It’s bad enough the Bucs defense must deal with all-world quarterback Cam Newton and a couple of bruising running backs in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, but the Bucs also will face arguably one of the top linebacker units in football.

Last year stud linebacker Jon Beason missed most of the season with an injured left Achilles. He’s returning alongside a potential defensive rookie of the year in Luke Kuechly.

It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that the Panthers linebackers have the full attention of the Bucs offensive line.

“Beason hasn’t played all preseason so I just have to go off of what I have seen in the past,” Bucs left tackle Donald Penn said. “He’s one of the best linebackers. Don’t have too much film on Beason as to how he is coming back from his injury and how well he is moving but we will find out on Sunday.”

Bucs right tackle Jeremy Trueblood is expecting the Beason the NFL is used to.

“Beason is one of the fastest in the NFL,” Trueblood said.

But it isn’t just Beason. The entire unit is strong, Penn said.

“The linebackers that filled in [for Beason] were real good,” Penn said. “They are smart. They are real active and they make sure they are in the right position. I think with Beason coming back in there, it will just be another plus” for Carolina.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Penn added. “We know that it’s going to be a dogfight.”

As impressed as the Bucs are with Beason, so too are they with Kuechly, despite his small sample of preseason game tape.

“He is moving around a lot,” Penn said. “He’s still learning, you can tell he is still learning. They say if you mess up, mess up by going a thousand miles an hour and with him, he is going a thousand miles an hour.

“That is a good thing though. We will have to find some ways to slow him down. He is playing well. But really, we have to take care of us. If we take care of us, we will be fine.”

Trueblood concurs, “If we just do our job, everything else will take care of itself.”

Earlier today, Bucs coach Greg Schiano discussed how Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is so dangerous yet so versatile, if you (somehow) stop Newton, a defense will actually stop the Panthers’ rushing attack.

Schiano was quick to add that Newton is so talented, a defense cannot expect to shut him down only limit his effectiveness.

Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy reinforced Schiano’s theory when Joe got a chance to chat with him after practice.

“Yeah, that guy, man, he is a different breed of player,” GMC said of Newton. “It’s rare to see a guy come in and do the things he did as a rookie and have so much focus. He has a lot of vet in him already; he had it as a rookie. That is not something that is just given, it is earned. He works. It will be a challenge. He is an escape artist and we are putting in the work and we have a few more days to prepare for him.”

So how true is it that if you bottle up Newton, the Panthers rushing attack struggles?

“Yeah, because they have a lot of gun-and-run stuff they do where it all starts with him and his decision-making and he is a great decision-maker. Not just with the passes he makes but the runs he makes, too,” GMC said. “He is good, he is good. In order to get anything done we will have to stop the run. Have to!”

The Bucs’ defensive staff recently finished watching film of every Cam Newton scramble of 2011, so said Bill Sheridan today at One Buc Palace.

And the assessment was that the prime danger from the Panthers’ offense is when Newton leaves the pocket. Sheridan said the Panthers’ conventional running game can be devastating like “the gun runs” but the greatest challenge is when Newton is on the move in the run or pass.

Sure, Joe expects the Bucs’ linebackers to get abused a handuful of times Sunday. Joe imagines Lavonte David is going to have some wide eyes. But there’s hope the Mark Barron can shake up Newton with a good stick, and perphaps Gerald McCoy can change the game as a “dynamic playmaker,” as Sheridan is certain he will be.

Got tickets for Sunday’s Bucs-Panthers game? Joe’s friends at Tilted Kilt in Clearwater are going to get you there — in style.

Bucs fans can start their opening-day tailgate at Tilted Kilt and then get on a chauffeured luxury bus at 3 p.m. to Raymond James Stadium for the 4:25 p.m kickoff against Carolina. Then the luxury bus will return you right after the game to Tilted Kilt, where you can keep the party going into the night.

And best of all, a seat on the luxury bus costs only $3.95 roundtrip per person!!

That’s a huge savings! Crap, parking at the stadium would cost you $15 to $25.

Parking is safe, easy and convenient at Tilted Kilt. And you can bring Tilted Kilt food on the bus, and your own adult beverages. … Joe’s friends at Paradise Worldwide Transportation are doing the driving, which means it will be top-shelf service.

Buy your seat now below. After purchase, you’ll get an instant receipt and parking/pickup specifics emailed to you.

The Bucs defensive coordinator put some hefty pressure on Gerald McCoy today

Bucs defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan minced no words today at One Buc Palace when it comes to Gerald McCoy and his greatness.

Sheridan said Bucs fans will see “dynamic player” and one that will be moving around and stunting. The D-coordinator went on to say McCoy will be “really, really productive” and produce like “a dynamic playmaker. He will be.”

There’s officially no wiggle room for McCoy any longer.

Joe’s unsure how Derek Hardman fell off the radar. As a rookie he was the heroic replacment for Davin Joseph as the Bucs were a top-10 offense in the second half of the 2010 season.

He was back in 2011, but now he’s been cut, even with Joseph out for all of 2012. The Bucs announced the move this morning and the re-signing of veteran cornerback Brandon McDonald, who previously was cut the other day.

The Bucs also signed G Julian Vandervelde to the practice squad, another guy who was cut a few days ago, and released WR Bert Reed from the practice squad. What a bummer for Reed. The Florida State product just did a TV interview in the panhandle talking about how he was so happy to be joining his beloved Buccaneers.

With reservations, Joe is bringing you this story via eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune that is bound to draw forth ire from Bucs fans.

Part of the reason Joe is typing this up is that he has been overwhelmed with questions about the looming blackout of the opening week against the stinking Panthers.

No, there is no update on how many tickets need to be sold. And there likely won’t be until the 4:25 p.m. deadline rolls around tomorrow. (In the unlikely event of an update, Joe will have it here on this site ASAP.) On Friday, the Bucs were some 9,000 tickets short of the 85 percent threshold needed for non-premium seats.

Simply put, that’s a ton of tickets to move in a short period of time, short of Van Halen or Bruce Springsteen.

This has not stopped Team Glazer from pitching tickets to turn Sunday’s game into a serious home-field advantage and one seen on local television.

Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce “Chalk Talk” luncheon at the Grand Hyatt, Glazer and Schiano implored fans to provide the Bucs with a boost in Sunday’s regular-season opener against an NFC South division rival that romped past Tampa Bay twice last season.

“We’d love to see everyone take advantage of our revamped pricing and our enhanced fan experience at Raymond James Stadium,” Glazer said. “We’re going to need you in our corner when we kick off at 4:25 this Sunday so we can re-establish a stadium atmosphere that fuels our team and frustrates our opponent.”

Joe is not telling anyone how to spend their money. Unlike some lazy local sports radio hosts who just cannot stop talking about this inane subject and are of the misguided notion that the last line of a box score (attendance) is somehow more important than the first line (the final score), fans can spend their cash however they deem fit.

Joe has no more business telling people how to spend their cash than someone telling Joe he should buy tickets to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.

Joe just doesn’t get the outrage people have for others not going to games. The NFL average attendance has dropped four years in a row yet each season the NFL sets TV ratings records. Joe’s not a math major but he can sure add this up.

Fueled by a rotten economy and the scourge of fantasy football, more and more people prefer the at-home, HDTV experience with the NFL Sunday Ticket and the Red Zone Channel than the in-game experience. In short, it’s a cultural change. The facepainters will always go to games but the casual fan isn’t as inclined any longer, and that, friends, is what determines sellouts in transient areas where blackouts are common such as Florida and California.

And though Joe is hardly an apologist for Team Glazer, no way they should buy any remaining tickets to ensure a game be televised locally. Team Glazer is graciously offering some free parking and half-off concessions for Sunday’s game. Those are generous enough enticements as it is.

So Joe just cautions Bucs fans who want to watch the game live, don’t depend on others and don’t bank on the game being televised live locally. Either be prepared to buy a ticket, or brace yourself to watch a rebroadcast at midnight Sunday night on NFL.com or NFL Sunday Ticket.

Hopefully, the Bucs will look better on the field this season and quickly snap their 10-game losing streak. But if the Bucs’ struggle, at least the stadium experience will have more sizzle.

Free Wi-Fi (so fans can monitor NFL Sunday Ticket and the Red Zone Channel on their smartphones), upgraded customer service, top-shelf stadium replays, fancy fan giveaways in the parking lots and expanded club seating hours are all part of Team Glazer’s drive to improve the gameday scene for fans that don’t stay home. About those replays, the Bucs described them like this:

a brand-new replay system, as well as several new cameras installed to increase the number of angles for improved replays. Also new this season, fans will have the chance to go Under the Hood, as the stadium BucVision boards will display the same replays that the field officials view on sideline monitors. These advancements will ensure that fans in the stands receive the best quality gameday atmosphere.

Joe would like to take this opportunity to recommend tripling the size of the cheerleading corps, the unit on the field stays, and the two new ones are dispatched to roam the upper and lower bowls.

Your crappy tire tread won’t magically go away, and neither will the lousy alignment you think is no big deal. This is why Joe is steering you to Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa, so you can get everything taken care of at a low price and with confidence, convenience and comfort.

Look, you’ll get superior service and a guaranteed price at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa, plus you won’t have to suffer in filth in a chain tire shop waiting room. At least take advantage of the amazing FREE and fast digital alignment check at Ed Morse. No appointment needed. Joe promises you’ll be impressed at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa.

Even an Englishman can appreciate Doug Martin.

Now Joe knows just the mere mention of football in London gets Bucs fans’ antennae up. It wasn’t that long ago that local conspiracy theorists were convinced Team Glazer was going to pull up stakes and move the Bucs to London only because Team Glazer owns some kickball team over there and people enjoy playing connect-the-dots even when there are no dots to connect.

So when an Englishman decides to break down the NFL without using the word “rubbish,” Joe knows this will be a volatile subject.

Neil Hornsby, the man behind ProFootballFocus.com (yes, he’s British born and bred and a proud resident of the empire), traveled to just about every NFL training camp (Joe met him when he visited Tampa with Peter King), and has broken down all NFL preseason games and is critiquing every first round draft pick from this spring.

So far, Hornsby really likes what he sees from Bucs rookies safety Mark Barron and running back Doug Martin.

Mark Barron: Not seen that much of him in coverage but his work elsewhere has been very good. Not afraid to take on blockers, closes quickly and made his tackles. A huge upgrade for Tampa Bay at an area of need.

Doug Martin: Excellent avoidance skills and balance allows him to run through multiple glancing blows and keep his feet. Very much a north-south runner who gets up-field in a hurry. An impressive start.

Joe actually has been more impressed with Barron than Martin, and that is no knock on Muscle Hamster who looks to be a stud.

Joe is just struck by how quick, how physical and how punishing Barron is. When Barron blew up a couple of Patriots running backs in preseason, just flying in from seemingly nowhere, Joe told Barron later he looked like John Lynch with wheels.

Let’s just say Barron liked that compliment.

Last season, Bucs fans heard often from rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Raheem Morris about how the Bucs were confident they didn’t need veteran leadership at every position because they had ex-players coaching those positions, guys like Eric Yarber, Keith Millard and Alex Van Pelt.

That never made any sense to Joe, as coaches are not teammates, who can guide, mentor and command attention differently than any coach, no matter his resume.

So it caught Joe’s attention when he saw the following Twittering from the official Bucs Twitter feed yesterday.

@TBBuccaneers At Chamber event GM M.Dominik said it was important to add experience & leadership to every meeting room w/likes of Jackson, Clark, Orlovsky

This sure seems like a clear change in leadership and team-building philosophy from Dominik. That stuff just wasn’t a priority last year when the Bucs were yungry.

Now the Bucs have thoroughly lived up to the new experience-in-the-room mantra with the acquisition of veteran running back D.J. Ware and his two Super Bowl rings last weekend. Gerald McCoy already has talked about how much Gary Gibson is helping him enhance his game.

Joe likes the change but wishes it would have come last year.

Probably the most shocking of moves last Friday night when the Bucs cut their roster down to the league-minimum 53 players was the release of wide receiver Tiquan Underwood.

Underwood made play after play in training camp practices and did enough in games to show how he could stretch the field that it seemed guys like Sammie Stroughter and/or Preston Parker should be concerned about job security.

Alas, Underwood was released. Bucs coach Greg Schiano all but said the decision to release Underwood was his limited ability to provide help on special teams. It’s a line of thinking that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik reinforced when he spoke to Booger McFarland and Todd Wright on WHFS-FM 98.7 Tuesday afternoon.

Not only did Dominik say Underwood’s lack of special teams acumen did him in, he also said that it’s not out of the question that Underwood returns to the Bucs.

“Underwood is not practice squad eligible so how do you use him on gameday? What is his ability and role and how do you make it work? Tiquan is a guy we will still continue to stay in contact with. Whether he ends up back on this roster at some point during the season, it’s a possibility. He is certainly not a guy that we have walked away from. So we will see what happens.

“He has a chance to [find work on] another roster but you have to go with the guys who you feel can help you in all three phases of the game or on all four downs of a football game.”

Given the news from yesterday that Preston Parker has been pulled off return duties, largely due to his nasty habit of putting the ball on the ground during returns, it makes Joe wonder if Parker was that valuable in other special teams areas because he still was able to stay on the roster over Underwood.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik chose quite a phrase to describe how the New Schiano Order tried to instill its mentality and work ethic over the past six weeks. 

Speaking this afternoon to the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, on WDAE-AM 620, Dominik said Schiano was “hard on them” and the team practiced in pads just about as often as possible since training camp began “to really kind of beat them into understanding what we want to be as an organization, what we want to be as a football team. And I thought our football team really responded well.”

Anyone watching Bucs training camp and other practices knew Schiano was a bit of a taskmaster, from no hands on hips and no shade/cooling tents to the water bottle policy, to essentially embracing the elements and the vomit they can bring forth.

Clearly, Schiano was molding his “Buccaneer Men” and trying to break those who couldn’t stomach it.

Remembering how hard training camps used to be with endless two-a-days and such at the University of Tampa, Joe’s hardly feeling sorry for current players. But it’s fun to hear the GM say the goal was “to beat them into” a tough team. 

Greg Schiano wouldn’t reveal names of his top return men during his Monday news conference, but today’s depth chart released by the Bucs perhaps tells the story Schiano wouldn’t.

Preston Parker was listed as the top kick returner and punt returner on all preseason depth charts, but now he’s listed as a backup at both positions.

Sammie Stroughter was named top punt returner and rookie Michael Smith is tabbed as the No. 1 kick returner.

Joe is celebrating this news, as Parker was in the bottom tier of returners last season and led the NFL in fumbles at the position. And he kept fumbling this preseason. Joe would have been stunned if a ball-security-obsessed Schiano stuck by Parker.

Joe’s very confident in Stroughter catching and returning anything. Smith will have to prove he can protect the football, but it should be damn exciting to see his speed on display in the open field.

This is exactly how you need to watch tonight’s Rays games!! The great all-you-can-eat wings offer is available Tuesday nights at Hooters St. Pete locations on 4th Street and in Tyrone Square. Get more info. at OriginalHooters.com.

The whole signing of running back D.J. Ware this weekend is very intriguing and exciting on many levels, primarily because it puts rookie offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan’s skills on a bigger fire.

The Bucs are now loaded in the backfield, with four guys possessing diverse strengths. Hopefully Sullivan isn’t Greg Olson and will use the four backs creatively, effectively and without being predictable.

In Joe’s research on Ware, Joe found this high praise of the running back from Eli Manning a few weeks ago via the Associated Press.

Quarterback Eli Manning said Ware is not only good on third down, he also is a good blocker.

“We feel he’s our best route runner out of the backfield and catches the ball well,” Manning said. “Hopefully, that’s a role where you can get catches to him (on) third-and-short or third-and-4 or 5, or you can get the ball out of the backfield, have him run a route and get first downs for you. I think that’s something that he’s worked hard on and understands our concepts and how to get open versus different techniques.”

Joe likes hearing that Ware is precise and intelligent on third down. Ware caught 27 balls for the Giants last season, most of the third-down variety Manning referenced. Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams were so effective over the past two seasons on third down for Josh Freeman. Graham especially, always knowing how to keep the chains moving.

Nobody knows whether LeGarrette Blount or Doug Martin can be proficient in those “3rd-and-manageable” situations that the Bucs are likely to see more of this year with the addition of Carl Nicks and Martin. Hopefully both will get a shot to prove themselves in those scenarios.

But the addition of Ware is another reason the Bucs’ offense should hum. Those extra one or two first downs a game Ware’s experience could provide might mean the difference between wins and losses. If nothing else, he’s surely a big step up from Kregg Lumpkin.

When Joe thinks of the Bucs’ rush defense last year, Joe thinks of Tampa Bay Downs with the ponies at full speed coming down the stretch.

Once running backs got past the first level, it was an unadulterated jailbreak. Mike Tanier, a guru at the football thinktank FootballOutsiders.com, also works for something called SportsOnEarth.com and he explains the rotten rush defense was fully attributed to Gerald McCoy. That is, the absence of Gerald McCoy.

And because GMC is healthy, that means the Bucs rush defense should be pretty good, Tanier opines.

Undersold Story: The Bucs’ run defense started the 2011 season pretty solid but became a glorified E-ZPass lane soon after DT Gerald McCoy got hurt. McCoy suffered a minor injury against the Patriots, but he is expected to bounce back, and the front seven has many other talented building blocks. The Bucs can become respectable in a hurry if they stop allowing 194 rushing yards per game — the figure they gave up in their final six games of last year.

This is a factor that GMC haters refuse to acknowledge or prefer to ignore. The Bucs defense collapsed without GMC anchoring the front line.

As Joe has stated before, it is imperative for both the Bucs and for GMC to have him stay on the field this year.

Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik will talk about the Bucs’ final roster and more this afternoon with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, The Big Dog, on WDAE-AM 620.

Joe will bring you all the highlights from what is sure to be a revealing interview.

At 5 p.m., noted college football guru Brett McMurphy, now of ESPN, sits down with the Big Dog.

NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas breaks down the division for the 2012 season in this ESPN video.