Joe can’t resist tossing some Saturday afternoon fodder out here to feed the conspiracy theorists among Bucs fans.

In the latest “Buccaneers Insider” video on Buccaneers.com, Larry Asante is interviewed about possibly starting at free safety Monday, and Asante responded by saying the usual team-first stuff but also said about the starting call, “That’s up to Raheem and Mark.”

While it’s probably just a stray comment from Asante, it was a little odd to hear a Mark Dominik reference there, and some might surely wonder whether rockstar general manager Dominik is involved in who starts for the Buccaneers.

Of course, GMs around the league have a heavy hand in preseason games, when talent evaluation is paramount. But in a regular season game?

Joe’s not buying it, but look what happened to Joe Maddon last night.

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

They won’t be wearing throwback uniforms on Monday Night, but a few things will feel like the “good ol’ days” of the Buccaneers.

Jon Gruden will be in the broadcast booth remembering his time leading the Bucs to division championships and a Super Bowl, while the play on the field will look eerily similar to the Dungy-led, mid 90’s version of Buc Ball.

I fully expect specific references to Sapp, Alstott, Derrick Brooks, Simeon Rice, Ronde Barber and an early self-deprecating point about the last time these two teams got together at RJS.  Taking a swig every time Gruden references his era in some way would probably be a fun drinking game, but that may lead to an epidemic of absenteeism the following day across America.

This year’s version of defense hasn’t grown into the elite unit that Dungy and Kiffin built by the end of the 90’s, but they are a “youngry” group, and by the looks against the Falcons, they may be getting that swagger back pretty soon.

On the offensive side of the ball, I keep getting reminded of Mike Shula’s days calling plays (and that is not an insult). They are regularly running out of a standard Pro-I set, with the big back LeGarrette Blount deep at tailback, ala Mike Alstott. Alstott used to drop his shoulders and run over people, Blount literally runs over people, also by hurdling them with regularity.

Shula’s (and Dungy’s) offenses scored 20.3, 19.6 and 17.75 points from 97-99 respectively. They were 11-5 in 1997 and again in ’99 when they scored their fewest.

The 2010 Bucs scored 21.3 per game while going 10-6, but a smaller scoring differential than their predecessors. In the three games this year they are at exactly 20 points per game.

The scoring differential was higher in ’97 than in ’99 or 2010, while this year they have scored 60 and given up 60. So the run, play-action game that the Bucs are currently winning with is a trip back to the future of teams Dungy built almost 15 years ago that started a string of sellouts and waiting lists for season tickets, a good sign for all of us, especially those that will be watching our big-screens Monday night.

The offensive results haven’t changed much over the years regardless whether Shula, Gruden or Olson is designing and calling the plays, but the big difference between then and now is that the face of the Bucs was its defense (and Mike Alstott) and now it is its quarterback.

That was not the case for Dungy (Trent Dilfer) or Gruden (Brad Johnson), and I can’t wait to hear the accolades that Gruden has stored up for “No. 5” and how he might not be in the “FFCA” (Fired Football Coaches Association) if he had a guy like that.

Where can you watch the Rays and college football, play poker, savor adult beverages, win $500 for doing nothing and watch live greyhound racing all at the same time tonight?

The answer is Derby Lane on Gandy Boulevard in St. Pete, one of Joe’s favorite hangouts.

The track is open right now, and live greyhound racing begins at 7:30 p.m. And don’t forget to enjoy the stunning buffet at the world famous Derby Club. Plus you can keep the action going all night with the smoke-free poker room open until 6 a.m.

Joe hasn’t written much about the ridiculous NFL not fining the Falcons’ William Moore for launching his helmet into Josh Freeman’s late in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Even the casual observer of the nonsensical NFL discipline policy knows that ugly, potential decapitation was worthy of a fine. Yet nothing came down from hatchetman Roger Goodell and every thinking person in the United States knows a massive fine would have come if the quarterback was Tom Brady, Mark Sanchez, or any other QBs turned into demigods by BSPN and the league itself.

To Freeman’s manly credit, he said on his radio show this week that he thinks the NFL should let guys play and he loves the physical side of the game.

Brian Price, however, did feel the wrath of NFL fine collectors, so reports Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune. Price was whacked $7,500 for head-slapping a guard and he didn’t mince words when asked about it. 

“It’s football, not patty-cake,” Price said. “I don’t know what they want us to do – play two-hand touch or something? I’m always going to play the same and play tenacious. I’m not sorry for what I did. That’s just the way I play.”

Kudos to Price for talking the talk. How refreshing is that.

It always mystifies Joe what the NFL accomplishes fining a guy $7,500 anyway. It’s not enough cash to change most players’ behavior.

In the case of Freeman, hopefully the Bucs will dish out their own punishment during the next Bucs-Falcons game.

No blackout on Monday night!

It’s official. Locals across the Tampa Bay and Orlando markets will get to watch the Bucs take center stage on Monday Night Football next week.

The Bucs-Colts game officially is sold out and will be televised.

Whether or not Team Glazer gobbled up tickets to get the game on the tube is a mystery, but it doesn’t really matter. The Bucs will be on TV before hundreds of thousands local football fans.

As long as “Yungry” doesn’t look “Yugly,” a win against Indianapolis should go a long way toward growing the Bucs’ ticket-buying fan base.

If you need tickets, as of Friday night at 9:30 p.m., there are more than 1,200 available on StubHub.com for what seem to be reasonable prices. Not much “scalping” going on there. And while Ticketmaster.com shows “sold out,” Joe suggests you keep checking there for tickets, as well, as sometimes seats are released at the last minute.

For Rays fans coming to see the Bucs on Monday, Joe has learned that gates will open at 7 p.m. for the Bucs game and the Rays-Rangers Game 3 of their playoff series will be broadcast on the JumboTron for as long as possible before kickoff.

Phillip B. Wilson of the Indianapolis Star gives his take on the current status of the Dolts.

Some fans reading the quote below from Josh Freeman might take it the wrong way and want to tell the Bucs’ QB to jump in a lake.

But Joe could hear the raw honesty in Freeman’s voice saying it and, well, sometimes the truth hurts. It’s been years since the Bucs had a big-time home field advantage, and Freeman was just calling it straight after feeling what a great crowd can do against the Falcons.

“It was pretty amazing. That’s really the first time that I’ve been here playing at Raymond James that the crowd was a huge factor,” Freeman said on The Josh Freeman Show on WDAE-AM 620 on Wednesday night. “That place was rocking. It was deafening. You could tell that the Falcons were have some communication issues. … It was a great experience.”

Immediately after the Bucs-Falcons game, Joe wrote that Sunday’s crowd was the most intense he had heard in years.

Of course, it helps to have fans excited about a strong team and have your defense on the field instead of the offense (relative quiet time) trying to launch yet another comeback.

Hopefully, the Bucs won’t need a 12th man to take out their inferior opponent on Monday night.

In an interesting video, Emory Hunt of FootballGameplan.com believes, among other things, the Bucs need to attack Dwight Freeney with LeGarrette Blount in order to master the Dolts.

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.

It’s Back! Monday Night Football!

I started thinking about how a lot of today’s fans havn’t really had a chance to enjoy their Bucs on Monday Night Football, and if you became a Bucs fan after the SuperBowl when Chris Simms was our QB or later, you don?t remember the days of Sapp, Lynch or the rebirth of MNF on the Gulf Coast.

So let me take you down memory lane as you get ready for Prime Time on Monday.

The Bucs became a team in 1976, and almost instantly Bucs fans learned to loathe MNF, not so much because we were never on it, but we never got to see our team on the halftime highlights.

Because they were narrated by Howard Cosell, Bucs fans learned to hate the nasal announcer. It wasn’t his fault — blame the producers — but that didn’t stop Tampa Bay from hating Mr. Cosell.

Finally, after the magical 1979 season, the MNF team awarded the Bucs two Monday night Games (one on Monday, one a Thursday Night special edition vs the LA Rams in a rematch of the NFC Championship game.) The Bucs scored 10 points to avenge their 9-0 loss — 10-9 on a late Doug Williams touchdown.

During the game, a MNF Camera panned the crowd and showed a sign reading MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL with a photo of Howard Cosell. After a brief moment, it was revealed it was two signs, and the half that said MNF dropped showing the words “COSELL SUCKS!”

“We’re not going to touch that.” announcers said.

A few appearances later, during a disasterous 1983 season, the Bucs put the country to sleep with a 12-9 OT win over Green Bay, and even though it was Week 15, it was Cosell’s last game on MNF.

Fifteen years later a whole new crew of MNF appeared in Tampa as the Bucs hosted the Packers again, only this time with Pewter uniforms at Raymond James Stadium. The place was rocking as MNF hadn’t been in Tampa Bay for a decade and a half. Some people got too excited.

One guy ran onto the field and was leveled by a state trouper thatlooked like a middle linbacker, all caught on film by the MNF crew, showing how crazy we were for primetime in Tampa Bay.

Even though it hasn’t been 15 years, Bucs fans of late have a lot to look forward to on Monday. The nation will be watching us; and, as I mentioned above, we have always had something good for MNF to show to the country:

1999: Rookie Shaun King gets his first start, and throws two TDs to beat the Vikings.

2000: A fake punt Mike Alstott pass to a wide open Dave Moore was overthrown.

2000: St. Louis Rams came to town for a rematch of NFC Championship game, and fans saw the best Bucs game of all time.

2002: Keyshawn Johnson and head coach Jon Gruden get into an argument on the sideline for the cameras, but it would be ok. They’d win a Super Bowl togetherin a few months

2003: Bucs open “The Linc” in Philly with a 17-0 shut out of the Eagles

2004: Rams Adam Archuletta pulls in a ball that fell off of Michael Pittman’s ankle and returns it for a Rams touchdown

2008: The Bucs at 9-3 give up 300 yards rushing to a 9-3 Panther team that started a four-game losing streak for the Bucs that cost Jon Gruden his job, and put him in the MNF Booth — to call this game Monday.

If you didn’t get all that, see you in 10 years, we’ll have a bunch of new MNF history to tell the new fans then. And it all starts Monday.

OK, so Joe is getting queries about this so he’ll let ‘er fly.

It seems as of the moment Joe is typing this post, the Bucs game Monday night is not yet sold out, per NFL.com blogger Jenna Laine and Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.

Laine reached out to the Bucs a short time ago and found out the Monday night game with the Colts has yet to sell out.

@JennaLaineBucs: Just spoke to representative within Bucs organization…tickets for Monday Night Football ARE still available.

Holder wrote this afternoon about the specifics of the clock is working against Bucs fans.

The Bucs face an 8:30 p.m. deadline tonight to declare a sellout of their Monday Night Football game against the Colts that would permit the game to be shown on local television.

Ticket sales were said by the team to be brisk as of Tuesday, when the club said just 2,000 tickets remained. So far, however, no official word of a sellout has come down.

To be bluntly honest, Joe will be slightly surprised if the game is not blacked out.

It still mystifies Joe that the Dixie Chicks game — a game against a division foe, a team some suggest is a Super Bowl contender with a Hollywood star-type of quarterback — wouldn’t come close to selling out last week yet a game against a winless team without a quarterback scheduled on a worknight when fans would be lucky to make it home sober by midnight would sell out.

Throw in the miraculous rally by the Rays to clinch a playoff berth with their first home playoff game being played at the Fruitdome in St. Petersburg just a few hours before kickoff Monday night, well, Joe can understand how the game against the Dolts wouldn’t sell out.

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

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=6c2c8398-dc11-4567-a0c8-f514ed276372" target="_new" title="">Cosmic Schein: Week 4</a>

It was beginning to disturb Joe that the Bucs were racking up injuries on the defensive side of the ball so early in the season.

First there was Quincy Black’s injury, which may have been a blessing in disguise for the Bucs in that Dekoda Watson stepped in for Black in the second half of the Minnesota win. Coincidence the Bucs best six quarters of defense have been with Watson on the field?

Then there was the scary scene last week when Geno Hayes and Cody Grimm were injured on the same play. Grimm, or course, was placed on injured reserve with a messed up right knee.

Hayes received a concussion and did not return. Because of the NFL’s tough standards dealing with traumatic brain injuries, it was possible that Hayes would have to sit out the Dolts game.

That is apparently not the case, per the Bucs official Twitter feed as it seems that Geno is good to go Monday night.

@TBBuccaneers: LB Geno Hayes passed his concussion tests and has been cleared to play Monday. He practiced Thursday, as did LB Quincy Black (ankle).

Joe would still prefer to see Watson on the field when the game begins Monday night but Joe is sure happy that Hayes will be there. Even if Black has been a disappointment in Joe’s eyes, depth on defense was beginning to be an issue if Hayes couldn’t go.

One reason Mike Williams has been somewhat quiet this season is the Bucs' red zone offense is awful.

OK, in the opening weeks of the season, the Bucs appeared to be sleepwalking through the first half of games. That was rectified when the Bucs defense took the Dixie Chicks for an alley beating from the first series of the game and never let up.

Check.

Also, entering the game, the Bucs were 31st against the run, which was simply unacceptable. Against the Dixie Chicks and Michael Turner, the Bucs held the Atlanta ground game to a mere 30 yards.

Check.

Now, how about the red zone offense.

Partially due to quarterback Josh Freeman’s interceptions in the red zone the Bucs’ red zone offense is currently second-worst in the NFL, notes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

The Bucs enter Monday night’s against the Colts ranked 31st in the league in offensive red-zone efficiency, having scored just three touchdowns in 11 red-zone possessions.

Freeman’s red-zone mistakes are obviously part of the problem. But as his comments to Van Pelt prior to their meeting on Tuesday indicate, he’s well aware of his personal contributions.

“Two turnovers in the red zone, that’s just unacceptable,” Freeman said. “That’s something you really don’t anticipate doing or expect to do at anytime. And we talk about it all the time.”

There are simple ways to resolve this ailment:

The first would be to pound LeGarrette Blount early and often. The more he runs the ball, the more the Dolts and other teams will stack the box, and by simple arithmetic, less bodies will be available to cover receivers.

Also, have Freeman roll out. The dude is virtually lethal on his feet. Having Freeman roll out and tuck the ball, he could just fall forward and gain a yard. Again, Freeman on a roll out would be a magnet for linebackers which, of course, opens up the defense. Joe Montana made a career of such moves.

It’s heartening to see the Bucs improving as the NFL season grows. It’s a good sign. Once Freeman is on track, this could be a scary team.

Monday night, Chucky will be making a homecoming of sorts.

For just the second time since he was jettisoned by Team Glazer as the Bucs head coach, Chucky will walk into Raymond James Stadium, affectionately known as “The CITS.”

But this will be the first time Chucky sees the Bucs play at home since he wore a headset and cursed out referees offered guidance to officials as the Bucs head coach.

(Chucky’s first return to the stadium was to call the Florida-Penn State matchup in this past January’s Outback Bowl, a game Bucs safety Ahmad Black likely remembers.)

In a piece typed by Bill Hofheimer of BSPN, Chucky reflects on his favorite memories coaching the Bucs in the house that Brooks built. One of his favorites was the final home game of the 2002 season. Two games later, Chucky hoisted the Lombardi Trophy aloft in victory.

Front Row: What’s the loudest you ever heard it at Raymond James?

Gruden: The San Francisco game in the 2002 divisional playoffs was probably the loudest I ever heard that stadium. All the flags were waving. We had a pretty convincing lead at halftime and every time they dropped back to throw in the second half it was loud. It was impressive. The Bucs fans were in full force that day. We ended up winning 31-6. That crowd really helped us a lot.

Who would have thought at that time the opposing quarterback that day, Jeff Garcia, would soon be Chucky’s signal-caller for the Bucs in a handful of years?

Strange how things work but those final few weeks of the 2002 season were certainly magical times in the Tampa Bay area, not unlike the crazy night of baseball the Rays treated the area to last night.

In an effort to help confuse the minds of right-thinking sports fans, Prim Siripipat of BSPN throws out more raw statistical sewage on the Dolts-Bucs game Monday night. Joe demands to know what has happened to the gorgeous Jenny Dell? What exactly have those godless Stalinists done to her?

"Jaws, don't be loving this Freeman kid more than I do. If he were on my team, we would have won throwing 50 times in the Meadowlands."

Chucky and his Monday Night Football broadcasting brethren are in the midst of their deep research for their next game on the Bucs’ home turf.

Well, maybe Chucky isn’t, since he loves everybody no matter what he sees on film.

But Joe has a little more respect for Ron Jaworski’s assessments of players, especially quarterbacks. And Jaws, as he’s known, talked about Freeman today on The Fabulous Sports Babe Show on 1040 AM.

Jaws explained that he was spending his day at NFL Films headquarters watching tape of Freeman and listening to a wired-for-sound Freeman during a 2010 game that just happened to a be a magical fourth quarter comeback win for the Bucs.

Jaws called it “unique preview’ of Freeman that left him amazed by his “command in the huddle” and “command at the line of scrimmage.”

“Hearing him wired in the huddle [in the fourth quarter], you would have thought it was the first quarter,” Jaws said.

Now for those that think Jaws is just pumping up Freeman to hype the broadcast, Joe reminds you that this is not Chucky.

Here’s what Jaws had to say about Curtis Painter, the Colts’ starter on Monday.

“I don’t see the full skill set that would lead me to believe he’ll be successful in the NFL,” Jaws said.

Just another reminder that it’s great to have Freeman playing for the good guys, and that it’s going to be quite a suckup fest for Freeman on Monday. Considering how much of that gushing would have fallen on Peyton Manning, this broadcast is really going to be a blessing for the Bucs’ national image.

Yes, Bucs fans — sober ones, that is — are well aware that Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman is building quite a resume as the king of the comebacks.

Starship — as Joe’s good friends at WTSP-TV Channel 10 like to refer to him as — already has eight fourth quarter rallies and he’s just starting his second full season as the Bucs’ fulltime signal-caller. Pretty tremendous stuff.

And while Freeman may be struggling this year, compared to his eye-popping numbers of last year, Freeman has proven to be one cool cat when the pressure is on, so reports Pat Yasinskas of ESPN. It seems Freeman thrives on third downs.

Freeman has the league’s best third-down completion percentage (89.3). He’s completed 25 of 28 passes for 256 yards and has an 84.5 Total QBR, which is fifth in the league.

Look, he’s damned near perfect on third downs. That’s just unreal. What more can you ask for? Any quarterback that is money like that when the pressure is on is OK in Joe’s book.

Maybe Bucs coach Raheem Morris could hypnotize him into believing each down is third down?

Joe’s a tad late on this, as this TBO Bucs vlog with Woody Cummings and eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune was shot on Monday. However, the subjects discussed are relevant, such as how will Cody Grimm be replaced and what’s going on with Josh Freeman’s picks in the red zone?

It’s an old axiom Joe is well-aware of but it holds true today just as it did in football’s embryonic age: it all starts up front.

For the Bucs, that is the defensive line. It is no coincidence that the reason the Bucs rallied from behind at Minnesota and stopped the Dixie Chicks offense last Sunday was because of the defensive front.

Make that the Bucs young defensive front. Gerald McCoy is the veteran of the group and some would suggest leader of the line, yet he has yet to play a full season in the NFL.

Yet these young Bucs are starting to flex their muscle writes Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times.

This season, McCoy is waiting on his first sack but has a club-best nine quarterback pressures, including six against the Falcons. One reason Ryan couldn’t escape Clayborn is because McCoy had both arms around his legs.

Defensive tackle Brian Price, a second-round pick from UCLA who played only five games as a rookie, also notched his first pro sack Sunday. The confidence in the group of young, athletic, relentless defensive linemen has emboldened coach Raheem Morris to scrap the staid Tampa 2 for aggressive man-to-man coverage.

“You bring guys in the past two drafts, all defensive linemen, it’s clear what you want and what you expect and how much you believe in those guys,” McCoy said. “Coach Morris, on the sideline, he said: ‘Look, I’ve got all the faith in you guys who were brought here to do what you do. So go out there and show me.’ The next drive, we got pressure on the first play. The next play was the sack-fumble.”

Joe is totally geeked about the future of this line. When Brian Price gets 100 percent healthy and in shape and when Da’Quan Bowers finds his groove, this line could simply be ferocious on opposing quarterbacks.

Just ask Matty Ice.

Josh Freeman celebrates his first rushing touchdown with a soccer dance.

Naturally, Joe is a sports geek. Football, baseball, college basketball, hockey, if it’s playing, Joe’s watching (and drinking).

Notice one thing missing from the above? Soccer.

Joe doesn’t get it. Let Joe be clear: Joe has nothing against soccer. All the soccer people Joe has come across are wonderful people and clearly one has to have massive stamina to play soccer. Joe clearly respects this. And from a sportswriter’s perspective, nothing is better than a running clock.

Joe has never been bitten by the soccer bug. When Joe tries to watch soccer on TV, he is reminded of what Norman Chad once wrote about soccer, “Watching soccer on TV is akin to watching an Easter egg hunt.”

So it was slightly surprising to Joe to learn that Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman not only enjoys soccer video games, it was just this outlet that moved Freeman to emulate a soccer dance when he celebrated his first rushing touchdown Sunday, so he told Doug Gottlieb on BSPN Radio.

“It was a soccer celebration,” Freeman said of his dance. “We play FIFA [on video games] between practices and I always said I would dance like that if I ever scored a touchdown. It’s funny people thought I was doing the Dirty Bird. [His soccer dance was] nothing like the Dirty Bird.”

Joe thought it was initially cool that Freeman was mocking the Dixie Chicks with his touchdown celebration but the fact it is a soccer knockoff gives Joe pause.

It grates Joe when soccer people try to indoctrinate Joe into the sport saying “It’s the most popular sport in the world.” When Joe hears that, he also hears the words of Joe’s old man, a proud World War II veteran who says, “Yeah, and we are America. We are better than that. Our ancestors came here from lesser countries for a reason. We have football and baseball.”

Monday, Bucs coach Raheem Morris made his weekly appearance on “The Blitz,” co-hosted by former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon and popular sports radio personality Adam Schein, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

 Naturally, Joe recorded this and transcribed the appearance for your reading and dancing pleasure.

Adam Schein: Coach, what a win, how are you?

Raheem Morris: Hey man, I feel great. The pressure of wins and losses have gone up greatly because of my appearances on “The Blitz” so I credit you guys for making me have the will to win these football games.

Rich Gannon: Coach, I know it was not pretty at times but it’s great to have a win over a team that you have not had luck with in your own division.

Morris: It’s good to get the winning ways in our division going again and it is a step in our goal of winning the NFC South. It is a major deal to beat guys in our own division, especially in our house.

Schein: I agree with you that it was a major deal. I know you were honest with us last week — I don’t think it was coachspeak — when you said, ‘I can’t call this a rivalry because since I have been coach they have whipped our butts head-to- head, they have beat us head-to-head.’ This is a game that I think your team had the right intensity, the right mentality, I thought the crowd in Tampa was amazing. I think the fans fed into that. You know Raheem, I am being serious, I buy into your football team, that was a real moment for you. If you lose, the naysayers say, ‘Oh, Tampa, they overachieved last season.’ You win and it is, ‘Tampa is legit. Tampa is in the landscape of the NFC.’

Morris: Yeah, I kind of agree, it was a coming of age moment for us. When you want to win home games defend your home, get the crowd into things, get them cheering on third downs. The defense was playing really well and the crowd was into it. It was like old school Tampa Bay Buccaneers, playing defense, running around, hustling and hitting. We’re getting better. At times a little bit it’s ugly as you said. But to be able to go out there and execute our four minute offense, run with power consistently right at the Falcons, that was a big time statement. No better way to run three times in a row in a victory formation.

Gannon: Lets talk about your rush defense. You held them to 30 yards on 15 carries and your defensive line played consistently across the board. You had four sacks and took the ball away four times.

Morris: I don’t necessarily buy into the theory that each week you have to stop the run. I’m more into a situations. What must we do to win the football game and yesterday was stopping the run. We had our guys play man-to-man coverage against some very talented receivers. When the defense had to stand up and stop the run we were able to stop the run and get the ball back. Watson and Clayborn were forcing fumbles. They played big and it was awesome to see.

Schein: It was a tremendous effort, especially in the fourth quarter, out of your team this year against a Falcons team with a bevy of weapons. How do you bottle this up and get this type of execution from your defense in the fourth quarter week in and week out?

Morris: I’m not sure that was our best fourth quarter defense because when we had to come back against Minnesota we had to play some big time defense. Certainly it was the best start on defense that we had, we get a sack and a fumble. That was phenomenal to get to the quarterback and he had to be aware of us and worry about that. That we would make them kick field goals, the red zone battles were huge for us. We just have to play hard, smart, fast and consistent.

Gannon: Your thoughts on Julio Jones?

Morris: We did a nice job on him all day. We had Talib on him and he got a nice gain against our young safety, a big bomb when we went to Cover-2. But we gave him a man-to-man look and battled. On the other side, we had E.J. Biggers lined up with Roddy White and I give the edge to Biggers. White is a tough player but Biggers was right there and gave him competitive looks all game. Then we had the battle of the old guys. I had Ronde on Tony Gonzalez and he had a great day. I felt great about how they played.

Schein: Coach, it was a great win for your team all around. I thought your quarterback was clutch again but if I had to nitpick, you can still have some more pop and sizzle in your offense for four quarters. Takes us through that. Tell us what you saw both negative and positive.

Morris: You know Adam, I like that. I will use that in our meetings, pop and sizzle. We want a little more pop and sizzle and when you don’t have that, you better be consistent. What our quarterback did early was recognize his problems. He was not throwing the ball with the greatest of accuracy but he made some easy throws. We got him some screens where he was able to get the ball into people’s hands that could actually go out there and make plays. He did a nice job of adjusting and using his feet to pick up some third down conversions. He kept the other team’s offense off the field which is the best defense you can have. We have to do a better job of red zone offenses and watch turnovers but he recognized what was not working we won by using his head. I love the way he is going and what he is developing into.

Gannon: I know you took a glimpse of the Colts. I’m sure you are excited to be playing on Monday night.

Morris: I’m excited to be playing in primetime. I got a chance to see the old boss. I get a chance to talk to him on Saturday. I get a chance to get him in here and run a good show for the old boss. He will be in the box watching us and I have to make him proud. I know this is a trademark of yours Adam, but I hope to give him some pop and sizzle.

Schein: I do think on two levels, yesterday was important for a win over the Falcons and it’s rare that you guys are on primetime. This is a great opportunity on a center stage to announce on national television that you guys belong on national television and the Bucs will be a force all season long.

Morris: That was sort of my talk last night to the team. Our goals are to win the NFC South and to do that, it’s impossible to ignore us and this is an opportunity to show the world what they are missing. I can’t wait.

Gannon: How do you prepare [for Monday Night Football]?

Morris: We are rookies at this. We’ll go with the normal Wednesday practice and Thursday and Friday and then we will double-down with a Friday practice on Saturday and have a walk through Sunday. We will try to execute our best plan to be our best self.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik loves his late-round gems and scrapheap finds. The Bucs are loaded with those guys, compared to other NFL teams, and they’re prepared to keep them at all costs.

Last year, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis had a temper tantrum when the Bucs paid Dezmon Briscoe to bail from Lewis’ practice squad and head to Tampa. Now, says ESPN blogger Pat Yasinskas, the Bucs are making sure the guys at the bottom of their totem pole won’t go anywhere. Here’s one example:

“But the Bucs now have topped that. Apparently, the team has a very high opinion of practice squad defensive end George Johnson. After he was released at the end of the preseason, the Bucs quickly turned around and signed him to a sweet deal on Sept. 8. Presumably fearing they would lose Johnson to another team’s practice squad, the Bucs signed Johnson to a contract worth $170,000. The typical practice-squad contract is for $96,900.

“But the Bucs renegotiated Johnson’s deal on Sept. 13, according to contract records obtained by ESPN.com. That’s when Johnson got a raise to $22,059 per week, which comes to $352,944 for 16 weeks. Johnson is being paid at the same rate as the minimum for players on the regular 53-man roster. If he had signed the new contract before the first game, he’d be making the $370,000 minimum …

You can read more by clicking through the link above. 

Speaking of practice squad types, the Bucs lost safety Cody Grimm for the season but safety Ahmad Black was not promoted to take his place. The Bucs promoted a tight end, Collin Franklin, and signed an offensive lineman to the practice squad.

What does that say for Black?