Just a quick programming note for those new around here.

Joe’s at the Bucs game today and will be banging out all kinds of postgame takes and locker room reaction from players. So come back through the night for loads of interesting stuff.

During the game, Joe will have his popular open game thread for those who want to interact while the Bucs and Falcons slug it out. And, of course, Joe will post inactive players here and some pregame stuff later.

Hopefully, Joe will celebrate a Bucs win tonight with a frosty beverage!

Jason Horowitz and Pat Kirwan break down the Dixie Chicks-Bucs game in this CBSSports.com video.

Here’s how you take on the NFL.com video linked here. Jack up your speaker volume and expand the video to full-screen mode.

It’s Raheem Morris in the locker room following the Bucs’ win in Minnesota. Among other things, Raheem implores his young team to “believe in your coaching.”

It’s a moving glimpse into the Bucs’ locker room. And if you were wondering how to spell the Bucs’ new slogan, it’s on Raheem’s fancy new lid.

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=2792af14-46ff-4a99-b34d-915b1030ff10" target="_new" title="">Cosmic Schein: Week 3</a>

Drugs, drinking and driving, weapons, arrests and dealing with prosecutors were all part of Preston Parker’s days at Florida State University — before he got booted from the football team and landed at Division II North Alabama.

Last year, Parker made the Bucs as an undrafted rookie, and last week against Minnesota, he had his first breakout game with six catches for 98 yards.

Speaking last night on Total Access on WDAE-AM 620, Parker talked a bit about turning his life around.

Parker said he landed at North Alabama thanks to his former coach Bobby Bowden and Terry Bowden, then the new head coach at North Alabama.

“I never doubted I wouldn’t make it to the NFL. I just kept pushing. I knew everything happened for a reason. That was supposed to happen, me getting dismissed. I learned a lot of things from Florida State, to North Alabama to Tampa. And I’m still learning things, but I’m a much wiser guy, a better guy,” Parker said.

“I’m making a lot of better decisions. Young and dumb, you know what they say. I’m glad I went through it, Because if I wouldn’t have gone through it, it would have been a much bigger disaster than what happened at Florida State.

 “Just being in Florence, Alabama. There’s one KFC there, and there’s two workers that work there 24/7. They only have two workers, and they don’t have no barbecue sauce. So it gave me time to get my thoughts together and see where I wanted to go in life. I knew I wanted to go to the league, so it let me know what I had to do to get here.”

Parker explained how at North Alabama he got involved in a non-football student committee to analyze campus issues and help improve them. He also said his focus there was football and grades.

And Parker shared his 2010 draft-day story of Bucs wide receivers coach Eric Yarber calling him during the seventh round to say the Bucs wanted him on board with them immediately following the draft. Parker said he committed instantly because the Bucs were the first to call and he wasn’t about to wait for other offers or try to negotiate a contract.

Joe’s glad to see the young man turned around his fortunes. 

When the Bucs opened the season against the Lions, Matt Stafford carved up the Bucs defense in the first half like a chef cleaning grouper. One reason was the Lions had multiple weapons for Stafford to throw to.

Well, now comes Matty ice and the Dixie Chicks. With Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez to throw to, it will mean all hands on deck for the Bucs secondary.

Good thing for the Bucs reinforcements are coming in. Second-year corner Myron Lewis, who has seen limited playing time in his two years with the Bucs due to a string of injuries, has been deemed healthy enough to play Sunday, so writes Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.

The 2010 third-round draft choice out of Vanderbilt has been slowed by injuries since the preseason, when he had a hamstring injury.

He’ll play, according to Morris, in specific situations.

“We’ll get him out there in some of our three-wide receiver sets or four-wide receiver sets,” Morris said. “We’ll give him a chance to get out and get going.”

The Bucs have high hopes for Lewis but it’s hard for any player to fulfill expectations if he cannot get on the field. That has been Lewis’ problem. Joe believes the Dixie Chicks will provide the same type of problem to the Bucs that the Lions did to open the season.

The more corners the Bucs have available, the better.

Trent Dilfer has pored over Bucs game film and determined that Greg Olson is an underrated offfensive mastermind, so he claimed in a BSPN.com story tucked behind the cloak of paid insider content.

Perhaps Olson is an emerging genius, but one reason Dilfer offers is Olson’s commitment to pounding the rock. Huh? This caught Joe’s eye, since Olson hasn’t felt like that kind of guy during his tenure.

“Greg Olson, offensive coordinator, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

“… … This  reminds me of Olson, who uses similar formations over and over, but employs new little wrinkles that make what Tampa does deceptive and difficult to prepare for.

“He also has two other traits from the list above that are great.  He’s very QB-driven and builds great protection schemes that have  helped Josh Freeman develop faster that many thought he would. He has integrated young wide receivers such as Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn quickly. Lastly, he is stubborn with the run. Even when the blocking is so-so, he got LeGarrette Blount his touches last year, and it paid off. He has continued that in 2011, and the winning drive against Minnesota last week was a classic case in point, as he pounded Blount successfully because it was working,  even when you’d assume pass was the call. I love what Olson is doing.”

Interestingly, on The Jeff Faine Show on WQYK-AM 1010  last night, Faine told a story of how he, offensive line coach Pat Morris and quarterback coach Alex Van Pelt hustled over to Olson at halftime of the Bucs-Vikings game to demand that he stick with the running game.

Would they do such a thing if Olson was “stubborn with the run” as Dilfer claims?

Faine didn’t say what Olson himself wanted to run or what his response was. But Faine said he was asking for the run call that brought LeGarrette Blount’s first touchdown.

“We could tell we were wearing them down,” said Faine, who added he was “proud” the coaches had “the courage and guts” to stick with the gameplan.

Olson has done some great stuff with the Bucs offense, but Joe would hardly call him a run-first guy.

Jeff Faine points out that more than one Buccaneer hit the bench last week

There’s nothing pretty about getting yanked from a starting gig after one game, especially on the heels of the general manager talking you up through the offseason.

That’s what happened to Ted Larsen. The second-year guard Mark Dominik plucked from the waiver wire last year hit the bench last week in favor of  Jeremy Zuttah.

Speaking solemnly on The Jeff Faine Show tonight on WQYK-AM 1010 with multimedia czar J.P. Peterson, Faine gave his take on Larsen’s demotion and likened it to Brian Price getting the nod over Roy Miller after one game.

“It was two things,” Faine said. “Larsen did get banged up early in the preseason. He may have came back too early. … But Zuttah, I have to give him credit. I think he had a little bit of a better camp, a little bit better preseason games. Zuttah is a great competitor. I think the world of the kid. … He’s transformed his body [over his time on the Bucs]. … He hit the weights hard.

“It’s uncomfortable. There’s a little uneasiness addressing it with Ted. Ted’s a starter in the NFL. It’s just Zuttah is a little better.

“The first couple of days when I guy get’s deomoted, It’s hard. It happened With Roy Miller and Brian Price.”

Joe must express that Faine was answering a caller’s question about how the locker room deals with a guy losing his job. Faine was clearly treading carefully out of respect to Larsen.

What Joe found interesting was the Miller-Price analogy. With all the happiness and excitment surrounding Price making a comeback and getting a starting nod, Joe lost sight of the fact that Miller was sent to the bench in favor of a guy (Price) that claimed to be playing at about 65 percent. That must have been brutally hard for Miller to take, as well as very telling about his future on the Bucs.

Wait a minute.

What was rockstar Bucs general manager Mark Dominik doing sniffing around speedy, expensive outsiders this offseason when he had Kregg Lumpkin and Earnest Graham locked and loaded in the backfield?

Per an intriguing take from NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com during a live chat today, the Bucs went after Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles “a little bit” but didn’t like the cost. 

Nick (Melbourne FL)

Any reason you can think of that the Bucs did not pursue Darren Sproles? Their 3rd down back situation has 200 year old Earnest Graham there with Kreg Lumpkin a relative no name and surely the Bucs could have outbid the Saints. Please don’t talk about their youth movement. Us fans are sick of the Glazers penny pinching ways.

Pat Yasinskas: From what I know, the Bucs at least did pursue Sproles (and Reggie Bush) a little bit. But they didn’t like the price tag on either.

Now the Dolphins traded for Reggie Bush, and Joe’s no big fan of him anyway. But Sproles? He signed with New Orleans as a free agent for just a few million bucks a year, and he had a reputation for being an outstanding blocker in San Diego, in addition to his other talents. Joe would have loved to see that guy wearing pewter.

Joe assumes at least part of Yasinskas’ report is accurate. And if Dominik saw a need for that kind of player, why didn’t he fill it?

"You hear those cheers, Jaws. Those are for me."

Could it be?

Might the Tampa Bay community stain of blacked out Bucs games come to an end in 10 days when the Colts come here to face the Bucs on Monday Night Football?

Rick Stroud, of the St. Pete Times, apparently is hearing that good things are on the horizon, so he Twittered this morning.

@NFL Stroud – With a good week of ticket sales, Bucs Oct. 3 Monday Night Football game vs. the Colts will most likely be a sellout and televised locally

 

The stats show the Bucs’ defensive linemen have no sacks this season.

The stats also reveal that Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has been on his back nine times already and has practiced little this week because of a roughed up knee.

This week Atlanta’s starting center returns from injury, and it’s pretty obvious the Falcons want to run the ball down the Bucs’ throat to help keep Ryan upright and because, well, because they’ve had a lot of success with that before against the run-porous Bucs.

Bucs DE Tim Crowder tells Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger that the Bucs will get their share of sacks — if they can manage to stop the run and force 3rd-and-long opportunities.

“We’ve made progress,” said defensive lineman Tim Crowder. “In the first game we didn’t have too many opportunities rushing the passer….In the second week, we got behind because we didn’t stop the run too good. We got to stop the run before we even think about rushing the passer.

“It’s not really pressure to get to the quarterback,” he said. “The pressure is stopping the run again. We’ve got to earn the right to stop the passer. Stop the run first to the point where you know they can’t run anymore. That’s when sacks come, that’s when pressures, quarterback hits come where you just pin your ears back and get after it.”

Joe surely wouldn’t bet a nickel the Bucs will stop the run this week or knock Ryan around. If the Bucs are to win, they’ll need a big day from the secondary, to prevent big plays in the running game, and the offense is going to have to fire out of the gate in the first quarter instead the deer-in-the-headlights garbage of the last two weeks.

Joe’s also figuring Maurice Stovall 1,000+ miles away will be a welcome sight if the Bucs grab another fourth-quarter lead on Atlanta. Actually, Joe can’t say enough about the Bucs’ special teams this season. Rock solid all around.

Joe would have expected Roddy White to deliver some fightin’ words before Sunday’s Bucs-Falcons game, but it seems the first round of trash talk is coming from Atlanta middle linebacker Curtis Lofton.

Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM 620 and the Buccaneers Radio Network, caught some of Lofton’s genius on Atlanta radio.

“Legarrete Blount, I want no part of that guy,” the host of the Curtis Lofton radio show in Atlanta said earlier this week. 

Lofton responded swiftly, “I want all of him.  I don’t want no piece.  I want the whole thing.”

That’s funny. Lofton’s head coach told Sports Illustrated that one man can’t tackle the beast that is Blount.

“It’s one of our major musts to be successful — stopping the running game,” [Mike] Smith said. “[Blount] is such a big, strong running back and when he gets through the first level of the defense, he can really create some problems. You’re not going to be able to tackle him with one set of pads. You’re going to have to get multiple sets of pads on him. I know Raheem and what he wants to do offensively. He wants to feature that and he wants to run the ball.”

One can only hope Lofton gets his wish while the Bucs pound out the clock with a fourth-quarter lead.

It seems the Bucs have a new quarterback: Mason Foster.

The potential situation that made many Bucs fans tremble before the season could come to fruition Sunday. If Quincy Black stays on the sidelines injured, rookie middle linebacker Foster will get the fancy headset in his hat and will play on every down and become Raheem Morris’ new QB of the defense.

Morris made it clear today at his news conference and said Foster could have handled all the duties from Day 1.

“Mason will call the plays, if Quincy doesn’t go. He’s not that deficient. I just was trying to take something off his plate,” Raheem said. “You know, Mason’s sharp, smart. You know, Mason’s dying to get the green thing in his helmet anyway. He wants all the information.”  … He’ll play all situations this week.”

It was inevitiable, and now seems as good a time as any since Black is playing ugly football and is hurt. Though this surely is tough duty for Foster with the high-powered Falcons and Tony Gonzalez in town.

Joe hopes the Bucs aren’t in for a Ruud awakening.

Could Sunday be Adrian Clayborn's breakout NFL game?

It has been well-documented that the Bucs have come out of the starting gate slower than molasses in the first two weeks of the NFL season.

Joe has also documented that this must not continue if the Bucs plan on playing in mid-January.

Sunday, the Bucs have their best chance to get rolling defensively because it seems the Dixie Chicks offensive line has not been exactly rock solid this season.

Per Orlando Ledbetter, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Dixie Chicks offensive line has been positively porous so far, giving up nine sacks and 17 hits on Matty Ice.

“We’ve been sweating ourselves and we don’t want to get him hit either,” said Sam Baker. “We really have to pull it together and really firm it up so that he can make plays.”

Last season, the line gave up just 23 sacks and the offensive line was a finalist for the Madden most valuable protectors award, which goes to the NFL’s best offensive line.

Though center Todd McClure may return, this is the Bucs’ best chance to start fast, instead of sleepwalking through the game’s first 30 minutes.

If the Bucs can get a jump on the Dixie Chicks, then it’s time to feed the ball to LeGarrette Blount time and again.

Though she’s not the gorgeous Jenny Dell — where the hell is Jenny?! — someone by the name of Prim Siripipat give us this week’s edition of statistical nonsense about the Dixie Chicks-Bucs game Sunday.

The likelihood of Quincy Black sitting out the Bucs-Falcons game Sunday has increased. Yes, Joe knows legions of Bucs fans like the sound of that.

Good guy Joe Smith, of The St. Pete Times, says Black is still nursing his injured ankle.

Bucs starting strongside linebacker Quincy Black did not practice again Thursday, making his status for Sunday’s game all the more doubtful.

Raheem Morris made it clear yesterday during his news conference that he wasn’t about to abandon Quincy Black after a couple of bad games. But, of course, that doesn’t mean the Bucs won’t let Black take time to recover fully.

Based on Black’s play over his career, Joe would prefer Black get healthy before returning. The mere thought of Black playing at anything less than 100 percent is enough drive to Joe to shots of Southern Comfort.

Joe’s rarely, if ever, at a loss for words, but Joe must admit this week leading up to Sunday’s Bucs-Falcons game isn’t that exciting.

Joe’s feeling little buzz in his travels and less than normal on these pages. Why? Because there’s not much to say.

The Bucs are healthy. The Bucs are home. The Bucs must win Sunday or they’re just the same team looking up at two teams in the division and still wondering when they’ll take the next step.

So far, the Bucs have been what they were during most of 2010, not the team that closed out last season with two convincing wins against Seattle and New Orleans. Essentially, they’ve taken a baby step backwards.

Father Dungy, speaking on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday, said the Bucs-Falcons contests last year were about closing out games. And Father Dungy said Sunday surely will be about the same thing.

Joe’s not always one to agree with Father Dungy’s analysis, but that was spot on.

Just find a way to win.

Maybe no Buccaneers players bitch and moan about Raheem Morris. Or maybe none is foolish enough to do it within earshot of Josh Freeman.

Regardless, Freeman painted an extraordinary picture of teamwide devotion to Raheem Morris during the The Josh Freeman Show last night on WDAE-AM 620.

“It’s crazy, you know. We talk in the locker room. Guys talk about all different things. Guys got complaints. But I can honestly say I’ve never heard anybody say anything negative about Coach Raheem. Never,” Freeman said.

“A lot of people don’t see the whole picture. I mean, people hear about Raheem, how the players love him, and they automatically think this guy’s a pushover, a player’s coach. But that’s not Raheem at all. You know, Raheem keeps it real 100 percent of the time. If you’re messing up, Raheem’s going to let you know. And he’ll let you know in a big way, a way that kind of humbles you.

“That’s what I think guys really respect about him. They respect that he’s going to shoot you straight. He’s going to be completely honest. And you might not like what you’re hearing but he’s not going to tell you something something just for the sake of telling you.”

It’s awesome that the players love Raheem. But they’re going to have to start performing mentally and physically for 60 minutes every week, otherwise Raheem won’t be around to love in 2013.

Joe’s just doing his best to “shoot you straight.”

In this TBO.com video, the wily Bucs beat veterans from The Tampa Tribune talk about the Falcons matchup and share an insightful take from Derrick Brooks.

Thanks to Arrelious Benn’s illegal motion penalty, Mike Williams had a brilliant touchdown catch called back Sunday and finished with one reception for -4 yards.

Sure, the Bucs could, and probably should, call more slants to force the ball into Williams hands, but Josh Freeman explains that defenses are keying on Williams and forcing him to look elsewhere. Last night on WDAE-AM 620, Freeman told a caller to The Josh Freeman Show what’s not being seen on television. 

“It’s not anything with me and Mike aren’t on the same page,” Freeman said. ” The defenses know that Mike’s a good receiver. You know, so they’re rolling a lot of coverages to Mike. They’re trying to double team Mike. They’re trying to take Mike out of the game completely. And, when that’s the case, you can’t try to force it to Mike or you’re going to get incompletions, you’re going to get interceptions, bad things are going to happen trying to throw into coverage.

“That’s something nobody sees, they don’t see that they’re putting a cloud corner and a safety over the top with linebacker help, basically triple-teaming, double-teaming Mike on every play. … It’s really tough to get anything.

“So how do you combat it? You spread the ball around. You show teams that, ‘Ok. Take away our No. 1, and we’ve got No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and some got some great tight ends to throw to. So you guys are going to have to change that up or we’re going to keep getting you.'”

None of this is surprising. There’s a reason Williams’ peers voted him the 80th best player in the NFL. Plus, Arrelious Benn has a lot to prove before defenses show him anything close to the respect Williams is garnering.

Joe’s not concerned. If the Bucs can rack up 24 points in a half like they did Sunday, there’s surely enough firepower out there.

Joe’s life isn’t so rough. Like recently, for example, when Joe was lucky enough to have Miss January from the 2012 Hooters Calendar deliver a special video thank you to JoeBucsFan.com readers. (Safe for work, though you might not get any more work done today.) Remember to use code JoeBucsFan for 25 percent off your entire order at HootersCalendar.com.