It is 2013 now on the west coast of the east coast and will shortly be 2013 for Joe’s friends in the Midwest, and so on as the night grows older.
Joe wants to wish a sincere, heartfelt thanks to all who read Joe’s articles the past year. A Joe hopes everyone has a profitable 2013.
Hey, maybe even the Bucs could play a playoff game after the 2013 season? Joe can dream, right?
Later today, Joe will soak himself in beer and sun at his annual tradition of the Outback Bowl at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway. (Don’t worry, Joe will still be working.) Joe hopes you have a pleasant day, wherever and whatever you wish to do.
Word out of the Chicago Sun-Times and various other sources has Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan scheduled to interview soon for the Chicago Bears head coaching job. Former head coach Lovie Smith was fired today.
Sullivan’s West Point/Army Ranger military background, his Super Bowl rings coaching with the Giants, and his measurable yet limited success with the Bucs offense, make him a prime head coaching candidate.
Joe wrote about this many weeks ago, though some readers here scoffed at Joe’s logic.
Is Sullivan head coaching material? Joe can’t vouch for that, but he’s surely a sound candidate and Joe would expect he’ll get other looks, as well.
Sullivan’s departure would not be a good thing for Josh Freeman. The last thing Freeman needs is change that likely would rattle his confidence.
Will Greg Schiano ask Team Glazer to step up and lock up Sullivan to stay in Tampa? That’s an important question as the clock ticks into 2013.
Joe’s hardly one to agree consistently with former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, but Joe will side with Beckles’ take on Demar Dotson.
This morning on WDAE-AM 620, Beckles had high praise collectively for the Bucs’ offensive line this season minus Dotson.
“I’m not sure if he’s the answer, ” Beckles said of Dotson.
Dotson struggled against St. Louis and didn’t have his best game yesterday. His pass blocking must improve. Greg Schiano talked about craving competition at all positions today, and Joe believes serious competition at right tackle is a critical offensive priority this offseason.
Jeremy Trueblood will not return, barring some strange act of God. And while Joe does not expect the Bucs to invest more serious money on the offensive line after last offseason’s commitments to Carl Nicks and Jeremy Zuttah, there should be enough money laying around to score a starting-caliber right tackle.
Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has talked openly about shunning drafting offensive linemen — he’s only picked one in four drafts — preferring the free agent or practice squad route in order to first see how the lineman adapts to the pro game because college spread offenses have made it harder to scout a guy’s potential at the pro level.
Dotson is signed through 2013 at about $1 million per year. He’s a good guy and Joe exects him to return. Joe just thinks the Bucs should try to upgrade.
Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson wants to the see the Bucs bring in a beast of a big slot receiver and use him on every offensive snap next season.
Essentially, the Bucs should ditch the fullback, Carson said on 98.7 FM this morning, and spread open defenses with a third receiver. That would give Josh Freeman more angles and openings but, more importantly, let Doug Martin run from a single-back set against more spread out defenses, ala Marshall Faulk or Thurman Thomas.
It’s an intriguing change of approach, especially if Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks return healthy. Joe’s unsure how much of a philosphical stretch this would be for Mike Sullivan, as the Bucs offense does use the fullback more than most teams.
Joe likes the idea as it would force the Bucs to upgrade at receiver, which would give them more depth at the position. Tiquan Underwood had a career year and did some great things, but his hands proved questionable and his desire over the middle seemed to have been affected by getting his clock cleaned in Carolina. Arrelious Benn? Well, he’s a project at this point.
It sure smells as if struggling Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman may get a decent backup to help push him to be his best self.
In this morning’s press conference, Greg Schiano made it clear to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club that he believes competition at all positions is beneficial to a football team and did not duck the notion it could also help Freeman.
“I will meet individually with josh. Again, it was an up and down year but you look at 4,000 yards and records all over the place. A lot of positives there. Certainly when an expectation level is set and you don’t make it, there is disappointment. Josh is probably his own toughest critic so I don’t know if anything I am going to tell him is going to shock him. I think perspective and sequencing what he has to do until we get back together April 15 , first thing he has to do is get away from the game a relax a little bit. Then there is a sequencing of things that I think has to happen for him and we will discuss that and part of that will come out of the evaluation.
“I am not all in with myself yet so how can I be all in with Josh Freeman or any other player? I need to evaluate. What I can say is, [Freeman is] a 4,000-yard passer, a [team] touchdown record [holder]. There are things you say, ‘Wow!’ Does he frustrate me? Yeah. But those things frustrate him too. Quite frankly I really like Josh Freeman. [I have] to evaluate every single thing for what is best for this organization Do I think Josh Freeman will win Super Bowls in this league? Yeah, I do. I hope that happens here. But I have to evaluate everything before I can say, ‘That is what I am doing.’ I do believe in competition at every spot including the quarterback. I want to have as many good football players on our football team as we can at every single position. As much competition as we can create throughout the football team rises the level of everything. It’s human nature when there is competition the level rises.”
Now there is a rule of thought that Freeman getting pushed may just rattle him and unnerve him and he may regress.
This is the quandary the Bucs find themselves in with their quarterback. His contract runs out after the 2013 season. Should he hit the lottery or should the Bucs sign him to a team-friendly, salary cap-smart pact?
Maybe seeing how Freeman reacts to being pushed will give the Bucs an idea about the details of his new contract.
Just about anyone old enough to comprehend how the business end of the NFL works knows that Adderall-popping, spa-relaxing Eric Wright all but wrote his ticket out of Tampa Bay this offseason, short of reworking his contract to make it Team Glazer-friendly.
After getting busted for Adderall and being sentenced to a four-game suspension, a clause in his contract kicked in where Wright’s second year of guaranteed money with the Bucs was voided.
Offered a chance to publicly state Wright is a Buccaneer Man, Bucs coach Greg Schiano passed this morning, which was basically saying Wright very well may go bye-bye.
“I can’t tell you what his future is with the Bucs because that has not been determined yet,” Schiano said.
Schiano offered no additional information about Wright.
Infer what you want with Schiano’s words, but it is pretty clear Wright is, at best, on thin ice with Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik not to mention Schiano himself.
The leader of the New Schiano Order updated the status of some Buccaneers on injured reserve this morning at One Buc Palace and said a cloud of uncertainty remains around Quincy Black.
Black suffered some sort of complex nerve/neck injury in November that knocked him out for the season and left him with physical limitations. Today, Schiano said Black has seen specialists around the country and offered no specifics on Black’s condition.
The Bucs have finished paying guaranteed money to Black, who signed a five-year, nearly $29 million deal before the 2011 season. However, the Bucs could be on the hook for the rest of Black’s contract if Black can not play football again.
Schiano reported no snags in the comebacks of Carl Nicks, Davin Joseph and Adrian Clayborn.
Butch Davis, the special assistant/consiliere/psychic to Bucs coach Greg Schiano, is not leaving the Bucs for Florida International.
There had been many rumors of late that Davis was linked to the opening at FIU after the school parted ways with Mario Cristobal. Davis’ agent, Jon Sasser, Twittered Joe over the weekend to refute a FoxSports.com report that Davis’ settlement with the University of North Carolina, his previous employer, was an obstacle for him to take the FIU gig.
Sasser also reached out to Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune to offer the same information.
Below is what Sasser — unsolicited — Twittered Joe, and Sasser encouraged Joe to use this message as a direct quote from him.
@JonSasser: Butch Davis did not even sign a settlement with UNC upon his 2011 dismissal. … UNC’s obligations to Butch Davis are governed by the contract in time at his termination.
In other words, Davis is just abiding by his contract with North Carolina and not coaching for the time being.
So Schiano gets to keep his consiliere, which isn’t a bad thing.
It’s not exactly a blackout-busting group coming to Tampa. Hopefully, the Bucs showed TV executives enough to grant a night home game to the Tampa Bay faithful.
The Bucs tied with five teams at 7-9, and strength-of-schedule tiebreakers left them wth the 13th pick in April’s draft. Here’s the current known draft order, via NFL.com.
Yesterday Joe appeared, as he often does, with his good friend Bobby Fenton on the Bucs Postgame/Postgame Show heard locally on WDAE-AM 620.
Fenton had an interesting rant about the Bucs season. He said in no uncertain terms the Bucs season was a failure. If a team doesn’t make the playoffs, Fenton explained, then said team has failed.
Fenton also noted that for any Bucs fan to suggest that the Bucs had a good season because they won three more games than last year is “a loser’s mentality.” This attitude, he believes, stems from a now 10-year absence of a playoff win.
Joe believes Fenton is on point, especially since the Bucs were in the driver’s seat for a playoff berth and fell face first in the dirt losing five straight and finding themselves on the couch for January football, as opposed to playing meaningful January football in the playoffs.
Sure, the Bucs made some inroads, improved in some areas (the rush defense in particular), but each team’s goal is to get to the playoffs.
The Bucs failed to do so. As a result, Joe, like Fenton, cannot see how the 2012 season can be called a success.
Then days later Watson earned a Sabby and cost the Bucs the game in Dallas by burying the Cowboys punter on what was a sure punt block, a play Greg Schiano called a 10-point swing. But then Watson redeemed himself and won the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month award for November.
Today, Watson capped off his strong season on special teams with a massive bull rush that drove a Falcons offensive lineman into the Falcons punter and blocked a punt.
It was a very special play, and one that shows the driving will that Watson brings to all his special teams play.
Watson didn’t have enough as a linebacker to beat out coach-pusher Adam Hayward and replace Quincy Black, but Watson is a very valuable member of the Bucs.
Still just 24 and perhaps the Bucs’ No. 1 gym rat, Joe’s excited to see how Watson can raise his game in 2013.
Fan favorite E.J. Biggers breaks up a pass intended for Julio Jones Sunday.
Joe made a big deal of how the Bucs were on the cusp of a horrific mark of giving up the most passing yards in the 93 years of NFL history. Matty Ice only needed 252 yards yoday for the Bucs to achieve this football version of a scarlet letter.
Well, Matty Ice came 14 yards short of pushing the Bucs into NFL history.
Holding Matty Ice to just 238 yards isn’t bad. Really. And aside from a blown assignment by Anthony Gaitor that allowed the Dixie Chicks an easy score, which prompted Greg Schiano to blow up on his defensive backs on the sidelines, the secondary played well today.
Leonard Johnson had key breakups in the fourth quarter. So too did E.J. Biggers, who, despite his legions of haters, actually played decent this year if not OK at times. And as Joe has documented, Mark Barron made the play of the game on fourth down in the fourth quarter against Tony Gonzalez that may have saved the Bucs win.
Joe believes for the Bucs to improve the secondary, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik must land a free agent (use the cash that was going to go to Eric Wright and add more to get a decent guy in here) and draft a corner. Of course, to expect a rookie corner not to struggle in his first year in the NFL may be a stretch.
Whether or not Michael Bennett re-signs, another pass-rushing specialist sure would be nice and perhaps the Bucs can land a defensive end in the first round?
Yes, the Bucs’ porous pass defensive played OK today. But that doesn’t mean the Bucs don’t need massive upgrades in the offseason in order to repair the unit.
Josh Freeman got rattled far too much this season, and his rollercoaster play and body language led every Bucs fan paying attention to wonder whether No. 5 has the mental makeup to be a winning quarterback.
That debate absolutely can still be had, but Joe’s very happy that today Freeman spared himself an entire offseason of Bucs fans and media brutally attacking at his viability as the Bucs starting quarterback. A loss and/or a crappy performamce by Freeman in Atlanta would have delivered just that — from now through his next bad throw in the 2013 preseason. And frankly, Joe doubts that Freeman could have handled that pressure. But Freeman delivered a win and had a decent day today.
Bucs fans have come to know “Good Josh” and “Bad Josh,” and against the Falcons it was more “OK” Josh. He threw an ugly interception and flashed his typical spotty accuracy, but Freeman delivered 2010 playmaking and appeared in command.
Yeah, Freeman set all kinds a Bucs single-season passing record today, as well as franchise career touchdown mark. But Joe only cares about winning when it comes to quarterbacks.
Freeman’s got a running game, quality receivers, solid pass protection that should improve with Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph returning, and he’s got an offensive coordinator that knows how to get the most out of a quarterback.
What more does he need?
Sure, the Bucs could get No. 5 even more toys this offseason, but they shouldn’t have to. Freeman just needs to develop his head, and more weapons won’t help that. The lone “best friend” Freeman is missing is a smothering defense. And that’s got to be where the Bucs pour their resources.
The always affable, talkative and no-nonsense Bucs left tackle Donald Penn offered his thoughts on the Bucs radio network after the game on the up-and-down season, and specifically, the running of the Muscle Hamster, who was spinning his wheel today for a touchdown and 142 yards.
“It’s a great feeling to go into the offseason with a win,” Penn said. “We were hoping [the Falcons] played all of their starters. We wanted the full Falcons, not the half-Falcons.
“All the bad stuff that happened last week got out of our system and all we could do [today] was good. We did things right. We ran the ball good and when we run the ball, we are a good team.
“My hat’s off to Doug [Martin]. He does a lot of stuff that makes [the offensive line] look good. He has improved all year. I’m looking forward to next year. We have a good offense.
“My hat’s off to Josh Freeman. A lot of people been down on him but he came in working hard every day, came in here smiling like he always does and played well.”
The Bucs sacks leader, Michael Bennett, who perhaps may have played his last game for the Pewter Pirates today, spoke on the Bucs radio network after the game. He seemed as if he wants to return to the Bucs when he hits free agency in March.
“Coach trusted the four-man rush today,” Bennett said. “The past four games, we were doing a lot of games [stunts on the defensive line] but today, we showed what we can do. Gerald was a beast today and Da’Quan showed what he can do. Da’Quan had two sacks that didn’t count.
“I grew with this team. It was the first full season that I played with Gerald. It was an up and down season but we get AC [Adrian Clayborn] back so you can see what kind of defense we can have. We played really good today.”
Joe might stop calling rockstar general manager Mark Dominik “rockstar” if Eric Wright returns to the Bucs in 2013, especially if Wright returns with the same bloated contract that is set to pay him $7.75 million next season.
There’s no reason for it. Dominik must see that.
Wright was healthy and very well rested entering today’s game following a four-game substance abuse suspension and a California spa/beach getaway.
Wright practiced all week but was not activated today. The FOX TV cameras caught him sitting on the Bucs bench in street clothes.
Joe sincerely hopes that’s the proverbial writing on the wall. Joe can’t fathom how Wright is what Greg Schiano calls “a Buccaneer Man” and how his return is in the team’s best interest. Take Wright’s money and put it toward another veteran cornerback without a background in pills and funny business.
Mike Williams, left, celebrates his touchdown catch with Tiquan Underwood Sunday.
Mike Williams, who finished four yards short of reaching the 1,000-yard receiving plateau, spoke on the Bucs radio network after the game about the season-ending win over the Dixie Chicks.
“We wanted to go into the offseason with a that bad taste out of our months. You are only as good as your last game and we feel we played our game today.”
On his touchdown catch:
“Usually on that play, it’s a high ball but Josh had to spin away from pressure and I had to get my feet down.”
On Doug Martin’s running:
“I have to give it up for our offensive line. For us to lose two Pro Bowl offensive linemen and still have a 1,000-yard back, that says a lot about of offensive line.”
On his growth this season as a receiver:
“I have to give credit to Vincent Jackson and credit to Mark Dominik for getting him and to [wide receivers] Coach [P.J.] Fleck. He always said I had more in my cup. We had a good offseason together and did OK on offense. I hope this season I can work out with the Western Michigan receivers [Editor’s note: Fleck is now the head coach at Western Michigan]. Part of the reason I had my season was the work I had with Coach Fleck.”
Word out of the Chicago Sun-Times and various other sources has Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan scheduled to interview soon for the Chicago Bears head coaching job. Former head coach Lovie Smith was fired today.
Joe’s hardly one to agree consistently with former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, but Joe will side with Beckles’ take on Demar Dotson.
Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson wants to the see the Bucs bring in a beast of a big slot receiver and use him on every offensive snap next season.
The leader of the New Schiano Order updated the status of some Buccaneers on injured reserve this morning at One Buc Palace and said a cloud of uncertainty remains around Quincy Black.
First it was rockstar general manager Mark Dominik calling Dakoda Watson 
Josh Freeman got rattled far too much this season, and his rollercoaster play and body language led every Bucs fan paying attention to wonder whether No. 5 has the mental makeup to be a winning quarterback.
Joe might stop calling rockstar general manager Mark Dominik “rockstar” if Eric Wright returns to the Bucs in 2013, especially if Wright returns with the same bloated contract that is set to pay him $7.75 million next season.
