Unless Joe missed something, and Joe was looking closely, it seems that Frank Okam and Jeremy Zuttah got the night off.

Hmm, perhaps they’re starters now, since the starters didn’t play?

Okam as a starter is no surprise. He’s the healthiest nose tackle, and he’s been impressive. But has Zuttah gotten the nod over Ted Larsen, who was lousy the last two weeks and has a minor ankle injury?

 The Zuttah-Larsen question should be answered by Monday.

Feel free to comment throughout the game as the Redskins host the Bucs in the District.

Caution: Do not post, or try to post the URLs of any pirated Bucs video feeds of the game. Not even using spaces. Any and all persons who violate this rule will be subject to immediate banishment without warning. You may email URLs between yourselves but they are not to be posted on this site. They are illegal feeds and Joe does not need the hassle of getting a knock on his door from FBI agents in the middle of the night.

Thank you.

Preseason Game 4
Bucs at Redskins
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
TV: WTSP-TV Channel 10 in the Tampa Bay area. The game will be rebroadcast Saturday at 10 a.m. on NFL Network.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 882.
Weather: Per Accuweather.com, a pleasant summer night by both Washington and Tampa Bay standards. The game will start off in the low 80s with low humidity and by the end of the game, will be 73. A soft breeze will decrease as the night wears on and the game is expected to be played under clear skies.
Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs +7.5.
Outlook: Though few starters are expected to play, it will be a chance for tweeners to maybe win a starting job or for bubble guys to secure a spot on the 53-man roster, which NFL teams need to meet by Saturday afternoon. … Joe is of the mind that cornerback Anthony Gaitor has made the team but who is the odd man out? If Gaitor is in, to Joe, that means Elbert Mack may just be on his last legs unless he has a major splash tonight. Also, Ahmad Black might want to have a helluva game. He has been limited in training camp with a sprained ankle. If he cannot shine tonight, his best chance of making his hometown team will be on the practice squad. Also, could Jeremy Zuttah unseat Ted Larsen at left guard? Joe believes Frank Okam could seal a starting job at defensive tackle if he has yet another solid game, assuuming he play. Joe is of the mind that Preston Parker and Kregg Lumpkin are on thin ice. There is a glut of talent at wide receiver and unless Parker shines as a return man, he may be an odd man out. If Lumpkin doesn’t so something, he is in danger of losing a roster spot to someone that Bucs rock star general manager plucks off the scrap heap in a couple of days.

Joe already brought word that Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib will not play tonight against the Redskins; he has not suited up all season due to a nasty hamstring.

Talib is not alone. Seems that defensive tackle Roy Miller, who has a minor tear in his knee, will also sit out tonight, so Miller Twittered earlier today.

@MillTicket_90: no im not playing today, the knee is healthy, and yes i will play next week, to answer all texts i likely received today

It seems with Miller, the Bucs are holding him back as a precautionary measure because of his knee. Smart move.

But since Miller has played so sparingly because of his injury, has that locked up a starting gig for big Frank Okam, who has had a wonderful training camp and preseason? Remember, Brian Price is still gimpy, too, and Gerald McCoy missed the first preseason game with a bum shoulder.

With Okam fully healthy, if he has a decent game tonight — if he even plays tonight — Joe would not be surprised if he starts against Detroit on opening day.

OK, this isn’t enough to make Joe run to his favorite watering hole and chug multiple beers in fright over the Bucs season collapsing, but it is a concern of Joe’s and should be a concern of all Bucs fans.

Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib will not play in tonight’s preseason finale at Washington, so types eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, via the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.

@TBO_Buccaneers: Bucs CB Aqib Talib missed the first 3 preseason games & won’t be playing tonight in DC. Not the way to prepare for Calvin Johnson.

For those keeping score at home, as Kaufman pointed out, that’s the entire preseason that Talib has missed with a nagging hamstring.

This is not good. While Joe remembers quarterback Josh Freeman missing much of last year’s preseason yet having a pretty darn good regular season, the fact Talib is hampered by a hamstring is unsettling.

Hamstrings just don’t go away. If Talib is bothered by it now, enough not to play in any preseason games, this ailment is not going to disappear by next week when the Bucs snap their chin straps to play the Lions.

This very well could be a nagging injury to Talib.

Good thing the Bucs are deep with cornerbacks.

(Is the noun “Megatron” spelled correctly?)

How bout the Bucs-Redskins game LIVE tonight on WTSP-TV, Ch. 10! No tape delay for this one.

In this exclusive video for JoeBucsFan.com readers, veteran Ch. 10 sportscaster Dave Wirth fires off some things of note for tonight’s contest.

Another record-breaking month is in the books at JoeBucsFan.com. And Joe wants to spit out a heartfelt thanks to all his loyal readers, as well as the vast majority of you who can only tolerate Joe’s brand of bloggery once in a while.

In August, Joe was visited by 66,908 unique visitors who came for 340,942 total visits. The average visit was more than eight minutes in duration, which is among the highest totals for U.S. online sports publications. 

Joe looks forward to more record numbers in September, as fans grow more obsessed with the young Bucccaneers and retreat from the boredom and hidden bias prevalent in other mediums.

Joe’s got too many people to thank, but Joe does want to issue a special thanks to those who sent him money for his birthday. Joe indugled mightily with those gifts.

Look, Joe likes Rudy Carpenter as much as the next guy. The Bucs’ third-string quarterback seems like a fine young man. Joe was the first to give Carpenter a serious interview when he arrived in Tampa in 2009, after Byron Leftwich’s mysterious injury.

But Joe would be stunned if Carpenter is on the Bucs’ final roster.

The Bucs really have no need for a traditional No. 3 quarterback, especially with the new league rule that doesn’t require teams to name an emergency third quarterback and gives them an extra active-player spot on gameday to use as they wish, verus dedicating that spot to a third QB.

Yeah, Joe’s heard the argument that Josh Johnson is going to embrace free agency and a chance to start somewhere else after the season, so allgedly the Bucs need Carpenter for next year because he knows the system.  Well, Joe’s not buying that there’s much, if any, starter’s market for Johnson, and Joe suspects the Bucs will pay him to stay.

Former college quarterback Micheal Spurlock has been an emergency QB for the Bucs since last offseason, and he’s been getting more work there through training camp. Spurlock talked to Joe about it a few weeks ago.

JoeBucsFan.com: Raheem has spoken a couple of times recently about you being the emergency quarterback and the team having more flexibility with the rule change that allows a third quarterback or an extra man to be activated. Talk about how much you know to play QB in this system and your readiness in that area.

Micheal Spurlock: I think the biggest thing for me, I’ve played the position already, so just certain little calls and stuff I know because as a Zebra, the third receiver in the slot, you have to make sure things to pick up on defenses. So for me it’ll be more time spent in the run game and learning if I have to get under center and call the snap count and things of that sort. As far as the coverages and what we like to run against what, it’s not a big thing because for me. Playing receiver I try to prepare and think like a quarterback because it makes my job a lot easier when I’m on the run trying to figure out coverage or where the quarterback is going to check this play, or if it should have been checked. I don’t think it’s going to be that hard. It’s just put on me to really focus on the run game.

Joe: Are you already working more on QB duties because of the rule change?

Spurlock: I think so. I’ve always considered myself a student of the game. When I played quarterback you had to know everything and then it just helped out at receiver and I had to shut off certain sensors because I wanted to hit a whole play rather than just what I was supposed to do on a route. That’s when you really grow into the game and become a student of the game — when you think like a quarterback. As for as just taking snaps for me is the only difference. I don’t think the playbook is that hard.

With all the injuries and healing players the Bucs have, they certainly should want that extra gameday roster spot to go to a versatile player, versus Carpenter. Spurlock should be prepared well enough to finish a game in a pinch.

And if the Bucs are down to their third QB to make a start, then the season is likely lost anyway. Joe’s just not seeing the value in keeping Carpenter, who is expected to start tonight in Washington.

For those who don’t know Carpenter, here’s a fresh video from his hometown California publication that tracks his movements.

"I tell ya, Jaws. If they got me Calvin Johnson, I could have won a Super Bowl with Griese."

Joe sure hopes Mike Williams is reading.

In a Monday Night Football conference call today former Eagles quarterback turned talking head Ron Jaworski says he doesn’t think the Bucs receiving corps is keeping defensive coordinators awake at night, so noted veteran Tampa Tribune NFL scribe eye!-RAH Kaufman.

Gruden’s fellow ESPN analyst, Ron Jaworski, said he doesn’t think Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman is surrounded by enough weapons.

“I really don’t,’’ Jaworski said. “I think Josh Freeman is a rising star and he’s everything you’d want in a quarterback. But I think the Bucs have to run the football a lot more consistently. They have some quality at wide receiver, but I don’t see a team that makes you say, ‘Wow, they’re going to scare me.’ ’’

Of course, Jaworski works alongside Chucky on Monday Night Football. You can read some of Chucky’s thoughts by clicking through the link above. Chucky loves every player and coach in the NFL, but this year he especially loves his protoge Sean Payton.

Joe’s focus is on opening day, but the Bucs-Colts game on Monday, Oct. 3, is going to be a heck of a lot of fun. Joe wonders whether at the game the Bucs officially will acknowledge the return of their lone Super Bowl coach.

Dave Parr and Adam Anshell of ProFootballWeekly.com break down the Bucs for the 2011 season. You may be surprised who they pick for a defensive MVP.

Through three preseason games and watching training camp, Joe has gleaned this much from the Bucs:

* When healthy, the Bucs defensive line could be formidable.

* The Bucs have a glut of reliable receivers.

* The offensive line is still, well, skittish.

The Bucs offensive line, which seemed to be on the cusp of greatness in the final year of Chucky and Bill Muir, at best struggled for roughly a year and a half later.

But in the second half of last season it seemed the Bucs offensive line finally got it. It finally was a strong unit, blasting open holes for LeGarrette Blount and on occasion, Cadillac Williams.

But this season, it seems like groundhog day. The Bucs offensive line has struggled, and eye-RAH Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune has not lost sight of this.

In a recent TBO Bucs question-and-answer offering, Kaufman professed the O-line has been less than stellar, in so many words.

Q: What’s up with the offensive line? It looks like the weak link. No holes for the runners and no protection for Josh Freeman.

Richard, Valrico

A: The offensive line has looked very erratic through the first three preseason games. The running game hasn’t been productive and Josh Freeman is having trouble staying clean, but there is time to improve before the Lions come to town Sept. 11. At this point, new OL coach Pat Morris has to be concerned about his first unit.

– eye-RAH! Kaufman

Simply put, the offensive line had their collective hats handed to them against the Patriots, scheme or no scheme. At times, the Patriots defensive front was nothing less than a jailbreak.

In Joe’s eyes, this unit bears monitoring. It is the most important element of the team as we inch towards Opening Week.

The Bucs do not (yet) have a strong enough defense to lock down opponents if the offense is sputtering. And if there are no holes to run through, if Josh Freeman has no time to throw and his jersey is filthy from being pounded into the ground, the Bucs won’t have an offense.

It’s a persistent theme when former Buccaneer defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) watches Adrian Clayborn play football; White is always impressed by the rookie’s high-speed, relentless motor.

White’s not one to sugarcoat stuff, so it’s worth noting when White can’t say enough about Clayborn’s intensity.

“He’s not just going to stay blocked,” White said on the Primetime show on 1040 AM yesterday.

White said Clayborn’s technique needs a lot of work but he will keep working moves if one doesn’t work. After film study of the Bucs-Dolphins game, White said Clayborn played very well and caused a lot of disruption. “He has incredible effort rushes,” White said.

On the other side of the ball, White said, “you’d be crazy to just disregard it” when asked about the Bucs’ struggles running the ball in preseason. To White, it’s concerning. He stopped just short of naming names and saying Jeremy Zuttah should replace Ted Larsen at left guard, but that was the thinly-veiled implication.

Joe’s not sure what has happened to Larsen, one of Mark Dominik’s successful “second draft” finds last year. But he needs to overhaul his game in a hurry if he wants to stay on the field.

Recently, Joe got a chance to interview vaunted Sports Illustrated NFL writer Peter King. The man is near omnipresent during football season. His Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com is a must-read for NFL fans to begin the ugly work week. He also is a devout Twitterer who often holds Tweetups throughout the country . He can also be seen on Football Night in America on NBC and he is a regular co-host of “The Opening Drive,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

King stopped in Tampa on his multiple-city tour of NFL sites during training camp and the preseason. King was sequestered by the Bucs at One Buc Palace starting his day with a one-on-one with Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik at 7 a.m. and continued his day with many Bucs players and coaches.

JoeBucsFan: Your impression on the Bucs thus far after meeting with so many executives, coaches and players?

Peter King: When you basically see a team a day you try to look at the overall team and where they are. To me, this is going to be a great example of a team’s scouting department being at one with the team’s coaching staff because what they have basically done is take four defensive linemen the last two years in the top two rounds. At the start of the year, it should be [Brian] Price and [Gerald] McCoy if they are healthy and sound and have [Adrian] Clayborn and [Da’Quan] Bowers if they are ready to go. That is as much talent as any team has in the NFL IF Brian Price’s weird sort of hip injury and surgery mends correctly and he is able to be the player he was in college and if Bowers’ knee can stay fine. It is fine now.

You think of those guys playing in tandem and being coached by a maniac like Keith Millard, especially in the pass rush game, they obviously have a tremendous opportunity to be good for a very long time. That is the first thing that jumps out at me.

If you look at cornerstone players of this team, with the exception of Ronde, every single guy that is vitally important for this team has been here three years or less. You think of Josh Freeman and you think of LeGarrette Blount and you think of Mike Williams and you think of all of those guys on the defensive line.

And again, there are other important players like [Donald] Penn and other guys on the line and linebacker, but to me, what they have built here and tried to build are a very young team with players they view as personally and professionally the long-term cornerstone guys, the way Derrick Brooks and [Warren] Sapp were in the last generation of Bucs.

Joe: Mark Dominik has spoken often of how he wants to build through the draft and is trying to emulate how the Packers and Steelers stock their rosters by building through the draft, a noble goal. But the fans have howled in outrage that Dominik won’t go acquire a top-of-the-line starter through free agency — sans a punter — to bolster the roster. Do you think Dominik may be putting way too much emphasis and pressure on guys he has drafted and perhaps the fans could be right in that a starter or two signed through free agency maybe isn’t such a mortal sin as some suggest?

King: I think this year is going to tell the tale of that. You will know at the end of this year… look, no team ever bats 1.000 on high picks. One of those guys on the defensive line won’t come through with the promise they thought he had. Football odds say that. But if you look at the Steelers, the Steelers have a philosophy both in terms of the kind of player they want and the type of players that fit in Dick LeBeau’s defense, so it’s admirable to have that trait because what happens is, by the time you have to pay for a free agent to be that guy, he is going to cost a lot of money.

The only other thing I would say is, I think more and more and more in the next few years, free agency is going to be used as Scotch tape instead of big solutions because if you look at what happened this year, 58 percent of all free agents signed — 200 and some odd free agents signed — have been one-year contracts. Usually about two-thirds of the contracts signed are multi-year. This year the majority are one-year contracts and that says to me, A) Teams are not spending in free agency that they once have been at times; and, B) Since the cap is going to be relatively flat in the next two years I think that is what is going to happen unless you are looking for, say, a Charles Johnson, a young defensive end who will be good for the next 10 years and he is on the market or if you are looking for a Nnamdi Asomugha, that is understandable.

But I think most teams are not going to use free agency as the big splash move way. They will use it mainly as caulking.

Joe: If Joe recalls correctly, right before the Super Bowl you wrote a feature on Ted Thompson …

King: Right.

Joe: …the Packers respected general manager, in Sports Illustrated and he summed up his philosophy on signing big-named free agents as “over-aged and overpriced.”

King: Well, what happens, traditionally most free agents — and the Packers either got lucky or brilliant with Charles Woodson because he was a seven-year guy by the time he got to them and has been a much better player with the Packers than he ever was in Oakland — most players by the time they become free agents you are paying them as much for what they have been than as what they will be. So you are better off developing your own guys. No team can develop all their own guys. You always need help from the outside but you are smartest by far in developing your own guys and letting the chips fall where they may.

Joe: Do you see any common denominator with the Bucs players, whether it is their personalities or whatever? It seems Dominik is looking for a certain quality or personality. He only drafts guys that are captains with the inference that they are leaders. It seems the guys he drafts are good people, generally good people.

King: I think even the guys who have had check marks or chequered pasts like Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount are guys when you meet them and talk to them, you like. There is no element of thuggery on this team. I think the smart thing they have done, they have taken the guys at the most important positions and made them good, leader-type people. Josh Freeman is the best example. I was just talking to Freeman about — I learned this from Tony Dungy: When Freeman was drafted, his dad called Dungy and said, “Hey, my son is really young, would you mind keeping an eye out for him, reach out to him once in a while?” And gave him his number.

Dungy talked to him three or four times and said to him, “You can call me any time but you don’t need me. You are fine.” At the time the kid was 21 years old. I think Freeman is a really good long-term guy to build your franchise around because he wants it so bad.

This is a great time to be a Bucs fan, it really is. You have all of these young guys, and yeah, not all of them will pan out, but they won 10 games last year and no one thought they would win 10 games. And they are set up for the future.

Joe: You have been traveling around in a USO van, talk about it.

King: I was looking a month before training camp started, wanted to find a bus to take to all the training camp sites (though it’s not here today) and and a guy from the USO called and said, “Maybe we can help each other out?” The van goes to bases all over the country which don’t have USO [facilities]. I’ve been to maybe 13 or 14 camps with that vehicle.

They brought in troops everywhere we have been and they come and meet the players at each practice and it is fun for the players too. Jim Schwartz had lunch with them. Mike Munchak had 25-airman from Fort Campbell in Kentucky out and have a day with the Titans. It’s really been good and rewarding to know that the guys in the NFL really have not forgotten. Many people in the USA have no idea we are in an active war now and the guys int he NFL remember that and hopefully give something to these men to remember and maybe take home with them.

Candid Buccaneers radio analyst Dave Moore already has his eye on the Bucs’ linebackers come opening day, so Moore told local broadcast icon Rock Riley, via video on BHSN.com.

Moore says he expects gameplans to test the midde of the field against the Bucs.

“We saw the other night that Quincy Black, who was coming in as a third-down middle linebacker for [Mason] Foster, got beat for a big play up the middle that first series, which the next play led to a touchdown. And I really believe that’s an area opponents are going to attack.”

Moore went on to talk about how teams will try to “take advantage” of Black or Foster’s inexperience in pass coverage in the center of the Tampa 2.

Regarding attacking the linebackers through the air, it’ll be damn interesting to see if the Lions go there early. Though it’s hard for Joe to imagine a team not pounding the ball at the Bucs until they show they can stop the run. Last year, the Bucs turned little-known Lions running back Maurice Morris (15 carries, 109 yards in Tampa) into Mercury Morris for a day.

As for Thursday’s final preseason game in Washington, Moore said he’d like to see the Bucs put the starting offense on the field for a couple of series to establish the running attack, which the Bucs struggled with over the first three games. But don’t count on that happening.

The Commissars of Bristol offer up an NFC South preview with Tim Connors, Tim Hasselbeck and Merril Hoge discussing what to look for in the 2011 season.

Joe types this with a heavy heart. What the hell has happened to this football town?

Three weeks ago the Tampa Bay Lightning announced it had sold 5,000 full season tickets during its offseason, doubling its season ticket base to just over 10,000. Knowing that Lightning season tickets are significantly more expensive than Bucs’ season tickets — 42 games vs. 10 games — Joe was sure that the Bucs’ preseason attendance would reveal that the Bucs also had sold at least 5,000 more season tickets, and maybe closer to 7,000 considering they were coming off a 10-6 season.

No such luck.

The Bucs’ announced attendance on Saturday against the Dolphins was 44,732, per ESPN.com. That means the Bucs season ticket base is just less than that figure because season ticket holders must buy preseason game tickets and individual game sales for a typical preseason game (unlike against the popular Patriots a week earlier) is rather low.

In 2010, the Bucs’ lowest preseason home attendance was 41,386 against the Chiefs. So to keep it simple, if you subtract that Chiefs game from Saturday’s Dolphins game attendance, you come up with a net increase of roughly 3,400 season ticket sales. This is no exact science here, but it’s painfully obvious the Bucs didn’t add as many season tickets this offseason as the Lightning.

Joe is flabbergasted.

Joe’s throwing the economy explanation out the window here because comparing the two teams’ sales is a head-to-head matchup within the market. Both are competing against the same economy and the same entertainment dollars.

Joe’s readers are welcome to kick around their takes in the comments, but for Joe it’s about the scoreboard. The Lightning had a better offseason than the Bucs. The Bucs lost.

The Bucs’ sales staff seemingly fared better this offseason than their counterparts in Florida, so ProFootballTalk.com pointed out today, but Joe still can’t buy into any reason why the Lightning captured more wallets in town with a more expensive season ticket. Hopefully, Team Glazer is focusing a powerful microscope on these results.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik may have finally hit a sour note.

Ever trying to stock the roster with young talent, Dominik let team leader and fan favorite Cadillac Williams drive off to St. Louis.

From a bean counter perspective, this made a lot of sense. Cadillac simply was no longer able to be a first string tailback. He was playing on two bad wheels, and God love the guy, no one fought back harder than he did from two ugly knee injuries.

But the laws of physics are stubborn. Those surgeries took a lot out of Cadillac and the brutal punishment of being a running back in the NFL was also likely taking its toll. But Cadillac proved he was quite valuable coming off the bench for perhaps no more than a dozen runs a game, sort of a change of pace from LeGarrette Blount and being a solid blocker, keeping Josh Freeman’s jersey clean on blitzes.

Maybe in an effort to get a better concession in contract talks, maybe a wishful thinking state of mind that Kregg Lumpkin could easily replace Cadillac, Dominik waved goodbye to the former Bucs first round pick.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the regular season: Lumpkin hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. He has struggled enough that it appears the Bucs will anoint everyman Earnest Graham as the third down back, so writes NFL.com blogger Jenna Laine.

Earnest Graham is your third-down running back. The team just has to figure out what to do at fullback. There was hope Graham would stay in at fullback and Kregg Lumpkin would be a complementary back to LeGarrette Blount, but Lumpkin really hasn’t been that impressive this preseason. Neither has Erik Lorig. So this one’s a head-scratcher …

Graham’s hands and his ability to fight for yardage after contact make him an asset in the passing game, much like Cadillac Williams was last year. In fact, head coach Raheem Morris even said in his post-game presser, “Earnest is doing what Cadillac did for us last year.”

Joe had his doubts about Lumpkin from the start. The Packers last year, a team desperate for running backs, let him go. That to Joe raised a red flag. Teams that need players at a certain position generally do not let players at said position walk if they value said player at all. Given the fact it was sage talent evaluator  Ted Thompson making that decision — not someone playing a general manager like, oh, Jerry Jones — further reinforced Joe’s fears.

In many interviews this preseason, Dominik threw bouquets at Lumpkin, but Joe tried to dismiss this as, at times, Dominik’s habit of bragging up guys who are buried on the depth chart and rarely see playing time.

Perhaps Dominik will be scouring the free agent lists of available players in the coming days for a running running back who could replace Cadillac? If we can trust two things, it is Dominik finding a gem on the scrap heap and that running backs, by and large, are a dime a dozen.

Bucs fans love what Josh Freeman is all about: work ethic, supreme confidence, winning, and good values.

So it’s no suprise that Freeman won’t be sold on the value of preseason games. They don’t count and he and the Bucs’ offense got what they needed from them, so the Associated Press reports. 

“It really is practice. You want to get tuned up and ready for the regular season,” said Freeman, who will not play in Thursday’s preseason finale at Washington. “You want to work on your base stuff, get the offense gelling together. As far as what the preseason is for, we got that accomplished.”

Joe loves the confidence and has loads of faith in Freeman, even if he looked scary and Dilferesque at times on Saturday.

Joe’s always been a you-play-how-you-practice guy, but Joe can’t be too concerned by the Bucs many mistakes. There’s just no correlation between preseason success and making the playoffs.

Last week there was all sorts of news about the possibility of NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell throwing the book, kitchen sink and hot tub at troubled Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib, the villain in a  case of a Texas man allegedly being pistol-whipped and shot at while fleeing a scene earlier this spring.

Cooler heads prevailed, as Talib and his legal counsel arrived at Goodell’s chambers to hear their case, and Goodell postponed any sentence until after Talib has had his day in a Texas courtroom.

Now Joe is fully aware Goodell did not have to wait. He could have suspended Talib if he so chose. But it was prudent of Goodell to wait for the facts to be heard in a court of law, as opposed to, say, cutting Talib loose.

Having written that, Joe would like to know where Goodell has been involving the case of Cincinnati running back Cedric Benson.

The former University of Texas star and former Bears running back (boy, what a memorable Super Bowl he had) settled Monday in a case where he agreed to plea guilty on two misdemeanors and serve 20 days in a cage, as documented by FoxSports.com.

Benson was arrested in 2010 for allegedly punching a bar employee in Austin, an incident that earned him a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last year but resulted in no punishment. He pleaded no contest to a charge of assault with injury in that case.

He also was arrested last month for allegedly punching a former roommate in downtown Austin. He pleaded no contest to a charge of assault with bodily injury with family violence, and that will be dismissed if he performs 30 hours of community service and pays an undisclosed amount of restitution to the victim.

Resulted in no punishment!

This is simply outrageous to Joe. Now Joe has no problem at all with Goodell suspending miscreants if he sees fit. Hey, don’t want to get in trouble with Goodell? Don’t be a moron. Real simple.

But what confounds Joe is the rank inconsistency of Goodell’s sentences. Talib was suspended for speedbagging a cabbie’s head. Fine, no problem.

But Benson blasts a dude in a bar in full view of patrons and employees and Goodell just shrugs his shoulders, really?

What a difference a week makes.

When the Bucs played the Patriots, the Bucs didn’t scheme, which Joe dug up evidence to prove that was the case despite what the haters had to say.

Donald Penn even noticed a difference as he kindly gave Joe a few minutes after the game.

“I thought we came out with good intensity, overall,” Penn said. “We were hungry and more focused than last week.”

Though Penn was happy with the start, he understands there’s more work to be logged before the Bucs are ready to throw down with the Lions Sept. 11.

“We still have to minimize our penalties,” Penn said. “When we are out there playing, I don’t see [the big picture] so I’ve got to look at the film but I do know penalties will always hurt an offense so we definitely have to work on that.”

The fact the Bucs had 135 yards in penalties made Joe look on the Bucs roster for Kenyatta Walker.

(Hat tip Jenna Laine).

What is it about the behomoths of the NFL that causes fans, broadcasters and coaches to fall in love with them?

Joe’s not sure. Maybe it’s just the sheer awesomeness of men checking in at 325+ and still being gifted athletes, a completely foreign concept to the average Joe on the street.

So in what is sure to further fuel his exploding popularity, Frank “Mount” Okam is tearing up offensive linemen while weighing in at a relatively lean 370 pounds, so Raheem Morris said with a big grin at his news conference this afternoon.  

Yes, that’s 370 pounds.

“Some days he’s 370, man, he’s huge,” Raheem said after a reporter questioned Raheem’s claim of Okam’s weight.

Raheem went on to relay a story of how Okam contacted the Bucs’ training staff to let them know he was reporting at 370 pounds this season. Raheem was concerned, he said, but after he and staff studied Okam’s body, they decided he was fit for duty.

Remember, two weeks ago Raheem raved about Okam’s fitness and small stomach.

“He’s just a big man. He doesn’t get tired. Man, I don’t know. He’s one of those guys. ‘Is he out of shape?’ Then you look at him and you’re like, ‘No. No. He just looks like a refrigerator.’

“There’s no stomach. Look at him. … He’s not fat. He’s just big.”

Like defensive line coach Keith Millard told Joe the other night, Raheem praised Okam’s ability at nose tackle and at the 3-technique. “He’s a space-eater, a penetrator, a problem,” Raheem said.

Joe chatted with Mount Okam after the Dolphins game Saturday, and Okam doesn’t want to be typecast as just a nose tackle.

“I’m a football player. I’m a defensive tackle. Whatever they need me to be, I can be. I think that’s one of my strengths. I don’t want anyone to put me in a box. … I have a high standard for myself wherever they put me,” Okam said.

It’s interesting. And Joe’s not sure what kid of “box” would fit Mount Okam anyway.

Raheem wears a massive grin when talking about Mount Okam and his size combined with his effectiveness. Buccaneers Radio Network reporter T.J. Rives was cracking jokes with Mount Okam after he talked about successfully flipping his hips on the defensive line.

Everybody loves the big guy.

And at 370, Mount Okam has an opportunity to become the most popular Buccaneer on the defensive side of the ball, and score himself a massive contract when he hits the unrestricted free agent market next year. All he has to do is keep producing.

Now that the next chapter of the Aqib Talib saga has begun, Bucs fans and players are left to pray that Talib can stay out of trouble indefinitely, or at least through the 2011 season.

But ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas wants more than prayer from Talib’s veteran teammates. In a blog post today, he calls on Bucs veterans to step up and counsel Talib.

They can be a bit more aggressive in taking an active role with Talib. He doesn’t have a lot of margin for error and the veterans on this team need to do their part in helping him. They need to reach out to Talib and do their best to make sure he stays focused. The situation with Talib is one where his veteran teammates can do a lot more good by being proactive and vocal. They need to provide strong support and not try to stay out of his way.

This is way too much for Joe’s taste and a bit off the wall.

First, how does Yasinskas know what Ronde Barber has said and done for Talib over the years?

In fact, Joe would prefer the veterans stay far away from Talib so they don’t risk setting him off for some reason. With serious trials for himself and his family looming, there’s no doubt Talib is under a lot of stress.

Talib has serious anger management issues. Joe doesn’t need a degree to make that call. And Joe hardly thinks the Bucs veterans are licensed shrinks who can get into Talib’s head enough to keep him out of trouble.

It’s safe to assume that would have already happened when Derrick Brooks was in the Bucs locker room and Talib walked in after his rookie symposium shenanigans. And 2009 veterans like Chris Hovan, Jeff Faine, Barber and others surely would have been successful, if they could have, after Talib attempted to club Donald Penn with his helmet that spring and subsequently bloodied Torrie Cox.

Talib needs professional help, and Joe sincerely hopes the Bucs are forcing him to get it. Considering all the medical staff associated with the team, and the fact that teams in many sports have hired sports shrinks, it would seem a given that Talib would be subject to time on the couch.

For Joe, Talib’s troubles are way beyond team captains giving him supportive pep talks.