So two games into the season the Bucs defense isn’t exactly reminding anyone of the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers much less the 2002 Bucs.

Two weeks ago Matthew Stafford sliced up the Bucs defense like a butcher at Publix and yesterday Adrian Peterson, for one half, looked as though he was playing against a college team.

Granted, the Bucs were able to right the ship in the second half of both games, which has been a trademark of the squad under Raheem Morris. But stopping a team in the first half would sure be nice once in a while.

Enter Tanard Jackson, perhaps. The gifted Bucs safety, who can’t seem to put the bong down (allegedly) despite sacrificing tens of millions of dollars, is serving a one-year suspension for getting busted a fourth time for a banned substance (under the old CBA the NFL did nothing to punish a player for a first offense, other than to warn the player). Jackson’s sentence ends this week.

This does not mean Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik won’t cut Jackson. Let’s be blunt: It’s hard to count on a guy who thinks so much of his teammates that he risked being suspended three times (that we know of). “Dependable” and “Tanard Jackson” do not belong in the same sentence.

But former Pewter Report Bucs beat writer Charlie Campbell, who continues to work in football and monitors the Bucs closely, Twittered that he believes not only will Dominik keep Jackson, Campbell is of the mind that Morris should start Jackson in place of Cody Grimm in due time.

@DraftCampbell: Bucs safety Cody Grimm has been struggling all year. If Tanard Jackson gets reinstated, its a matter of time before the Bucs start him.

It’s an interesting thought. Now the first question Joe would ask is whether Jackson is physically fit enough to start? He hasn’t practiced with the team in a year, not counting Josh Freeman’s minicamp in Bradenton this summer.

Joe would be shocked if Jackson started against the Falcons, the Bucs next opponent. Jackson first must be reinstated by the NFL. But Joe could perhaps see Jackson getting some reps.

Whatever it takes to get the Bucs to play some defense in a first half of games, Joe will accept right now.

Joe’s not sure how the Bucs still can’t complete a slant pass to Mike Williams or get him in a position to run after the catch.

Should it be this challenging?

Williams had one catch yesterday, an ill-called wide receiver screen that blew up and lost four yards, though he caught a gorgeous touchdown just prior, which was negated by Arrelious Benn’s illegal shift.

Joe doesn’t have access to coach’s tape, but Joe would be interested to see what kind of double teams, if any, are coming Williams’ way. Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan of NFL Radio talked a lot during the preseason about how much attention Williams would get this season and how other guys would have to step up as a result.

There’s a reason Williams’ NFL peers voted him the 80th best player in the league via the NFL Network Top-100 feature. The Bucs have to make sure gets touches.

Joe never would have believed the Bucs could score 24 second-half points yesterday — all on offense — without Williams making a play.

There was no question, just like last year, without having LeGarrette Blount tote the rock multiple times the Bucs offense can look stagnant.

Look at the first half of yesterday’s win over the Vikings. The offense had but three first downs and that was mainly because Blount had just five carries in the first half.

That all changed when the Bucs decided to feed Blount the ball and he began to make Minnesota’s defense play.

All the while, Blount was not upset about not being used enough, so writes Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune.

It went beyond those 67 second-half yards and scores. Blount was a one-man momentum machine, and he insisted he did not run angry or out of frustration or a need to prove a thing to his coaches.

“I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t frustrated. I just wanted to get something going,” Blount said. “I don’t get frustrated. Last year, I didn’t play until the third game.”

Still, some of us were starting to wonder if the Bucs staff remembered that Blount was in fact the featured back, or realized that if they couldn’t run against Minnesota’s defensive line, well, the Bucs had serious issues.

Just like last year, when Blount showed up and got enough carries, the Bucs offense changed almost overnight. It’s a simple formula yet effective.

Feed Blount the ball. He’s youngry!

Alex Loeb and Cris Carter break down the Bucs win over the Vikings in this BSPN video.

As Joe prepares to watch the Free Agency Bowl — Atlanta vs. Philadelphia — Joe wants to toss in his two cents about the Bucs-Falcons game next Sunday on the Bucs home turf.

Inevitably, this week columnists and talking heads are going to talk about the Bucs needing a W on Sunday to finally achieve the “signature win” that was yammered about endlessly last year as the Bucs rolled to a 9-6 record without beating a stud opponent. Then the Bucs went to New Orleans and won on Week 17, but the negaholics discounted the win since Drew Brees was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter to rest for the playoffs.

So for legions of Bucs fans and followers, the young Bucs have yet to rack up an impressive win.

That can change Sunday.

And while Joe doesn’t buy into the “signature win” theory at all, it’s still out there and means a lot to a lot of people. Joe will even go on a limb and say attendance could improve quite quickly if the Bucs were to knock off a team like Atlanta. Even if Atlanta falls to 0-2 tonight, they’re still a top flight club.

So prepare yourself for the signature-win chatter. If the Bucs want to end it for good, all they have to do is beat Atlanta.

Is Earnest Graham really “Insurance Graham” if he’s got a fumbling problem?

Today, Graham fumbled and turned the ball over on a critical play that was called back for a Vikings offsides. Last week, he coughed up the rock on a 4th-and-1 and recovered himself but didn’t get the first down. Graham also fumbed on opening day against Cleveland in 2010, which cost him his job at the time as the Bucs’ short-yardage back. And he only had 20 carries in 2010.

Graham was money today late in the game chewing up yards on draw plays, and he caught the five balls thrown his way. Joe likes Graham, but would have preferred Cadillac Williams as Mr. Third Down.

Regardless, Joe can’t wait to see Blount work his way into more third-down action.

Not that he’ll be missed by Joe or many other Bucs fans, but Quincy Black hurt his ankle against Minnesota and was removed from Sunday’s game because of it.

Raheem Morris said during his news conference that Black wasn’t producing and Dakoda Watson was inserted, careful to say that Blacked wasn’t punished.

“Quincy had an injury. He went down with the ankle deal. He was limping. I got him out of the game. He wasn’t productive for us today. Hopefully we can get him back next week and see where he is. I didn’t bench him.”

As Joe wrote earlier, the Bucs need to see a whole lot more of Watson.

"Old man, you are washed up. I don't need your bad luck."

Joe’s good friends at WTSP-TV Channel 10 like to refer to Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman as “Starship.” The thought being the Bucs will soar into the heavens as far as Freeman will carry them.

That, once again, was evident today when Josh Freeman engineered his eighth comeback victory as a Bucs starter. Joe scribbled down Freeman’s thoughts on the game as he spoke after the game on the Bucs radio network.

“Overall this was a team effort. The guys stayed focused. Down like that at halftime, teams don’t usually come back from that in the NFL but as a collective group of players, we all said, ‘We have to.’

“It was a mentality thing. We played the best half of football [in the second half]. The game was not perfect but we got the win.”

On the game-winning touchdown by LeGarrette Blount:

“We had to get LeGarrette going. Davin and True and Lorig blew open a hole for him and the safeties didn’t want any contact with him.”

On the touchdown pass to Arrelious Benn:

“It was a naked play. We had been running the ball so well I knew we would get something from the safety. So I told Rege to run a go route.”

On the game-winning drive:

“Time wouldn’t be an issue. We had a timeout.”

On his fourth-quarter comebacks and the team’s success in the second half:

“I hate to go out not knowing you gave a full effort. We found a way to rally at the end. There is no better feeling than a win. I can’t tell you how emotional I am to find a way to win a game like that.”

Speaking on the FOX-13 local postgame show, Josh Freeman said the halftime chatter among the offense was simple following a dreadful first half. Freeman said he and his offensive teammates told each other,”This is not how we play football.”

Joe’s glad the pep talk seemed to have an impact. Though ironically this is how the Bucs play football when it comes to the first 30 minutes of play.

LeGarrette Blount’s take on halftime changes were that there were none. The Bucs simply excuted the pound-Blount-and-work play-action plan.

Also speaking on FOX-13, Donald Penn said Blount’s 27-yard touchdown run changed the offense’s mentality. “We’ve been running this play and now we finally ron it right and look what happened,” Penn said.

Penn explained his bitterness over Jared Allen’s sack to open the game. Penn cut Allen successfully, but he bounced up and sacked Josh Freeman. Penn said it was supposed to be quick throw but Freeman held on.

Penn said he let the sack get to him a bit but he bounced back quickly and “got into my motion” with his renowned footwork as the game pressed on.

Penn also said he singled out Arrellious Benn after Benn’s bad drop on third down of the Bucs’ third possession.

“I told Benn to make up for it,” Penn said. “After his [second half] touchdown he came back to me and said, “Penn, I made up for it.’ 

So what did Raheem Morris say to the team after the first half?

“Stick to the gameplan. Go out and play football. That’s it,” said Gerald McCoy.

Just after the asinine lockout was over this summer, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik signed linebacker Quincy Black to a five-year, $29 million contract, of which $11.5 million is guaranteed.

This perplexed Joe. Now in his third season as a Bucs starting linebacker, Joe rarely remembers a linebacker more invisible than Black. Bucs fans used to howl at the moon over the alleged subpar play of Barrett Ruud, despite Ruud being a strong pass defender who collected 100+ tackles a year.

Since Black was named a starter to begin the 2009 season, the only splash plays Joe remembers seeing Black make were intercepting a deflected pass at Miami two years ago and a sack against Carolina in 2010.

Well, except for one play today. Black did make a splash play in the first half, getting a tackle for a loss. That very well have been the only play Black had.

It has long stumped Joe why Black is a starting linebacker. It puzzled Joe why Dominik threw such a was of cash at the guy. After today’s game, Joe is of the mind Dekoda Watson should be the Bucs starting outside linebacker opposite of Geno Hayes.

Think about it: In just his second game after signing a windfall contract, Black was benched in the second half after Vikings running back Adrian Peterson made Black look like a statue in a park time and again.

It was no coincidence that when Watson came in, the defense changed and suddenly, the Bucs were able to stop the Vikings and get off the field.

In Joe’s eyes, Black’s position should be open for competition right now, contract not withstanding. If Watson plays better, he should be starting.

At this point, there is no justification for Black’s contract.

It was quite a ballsy call for Raheem Morris to go with the onsides kick call after LeGarrette Blount’s 27-yard touchdown rumble put the Bucs on the board and cut the Vikings lead to 17-7.

If Elbert Mack doesn’t dive on that ball, the momentum the Bucs had finally wrestled back would have almost vanished. But Raheem pulled the trigger and the Bucs won the gamble. Sure, Josh Freeman tossed an ugly pick in the end zone a few minutes later, but it was a key play in the game and adding to the Bucs momentum and confidence.

On that note, the Bucs’ special teams have been pretty darn stellar over the first two games.

Rich Bisaccia who?  

Before final cuts were made this preseason, many, including Joe, wondered about Preston Parker’s job security. He was a bubble guy and sudden fan favorite Ed Gant was breathing down his neck for a spot on the roster.

Not only did Parker make the team, one could argue the Bucs don’t win today’s game without him.

Parker was simply sensational. Catching long passes, catching short passes, catching passes in traffic near the goal line, catching clutch passes.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game, Parker seemed to shrug his shoulders.

“When your number is called, you have to make plays, this is the NFL,” Parker said. Parker is seeing playing time because of Sammie Stroughter’s injury. Parker admitted Stroughter, a favorite in the Bucs locker room, was very much on his mind.

“We knew Sammie was down and he told us to play hard and that he loves us,” Parker said. “We all played hard for Sammy.”

Parker seemed defensive when he was being lavished with kudos for his play, instead, talking up his teammates. Parker said he knew the Bucs would win when a certain No. 27 was on the field in the final drive.

“When we got the ball in LeGagarrette’s hands, we knew it was victory,” Parker said. “He gives us hope. With LeGarrette, we know we can win. He brings us together more.”

But Parker’s sudden blowing up may have as much or more to do with Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman as anyone else.

“Preston has been huge for us,” Freeman said. “We’re [developing] more chemistry, I’m getting more confident going to him with the ball. On the 10-yard line, he made a great play going for it.”

Parker again tried to deflect praise.

“I have three words for Josh,” Parker said. “I love him. I love No. 5.”

Joe was bursting with joy when the Vikings got away from Adrian Petesron on their final drive

So the Vikings get the ball back leading 20-17 with 6:39 left in the fourth quarter and the Bucs need a stop.

After Adrian Peterson runs for a first down on 2nd-and-4, Joe nearly wet his pants with joy when the Vikings went to the air on first down. How the hell did they get away from Peterson with a chance to run out the clock and/or drive for a put-the-game-out-reach score? Tim Crowder batted down the pass.

Then the Bucs held strong on Peterson on second down, before E.J. Biggers was flawless in downfield coverage to force what turned out to be a crappy Minnesota punt.

Joe’s hat goes off to Biggers and Crowder, two guys who routinely fly under the radar and do the little things very well. And Joe’s damn happy the Vikings didn’t ride their top horse to try and win the game.

It’s a pattern. It’s a problem. And it’s no coincidence. The Bucs continue to get outcoached and outmuscled to open games. It’s happened throughout the Raheem Morris regime.

Today in Minnesota was no exception, with Jared Allen sacking Josh Freeman for a six yard loss on the first play from scrimmage. Three of the Bucs’ first four possessions of the first half were three-and-outs en route to a 17-0 haftime deficit.

It’s just impossible to win games consistently starting like that. The Bucs did it last year, and they did it today, but it’s not playoff football.

Joe continues to hope the Bucs find a way to rid themselves of this craziness.

And so the streak continues. The only team to really stop LeGarrette Blount in his career is the Buccaneers.

Before Joe gushes over Blount, Joe thinks it was very telling that Raheem Morris and Greg Olson had the confidence in Blount to hand him the rock in the red zone with the game on the line. And Blount delivered with a touchdown up the gut.

Blount wouldn’t have touched that ball last year, almost inexplicably in the loss to Detroit in 2010.

Finally in second half the Bucs decided to give No. 27 the rock more steadily. It’s not rocket science. This offense runs off Blount — and the threat of him, which means he has to be on the field. He wasn’t used enough for Joe’s taste, but who can complain after this comeback win.

Blount ripped off a 27 yard TD with his first touch of the second half. Then he was back hurdling through air again — this time in tight quarters — for a 13-yard gain with his next touch.  

The final line was 13 carries for 71 yards and two touchdowns. 

Joe’s fired up for an entire season of this guy.

As Preston Parker said following the game on the Buccaneers Radio Network, “When we got the ball in LeGarrette’s hands we knew it was victory.”

Bucs 24, Vikings 20

Typical Bucs win with two different teams on the field in each half.

What has Joe excited is the Bucs’ quick-strike offense. You rip off 24 second-half points on the road on the ground and in the air and you’ve got a Bucs offense that hasn’t existed in history.

Kudos to Donald Penn for grinding out a win against Jared Allen and for the defensive standing up in the second half. Joe will be churning out all kinds of quotes and takes. Keep coming back through the day.

In Free We Trust.

OK boys and girls, have at it. Let your feelings be known about how the Bucs are playing against the Vikings today. Now behave! 🙂

Week 2
Bucs at Vikings
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally, DirecTV 710.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 104.
Weather: Per Accuweather.com, fall has hit the northwoods of the Midwest. Though the game is played in a soulless dome, tailgaters will be greeted with fall weather of temperatures of 56 degrees under cloudy skies. Following the game, the afternoon will warm up to 62.
Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs +2.
Outlook: There are are two schools of thought here. One is that Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount should be used early and often and even more. It was borderline inexcusable as he only got five touches. The holes were there yet he was barely used. This, as always, keeps the ball out of the hands of your opponent and more importantly in today’s case, it keeps the ball out of Adrian Peterson’s hands. The Vikings running back averages over 100 yards a game on the turf of that pit of a domed stadium in Minnesota. Over the hill Donovan McNabb will not beat the Bucs and Joe will be just fine if a rookie playing in his first NFL game (Christian Ponder) takes the field. But Peterson scares Joe because if last week’s game against the Lions is any window upon the season, the weakest link thus far on the Bucs is the linebackers. If Peterson is able to get a crease from the Vikings front wall, it could be a very ugly day (again) for the Bucs defense.

What better way to kill off the final hours of an NFL Sunday morning than with a pleasant, calming episode of Cosmic Schein? 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. Consider yourself sucked in to the latest episode of Cosmic Schein!

<a href=”http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=ca237727-886d-4824-998a-47e3e9071a18″ mce_href=”http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=ca237727-886d-4824-998a-47e3e9071a18″ target=”_new” title=””>Cosmic Schein: Week 2</a>

Let Joe say first that he doesn’t think it makes much difference at all what comes out of Gerald McCoy’s mouth — not yet anyway. The guy is harmless and simply being himself when interacting with the media.

But Joe does find the many takes on McCoy’s style of communication interesting. It was up for debate again this past week after McCoy gave a detailed account of Detroit Lions’ linemen sitting back — possibly illegally —  serving up what many called excuses.

Derrick Brooks, who clearly finds it legitmately painful to speak a negative word about the Bucs. was down on McCoy for talking about opponents versus talking about his own performance and that of the Bucs as he did after recent games against the Patriots and Lions. Speaking on WDAE-AM 620 Wednesday, Brooks said McCoy speaking out in detail before watching game film isn’t wise and Brooks said it’s best to focus on your own performance or your team’s only.

Brooks acknowledged McCoy says the “right things” among all his chatter but, overall, Brooks is not on board with McCoy’s open style before he reaches a high level of performance.

Also speaking on WDAE-AM 620, former Bucs defensive tackle Brad Culpepper was more direct about McCoy.

“They need to take a microphone a way from that guy for a little while. He doesn’t know that he doesn’t know,” Culpepper said.

Culpepper said McCoy’s comments about the Lions offesnsive linemen flashed some of his greenness about the game. If the O-line is sitting back on you, Culpepper said, then you need to know how to take advantage of the space.

On the flip side, Tampa Tribune scribe Woody Cummings said fans and media”need” Gerald McCoy to keep talking “from the heart,” so he said on The King David Show on WQYK-AM 1010.

Cummings said there are so many players in the NFL that won’t say anything meaningful to the media and, subsequently, to fans. And McCoy may be the only guy in the Bucs’ defense that will, Cummings said.

“It’s just Gerald’s way of saying what happened’ [in a game,] Cummings said, acknowledging “those end up sounding like excuses when they lost.”

For weeks, former Bucs Shaun King and Ian Beckles have clobbered McCoy on the sports radio airwaves for talking too much and not producing. Basically, they want him to shutup and perform. King has been particularly, critical, which Joe has documented.

This week, King said the Bucs brass got on his case for blasting McCoy. King said he told the Bucs to “to kick rocks” and emphasized that he wouldn’t censor his commentary for anyone at One Buc Palace.

King also stressed his concern early this week that Raheem Morris and McCoy’s public comments after the Lions loss were far off the Father Dungy path.

“Tony Dungy’s motto all through his time in Tampa was, No Excuses. No Explanations,” King said. “I get worried as a lifelong Bucs fan when I hear excuses and explanations from coach’s and players.”

Again, Joe doesn’t think there’s any problem or issue at this point. Raheem surely doesn’t have to play Father Dungy, and McCoy can be himself. If McCoy becomes a problem and guys want him to shutup, then Joe suspects captains like Jeff Faine and Ronde Barber will make that happen.

On a more important note, former Bucs DE Steve White — who disagrees with the kvetching over GMC’s open personality — seems far more concerned with McCoy’s performance. And to that, speaking on WQYK-AM 1010 Tuesday, White said McCoy was excellent against the run in Week 1. Though he says McCoy’s pass rush has a good ways to go.

Joe can only hope the next media buzz surrounding McCoy is about a crushing sack on Donovan McNabb.