Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik went on tour this week and landed on the airwaves with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, for a 16-minute chat this afternoon on WDAE-AM 620. 

Dominik glowed about Ronde Barber’s “development so quickly at safety” and how Barber is “playing at a Pro Bowl level.” And Dominik didn’t shy away from Duemig throwing out hypotheticals that the Bucs could have a pile of players, including rookies, headed to Hawaii for some February pineapple.

While not referring directly to the Pro Bowl, Dominik said Erik Lorig’s “a sleeper” among Bucs having standout seasons.

Dominik said first-year Buccaneers’ “hunger to win” blended in well with returning Bucs that possessed that same hunger. “The guys that were here the year before, that got difficult,” Dominik said of the team environment last season.

Another nugget of interest, among many, was Dominik talking about a pre-hire interview with Greg Schiano when Dominik and Team Glazer asked Schiano how he would get a team to tackle. At that time, per Dominik, Schiano laid out the details for his now notable tackling circuit drills that school the fundamentals at their most basic level.

Enjoy the full interview below.

Wright says he doesn’t know why he might miss any games this season

In a short, brief exchange with reporters this afternoon, Bucs cornerback Eric Wright sure seemed to infer that he would not be suspended — at least not until the 2012 season is completed.

Recently, NFL insider Jay Glazer reported Wright was popped for using Adderall, a banned substance under the current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA. To date, no one within the walls of One Buc Palace has suggested the report was inaccurate (to be fair, the team nor any representatives confirmed the report either; they offered no comment instead).

Here is the conversation that took place with Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, Wright and a Bucs media relations staffer.

Cummings (to Wright): You going to be around the rest of the year here, playing football?

Wright (looking surprised): I don’t know why I wouldn’t be (laughed)?

Bucs media relations staffer (trying to change subject matter): Anything else?

Cummings: Well, there was a report a month ago it seems…

Bucs media relations staffer: That’s been addressed.

Cummings, to Wright: Has it been addressed? Is it a done deal?

Wright: It’s been addressed a long time ago.

Cummings: There’s no fear of you…

Bucs media relations staffer: That’s it.

Cummings: … of you being suspended or anything, is that the case?

Bucs media relations staffer: We’re done here.

And so Wright’s access to the local pen and mic club this afternoon was complete. Joe even honestly tried to ask Wright about Matty Ice and Joe was politely informed the interview was finished for the day.

Let Joe be crystal clear: There was no animosity, yelling, screaming, nothing. Cummings was professional. The Bucs media staffer was professional and doing his job (which Joe had no issue with), and Wright was polite and seemingly honest. Every word you read above was done on a professional, rational manner.

So it seems Wright is in the clear with NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell, at least for this season.

Banged up cornerback Eric Wright, who left Sunday’s game with more Achilles trouble, was not practicing today at One Buc Palace.

Neither was second-string kick returner Arrelious Benn.

The Wright situation (is this guy ever getting an Adderrall suspension?) is not surprising but still remains troubling.

It looking more like E.J. Biggers, LeQuan Lewis and Leonard Johnson will be the guys tasked with containing Julio Jones, Roddy White and the friends.

The Bucs blitz and blitz and blitz. And they stuff, stuff, stuff the run and get burned in the passing game.

Don’t expect the philosophy to change anytime soon, so former Bucs defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) told Joe on Sunday. And today, White, who has been making spectacular use of the “All-22” coaches film now avaiable on NFL.com, provides a great public education for Bucs fans on his blog.

White went very deep into the Bucs’ blitzing against Carolina and delivers all kinds of film study. Here’s an excerpt of his data compilation:

* The Bucs blitzed 30 times and interestingly enough ran 15 in the first half and 15 in the second half. Blitz in this context means they sent five or more players for pressure whether it was a run or a pass. You also have to look at the adjustment in coverage and line stunts to make sure it wasn’t just a guy making a quick run read to determine if it’s a blitz of course and those elements were all present as well. There was one other play where a guy came from depth but because an end dropped there was only a total of four rushers.

* There were 17 runs and 13 passes on the plays when a blitzes was called.

* On 17 of the blitzes there was five man pressure and on the other 13 there was six man pressure.

* The Panthers gained one yard or less on 11 runs (not counting sacks) against the blitz.

* Of those 11, seven runs went for negative yardage.

* The Panthers gave up a sack and had five incomplete passes against the blitz.

* They gained 10, 11, and 10 yards on three runs as well as 30, 17, 17, and 11 on four passes.

* The Bucs had a PI in the end zone on a blitz that set up a touchdown from the 1 yard line on the next play.

* 12 of the 30 blitzes came on 1st and 10.

* 9 of the 30 blitzes came on 3rd down and the Panthers converted 6 of those including the PI.

Joe definitely recommends you find a cold beverage and click through above to get educated by White.

Yes, the Bucs leave themselves perilously vulnerable in the secondary and likely will get roasted for huge gains at least a few times against Atlanta. It’s clear the coaching staff is banking on the secondary’s ability to make big plays to offset the gutting that comes nearly every week.

Joe’s mentally prepared for the Bucs to give up 30 points. Joe’s also prepared for the Bucs to light up the scoreboard as well.

Joe pegs Greg Schiano as an old school kind of guy, so Joe found it interesting to hear Ronde Barber talk about the leader of the New Schiano Order texting players as they prepared to step off the team plane at some point during their Carolina road trip.

Of course, Joe suspects the timing and of the text was planned meticulously.

“He had a great message that he sent to a bunch of the guys on the plane.” Barber said last night on the Buccaneers Radio Newtork. “It’s funny, we landed on the plane and he sent a bunch of guys text messages that said, ‘Trust in the process and the results will take care of itself.'”

“Trust in the process” might be the toughest task of the New Schiano Order going forward.

Clearly, the Bucs have been griding and working with a one-game-at-a-time mentality. But that becomes much more difficult as the playoff hype builds and the volume of media requests and media types swirling around One Buc Palace continue to increase.

Bucs fans, trust Joe, you will want to watch this. Sports Illustrated’s Jim Trotter put together a video feature of Bucs running back Doug Martin that is just fantastic.

“The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik decides to make a rare radio appearance today and it should come as no shock who he chose to chew the fat with.

At 3:15 p.m. today, Dominik enters the lair of Joe’s good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, on WDAE-AM 620. There, one can expect direct and succinct questions to Dominik concerning the state of the Bucs.

Mark Dominik

Any and all Bucs subjects will likely be covered by “The Big Dog,” as he leaves no stone unturned about the massive turnaround the franchise has enjoyed in the past few months with the Bucs in the thick of a playoff hunt as Thanksgiving is upon us.

Don’t be surprised if Dominik drops some breaking news as well.

Just who even dreamed of a such a thing this time last year?

For those chained to a computer, you may listen to the interview via iHeartRadio’s free smartphone apps, or by visiting the station’s website.

The Bucs are taking a big step up in class of opponent on Sunday to the Falcons, and former Bucs quarterback Shaun King, now an NFL analyst for NBC Sports Network, thinks the Bucs aren’t ready yet to tango at that level.

One of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game, King says he expects a good thumping from Atlanta despite saying the Falcons are “not world beaters when you watch them on film.”

“I think they’ll beat us pretty good,” King said on WDAE-AM 620 before predicting a 27-13 defeat.

King went to say he believes the Bucs will struggle to protect Josh Freeman and the Falcons will bring their A-game Sunday.

King also said the Bucs need to use a “proven” back like Doug Martin more and work to be more of a “run-first team” and maximize play-action.The high-flying heroics of Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams are not something the Bucs can count on. “That’s not something that’s sustainable,” King said.

Joe definitely disagrees with some of King’s takes. The Bucs have done an extraordinary job protecting Josh Freeman, and Donald Penn has historically fared well against John Abraham, who leads Atlanta with nine sacks. Given the Falcons struggles stopping the run, for this game Joe suspects the Bucs will no doubt be a run-first team, even if that’s not the strategy moving forward.

As for King’s score prediction, well, the Bucs haven’t lost a game by more than a touchdown all season. And Joe hardly expects this to be the week that happens. Joe is expecting a tight game that comes down to the final two minutes.

Definitely click on through below and check out the amazing end-of-year clearance sale at Topper Town. If you care about your truck, van or SUV, then you should make note of the amazing service and value at Topper Town. Joe’s friends there have been getting it done for nearly 40 years.

Former NFL coaching great Dan Reeves, who now works as an analyst, couldn’t have been more glowing about Greg Schiano during an interview this morning on WDAE-AM 620. Reeves, once a top Cowboys running back in the 1960s, even compared Schiano to Tom Landry.

This was quite an endorsement in Joe’s eyes. Reeves isn’t exactly some over-the-top shock analyst with little credibility.

Another interesting note, Reeves isn’t sold on the 9-1 Falcons even making the playoffs. The entire interview is below.

There were two Josh Freemans in recent years for the Bucs.

There was the “good” Josh Freeman who damned near led the Bucs to a 2010 playoff berth, only to lose out in a tiebreaker to eventual Super Bowl champ Green Bay.

Then there was the “bad” Josh Freeman of 2011, who threw so many interceptions Bucs fans began murmuring the vulgar slur of “Trent Dilfer” when Freeman’s name was brought up.

Shoot, just weeks ago, some Bucs fans, claiming to be sane and sober, with the memories of 2011 all too fresh in their minds, were pining for Dan Orlovsky to bark signals for the Bucs, if you can imagine such a thing?

Two years ago, “Jaws,” Ron Jaworski of ESPN, thought Freeman had the makings of an NFL superstar. Now Jaws believes Freeman may be better than ever, so he told NFL insider Adam Caplan via that piece of garbage software, “Sulia.”

Two years ago I thought he was really coming on and had the potential to be a superstar. I’m seeing that superstar potential now come to the forefront. I think he’s right now in a very good balanced offense. They run the football. They use the play action, and he has been absolutely phenomenal in the red zone.

The NFL is now a red zone league. If you set up for field goals, you’re going to lose. You need to score touchdowns. The throw he made to Vincent Jackson on Sunday was an absolutely phenomenal throw before the two‑point conversion; and that throw kind of to me crystallized the year that Josh is having. He has the confidence to make that throw and trust his receivers, especially a guy like Vincent Jackson. So clearly I’m seeing a very confident quarterback that trusts the system and trusts the players that surround him.

I think clearly Freeman is on his way to becoming a superstar in this league. He’s got all the attributes you would want in a quarterback. Clearly those are being refined.

Will Freeman be a superstar? Time will tell. But in Joe’s eyes, there’s no way you can label any NFL quarterback a superstar, much less debate the principle of such gloss, until said quarterback takes a snap in the postseason.

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving. How time has flown. It’s still harder to believe what Greg Schiano and the Bucs are doing.

This time last year, the Bucs were ready to beg for the season to end, almost like it pained to see an old relative suffer in their final days. The offense was often impotent. The defense was like a slap in the face to any sober fan it was so insulting. Calling the team a “trainwreck” didn’t aptly describe how bad things were.

Now, as Thanksgiving arrives in 2012, the Bucs are honestly in a playoff race. Kerry J. Byrne, the founder of the crazy yet informative “Cold Hard Football Facts”, while writing for SI.com, is so impressed with Schiano that Byrne believes Schiano is the NFL “Coach of the Year.”

Byrne breaks down the numbers from last year to this year to demonstrate how head and shoulders above his predecessor Schiano truly is.

Schiano’s greatest work has been on the defensive side of the ball.

The 2011 Buccaneers surrendered 494 points, shattering the previous franchise record for ineptitude set by the 2-14 Bucs of 1986 (473).

And they posted the worst Defensive Passer Rating in franchise history (97.21). For a little perspective, the Super Bowl champion 2002 Bucs posted a Defensive Passer Rating of less than half that number (48.4).

Bryne digs real deep to show Schiano has improved the Bucs and it is well-worth a few minutes of your day to read the entire column.

If somehow Schiano can wade this team through a dicey last six weeks of the schedule, with the NFL’s worst pass defense, to a postseason bid, it will be one of the NFL’s best coaching jobs in recent memory in Joe’s eyes.

There’s no denying the Falcons are soft against the run.

And Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter already is sounding the alarm in Atlanta while exploring how the Falcons possibly will contain Doug Martin when they’ve struggled against lesser running backs.

Stephens-Howling was the third back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Falcons this season, joining Denver’s Willis McGahee (113 yards) and Washington’s Alfred Morris (115 yards).

Fortifying the run defense remains an ongoing construction project for the coaching staff. In eight of the Falcons’ 10 games, the defense has given up at least one run of 29 yards or more.

Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles had a 46-yard gain. McGahee had a 31-yarder. San Diego’s Jackie Battle broke loose for a 52-yard gain. Carolina quarterback Cam Newton had a 31-yard run. Morris had a 29-yard run. Oakland’s Mike Goodson had 40-yard gain.

Yes, the Falcons get gutted and gashed on the ground — 26th in the NFL against the run — but there’s also no denying the Falcons are a great football team. Hell, Mike Smith’s career regular-season record is 52-22! That’s better than a 70 percent winning percentage, which is simply amazing in the NFL.

The Bucs absolutely need a big day Sunday from Muscle Hamster. Thankfully, that seems likely. But the Bucs will need to be strong in all phases to pull out a victory.

Lord knows Bucs fans are still stunned by the Maurice Stovall non-tackle of Eric Weems that cost the Bucs a playoff berth in 2010. (Here’s the heinous video of that historic choke)

Joe loves when the leader of the New Schiano Order gets into Xs and Os. One day Joe hopes to talk real football with Greg Schiano over a baloney sandwich and a side of proper pasta and two drinks.

Last night the head coach talked a little offense with a fan and revealed why he expects to see significantly more work for his tight ends as the playoff hunt marches on. The revelation came down during an exchange on The Greg Schiano Show on WDAE-AM 620.

Caller: I thought it was a great adjustment when the fade was taken away to start hitting Dallas Clark. … Is he going to be more of a focal point of our offense now that teams are trying to takeaway the fade?

Schiano: I think you’re right. I think that, you know, as we move forward and people start doing some double clouded corners, which means rolling the two corners up on and having some help over the top, if you don’t use your tight end, you’re kind of out of luck. And we have some tight ends, not only in Dallas but in Luke [Stocker]. And we need to make sure that we utilize them in the pass game, and we will. I think we have to an extent ala the winning touchdown [Sunday], but there’s more. I think there’s more to come here as the offense continues to expand.

Joe agrees with Schiano’s premise that team’s will look to take away the Bucs’ explosive plays in the passing game. There’s no logic to doing anything else, especially considering that Josh Freeman’s weakness lies in the shorter throws.

Regardless, preparing to stop the Bucs offense is brutally tough duty for any defense.

Don’t look for Arrelious Benn on kick returns

It looks like Arrelious Benn will be limited to covering kicks rather than returning them.

During preseason, Greg Schiano made it clear that significant changes in the lineup would be reflected on the Bucs’ depth chart, and one such move was made public  when the Bucs released all the fancy data associated with Sunday’s Bucs-Falcons game earlier today.

Benn was booted to backup kick returner and cornerback LeQuan Lewis was promoted to top returner. Michael Smith sits at third on the chart. Lewis returned kicks against San Diego when Benn was hurt, and Lewis handled the duties Sunday despite Benn’s return. He’s had two chances with mixed results.

Between this move and the Bucs apparently (hopefully) banishing the heinous Benn’d Around play, these are tough days for Benn, whose career is nosediving.

To gain perspective on how far the Bucs have come in less than a year, one only has to be reminded of the 2011 horror show that was passed to innocent Bucs fans as NFL football.

The defense was worse than atrocious, franchise-worst. The offense couldn’t score in a Colombian brothel with a fistful of C-notes and privacy ensured by U.S. Secret Service agents.

It was as miserable as miserable gets. Raheem Morris, rightly, was jettisoned just hours after the final game. One could argue Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik was somewhat contempt as well, but he survived the purge.

Dominik knew he was on thin ice. General managers often get two chances (two head coaching hires) to work with to show some progress or they too are shown the door. Having put his neck on the line to draft Josh Freeman — he was guided in the pick by Morris — Dominik, as Chase Stuart of the New York Times points out, went out to save Freeman’s career which also saved Dominik’s gig and, in turn, saved the Bucs.

If Freeman’s career had continued on this downward trajectory, Dominik would have become collateral damage. So in the off-season, Dominik rebuilt the team with a clear vision: he wanted an offense built around a strong running game complemented by a deep passing attack.

So Dominik went out and got the best wide receiver on the market, a team-first guy who would teach the young Bucs receivers how to be professionals. Then Dominik went out to make sure Freeman would be upright, and got Nicks (thank you greedy Drew Brees) and finally, traded up in the draft to make sure Freeman had a reliable running back to take heat off him, Doug Martin.

When Dominik said last year that it was all about No. 5, he was right. Because if No. 5 failed, the Bucs would fail and Dominik would be left groveling for work.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has a knack for pulling guys off the street that, with the proper coaching, excel.

There’s Donald Penn, there’s Demar Dotson, there’s Michael Bennett, all guys who were someone else’s trash, now Bucs treasures.

Could defensive lineman Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, plucked from the Eagles practice squad, be the next in line? If one wraps his arms around the analysis from the ProFootballFocus.com crowd, Te’o-Nesheim (can we just refer to him as “Teo?”) is a diamond in the rough, just based on his performance at Carolina Sunday.

There were few plays in this game when the Tampa defensive line didn’t disrupt the Panthers’ front. Pressuring Cam Newton on close to 60% of drop-backs, the combination of Michael Bennett, DaQuan Bowers, Gerald McCoy, and Daniel Te’o- Nesheim routinely took advantage of Carolina’s offensive line. They especially caused problems for the Panthers’ interior, though the damage wasn’t limited to the inside with five of the six Panthers who played snaps up front receiving negative grades in pass protection.

Te’o (+4.3) had the most complete game of the aforementioned linemen, with four quarterback disruptions and an additional three stops against the run. The bigger story, though, might be the play of Bowers. In just his fourth game back from an Achilles injury, the second-year defensive end recorded five pressures in just 22 rushes — that’s once every 4.4 snaps rushing the passer. If Bowers can keep this up and remain healthy, what’s been a formidable defense could become downright scary as they hit the home-stretch of the season.

Just like the offensive line has been greatly helped by backups filling in for injured stud players, so too has the defensive line been aided by backups. The loss of defensive end Adrian Clayborn stung the Bucs and greatly concerned Joe. But Teo’s play has sure eased the discomfort.

So finally someone decided to ask Bucs coach Greg Schiano about the moniker for Bucs running back Doug Martin that has caught the attention of the nation and beyond: “The Muscle Hamster.”

Appearing on “NFLAM” this morning seen only on the NFL Network, Schiano was corned by panelist Steve Wyche about what he thinks of Martin’s nickname, and Schiano broke out in a broad smile and gave the greatest political answer to date:

“I call him Doug.”

Schiano also talked about what the learning curve he has experienced coming from Rutgers to the Bucs.

“There is always a learning curve,” Schiano said. “Fortunately I had some experience coaching this league back in the late 90s so I had some frame of reference but it is a totally different deal when you are a head coach as opposed to a position coach.”

Schiano was also asked about the things that surprised him in his rookie season as head coach. “Two things: the talent level of the players, the quality of athletes and the [media] coverage that this league gets and all the outside calls on your time. But both of those things are easily manageable once you understand your time.”

Joe thought it was pretty funny how Schiano dodged the “Muscle Hamster” question, but Doug, embrace it. It’s cool and you could make loads of cash off of this thing.

Just the thought that the Bucs might be in the playoffs is mind-boggling to Joe after such a rancid display of football last year. Jim Basquil and Eric Allen discuss Bucs playoff possibilties in this ESPN video.

Greg Schiano and the New Schiano Order has been widely lauded these past two days for their intense, detailed preparation leading to success in a brutal situation Sunday — needing eight points to tie with the ball on the Bucs’ 20 yard line, no timeouts and 1:02 on the fourth-quarter clock.

Of course, every fan knows how the happy ending went in Carolina.

But hearing all the love for Schiano reminded Joe of Raheem Morris’ words this summer. Raheem was asked about the knock on his teams being undisciplined. And Raheem responded by laughing that theory off and proclaiming that only highly disciplined teams have success late in games in the two-minute offense like the Bucs did repeatedly in 2010.

It was a fair point by Raheem (though it doesn’t explain 2011), and one that applies to what the Bucs pulled off Sunday.

Joe attends all training camp practices and many other practices, and the Schiano Bucs work on situational football details to the extreme. It’s a common sight to see Schiano with his bullhorn barking out scenarios, “Men, 26 seconds left, we got the ball at our 47 yard line with no timeouts and down by two points. Let’s go.” And needless to say everything ramps up to full speed immediately, much like Joe moves when the pizza delivery guy rings the doorbell.

While Joe is quick to blame Raheem’s lousy leadership for dragging the Bucs into the toilet last season, Joe will credit the former coach for what his team accomplished late in games in 2010. Amazing plays like this in Cincinnati weren’t luck. And Joe has no doubt those experiences helped drive the confidence of Josh Freeman and many other Bucs on both sides of the ball Sunday.

Before this season, Ronde Barber said he was confident the Bucs under Greg Schiano would be able to build on the successes that led to a 10-6 record in 2010 and block out the collapse of 2011. That was very much on display Sunday.