One reason Doug Martin hasn’t run as well in recent weeks is the line isn’t blasting open holes like it once was.

The Bucs have been a little Jekyll and Hyde this year on offense (against the pass on defense, trust Joe, they have been all Hyde).

When the Bucs were dominating teams, the Muscle Hamster, Doug Martin, was on his wheel. That hasn’t happened in a while.

This has come to the attention of some Bucs fans who sounded off on a TBO Bucs Q&A asking why the Bucs don’t pound the rock any longer.

Q: We beat the Chiefs, the Vikings, the Raiders and the Panthers, so where are the game plans and plays we used to do that? Yes, our defense stinks but we won games before because we could move the ball and score points. Why don’t we stop just flinging it long on a wish, and use the kind of game planning and play calling to move the chains, and use all our skill players to score, instead of the mess I see for the last two weeks?

— Brian Everhart, Winter Haven

A: I believe you may be on to something here. In two of the last three losses the Bucs have been more or less forced out of their game plan by a lopsided score. However, I believe they need to be a little more patient and stick with the run a little more. It’s the foundation of everything they do offensively and they’ve proved that when they run the ball they create the opportunity for successful big plays downfield.

— Woody Cummings

There’s a couple of things at work. First, the offensive line, where offensive line coach Bob Bostad has done a marvelous job with all the injuries and chaos, is beginning to show that it is a depleted group. Opponents have figured out that the Bucs can’t block the run that well. Jamon Meredith gets blown off the ball too much on running plays, Demar Dotson is a fine pass blocker but struggles on the run and Ted Larsen is Ted Larsen.

So, if the guys up front can’t open holes on a consistent basis for Martin, then there’s a reason he isn’t slicing through defenses like he once was.

Bucs team advisor (?) and Greg Schiano confidant Butch Davis, despite previous reports, apparently was about to take the opening at Florida International University, per reports from FoxSports.com insider Alex Marvez.

Problem is, Davis is still being paid by North Carolina and to take the FIU gig, he would need permission from North Carolina in order to collect two paychecks. Apparently, per Marvez, that’s not happening from the Chapel Hill crowd.

The dispute centers on almost $1.8 million that Davis is owed from the settlement he signed upon his dismissal as UNC’s head coach in July 2011. The source said that UNC doesn’t want to pay the money if Davis accepts another coaching position, which is a stumbling block that also complicated his hiring earlier this year by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

FIU is set to sign Davis to a multiyear contract averaging roughly $500,000 a season, the source said.

If Davis leaves, that will be the second of Greg Schiano’s coaches staff who has committed to leave before the 2012 season ends.

The only reason Davis took a gig with the Bucs is the Bucs promised he would not coach, just be an advisor order to get around his contract with North Carolina.

Joe suspects whether Davis leaves or not, other coaches will leave as well soon — involuntarily.

Did the New Schiano Order not know how to manage the season to have its team ready for December?

It’s a question Joe’s pondering today after Tampa Bay Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud participated in a Q & A on the Falcons’ official website and said he thinks the Bucs looked gassed.

“Overall, the Bucs look like a tired football team and Freeman is pressing. It’s a bad recipe,” Stroud said.

Frankly, Joe sees no reason why the Bucs should be physically fatigued. NFL teams practiced far longer, harder and more physically not too many years ago and had no problem competing hard in December.

But the Bucs do appear to have lost their mental edge, led by No. 5 and others.

Is it flowering “weeds?” Is it motivational techniques? Is it character?

During the offseason, Greg Schiano needs to do some hard self-scouting to figure out why his team lost the key intangibles that lead to Ws.

Ron Cooper may have been a quality college coach, but his Bucs secondary is on the cusp of being the absolute worst unit in the storied annals of the NFL.

Imagine at your job, a co-worker had performed the past year worse than any employee in the history of your company’s existence?

Imagine a company salesman who made zero sales for the calendar year… none!

How long would these guys be employed? More to the point, how quickly would these non-performing workers be unemployed?

This is the crossroads that Bucs defensive backs coach Ron Cooper faces. His unit, the Bucs secondary, is on the cusp of a horrendous milestone that any self-respecting human being would be so ashamed of, he wouldn’t let his supervisor make the call to make changes.

Joe will let the typed words of eye-RAH! Kaufman set the stage.

@IKaufmanTBO: If the Falcons throw for 252 yards or more Sunday, the 2012 Bucs will have surrendered the most passing yards in the NFL’s 93-year history

Joe is already catching flack on Twitter from myopic Bucs fans claiming Cooper didn’t have anything to work with, which at best is a smokescreen excuse. Cooper’s unit is on the verge of setting a 93-year record for futility. NINTY-THREE YEARS!!!

Aside from that, how was Cooper’s unit doing when he had the Adderall Twins, Aqib Talib (who, still, too many Bucs fans in some mind-numbing, twisted sense of surrealism, think is the second coming of Lester Hayes) and Eric Wright? How does 510 yards grab you, which is what Eli Manning blowtorched Cooper’s secondary for, in a franchise record-setting day for the Big Blue quarterback.

Joe also heard Cooper was a solid secondary coach at LSU. He sure was. Hell, Rachel Watson would be one of the best secondary coaches in college if she could recruit the likes of Patrick Peterson, Tyrann D. Mathieu and Morris Claiborne.

Joe and Shaun King, one of only three quarterbacks in Tampa Bay history to lead the franchise to an NFC title game, got into a back-and-forth about Cooper a few days ago and King tried to use the kneejerk excuse that Cooper didn’t have anything to work with once the Adderall Twins were gone.

Joe’s comeback to King was, “what was Bob Bostad’s excuse then?” The Bucs’ offensive line coach lost far, far more than Cooper, three starters down including two Pro Bowl players, and a fourth starter moved to another position, yet Bostad made chicken salad out of chicken s(p)it, a truly remarkable job and the mark of a guy who can coach up players.

Can anyone — anyone! — cite a player under the guidance of Cooper who actually improved as the season went on, anyone? Aside from maybe Leonard Johnson, Joe can’t name any corner who improved. That right there is a coaching fail because a decent coach can at least get a couple of players to marginally elevate their game. That’s what competent coaches do. You know, actually coach?

Now Joe has had some readers Twitter him suggesting Bucs defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan is culpable as well for this true sieve of a secondary. That’s a fair point, but Joe’ points a finger at the guy personally, directly responsible for perhaps an NFL historic worst unit.

Joe’s not a “fire him” kinda guy. Ninety-five times out of 100 that is a kneejerk reaction. But when a coach’s unit is responsible for setting a 93-year worst record — repeat that a few times, 93-year worst! — how in the world can he be brought back with any degree of credibility from Bucs head coach Greg Schiano?

At least Raheem Morris had the sack to sack former defensive coordinator Jim Bates after the heinous Jim Bates Experience was circling the drain only halfway through one season.

Setting a 93-year record for worst pass defense, or even coming close to it, is simply unacceptable under any circumstance, nor should it be tolerated.

Former Bucs quarterback Shaun King repeated his early-season take that Josh Freeman needs to consult with a sports pyschologist.

Don’t expect Josh Freeman to ever be a player who will “captivate an organization” or “will his team to win,” says former Bucs QB Shaun King. “I think it’s always going to be physical with him; I don’t ever think it’s going to be mental.”

King, one of three quarterbacks to lead Tampa Bay to the NFC Championship game, went head to head with Ian Beckles on all things Bucs and NFL this morning on WDAE-AM 620. King also reiterated his take from early this season that Josh Freeman is in desperate need of a sports psychologist and cited that Drew Brees told King he used one with great success. (Joe wonders if Freeman already has sought counseling?)

King also praised Gerald McCoy’s Pro Bowl nod but explains why he believes a lot of McCoy’s votes were personality- and not performance-driven.

And King dives into Tim Tebow conversation and compares Tebow to Albert Haynesworth. Enjoy. Joe did.

Not only will the Falcons go full-throttle at the Bucs with all available personnel on Sunday, says head coach Mike Smith, Atlanta won’t skimp in its gameplan.

“We’re going to do whatever we have to to win this ballgame, in terms of our gameplanning. We think it’s very important to us to complete our 14th mission successfully,” Smith said of scoring their 14th victory of the season.

“To say that we’re going to be vanilla in the last ballgame. No. We’re going to do everything in our power.”

While Smith might be full of baloney and only take the first half seriously, Joe hopes the Bucs get the Falcons’ best, or at least close to it, and score a “W.”

The Bucs need the confidence, and besting Luke McCown and the rest of the Falcons second stringers won’t be too satisfying.

The Bennett brothers will get to debate new eight-figure, free-agent contracts around the Easter dinner table this spring. That is certain.

The Bucs’ Michael Bennett, 27, is a versatile, effective defensive end. Those guys get paid big-time in free agency. Giants tight end and brother Martellus Bennett, 25, has had a career year this season with 54 catches for 611 yards. With his stunning size and athleticism, (6-6, 265) someone will make it rain on him, too.

Interestingly, Martellus was talking/dreaming yesterday about playing alongside Micheal — at the Meadowlands, per NJ.com.

Another wild-card factor? His older brother, Michael Bennett, a defensive end with the Buccaneers, will also be a free agent this offseason. They played together growing up and at Texas A&M, and would like to do so on this level, too.

“So it’s just one of those things, you never know what is going to happen,” Bennett said. “I would love to stay here, maybe even get him to come out here. But if not, we’re both looking to play together, at least for a couple years in the NFL like we did in college. I’ll try to get him to come here first, or whatever happens with him.”

This is very interesting to Joe. Why not make the opposite happen, and get Martellus Bennett to come to Tampa?

His experience and success in the Giants offense would make it a near seamless transition to what the Bucs and Mike Sullivan are operating. Plus, he’s a more versatile talent than Dallas Clark. Giants GM Jerry Reese even called him a stud blocker, via ESPN. 

“I think he’s going to really help our run game, because he’s a tremendous blocker. We think he could be a good receiver, but what he gives us as a receiver is going to be a bonus. We think he can really help us get our run game going, because he’s the blocking tight end that we haven’t had. Jake [Ballard] was an okay blocker, Bear [Pascoe] has been an okay blocker. But Martellus could be a dominating blocker, and that’s what we haven’t had, really for a while. We haven’t had a dominating guy since, like, Howard Cross.”

Martellus Bennett also fits the young-free-agent mold that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik prefers.

This will be darn interesting to watch when the free agency bell rings in March.

Let’s face it, the BSPN “Accuscore” data got real boring once the stunning Jenny Dell stopped presenting the information. Dell was so hot, Joe never really remembered the statistical babble she reported. But Accuscore lives on, and its current Bucs video below is a real sad head-shaker.

Bucs fans — and there are thousands of them — who want Josh Freeman jettisoned from the team after melting down the past month rather than leading the Bucs to the playoffs, Joe has unsettling news for you.

Per Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, Freeman will be re-signed by the Bucs and will be your Bucs quarterback for the foreseeable future. Cummings explained while appearing with co-hosts Booger McFarland and Mike Pepper Monday on WHFS-FM 98.7.

Booger McFarland: When you look at this team as far as Josh Freeman is concerned, is there a sentiment of support not just in the locker room but from the staff since the staff did not draft Josh Freeman or are there questions starting to creep in about if we have the guy because we all know Coach Schiano is going to be judged by wins and losses and ultimately, that will lie in the hand of Josh Freeman?

Woody Cummings: I don’t think there is any question that this organization is completely 100 percent behind Josh Freeman. It is why — I know it has become a hot topic and is driving the train with talk radio right now, should they trade him, should they sign someone to push him and all that stuff – you know what guys? In a lot of ways, I really think it is almost a conversation that doesn’t have to be had. I don’t think that conversation is being had in this organization in this building. I think that conversation about Josh Freeman in this building is, “What has he done wrong the past couple of weeks that he wasn’t doing five weeks ago, three weeks ago, six weeks ago?” They are trying to figure out what is wrong. Going forward, he is this team’s quarterback. There is no doubt about it. He will not be traded. He will be re-signed at some point. They might be thinking about pushing that to next year or maybe franchising him next year when the contract does expire; they’ve got those options. If anything, Freeman has cost himself the opportunity to sign a nice lucrative contract in the offseason, although that could change too. I promise you the organization at this point is not looking to replace him. They are looking to make him better and I think that is what they should do because, my personal belief is this kid – and I do mean “kid,” he is only 24-years old and I understand he has a good collection of games in the league now and four or five years as a starter, it is about time to figure things out. He also had three offensive coordinators, one of which lasted all of 28 days and that messes with a kid too, and he is playing behind a makeshift offensive line and young players around him without a lot of depth at the wide receiver spot after the first two guys. The tight end situation probably needs to be upgraded a little bit as well. It’s up to the coaches to make things better. He has the ability. I don’t think there is anybody out there who can look at Josh Freeman objectively and say he doesn’t have the work ethic or the talent or the skills or even the smarts to play this game at a high level. To me, the difference is becoming consistent and playing inconsistent. It is up to the coaches to refine those skills. Make sure he comes out every Sunday playing the same way and at a high level. I think it is on the coaches to get that done.

If it has already been decided among the brass at One Buc Palace that Freeman truly is here to stay, let Joe repeat this again: Now is the time to re-sign Josh Freeman. He has zero leverage right now. But of course, why would he buckle and sign now rather than wait a year?

If the Bucs are hellbent on keeping Freeman, make the contract incentive-laden. If various team goals are met (you know, playoffs, fewer interceptions?) Freeman is then awarded a handsome sum in bonuses.

Just remember that the longer Freeman struggles, cash that would have gone to him likely goes to keep Michael Bennett at One Buc Palace.

Joe often remarks how Bucs fans must have someone to hate. Whether it is Sabby the Goat or Myron Lewis, Barrett Ruud or Quincy Black, Raheem Morris or Jim Bates, Bucs fans seemingly are not happy if they cannot scream about a player/coach to perfect strangers in a bar or at producers fielding phone calls at a sports radio station.

For two years, Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was roasted by many fans, and in connection, so too was Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

“He can’t draft, look at McCoy,” Dominik’s detractors would bellow to no one in particular.

Never mind that GMC was always hurt; hardly no fault of any general manager. But, lo and behold, the first season GMC is healthy, despite being constantly double- and triple-teamed after Adrian Clayborn went down with an injury, GMC made the Pro Bowl yesterday.

Isn’t it interesting that the Bucs had the worst run defense last year, and with virtually the same cast of characters (with the addition of another Dominik pick, Lavonte David), the defense, with coaching for a change, becomes of the best run-stopping crews in the NFL? All within one season!

Perhaps the Dominik haters should find another target now that GMC is cemented as one of the NFL’s elite?

This should silence the legions of Gerald McCoy bashers for at least an offseason.

McCoy has been named as the Buccaneers’ lone Pro Bowler for the 2012 season. McCoy did not win the fan vote at defensive tackle, so fellow NFC players and coaches put him over the top. Apparently, all that chatter from Bucs opponents about McCoy getting steady penetration and being a guy you gameplan against wasn’t a steaming pile of BS.

Kudos to McCoy for scoring this honor in his first injury-free season. And kudos to rockstar general manager Mark Dominik for drafting his first Pro Bowler.

Ronde Barber didn’t get in, and neither did Vincent Jackson, despite his stunning yards-per-catch numbers. Joe was a bit surprised about Jackson, and Barber, too, given that the Bucs icon won the fan vote at free safety.

Barber, Jackson and Doug Martin were named alternates, with Jackson and Martin declared “first alternates.”

Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Julio Jones and Victor Cruz took the NFC wide receiver honors. Dashon Goldson (49ers) and Earl Thomas (Seahawks) got the nods at free safety.

There is a very real possibility that Sunday could be Ronde Barber’s last game in a Bucs uniform.

If that comes true, Dixie chicks coach Mike Smith hopes Barber has one more game left in the tank: the Pro Bowl.

Smith, talking to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club via conference call, lauded Barber as one of the best defensive backs ever to snap on a chin strap and believed Barber’s play at safety this year warrants a Pro Bowl selection.

“I think Ronde is very deserving of Pro Bowl status.” Smith said. “He is a guy that has not only done it this year but he has done it for a long time. He is one of the most efficient defensive backs – doesn’t matter where you play him, corner, nickel, safety, dime – he can do it all.

“I know the past couple of weeks he has gotten back into his nickel role a little bit more because of the situation there in regards to injuries. He has a great knack for the football and understands the game about as any DB who has ever played it.”

Joe just hopes Barber, if he does hang up his cleats, does so with a win.

As hacked off as Barber was when the Bucs lost to the Eagles — and trust Joe, he has never seen Barber that upset — the thing that pained Joe most wasn’t so much the loss but the pain on Barber’s face when he realized the Bucs blew a chance at a postseason appearance.

Bucs cornerback Eric Wright, fresh off his four-game suspension for popping Adderall, faced the Tampa Bay pen and mic club this afternoon and, perhaps knowing this could be his last week with the team, expressed remorse for being caught violating the NFL’s banned-substance policy.

“I apologize to the team, the organization and the Glazer family,” Wright said. “It hurt me a lot to let the team down. It’s just an unfortunate situation. I’m looking forward to moving forward.”

Then Wright was peppered with questions about his future with the Bucs. The fact he was popped for Adderall voided the second year of guaranteed cash by the Bucs, per reports. So in effect, the Bucs could cut Wright after the season and not owe him any money.

“Until someone tells me otherwise, I am a Tampa Bay Buccaneer,” Wright said. “I say that with a lot of pride. It is an honor to put on that jersey.”

Wright also explained that the root cause for his suspension was that a letter of exemption to use Adderall that was to be sent to the NFL for approval was never filed.

Wright wouldn’t elaborate further.

“It was extremely difficult being at home, being away from my teammates and my coaches,” Wright said. “You work all offseason and preseason to get to this point and have to sit down and sit out for four games; It really hurt. The situation is that it is over and I served my four-game suspension and I am back with my team.”

For those of the belief that the Bucs didn’t miss Wright’s services, consider the Bucs haven’t won a game since he was suspended.

In an unrelated matter, Wright, who was slowed by a gimpy Achilles injury before he was suspended, admitted he is feeling closer to 100 percent than he was before his suspension.

“I feel a lot better,” Wright said. “I still have to finish the week of practice.”

Yeah, Joe hates the Falcons, aka Dixie Chicks, but Joe really enjoyed this exchange with Atlanta media and Falcons QB Matt Ryan today. … Makes you wonder how Ryan would have handled a guy like Kellen Winslow last year. Here it is below, via AJC.com.

Q: You always talk about how you have a lot of weapons around you in this offense. How do you command the huddle? Because I’m sure you get a lot of ‘Hey, I was open.’

A: That’s not greeted with a good response, usually. (Laughs). I let them know how I feel about certain things. But I think it comes down to trust. I think it comes down to not feeding me some (expletive), basically. Don’t feed me that when you come to the sideline (because) we will be able to see it on film. Also, at the same time there is the right time and a certain place for those kind of things. I think we’ve all done a good job of, ‘All right, I’m not going to badmouth you or anything like that but there is a time and a place for doing those kind of things.’ I think everybody has a good feel for that.

The leader of the New Schiano Order did not flinch this afternoon when asked whether he wants Ronde Barber back for the 2013 season.

Greg Schiano praised Barber’s transition to safety and said Barber’s return was up to No. 20. Pressed further, Schiano made he it clear that he wants Barber on his football team next year and called Barber “the fabric of this organization.”

Schiano said Barber’s focused, game-by-game preparation is much like the head coach’s, so the topic of Barber’s return is not something he feels comfortable talking to Barber about until after the season ends.

Assuming Barber doesn’t get injured Sunday, as he did on the final game of 2011, Joe suspects Barber will make a quick decision.

Will the Falcons rest their starters against the Bucs on Sunday?

Longtime Redskins general manager Charley Casserly, now an analyst on NFL Network, talks about why he believes the Falcons will not and should not go easy on the Bucs, via the WDAE-AM 620 audio below. Casserly gives a historical perspective on the final-game approach when your team has clinched home field through the playoffs as the Falcons have.

Casserly also weighs in on Josh Freeman and lauds Greg Schiano and Mark Dominik for their work this season.

So what’s rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and his staff up to during the final two weeks of the season?

First, every last Buccaneers scout is at bowl games, not NFL games, Dominik said Sunday on the Buccaneers Radio Network. That’s surely a by-product of being elminated from the playoffs.

Also, the Bucs are dialed in on the film of potential free agents they like and have identified as potential targets, in order to see how they perform through the final two games. Dominik said extra attention is paid to players that are out of the playoff hunt. Dominik said it’s key to study whether a player can rise above his team’s situation “to find out how important football is to him.”

Of course, it’s safe to assume the Bucs also are heavily self-scouting their own team to see whose effort might have fallen off in December. 

The Bucs have lots of decisions to make on soon-to-be free agents, such as Roy Miller, Michael Bennett, E.J. Biggers, Dallas Clark, LeGarrette Blount and more.

Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles hears the pitchforks sharpening for Josh Freeman, and Beckles says that’s understandable but somewhat misguided.

Speaking on his morning show on WDAE-AM 620 today, Beckles says the Bucs’ pass rush consistently has been the worst in the NFL this year (30th with 25 sacks) and deserves fans’ ire. Beckles says some of that is coaching but defensive captain Gerald McCoy is the core of the problem.

“McCoy had three good games early and he beat up the Eagles lousy right guard,” Beckles said. “I’m going to have everybody tell me McCoy is good when he only shows up for four weeks? Our leaders have to have attitude. He has to be hitting the quarterback. Our leader has to make plays.”

Beckles said, yes, it matters that McCoy is earning boatload of cash.

On the coaching front, Beckles said Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis’ comments about tells in the Bucs offense is further evidence that the Bucs offense is “vanilla and predictable.” Beckles also went on a rampage about the Bucs passing on 3rd-and-1 Sunday late in the third quarter on the Rams’ 5 yard line and trailing 28-13. And then following that up with a failed quarterback sneak. Beckles says Greg Schiano has no right to call his Bucs a physical smashmouth team, just like Raheem Morris used to claim.

Among other darts tossed around the roster, Beckles claims Dallas Clark has been a bust. “I haven’t seen him catch a pass all year without someone draped all over him. He’s lost a step or two,” Beckles said.

Freeman deserves another season but no fan can claim Freeman is improving, Beckles said.

Joe knows it is the popular, trendy thing as 2012 comes to a close to pile on embattled Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, he of the eight interceptions in his last two games.

But don’t count on Mike Martz to jump on the anti-Freeman bandwagon.

Joe had a chance to chat briefly with Martz, a former Super Bowl coach and current FOX NFL analyst, just prior to the Bucs game with the Rams Sunday.

In short, Martz is a big Freeman supporter.

“I think he is a terrific player. I don’t see any flaws in Josh. They have to get better around him. They have had problems in the offensive line, they have basically lost three linemen and they don’t have the depth at wide receiver that they need. Those are things they will address in the offseason.

“They’ve got the right guy. They just need to build around him. If someone wants to criticize [Freeman], they are wrong. He is playing at a high level and they just have to get better around him.”

Now this is interesting to Joe. When Martz made the comment about lack of depth at wide receiver, Joe thought Martz was talking about Tiquan Underwood. Now Joe did not hear audio of the Bucs’ broadcast Sunday, but from reading various comments on this site, Martz was critical of Bucs wide receiver Mike Williams. Could it be that Martz if of the mind that Williams shouldn’t be a starter, too?

Look, Martz transformed a grocery store clerk into a potential Hall of Fame quarterback. He is no Brian Billick. The guy knows quarterbacks.

If Martz is to be believed, Freeman does not have enough toys.