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.”

The leader of the New Schiano Order had a lot to prove today. After the heinous shutout in New Orleans two weeks ago, Greg Schiano said “I know what to do” to snap the Bucs out of their freefall. But that didn’t happen last week.

Today was Schiano’s final shot to show he had true command of his Bucs and could get their minds and bodies right. And the Bucs responded by soundly beating the best in the NFC on the road. Very impressive.

Chucky couldn’t do it in 2008. Raheem imploded in 2011. Schiano found a way. And it was almost as if Schiano was more animated today and refused to let his team lose. Lip readers saw him screaming “do your job” while ripping and coaching Anthony Gaitor for allowing a TD to develop in front of him on 4th-and-7.

It was a bizarre 7-9 season, and better coaching probably leaves the Bucs with an even better record.

But Joe’s confident Schiano will improve. And if the Bucs can somehow duplicate their stunning 2012 offseason, they should be a very dangerous playoff team in 2013.

No, this has nothing to do with today’s game, but actually something more important. Today on the FOX pregame show, a feature on Vincent Jackson’s work with families who have loved ones stationed overseas was highlighted. For those who missed it, here it is. Pretty cool stuff.

Joe’s not sure how the division tiebreakers will work, but on paper the Bucs finished the season tied with Carolina and New Orleans at 7-9 in the NFC South.

It’s definitely a messy tiebreaker. The Bucs beat Carolina twice. New Orleans beat the Bucs twice. And Carolina beat the Saints twice, including a 44-38 win in New Orleans today.

Each team had a 3-3 division record, but the Bucs checked in with a 4-8 conference record, worst among the three teams. So Joe suspects the Bucs officially will finish in fourth place, which surely would help their schedule next seaon.

Joe will update the official finish later tonight.

Mark Barron makes a tackle on Dixie Chicks Jason Snelling, but it was his break up of a pass targeted for Anthony Gonzalez late that may have been the play of the day.

How about that Bucs defense today? Lavonte David was a monster. Joe thinks he was on his TV screen on just about every play. Talk about a highway robbery of a second round pick by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

Then there was Da’Quan Bowers and Gerald McCoy. Bowers punished Matty Ice repeatedly, and GMC was bullrushing Dixie Chicks offensive linemen play after play like the Pro Bowler he is.

Even Leonard Johnson and E.J. Biggers looked sharp.

More surprising, in a sense, was the reawakening of rookie safety Mark Barron. The first round draft pick from Alabama was a stud early on this season and was a monster against the run. There are still cold mornings in our nation’s capital where RGIII wakes up thinking about Barron.

But Barron’s pass defense hasn’t been as good. Part of that is he is a rookie still learning. But on a critical fourth down play late in the game where Matty Ice tried to go for future Hall of Fame tight end Anthony Gonzalez, Barron, playing centerfield, raced in and broke up the pass that Gonzalez had his mitts on.

That was easily Barron’s play of the year on pass defense.

Overall, maybe the Bucs best defensive play all year. Too bad it came a month too late.

Joe’s ecstatic that the Bucs beat the real, first-team Falcons, rather than some shell of the now 13-3 NFC leaders.

This was a massive win for the New Schiano Order, which restored hope and confidence to players and fans for the long offseason. There just would have been no way to positively spin a six-game losing streak to end the 2012 season.

Doug Martin jumped into all kinds of elite company among rookie running backs with 142 yards on the ground, and the pass defense actually showed up! They “bowed their necks,” as Greg Schiano likes to say, and stymied a strong offense on the road.

Josh Freeman, well, he’ll be back in 2013, and the way he played today is about what fans can expect. It was “OK” Josh, and enough to win a lot of games with a real Bucs defense on the field.

It is the last game of the season. There will be no playoff games, no January games. The Bucs took care of that by tanking the past month.

But there are questions that the Bucs need to have answered today, if not Bucs fans.

* How many interceptions will Josh Freeman throw today?

* How many yards will the pass defense give up?

* Will the Bucs own the disgusting title of the worst pass defense in the 93-year history of the NFL? They only need to cough up 252 yards for such a distinguished title.

* How many sacks will Michael Bennett get? For every sack he racks up, for every tackle he makes, the cash register at One Buc Palace rings.

* What will Ronde Barber do? If this is Barber’s last game, Joe would love to see him get a pick-six.

OK Bucs fans, have fun and behave.

The Bucs released the Michael Smith list just now and, for the 15th consecutive game, the namesake of the list, heralded rookie running back Michael Smith, is inactive. Below is the full list of Bucs inactives.

CB Eric Wright

RB Michael Smith

LB Jacob Cutrera

G Roger Allen

WR Chris Owusu

DT Corvey Irvin

DT Matthew Masifilo

Curious that the Bucs activated troubled Bucs cornerback Wright yesterday but have no plans on having him suit up. Then why activate him?

The Dixie Chicks inactives are:

QB Dom. Davis, CB Christopher Owens, S William Moore, C Joe Hawley, G Phillipkeith Manley, G Harland Gunn & DT Travian Robertson.

Week 17

Bucs at Dixie Chicks

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally, DirecTV Channel 713.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); SiriusXM Channel 125.

Weather: Per AccuWeather.com, though the game will be played in a soulless dome, it will be cold for those wanting to tailgate. Morning temperatures of the low 30s under sunny skies will push to the lower 40s by kickoff. Should be in the mid-40s by game’s end and temperatures will drop rapidly afterwards.

Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs +3.

Outlook: And another end to a playoffless Bucs season comes to an end today. Yeah, Joe knows the Bucs should lose in order to help out their draft position for next April. This is a meaningless game… in fans’ eyes. But there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Who is a Buccaneer Man? Players giving lame effort today very well could find themselves unemployed in the coming days. Second, will Bad Josh Freeman show up or Good Josh Freeman? For Freeman’s sake, Joe hopes the good Josh Freeman shows up. If Freeman throws, say, three picks against the Dixie Chicks scrubs, he will be the talk of sports talk radio until the Rays begin play in April. If the Bad Josh Freeman plays, he will be pretty much the lone Bucs subject (sans the draft) heard on sports radio until training camp. That will make for a very, very, very long offseason for the Bucs quarterback. Outside of a perverse interest if the Bucs set a NFL-worst record for pass defense (the Dixie Chicks only need 252 yards in the air) in the 93-year history of the league, it’s hard getting worked up for this game after the team gagged their playoff chances the past month.

Michael Bennett does not believe the Dixie Chicks game is meaningless. Of course, he’s about to score big in free agency.

It’s the last game for the Bucs tomorrow. There will be no January games. No postseason. Freefalling the past month took care of that.

But don’t dare tell any of the Bucs, much less Greg Schiano, the game Sunday against the Dixie Chicks is not important.

Take Michael Bennett for example. He’s looking to continue his solid season. A free agent in a matter of days, Bennett is looking to cash in big time and a solid game Sunday will only add to his suitors.

“It is important because it is the next game and an opportunity to show the coaching staff what kind of players we have for next year,” Bennett told Joe. “It is definitely a building block game so everybody should play hard no matter what.”

Bennett dismissed any notion that he is looking ahead to hitting the NFL lottery in the coming months.

“I mean, it is just the next game for me,” Bennett said. “I’m trying to do the best I can to try to win. [A new] contract comes when it comes. I’m not worried about that.”

Now Joe has written about how the Bucs are on the cusp of a truly horrific 93-year NFL-worst record for pass defense, which is simply unacceptable and demands full explanation from Greg Schiano to Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and Team Glazer next week, This should not be tolerated under any circumstances and specifically how Schiano intends to repair this abomination must be explained.

(And stop with the comparisons to the Packers. Worst means worst! Trying to spin this 93-year mark or wave off how rank the pass defense has sunk is crazy talk, an exercise in idiocy.)

The Bucs, however, are also on the verge of setting another defensive mark, but this time it is very good. Aaron Schatz, the mastermind behind FootballOutsiders.com, has crunched the numbers and documented that the Bucs’ rush defense is one of the best in NFL history.

The Bucs also lead the league stuffing runners for no gain or a loss 34 percent of the time. That’s only tenth historically, but it’s by far the best figure this year. Detroit — maybe Suh can stop the run too? — is second at 27 percent.

Anyway, let’s congratulate these mostly unknown players on doing at least part of their job really, really well. Unfortunately, in the modern NFL, the other part of the job — “getting to the quarterback” — is the more important part.

Now Joe is on record stating he cannot fathom what kind of sales job Schiano must do with Dominik and Team Glazer to somehow justify bringing defensive backs coach Ron Cooper back next year — frankly, there is no justification. Some of Joe’s readers point to defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan as culpable as well, and Joe believes that is a fair point.

But if we are to mock Sheridan for the pass defense, then he must be lauded for the outstanding rush defense.

Joe wants to believe this is the handiwork of Bucs front seven assistant Bryan Cox, who deserves a handsome bonus or raise for the job he has done.

Also in Schatz’s article, he writes extensively how great rookie linebacker Lavonte David has played and referred to the Bucs defense as “The House of David.”

Joe believes that’s what the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway should be called, “The House of David.” Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Mazel tov!

John Lynch says the Bucs are worn out

Joe wrote extensively yesterday about how Greg Schiano openly discussed his team’s energy level and implied that the team is “emotionally tired” from losing, while Schiano also suggested he has not worked the Bucs hard enough in practice.

Now, beat writer Rick Stroud, of the Tampa Bay Times, quotes Bucs icon John Lynch saying the Bucs have been overworked and are “out of gas both mentally and physically.”

If Lynch’s take is accurate, then the Bucs are in far worse shape than Joe imagned.

Out of gas? Is that why Josh Freeman is in freefall?

What exactly could the Bucs coaching staff have done to Freeman to wipe him out physically? Joe’s quite confident nobody’s hitting Freeman in practice and he’s not running sprints. Also, Freeman is a tremendous physical specimen and has been hit less than most QBs this season. And, as all Freeman apologists love to remind everyone, Freeman is 24 years old. If Freeman is physically spent, then there’s a huge problem. And if Freeman is mentally gassed, then he’s got even bigger issues.

The new NFL labor agreement has scaled back the total number of practices in pads, total practices, and length of practice time during the offseason, preseason and regular season. Players have the best trainers and facilities around. There’s no reason why a team collectively should be physically gassed. Some banged up guys, sure, but the team? No way.

The mental side of this is intriguing. If the Bucs are beaten-down mentally, then Schiano’s “one-game-seasons” approach to the game has failed miserably.

Joe’s getting increasingly frustrated, especially since Joe suspects Lynch is echoing weakass comments he’s heard directly from Bucs players.

Hopefully, the Bucs rise above tomorrow in Atlanta. As Joe’s written previously, there’s no way to sugarcoat a complete collapse to close a season.

With cornerbacks like E.J. Biggers and Leonard Johnson starting, the Bucs must change their approach, says Pat Kirwan.

The Bucs’ pass defense is so porous Tampa Bay might need to start treating first down like third down.

That take is floated, via this video link, by noted former NFL personnel executive and former coach Pat Kirwan, now seen on CBS and heard on NFL Radio.

Kirwan says to look for “more pressure calls” from the Bucs, especially as E.J. Biggers and Leonard Johnson try to match up against Roddy White and Julio Jones. Though Kirwan expects the Bucs corners to “once again be beaten up.”

Kirwan calls for a 17-10 Falcons victory, with Atlanta staters resting in the second half.

Joe hopes this prediction is way off. Joe absolutely will hit the ceiling if the Bucs can’t rally to beat Luke McCown and the rest of the Falcons backups, if they do indeed take over in the final 30 minutes.

Might the Baron of Berlin, Florida State stud defensive end and sack specialist Bjoern Werner, give the Bucs needed help pressuring the quarterback?

Thinking about how the Bucs are a mere 250 passing yards away from setting a 93-year all-time record for NFL passing defense futility, Joe just wants pick up a chair and wing it at his TV. If Joe needed a new HD flatscreen, a leg of the chair likely would have been impaled the TV already.

Joe is surprised players weren’t pelted by beer cups and debris at home games the pass defense was so porous. Imagine what Eagles fans in Philadelphia would have done if the Eagles were in the Bucs’ current position, and the team pass defense had such a gutless performance against a garbage team with a lame duck coach and a rookie third round pick of a quarterback who threw for 381 yards that killed the Eagles’ playoff hopes at The Linc?

Riot police would have been called out in force. And deservedly so.

It isn’t just the guys off the street masquerading as NFL cornerbacks for the Bucs that is the problem, says eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune. While appearing with Tom Krasniqi, otherwise known as “TKras,” this afternoon on WDAE-AM 620, Kaufman said the Bucs’ defensive line is not blameless as the Bucs are on the cusp of a galling 93-year record.

In short, Kaufman believes Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik must be searching for yet another pass rushing specialist in the offseason.

“I am telling you Champ Bailey can’t cover these guys [opposing wide receivers] for four seconds,” Kaufman said. “The whole don’t equal the parts. They have to get more out of [DaQuan] Bowers.

“I am afraid the thinking of the braintrust here might be, ‘Hey, we are getting [Adrian] Clayborn back. Bowers will be fully recovered and you know what? We are OK on the pass rush.’ That is a very dangerous attitude. They haven’t had a double-digit sack guy since Simeon Rice was running around plastering quarterbacks. That’s a long time ago. I like [Michael] Bennett but he is a free agent. There is no guarantee the Bucs bring him back.”

Kaufman is absolutely correct. If and when Bennett hits free agency, there is no telling what could happen. Some crazy owner (Jerry Jones, Danny Snyder, Stephen Ross) could just throw a Brinks truck at Bennett to sign. It’s a gamble for sure.

Now Joe likes Bowers and when he is healthy, the guy can be productive. But he is not healthy; has never been this season, and oh yeah, there’s the nasty degenerative bum knee he is playing on. Perhaps, at best, Bowers is nothing more than a pass rushing specialist playing maybe 25 snaps a game?

Since the day Dominik took over he has been trying to build a pass rush only with moderate success. Bennett was a steal and finally Gerald McCoy has proven to be among the NFL elite.

Clayborn is coming off a knee injury. Who knows how effective he will be?

It may just behoove Dominik to run out and get Giants free agent Osi Umenyiora and perhaps pray a defensive end like the Baron of Berlin, Florida State’s Bjoern Werner, can slip down to the Bucs.