the Bucs beat the Dolts on Monday Night Football.

Q. Tell us how the defensive line dominated late and controlled the line of scrimmage.

A. Aw, man, we just put it in our heads that we needed to get to the quarterback in the second half and change the game. We got them in third downs, third-and-longs and when we do that, we hunt.

Q. How much does that help you as a defensive end when you get teams in must-pass situations? You hear the phrase “Pin your ears back.” How much does that help you as a defensive lineman.

A. You just know that you have no other obligations in your head like the run. Just get to the quarterback. It’s just you and the tackle or the guard or the center. You just hunt.

Q. The defensive line took a big step forward.

A. We were on a big stage. We struggled a little bit in the first half but we got it together and came through and made a difference.

Q. You were a sophomore at Iowa when Curtis Painter was a senior at Purdue. Did you ever get a sack on Painter when you played for the Hawkeyes?

A. (Huge, beaming smile came across Clayborn’s face.) Naw man, I sucked back then. I didn’t play against him.

Q. Tell us about playing on Monday Night Football. I’m sure you watched Monday Night Football growing up dreaming about playing on Monday nights and in your rookie season in your fourth game you get a sack on Monday Night Football.

A. Aw, man, that was fun. If you can’t get up for this, you can’t get up at all. We got some energy in the second half and came through for the team.

Who is Joe to deny Raheem Morris?

The Bucs head coach told reporters yesterday he wants more fat stories about Brian Price to help keep Price angry and motivated. So Joe will oblige.

First, here’s what Raheem had to say Wednesday, while answering a question about how rather mild-mannered guys like Adrian Clayborn and Gerald McCoy transform on gameday:

“The quiet assassin, that Brian Price now, he’s just angry for no reason. You guys gave him a lot of reasons to be upset with all the fat articles. And he’s just playing that way,” Raheem said. “He’s just playing like he’s pissed off at everybody in this room. He actually gave you guys cake last week so he’s starting to warm up to you guys. I want to get some fat articles about him, get him pissed off again.”

Now Raheem wasn’t blowing smoke here. There’s surely some truth to Price being annoyed/offended that his weight gain was a media focus after his hamstrings were ripped from his pelvis and drilled back in. Price struggled to move during his recovery.

But Price did get fat and was at Josh Freeman’s lockout minicamp looking flabby. So in defense of the media it was worth noting. With a blogger’s gut, Joe’s hardly playing high and mighty here, but not everyone who is disabled like Price was balloons up in weight. So what did Price expect in a profession where size matters?

It’s old news, though, and Joe has written numerous times about how Price has nearly reached iconic Cadillac Williams territory when it comes to returning from an injury. The guy’s drive and heart is immeasurable.

Regarding the cake price shared with the media last week, Joe has learned Price didn’t go out of his way to send a message to the beat crew. It turns out his wife baked a pineapple cake that Price, by chance, shared with reporters, a display of generosity, forgiveness — and will power.

Joe hopes this fat article meets Raheem’s expectations. Joe always strives to be his best self.

And if you want to get a look at the old Brian Price, below is his visit with JoeBucsFan TV in June. Price is an excellent interview and a very accommodating guy.

Joe puts in a lot of time absorbing all things Bucs, as well as all things NFL. And after listening to Raheem Morris talk to the San Francisco area media today, Joe felt compelled to share Raheem’s chat with those sourdough-eating, wharf-strolling scribes.

The full audio is available here. Thankfully, the 49ers are one of only a handful of NFL teams that shares media conference calls with fans.

What’s worth noting is how Raheem is able to break down — at Raheem speed — all things 49ers. It’s a great listen, and good insight into the deep preparation of the head coach.

More people watched Josh Freeman and the Bucs Monday night than the vaunted Yankees in a postseason game.

As Joe has written dozens of times on this very corner of the interwebs, he quit watching SchlockCenter on BSPN in July 2004 because of the way the Komsomol outfit trumpets but two baseball teams.

Of course, to grease the wheels in this effort, BSPN had to have a willing participant, a notorious used car salesman by the name of Allen Selig, better known in some circles as “Bud Bad Hair.”

Ever willing to whore out baseball’s soul for a nickel, Selig nodded in approval as baseball dismissed its former rule of restricting teams to just a handful of national TV appearances each season in order that other teams get national exposure.

Now, thanks to BSPN, FOX and Turner Broadcasting, the Yankees, and to a slight lesser degree, the Red Sox, may as well be vampires because of the limited number of games played during the day. All for the sake of TV.

It now seems that others in baseball are as fed up as fans. If there is one voice that will be heard not wearing pinstripes or a jersey with “BOSTON” emblazoned across the front, it is the great Albert Pujols, a once-in-a-generation hitter  (who went 4-for-5 against the best pitching staff in baseball yesterday), who lashed out at Bud Bad Hair yesterday for allowing one team to always play in postseason’s primetime at the expense of other teams.

Sports fans in general are equally disgusted as baseball postseason TV numbers the past decade or so have plummeted nearly as much as Joe’s chances of bedding Rachel Watson.

Reluctantly, BSPN broadcast the Dolts-Bucs game Monday night opposite a Yankees playoff game. Joe can assure you Bolsheviks in Bristol, given their druthers, would rather have had the Yankees broadcast.

Why? Well, Joe’s going to guess during the game broadcast and BSPN’s exhaustive pregame ca-ca that Peyton Manning not playing for the Dolts was mentioned once or maybe twice. BSPN is all about pimping its select handful of teams or players who are so dominant not even BSPN can ignore them. Manning and Pujols are two perfect examples of this.

The fact that sports fans are sick of being indoctrinated with the Yankees was proven when the TV ratings of the Bucs and the Yankees games were released. Nearly twice as many TVs were tuned to an early season Bucs game against a hapless Dolts team compared to a Yankees postseason game, so reports Variety by way of the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio.

On the sports side, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” (4.5/11 in 18-49, 10.84m for Colts-Buccaneers) topped TBS’ baseball playoff game between the Tigers and Yankees (2.1/5, 6.05m).

Look, Joe doesn’t hate the Yankees. On a professional level, Joe has dealt with many higher-ups in the Yankees organization, many of which are based in Tampa. The entire front office is first class; Joe can’t say enough good things about them.

This just proves that, aside from Yankees fans, the nation is weary of being beaten over the head with the Yankees (and to a lesser degree, the Red Sox).

This information also proves that while baseball may be America’s pastime, football is America’s passion.

Oh, and Pujols is absolutely correct, too!

Don’t just look at Michael Bennett’s impressive stat sheet from Monday, says former Bucs defensive end Steve White, understand how dominant Bennett was throughout the game and his impact this season.

Speaking on Two-Hand Touch with Derek Fournier last night on WQYK-AM 1010, White shared thoughts about Bennett and explained why he thinks the Bucs would be wise to put a new contract in front of him soon.

“It was the way he was making these plays. I mean, [the Colts] are going to have nightmares about this dude, the right tackle, every tight end on the roster and even the running back. They’re going to be like, ‘Who is this guy?’ I promise you,” White said. “I mean he was jacking them up, throwing them all over the place. There was a play at the end of the game, man, where he doesn’t touch the quarterback but it typified how dominating he was.

“They kept the tight end in. They had to start keeping Dallas Clark in, one of their best receivers, just to block him. He takes Dallas Clark up the field, comes inside of him and beats him clean. Then Joseph Addai is there to pick him up and he absolutely jacks Joseph Addai up right back into the quarterback. I mean, boom. And that was the kind of game he had.

“There’s no better time to have that game then on Monday Night Football when everybody’s watching. They need to try and lock him up now,  while his stock is still kind of low and you can kind of lowball him a little bit, throw a little bit of money at him and to him it would be more money than he’s ever seen before. And go ahead and lock him up for four or five years. Because by the end of this season, I really feel strongly, that price is going to go way up.”

White points out that Bennett has improved his handwork drastically and has not been blocked successfully by a tight end consistently all season. White also made the point that Bennett is a the kind of guy the Bucs should acknowledge financially because of how he’s worked his way up from the bottom of the roster, in addtion to his production.

“You have to reward that. Everbody in the room sees it,” White said.

Bennett turns 26 in November. This is his third season, and Joe’s quite certain he will be a restricted free agent come February.

In Joe’s mind, Bennett’s not a guy the Bucs would sign long-term before he hits the unrestricted market. With Da’Quan Bowers behind him and another year of wiggle room, Joe suspects the Bucs would want to see Bennett force their hand after his body of work over 2011 and 2012. 

What’s interesting is that if the Bucs youngsters keep performing and winning, then the team will be inevitably pushing the limits of the salary cap in about 17 months.

Previously, Joe wrote about how LeGarrette Blount’s contract is up after this year but the Bucs will be able to somehow keep him as an “exclusive rights” free agent entering 2012, his third season an undrafted free agent.

However, Joe doesn’t know how things might have changed in the labor agreement on that front after the asinine lockout ended and a new labor agreement was reached.

But it seems NFL.com scribe Jeff Darlington has the answer, as he stated in an excellent feature about Blount. No. 27 will be a restricted free agent after this season.

With salaries of $320,000 last year and $405,000 this year, Blount missed out on millions, since he was originally slated as an early selection. Even the Bucs originally graded him as a second- or third-round talent, but his off-the-field history made him too much of a risk for a high pick.

Blount is scheduled to hit restricted free agency, so his time to get paid could be coming soon. After suffering the financial pitfalls of a career nearly gone completely bad, that possibility is something that should motivate him to produce more than a few big games this year.

Assuming Blount continues as the engine of the Bucs’ offense and passes the 1,000-yard mark again — he’s on pace for about 1,150 — this will be a darn interesting offseason for Blount and the Bucs.

Joe can only imagine what the street value of Blount might be. Ironically, his famous punch, which led to his undrafted status, might end up leading to him getting paid sooner versus what he might have signed for as a second- or third-round pick on a four- or five-year deal out of college.

Bucs fans have now seen their high-priced, veteran offensive line win most battles in the trenches for the last 10 quarters.

Josh Freeman has time to throw and, now that Greg Olson has decided its wise to pound LeGarrette Blount, the running game is dangerous and punishing.

So how good are these hogs? Former Bucs QB Shaun King says they’re an elite unit, so he told his audience on The King David Show on WQYK-AM 1010 yesterday.

“Tampa has a top 5 offensive line,” King said. “If you’re not impressed with Donald Penn’s performance against Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, two elite defensive ends, then you should go watch that tape again. If you think those guys didn’t dominate the last  quarter and a half of that game …”

Part of King’s point was to emphasize that he was calling the O-line top shelf even while it struggled mightily during the preseason and was reminding fans that unit was the last thing on the Bucs they needed to worry about.

Frankly, Joe wasn’t in that camp. Joe trembled through preseason watching Ted Larsen, James Lee and, at times, Jeff Faine. Plus the rest of the crew, outside of Jeremy Zuttah, was hardly showing their best.

But now the O-line is blowing open holes. Joe isn’t that impressed with Jeremy Trueblood’s pass blocking, but the O-line is playing with massive confidence and Joe can only imagine they’d look even better if Josh Freeman was performing like he did in 2010.

The love connection between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Bucs quarterback Josh Johnson already is heating up over on the left coast as San Francisco prepares to welcome the Bucs in a clash of 3-1 teams Sunday.

Soon these guys are going to need a room. Here’s some of the latest from the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Knowing the competitor that Josh is, we’ll say ‘hi’ before the game, give each other a big hug … then he’ll walk away and try to gouge our eyes out,” Harbaugh said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on KNBR. “He’s like a beloved son. And I hope he doesn’t beat us. We’ll be trying gouge his eyes out, too.”

Considering the quality of backup quarterbacks around the NFL, the Bucs seem to have something pretty solid in Johnson, who will be a free agent after the season.

If the Bucs really want him back, it might take a pretty sizable check.

Sure the Bucs were better than the Colts, but the Bucs also got a couple of big breaks Monday.

Josh Freeman tossed a nearly identical bad pass in the endzone to the one that got intercepted against the Falcons, but this time against Indianapolis it was dropped. And the other was the non-fumble call on Earnest Graham in the second quarter. Replays showed Graham caught the ball, made a football move and was stripped. But the pass was ruled incomplete.

Chucky saw the replay and of the non-fumble-call said, “I don’t understand football anymore” during the Monday Night Football broadcast,

What Joe understands is that Graham has a fumbling problem that Joe prays is quickly rectified. Graham also coughed up the ball against Minnesota and on opening day, both at critical times.

As the season moves on, Joe expects to see more of Blount and Kregg Lumpkin eating Graham’s third down appearances, regardless.

Joe often thinks of this site as an outreach effort. Joe knows the women he has as regular readers for reasons unknown choose not to have the NFL Network wired into their homes, hence the reason for this post.

As we all know, a man would never be caught without the NFL Network. That’s the equivalent to admitting in public one has no use for America’s game, football. That would be more shameful than passing gas in the produce section of Publix.

So as Joe is wont to do, he was enjoying the NFL Network yesterday afternoon when Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy appeared from One Buc Palace for an interview.

Among the many things he had to say was the reason the defense is playing so well is a combination of the players Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has drafted in recent years, new assistant coaches and how each lineman has a passion for getting to the quarterback. (Click the link above for the video)

Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman discusses the win over the Dolts with Wendi Nix of BSPN.

"Daly, man, this reminds of when I escorted Hooters girls out to the parking lot carrying their damn 40-pound purses."

Chucky, who rarely talks much Buccaneers football since he got canned, was forced to talk about his old club last night as color analyst on Monday Night Football.

Joe’s going to spit out various Chucky takes from the game today and tomorrow.

One interesting moment was when Chucky barked out what he believes ails Bucs offense.

“The problem with the Buccaneers is they don’t want to unleash Freeman because they have young recevers that aren’t ready for it yet,” Chucky said.

Joe’s first reaction was the comment was pretty damn funny and ironic coming the guy that couldn’t find a way to get Joey Galloway on the field at the same time as Antonio Bryant.

That said, Chucky’s no mind reader and he does his research. Joe would bet a few bucks that comment came right from the mouth of Greg Olson.

It’s clear the Bucs aren’t taking many homerun shots downfield. Outside of Arrellious Benn standing out of bounds and then stepping in for a pass last night, the Bucs threw only one pass his way. The guy was a top second-round pick from the deepest draft in history.

It continues to strike Joe how good the Bucs are with still so much room to improve.

So how good are the Buccaneers?

The jury is still out, although with three wins in a row and a proven ability to close out games it’s obvious the Bucs are better than most.

Joe knows many readers enjoy seeing what the “experts” think, and the NFL Network and NFL.com braintrust have the Bucs at a consensus No. 9. However, the two old-school personnel guys among the group aren’t as sold. Pat Kirwan and Gil Brandt have the Bucs at No. 12. Both rank San Francisco, the Bucs’ opponent Sunday at No. 20, despite their 3-1 record.

Joe’s not one to put any stock in this statistical nonsense. For Joe, fantasy football is winning a sweepstakes that sends the Bucs cheerleaders to his house for a naked badminton game.

But Joe is confident that if the Bucs take out the 49ers and take care of business against the Saints the following week, these expert types will be talking about the Bucs hosting a playoff game.

Joe’s already ripped BSPN for shamefully ignoring Michael Bennett last night, so Joe feels compelled to give Bennett some extra love.

His performance should be heralded. It’s not like the guy came out of left field. He can play.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network after last night/this morning’s victory, Bennett explained his superman-like flying sack/strip/recovery in the first quarter.

“I just saw the block and I was like, ‘Man, I need to make one of them Troy Polomalu plays.’ And I just jumped over him and stripped the ball,” Bennett said.

It was a damn special play. Joe hasn’t seen too many defensive linemen send themselves airborne like that.

Bennett went on to say the Bucs just need to keep teams in 3rd-and-long and the pass rush will be there consistently as he feels its been all year.

Joe’s grateful Aqib Talib is not in the slammer or suspended, and Joe knows Talib is a strong football player, but Talib hasn’t taken any kind of next step in his career through the first four games of 2011.

His missed tackle last night on Pierre Garcon gave Joe vivid flashbacks to Maurice Stovall’s heinous sideline non-tackle of Eric Weems’ last year that cost the Bucs a home win against the Falcons. Talib had plenty of Garcon to get him out of bounds. It was just a fail that cost the Bucs’ defense an 87-yard touchdown.

Check out the video of Garcon’s next touchdown; Talib is literally a half-step from Garcon while he’s running after the catch but gets outhustled and Garcon lands in the end zone.

Talib also dropped another interception right in his hands.

This is Aqib Talib, coughing up big plays and near-miss picks are a big part of his game. He’s a very good player who’s just not great. And frankly, as a renowned trouble-finder, he needs to be great — or stay out of handcuffs for the rest of his career.

Joe hopes Talib can take his game to the level of his potential as the season progresses.

Bucs coach Raheem Morris celebrates last night's win with the fans.

Like a moron, Joe forgot to DVR the game last night. “This Joe” was at the game and wanted to hear what hopscotch act Chucky danced through the way he talks about how every player deserves a bust in Canton.

Joe also wanted to hear how the crowd noise came through on the boob tube. (Any day Joe can get away with the word “boob” in a post is a good morning.)

Joe was seated in the press box, the closed press box, which is OK with Joe. But damn, the crowd at times was loud, real loud. Reminded Joe of the old days with Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice bouncing to the music blaring over the PA system, waiting to pounce on their helpless prey: the opposing quarterback.

It would be nice if that type of crowd reaction becomes the norm again.

While arriving last night, Joe did a double-take when he saw his good friend John Cotey of the St. Petersburg Times in attendance. Like Joe, Cotey wonders once the hangovers have faded and the fans have recovered from a lack of sleep, if they will regularly return to the house that Sapp built?

But it was another, dare I say, thrilling Bucs win, the team’s 13th in its past 20 games, and the first in front of a full pirate ship of fans.

Like more than a few Bucs wins lately, it was three quarters of uneven play, mistakes, holding penalties and dropped passes, and then one glorious quarter of Josh Freeman lunging and LeGarrette Blount lumbering.

Did the Bucs make the most of their moment in the spotlight? That depends on the patience of fans and viewers.

Joe is of the mind that no, the fans won’t return in droves due solely to the game last night. What will bring the fans back is if the Bucs prove last night was not an aberration. If the Bucs continue to win, the fans will continue to return and if the Bucs do make a playoff run, another sellout or two is not out of the question.

Joe is trying to shake the cobwebs out of his head after three hours of sleep. He’s got a massive mug of java at his right hand and is sure it won’t be his last blast of caffeine this morning.

For a second this morning through the fog of sleep deprivation, Joe thought all of those yellow flags lying on the ground of the stadium last night was some form of a nightmare.

It wasn’t. The Bucs were flagged more than an undispiplined high school team. But as Donald Penn told Joe last night, a win is all that matters.

That’s the point made by Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune. Unlike college football, AP voters do not determine the beauty of wins. A win is a win.

I know it has been a while since the Bucs were on the national stage, but they really have shown the ability to play entertaining football from time to time. They have had long stretches of competence. They have entire games in which they have done many good things.

This time, they were simply good enough when they had to be to beat a bad football team. Head coach Raheem Morris likes to say there are no bad wins in the National Football League, so the Bucs will take their 24-17 victory over (still) winless Indianapolis and insist that, really, it was a thing of beauty.

“It wasn’t the prettiest win. It was a pretty ugly win. But it was a win,” said running back LeGarrette Blount, whose 35-yard touchdown run with 3:15 to play was the margin of victory as the Bucs had marked their return to “Monday Night Football,” with a sellout crowd at Ray-Jay.

Look, if the Bucs make the playoffs — no, Joe won’t break down the percentages of teams that start 3-1 that make the postseason but Joe’s gotta hunch it’s pretty good — not one person is going to wring hands over how the Bucs won on a Monday night in early October.

If the win was ugly, good. Learn from it. There are 12 more games to improve.

America, welcome to LeGarrette Blount.

The man gets stronger as games go on. If Adrian Clayborn is Raheem Morris’  part-man-part-beast “Boy Dog,” than Blount is some cross between a human and an F-150. Other than the Bucs, no team can claim it has stopped Bount in his career.

Again, Blount got his touches last night and look what happened. He broke one, and was punishing to the point that Ronde Barber and various postgame pundits on NFL Network were talking about how it’s obvious that the Colts’ defense didn’t want to tackle him. Looking back, it almost seems like the Bucs committed a crime against humanity for burying Blount on the bench against the undefeated Lions.  

Joe hates to jinx Blount, but he hasn’t fumbled this season, and Joe suspects Blount would have little trouble ramping up the Bucs offense another notch if he saw more action on third down. Obviously, he’s the most dangerous weapon they have coming out of the backfield, even in the passing game.

Last night was to showcase the no-name, rising Bucs on national TV, and it’s Blount who walked off the field with superstar status and 127 yards on 25 carries. The hurdling got him out there in 2010, but now everyone knows he’s a unique and versatile weapon in the NFL.

Joe just hopes the Bucs know how to use him to win games and keep him fresh for the playoffs. Last night, seemed just about the right formula.

Brian Price and Gerald McCoy walk away from their fallen prey, Curtis Painter, in the Bucs win over the Dolts Monday night.

In what has been a nasty habit for the Bucs all too often the past two seasons, the Bucs had an ugly first half.

Between limited scoring and a deluge of penalties, there were more than a few Bucs fans who wished the Bucs had never been selected to play on Monday Night Football.

Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was as frustrated as the fans. He knew his comrades, as well as himself, could play better.

So GMC laid the law down at halftime.

“I told them we had to go out there an attack,” GMC said. “I told the guys — the d-line: ‘Look. We have to go out and there and get angry. Just play nasty and get angry and it made a big difference in the second half.”

GMC recorded a sack in the second half and probably should be credited with another that was initially given to Adrian Clayborn. GMC didn’t want to talk about that. He wanted to talk about how the defensive line as a unit took over the game late, like a pack of starving German Shepherds.

“I was ready for the next play, get them down and get ready for the next play,” GMC said. “We had to force [Curtis Painter] into bad throws. They were trying to use three-step drops so we couldn’t get pressure on him. But our coverage was so good we were still getting pressure on him. We told our [secondary], if he gets more than three steps we will get to him and we did. If he took three steps and he thought, we were there.”

Like the rest of the Bucs, GMC was happy the Bucs could show a national television audience they can win ugly games.

“We [showed the public the Bucs] can win in adverse situations and that we are young and hungry team, youngry, like what Coach Morris said. We want to win a division and the Colts were another opponent. now it’s San Francisco. Three-and-one feels good. You always want to be in a position like this. It feels good. Enjoy it for a few hours and move on.”

One reason Joe loathes BSPN was on display Monday night.

There was Michael Bennett notching two sacks and a forced fumble (perhaps even a half-sack late in the game), but the Monday Night Football crew had little interesting in talking up Bennett or giving any legitimate background on the guy. Not even a sideline shot.

If that’s Dwight Freeney with a night like that, it’s a lovefest of epic proportions. Hell, they were sucking up Freeney out of the gate for a spin move that ended with Donald Penn shepherding him harmlessly away from Josh Freeman.

Yet part of the BSPN buildup of the game was acknowledging that the game was a meet-the-nation event for the Bucs. But at the end of the day there was little interest in introducing the Buccaneer not named Blount that had the biggest impact on the stat sheet.

It just didn’t fit the script.