Greg Schiano was grilled by a Bucs-fan caller to his radio show tonight about the now infamous 3rd-and-8 run up the middle for no gain yesterday — on the Bucs’ 33 yard line with 2:55 remaining and the Bucs leading the Eagles 21-16.

The fan hated the playcall and wanted to know what Schiano was thinking.

The leader of the New Schiano Order explained that he ran up the middle to lessen the chance of a turnover and he was looking for a subsequent punt from Michael Koenen that would pin the Eagles inside their 20 yard line. Schiano said he had confidence his defense could stop a timeout-free Nick Foles to close out the game and that confidence was the driving force of his decision.

Well, the punt part of the equation didn’t sit well with Joe.

Essentially, Schiano was looking for a net punt from Koenen of 47 yards or better — from the Bucs’ 33 to the Eagles’ 20 or less. But the problem is the Bucs’ net average on punts is only 37 yards this season and, statistically, the Bucs have one of the worst punt-cover units in the NFL.

So given those numbers, Joe finds Schiano’s goal of a booming punt to be unrealistic. (Koenen’s eventual punt was 31 yards with no return.)

And if Schiano expected such a booming punt, then surely he expected it to be returned, which is what happens to long punts. That would have been a far more dangerous scenario than calling a safe pass for Josh Freeman to throw on third down. The Bucs have such safe playcalls in their playbook — Schiano admitted that on the air — perhaps something like sprinting Freeman right and giving him a run or throw-to-the-right-sideline option.

Joe understands Schiano believed more in his league-worst pass defense than in Freeman to win the game for him, but the big-punt fantasy never should have been part of the thought process.

Joe finds it a bit amusing that Bucs fans always, always have to have a player to hate. Each year, this player (or coach) changes.

Two years ago it was, understandably, Sabby the Goat. Last year it was Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (when people grew hoarse from screaming for Raheem Morris’ head on a platter). This year, despite maybe playing a half-dozen (if that) plays on defense, without question the most loathed Bucs player by fans was Myron Lewis.

Joe uses the past tense “was” because the beleagured Bucs cornerback has been placed on the injured reserve list and his season is over, per the Bucs official Twitter feed.

@TBBuccaneers: Bucs CB Myron Lewis has been placed on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury suffered in Sunday’s game against Philly.

Rarely a day goes by where Bucs fans — in a thread about a completely different subject — cry out loud, “Why is Myron Lewis on the roster?”

It’s a good question, but Joe wasn’t concerned because Lewis rarely (thankfully) played defense. The third-round pick in 2010 never adjusted to the NFL. When he’s healthy — a rare feat for the Vanderbilt product — Lewis always looked completely lost on defense, often spinning around like the Tasmanian Devil in some weird effort to get into position, looking like a youngster in a frantic Easter egg hunt.

It never worked.

Joe has nothing against Lewis, who seems like a good guy. But to date, Lewis has been completely overwhelmed trying to perform at the NFL level.

Lewis has one more year left on his four-year contract.

Nosetackle and soon-to-be free agent Roy Miller sat out yesterday’s game with a head injury, and the Bucs proceeded to be no less than dominant against the run and notched a stunning six sacks of Eagles quarterback Nick Foley.

Hats off to Miller’s main understudy, Gary Gibson, and Michael Bennett, who spent several snaps rushing inside.

So what does this say about Miller’s value? 

Joe’s not taking a shot at Miller, just wondering how rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano will assess him. Miller surely will have suitors in free agency. He’s a team-first, four-year veteran who is still just 25 years old.

Joe wouldn’t pursue Miller hard, but like Jeremy Zuttah last offseason, Miller could be a guy the Bucs try to lock up quickly after the season.

Ray Didinger of CSNPhilly.com talks about how the Eagles found a quarterback in third-round pick, rookie Nick Foles, who Didinger lauded for finding a way to win under pressure yesterday. Unfortunately, the Bucs’ franchise quarterback couldn’t do the same with a far lesser obstacle.

Joe would love $5 million. But Joe’s going to have to settle for cracking 5 million visits to this here website in 2012.

It’s not quite as big a deal as the fall of the Berlin Wall, but in a matter of moments JoeBucsFan.com will bust the 5 million mark for visits in this calendar year. This is new ground for Joe, and hopefully such an accomplishment will stimulate Rachel Watson to reconsider who is most important in her life.

Joe wants to issue a thank you to his readers, and the loyal companies you see promoted around here that put gas in Joe’s tank, beer in Joe’s belly, meat on Joe’s grill, and afford Joe the time to bring his best self every day.

Joe’s pleased to continue to grind away tirelessly, 24/7, in his role as the premier source of news and commentary for Bucs fans. If you ever encounter an off day here, rest assured Joe is either dead or Rachel finally knocked on his door.

In what was a gross exaggeration about the numbers of Philly fans present and soiling the 2002 Buccaneers Super Bowl reunion yesterday, Eagles head coach Andy Reid raved about the cheers he was hearing after the game.

“The fans were unbelievable. I mean, you gotta giv’em credit. They were out here. At times I wasn’t sure who had more fans, us or them,” Reid said.

Reid went on to say he wasn’t sure whether the final Eagles touchdown to the end the game was reversed by officials because of the loud crowd reaction when the final score was in the books.

Screw, Andy Reid. There was a recognizable, audible Eagles-fan presence yesterday, but there had to be about 90 percent Bucs fans there in the full-house crowd of 64,941.

Joe suspects Reid is simply so used to being booed on his home turf that some cheers surprised him.

Joe hears the sharks circling — the loud voices of sports radio callers today wanting Josh Freeman out of town after this season, the subtle salivating of radio hosts warming to the idea of a future dump-Freeman bandwagon, the wild emails filling Joe’s inbox, the anti-Freeman passion in the comments on these here pages.

Sure, Joe has serious questions about Freeman’s ability to take the Bucs where every fan wants them to go. But Joe’s hardly advocating giving up on Freeman like some are.

The Bucs would be nuts to not have Freeman as this team’s QB in 2013, unless some bizarre QB gift from the heavens falls into One Buc Palace, which is about as likely as Rachel Watson asking Joe to meet her under the mistletoe.

But Joe knows Freeman desperately needs one win in these final three games of 2012, all of them difficult.

It would be nothing but ugly for Freeman in the local media this offseason if he closes 2012 with a six-game losing streak, on the heels of a 10-game losing streak to wrap up 2011. That’s tough to defend.

Today, Tampa Bay Times columnist Gary Shelton, who also co-hosts Gary and The Commish on 98.7 FM, said Freeman is perhaps the most polarizing quarterback he’s ever seen. The Good Josh/Bad Josh in-game act is wearing on Shelton, who says Freeman has reached the point in his career where “it’s time to start getting some of those bad moments erased.”

Count Shelton among the heavyweight circling sharks.

Of course, Joe wants to see Freeman win three games out of the final three, not just one. But he absolutely has to lead the Bucs to at least one more victory. Joe’s not sure Freeman will deal with the immense pressure that would come with losing out.

The slide of Josh Freeman, who’s a combined 32-of-74 in his past two games, is worse than it appears, says former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990-1996). 

Co-host of the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620, Beckles made the point this morning that Freeman is benefitting from elite talent at the skill positions but is still struggling.

“The weapons are making him look good,” Beckles said. “There are guys going up and beasting for the ball. There wasn’t a whole lot in our passing game yesterday.”

It’s hard to argue the point. Freeman has the luxury of a strong running game and a dangerous back out of the backfield. He’s also got a surehanded tight end and a definite Pro Bowl wide receiver in Vincent Jackson, as well as another go-get-it receiver in Mike Williams, and both are extremely versatile. And Freeman has an offensive line that pass blocks effectively.

Very few quarterbacks have so much to work with. In addition, it’s worth noting that the bulk of the Bucs’ payroll is on the offensive side of the ball. Relatively speaking, there’s not a lot of improvement the Bucs need to make on offense, outside of Freeman finding discovering consistency.

Perhaps the primary reason Greg Schiano gave as to why he set up a punt with a 3rd-and-8 run late in the fourth quarter was that he was confident the Bucs would get pressure on Eagles QB Nick Foles, with the rookie in a scenario with no timeouts and feeling the heat to score a touchdown or lose the game.

Well, the pressure came, but Foles still feasted on the Bucs secondary, the one Ronde Barber said isn’t good enough.

Via Philly.com, an Eagles offensive lineman acknowledged that his linemates couldn’t slow down the Bucs’ rush.

 “The offensive line didn’t help him out early in the game, and throughout the game, with the pressure, but he never got upset, never changed his composure. He stayed focused,” rookie right tackle Dennis Kelly said. “It was kind of one of those things like, if he can do it, we can do it.”

The Bucs finished with six sacks, including two for Gerald McCoy and Michael Bennett. That’s SIX! And they completely stopped the run. But the Bucs still lost the game, even without committing a turnover and despite a punishing performance by Doug Martin. That’s an extremely rare feat in the NFL. Apparently, it only happens when your quarterback is having an ugly day.

Partially because of Eric Wright’s selfish actions, the Bucs’ pass defense, and playoff dreams, have been turned upside down.

Kvetch about Josh Freeman doing a Mark Sanchez imitation if you will, pound your office desk over the Bucs defense collapsing (yet again) in the fourth quarter, curse out loud if you must over Greg Schiano not passing on third down (“this Joe” sides with the coach on that call), but before Bucs fans get so wound up this morning, fueled by outrage and caffeine over the memory of a killer, disgusting loss, let’s place blame where it belongs:

On Aqib Talib and Eric Wright.

If not for those two birds’ selfish, illegal acts (in Talib’s case, one of many), not only would the Bucs not be on the outside looking in on a playoff bid, but very likely could be in the wild card lead.

It was those two, both the Bucs starting cornerbacks to open the season, who decided to obtain medicine illegally without a prescription and got busted.

At least Talib was man enough to fess up right away and serve his sentence. If Wright was of the same mind, his suspension would have been over by now and he would have played yesterday. Wright selfishly was defiant to the very end.

But no. Those two decided they were bigger than the team, bigger than their teammates, bigger than the NFL.

So they got popped and were suspended/traded because of their actions. Think those two were crying in their beers last night?

If is because of the irresponsible, selfish, wrongheaded actions of Talib and Wright why the Bucs’ cornerbacks, in such a critical stage of games late in the season, has been manned by rookie free agents and warm bodies off the street.

This is what happens when you have selfish characters who are only concerned about themselves on the roster. It drags the team down.

In the Bucs ‘case, it all but killed any playoff chances for the team.

So before Bucs fans start lobbing arrows this morning in disgust and anger, let’s point those arrows at the real culprits. The two who put the Bucs defense in a no-win situation.

Veteran sports columnist Gary Shelton offers his thoughts on the gut-punching Bucs loss to the Eagles in this Tampa Bay Times video.

Here are quotes from key parties after the Bucs devastating loss to the Eagles, compiled by the media relations staffs of both the Eagles and the Bucs.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

GREG SCHIANO

(On being third-and-7 on Tampa Bay’s final drive)
“You know, there are two ways to play it. You can try to throw the ball, (but) we decided to run the ball and make them use their timeout, let it tick. My thinking was, we can punt the ball away and, if we get a stop, the game is over, they have no timeouts. If we don’t get the stop, we put it on the defense and we didn’t come up with the stop. When you are on the positive side, our side of the playing field, the risk-reward; tipped pass, anything that could go wrong, where they could get the ball on the plus side. As it turns out, we didn’t have a great punt, which could have helped. You hit a boomer there, you get them back to the 18, 16, 20, whatever, but that’s not what happened. At the end of the day, we just had too many mistakes to win an NFL football game. It’s what it boils down to.”

(On mistakes during the game)
“Just throughout the game, there were too many penalties at inopportune times. We had our hands on some balls that we didn’t catch. We were fortunate, too; there were some balls that they could have intercepted and they didn’t. At the end of the day, we didn’t play well enough, we didn’t coach well enough to win and that responsibility falls on me. I’m in charge. We needed to play better to win and it didn’t happen.”

(On QB Josh Freeman)
“I’ll have to watch the tape to see exactly what the problems were. It just seemed like he wasn’t himself, wasn’t in sync. Then he made some throws that make you say, ‘Oh, there he is.’ We as an offensive football team didn’t play the way we are capable of playing. We made some critical mistakes. At the end of the day you can’t do that in the National Football League. It doesn’t work.”

(On losing three games in a row)
“I’d be disappointed if there was a harder way to prepare and get ready then what we have been doing. We try to do everything that we can. Turn over every stone. That is the way that we operate. We are going to continue to do that, we have to do something. I have to do something to get our team to play better because we didn’t play well enough to win and that’s my job.”

(On the loss)
“We made too many mistakes. It’s not mistakes because guys aren’t working, guys aren’t preparing; it’s more guys making mistakes (from) trying to do too much. You have to do your job, that’s our whole mantra: Do Your Job. And we all – coaches, players – you try to call too perfect of a play, or you try to do something as a player to make something happen… (Football is) the ultimate team game for a reason. You have to do your job, and when you do that it gives you a chance to win. Today, we didn’t do that consistently enough and that’s why we lost.”

QB JOSH FREEMAN

(On losing a close game)
“Any time we lose, it’s frustrating, no matter what the reason is. Today, Philly just found a way to make more plays than us. Whether it (was) at the beginning of the game or down the stretch, it doesn’t matter when it happened, but it happened. We have to find a way to make more plays and score more points. That’s what the game is all about: winning and losing. Any time you lose, and lose close, it’s going to be rough.”

(On watching the final drive)
“That’s part of the game, part of the game. You have to find a way to get it so it’s not that close at the end. The Eagles, like I said, made more plays and down the stretch found a way to make the plays to win the game.”

(On teammates RB Doug Martin and WR Vincent Jackson)
“No question, both of those guys (are important). Vincent had a number of huge catches, including his touchdown. Doug as well, got him running, got him rolling, and busted some tackles, busted some big runs. Mike Williams and I thought the offensive line really cranked it up the second half and answered the call. The fact remains that it wasn’t enough.”

(On the first half of the game)
“We were just a little off. We were taking shots and trying to throw it down field and then one to Vincent (Jackson) was out front of him. The one to Mike (Williams), the guy jumped up and made a play on it. If you hit a couple of those, you really have something going. But, first half, I thought our defense did a great job holding them to 10 points, but you definitely have to come out and play better in the first half and score more points.”

(On what issues the team faced)
“It’s hard to say, because practice, preparation – we’ve been continuing to push the envelope and to work extremely hard. We had a great week of practice, but we just weren’t finding the plays (in the game). We weren’t finding the plays downfield that we normally do. It’s frustrating, but, at the same time, it something that you know that your guys can do that you’re capable of doing. It was there first half today. We didn’t do enough today but all we can do is go out and continue to prepare and continue to play.”

(On the rest of the season)
“We have three games. The one that we’re focusing on is the next one, the New Orleans Saints. After the season is the time for reflection, right now we’re going to try to go in and prepare as well as we can and find a way to win our next game.”

RB DOUG MARTIN

(On the second half)
“Coach Schiano always talks about doing your job and I think that’s what we did coming out in the second half and (Vincent Jackson) had a great game as well as Mike Williams. Josh (Freeman) also did a good job of getting the ball to them.”

(On the loss)
“A loss is a loss. Any loss feels bad, but we just need to bounce back and get ready for the next game.”

(On his play)
“It’s a loss, so I can’t really feel good about anything. Individual stats only matter if you get the W. That’s the main point, right there.”

DB RONDE BARBER

(On the game)
“(Philadelphia) made more plays than we did. I’ll give them credit, the QB went out and executed his two-minute and drove it better than we did on defense.”

(On whether the game was especially dangerous with Philadelphia’s record)
“There isn’t any danger – this is the NFL. I don’t care if they are 3-9 or 6-6. (The Eagles) have been playing good for their coach and they showed up on the field every week.”

(On whether the Super Bowl XXXVII anniversary affected today’s game)
“It was an honor to be a part of the 2002 Buccaneers team. It was nice to see all of those guys, but it had nothing to do with the product on the field (today) – so it doesn’t hurt more or less. It’s 2012 and that was 10 years ago. They celebrated rightfully, but it has nothing to do with this 2012 team.”

CB DANNY GORRER

(On the game)
“It was a real good game. I want to tip my hat to the Eagles; they made more plays than we did today. We have to get back to the drawing board.”

(On his near-interception at the end of the game)
“When I saw the ball, I kind of got excited and what not, but the great corners in this game make those balls. If I want to be a leader and take my game to another level, I have to make that play through the seam.”

(On the last play)
“We knew they had a shot to win the game and we called the defense. We thought the defense was good and we went with it. Like I said, they made one more play than we did and we’ll go back to work Monday.”

DE MICHAEL BENNETT

(On the final play)
“It was a sprint-out pass and you know that that was their play. That’s most teams play in the NFL. In order to get one guy open, they have him running and everyone else is just blocking. For a defensive line, everything is rushing one way and you think it is a rush play. It’s one of those things, they called that play, we knew that play, and as veterans on this team we should have stood up and made those plays.”

DT GERALD McCOY

(On playing in front of Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl XXXVII Championship team)
“Yeah, you recognize they’re here; you’d like to win the game for them. If you know the history of Tampa Bay, you know that Philly was an issue for them. A game like this, you definitely want to get the win.”

(On his personal performance)
“It had nothing to do with them (the Super Bowl-winning team); that’s me playing for God. We got a message last night in chapel and they said, ‘What are you playing for?’ They told us what we should play for and that’s my motivation. Just playing as hard as I can for God.

(On the play of QB Nick Foles)
“It’s not easy to keep your poise when you’re getting hit all day as a rookie, but he did. All the credit goes to him. Mike (Bennett) got to him early on that last drive, (and Foles) could have gotten nervous, but he didn’t. (He) sat in the pocket, made the plays and they got a good win. Came on the road and got a good win.”

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
ANDY REID

(Opening statement)
“Listen, the fans were unbelievable. You got to give them credit there. They were out here [and at] times I wasn’t sure who had more fans. I was proud of that part. I was proud of our players for just fighting their tails off. I can go through and give individual accolades, but, as a team, they fought like crazy. Greg Schiano’s put together one heck of a football team and he’s building this thing the right way. That’s a tough football team right there and they’re going to win a lot of football games. To be able to sneak it out like that, that was quite a feat. Again, I’m proud of our guys. It’s been a while since we’ve won one so we’re going to enjoy this one and then get ready for Thursday night.”

(On the play of QB Nick Foles on the final drive)
“He made some great, big throws. It looked like he rallied the crew in there and everybody stepped their game up. The O-line had had a couple breakdowns in the middle of the game there and he was able to rally those guys or they rallied around him, whichever way it went. It looked like Nick really did well, made good decisions, and made big plays.”

(On Tampa bay’s run defense)
“Well, they’re the number one team in the National Football League in stopping the run, so we knew that coming in [and] we knew we were going to have to throw the football a little bit, hoping we could balance it off, but they shut down the run game pretty good. It gave us an opportunity to throw the ball a little bit and picked it up towards the end there.”

(On how important this type of win is for a young quarterback)
“How important is it for a young guy? I’d tell you, it’s a step forward. He’s coming off, I thought, a positive game against Dallas. He put together a good game here against a defense that’s tough and he had to battle. It just wasn’t a smooth event. We had our ups and downs, the ebbs and flows of the game, and he hung with it. It looked like he made people around him better and in himself, he got better.”

(On the conversation with QB Foles before the game-winning touchdown)
“Well, listen, he wanted that last play. That’s the play that he wanted so, I’m talking about the last play of the game. He called it, he wanted it, and he executed it. He did a great job of it, so hats off to him. He came off and he wanted that play. It was a play that we had put in the game plan, in that situation, but that’s the one he liked the best. He was feeling it. It’s a great thing when your quarterback is in tune like that. When he came off, he goes, ‘Hey, I’m feeling this right here.’ You saw (Philadelphia Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator) Marty (Mornhinweg) give him a high-five. That’s what that was all about. (Mornhinweg) just goes, ‘Hey, that’s an awesome deal. That was a great feeling right there.’ So, I’m proud of the kid.”

(On the play of the Eagles’ defensive line)
“I thought they did well against the run. They got a good running team: good run offense, good running back and a good offensive line. I thought (for) our D-line, I’ve always said this, it starts there. I thought they did a nice job. They played a good combo game where you’re able to get some pressure on Freeman. Again, he’s tough to get to as we’ve seen over the last bit. We were able to get a little pressure on him and make a difference there. I thought they played well.”

(On building the team’s confidence)
“They’re excited. You go two months without winning a game in Philadelphia, that’s a tough thing, man. I’m proud of these guys, just staying true to themselves and battling like crazy and coming up with a win down here. The fans, down here, were awesome.”

QB NICK FOLES

(On why he likes to run the particular play that won the game)
“I just like a movement play in that situation because it changes throwing lanes. If you’re in the pocket, a guy can undercut it, whereas if you’re on the run, there’s no undercut. I just like movement plays. It felt good. It was the first play that came to my head.”

(On what was going through his mind during the final drive)
“The big thing is to be smart with the football. Be aggressive. (You) can’t take sacks. The line did a great job up front, really giving me time to throw, and our receivers ran great routes. When that happens it’s a lot easier to execute. The guys really did a great job. It was a great team win. We all stuck together and fought throughout the game.”

(On his rushing touchdown)
“It was just one of those plays where it turns into backyard football. I felt a little pressure, stepped up and got out of the pocket. Sometimes you’ve got to move around and make a play.”

(On getting his first win as a starting quarterback)
“I’m so excited for my teammates, me, coach Reid, our organization, our owners. It’s just very special, very humbling. It’s a great win too because we came back. We were winning. We lost it. The team stuck together. There was never a doubt in our minds. It was exciting to go out there and execute.”

(On the game providing validation)
“This is a special game. It’s a big win for us. We haven’t won in like two months. The emotions are going crazy right now. I really just want to enjoy it with my teammates because we were out there fighting together. Our coaches were with us every step of the way. It’s a big win for us.”

(On having the final playcall in his hands)
“We (Head Coach Andy Reid and Foles) were on the same page. He trusts me. That’s big when you have your coach that trusts you in that situation. I told him I was comfortable with the play and he said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

WR JEREMY MACLIN

(On the win)
“All around as a team, we just never quit. You guys are seeing Nick Foles grow into a phenomenal quarterback right in front of your eyes. I think the sky is the limit for him. One thing we have to do, we understand that this season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to go, (but) we just have to stay positive and stay fighting until the end.”

(On the final drive)
“I’m never, ever, ever going to have any thought in my head other than we can do it. That’s how I am, that’s my mindset always. This team never quits, everybody in here wanted this game so bad. From the coaches, to the players, to everybody in this organization, (we) just wanted to win so badly. I don’t care how we did it, it just happened to fall like that. Not winning in two months, that’s crazy, but this one feels good.”

(On the final catch)
“When I came out and saw the coverage, I knew that I had a good opportunity of getting this ball. Nick (Foles) put the ball down and away like he was supposed to, I went down and got the ball, made sure I was in bounds, and the rest is history.”

LB JAMAR CHANEY

(On getting an opportunity to play)
“Wednesday I found out. I was very excited. I waited a long time and it was kind of hard just sitting there waiting. Just got to be patient and wait on the Lord; (He) helped me through it. Got a win today, that’s the best thing right there.”

(On staying patient)
“It was real tough, starting every game last year. This year, you don’t get on the field that much; it’s real hard. You just have to continue working, and that’s one thing that I try and do. You can ask the coaches, when we go against the offense in practice, I try and go real hard, not only to help them but to help myself, just in case something happens.

DE BRANDON GRAHAM

(On the defensive line)
“It always feels good to know that we played good. I know that when we get to the film, we are going to have more stuff to correct. But overall, I think we played good.”

(On Tampa Bay’s last drive)
“Get off the field. Three-and-out. Forget about that first run that we made. We still had a shot. They had the holding call, and (on) that third down I can remember DeMeco (Ryans) saying ‘Get off the field, this is that play that we talk about in meetings, get off the field.’ Sure enough, (Fletcher) Cox made a play. It felt good to get off the field, because we gave our offense a chance to win the game.”

RB BRYCE BROWN

(On the win)
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence in ourselves. (It’s) a great win for our coaches. Everybody was in position and glad we made a play. Feels good that we got the win. It was a close game so nerves were there, but I’m excited we got the win. It was a long, hard-fought game.”

(On the booth review of the final play)
“I mean we could all see he was clearly in, so we just decided to hear the call. Then once we got it, it was a sigh of relief.”

(On not giving up the season)
“We’ve got a really strong team. I think a lot of credit goes to our veterans. The veterans are really pushing us to continue to fight. In football, things are going to happen. You’re not going to always have a great season all the time, but it’s important that you continue to fight because it shows the character you have as a person.”

LB DeMECO RYANS

(On QB Nick Foles)
“You see his progression every week, and he just continues to get better and better. For his fourth start, to be able to go out and make a game-winning drive the way he did, even though he was getting hit a little bit the way he did, but he stuck in there and made the tough plays, made the tough throws to help us win this game. It’s special to see a rookie come in and play the way he’s been playing. Nick has a great upside. You see Nick with the decision-making that he has, he’s going to continue to get better as he has over the past four weeks. With him continuing to get the reps and continuing to get the looks, understanding how defenses are trying to attack him, he’ll continue to do well and he’ll be a tough quarterback in this league as he continues to grow and study more.”

(On the defense in today’s game)
“We stop the run. We got them in third-and-long situations and we were able to come out there and get pressure on the quarterback, something we haven’t done in a long time […]. That was the difference (from) prior weeks when guys would make plays on us on a third down. We eliminated the big plays. We didn’t have any big plays. We made them drive the ball down when they had to score.”

CB DOMINIQUE RODGERS-CROMARTIE

(On the success against Tampa Bay’s passing attack)
“The pressure was better, even if he (Tampa Bay QB Josh Freeman) had an open route. He wasn’t able to just stand there and make the throws he could normally make, so I think the pressure is what really got him.”

(On Philadelphia QB Nick Foles)
“One thing I know about Nick, and that’s a fact, is that he always stays calm and cool and we never lost faith in him.”

(On the win)
“I give credit to the offense, they go down there and drive like that and Nick stands in the pocket, taking hits. I’m proud of him, just to get a win, it feels good. I think it’s going to bring back the morale of the team and we can just go out and keep the team going. The defense made the stop (on third down) and the offense did what it’s supposed to do.”

WR JASON AVANT

(On what the game proves)
“You really can’t take to heart what people say, especially when you are down. In hard times, people say things they don’t really mean, whether it be fans or players or what have you. So we never took it to heart. We know that we played hard; it’s just that we were turning the ball over. And today we did a good job offensively of not turning the ball over. We had one (giveaway) and we overcame that one as a team and Nick (Foles) did a great job. It’s never been an effort issue; it’s been more of an executing-the-game-plan issue. We always played hard, we just made inopportune mistakes and we did better today.”

(On his conversion on fourth-and-5 during the final drive)
“I didn’t know how close I was. The first thing I was thinking was to squeeze the ball, because when the safety is around I know those defenders are around. I tried to get as much as I could and keep my feet going and tried to get in the end zone, and, once I couldn’t, it was time for me to get the ball to the closest referee and not let (Tampa Bay) touch it, and I was thinking that if I put the ball on the ground they would kick it and the game would be over, so I was just thinking about getting the ball to the nearest referee.”

Bucs icon Ronde Barber was not a happy man after the humiliating loss to the heinous Eagles today.

Interestingly, Barber said the Bucs don’t have what it takes in the secondary. That’s no surprise, but it was surprising to hear from Barber.

“Guys gotta step up and do their jobs better than the guys across from you. To be very frank we haven’t done that. You want to hear reasons for it? I don’t care to get into them.We’re not good enough right now, especially on the back end, to win games like this,” Barber said.

Perhaps Barber was flashing some bitterness toward Eric Wright and Aqib Talib? That’s just Joe speculating.

Barber went on to cite lapses in coverage in the secondary and said the Bucs were outplayed by a rookie quarterback.

Joe hopes this losing streak isn’t helping push Barber toward retirement.

The hope and promise of the proverbial “next year” is the only thing soothing Joe right now following the heinous debacle against the Eagles and their rookie quarterback before a packed house in Tampa today. And what’s intriguing about 2013 is how the Bucs will approach their defensive line.

Michael Bennett, with two sacks today, has nine on the season. Bennett plays the run like a beast. And Bennett rushes inside and outside — one of his sacks was off an inside rush today — and he only turned 27 a few weeks ago.

Translation: Bennett is adding bags full of money to his inevitable unrestricted free agent contract coming after this season.

Joe doesn’t know of any effective, young pass rusher who doesn’t get paid big bucks in free agency. Then throw in the versatility in Bennett’s game, and he’s going to be in demand when the free agency whistle blows in March.

Will the Bucs invest heavily in Bennett? Joe doesn’t see how they have any other choice, unless they’re going to use one of their prime draft picks, which improve weekly. He’s the best of the Bowers-Clayborn-Bennett trifecta.

Bucs coaches say they have confidence in their quarterback, and they pay one of the best and biggest wide receivers in the NFL an eight-figure salary. Then why the hell did the Bucs play chicken crap football at the end of the game?

It was 3rd-and-8 on the Bucs’ 33 yard line with 2:55 left in the game, and Mike Sullivan, or more likely Greg Schiano, opts to run Doug Martin up the middle.

C’mon. Throw the damn ball!

What was the rationale there Coach? To set up your award-winning secondary to win the game for you? The Bucs have weapons all over the field, and running up the gut was wasting every last one of them.

The Bucs punted and never got the ball back. Game over.

Joe was somewhat soothed to hear former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht on the Buccaneers Radio Network hating that call after the game. Joe didn’t feel alone in his anger.

That’s just weak football, and it tells Joe the head coach isn’t as confident in his quarterback as he states publicly.

A handful of minutes after the Bucs coughed up a win to the hapless Eagles on the last play of the game, all but cementing yet another season without a playoff win, much less a playoff appearance, Bucs offensive lineman Jeremy Zuttah seemed to sum everything up in one sentence after the game.

“We had a chance to close out the game and we shot ourselves in the foot,” Zuttah said.

Joe knows specifically what Zuttah was talking about. With 2nd-and-7 on the Bucs-24 with just over three minutes left, Ted Larsen was called for holding, essentially killing the drive.

Just because Kenyatta Walker was in the house for the Bucs 2002 Super Bowl reunion doesn’t mean the Bucs needed to get whistled for holding, especially at that moment.

But it wasn’t just that episode. When the Eagles got the ball back, the Bucs were busted for 12 men on the field when Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was spiking the ball. What in the world are you trying to change defenses for at that moment?

The Bucs were also nailed for defensive holding on that fateful drive.

For the Bucs to make the playoffs next year (or beyond), they will have to learn how to put away their toy guns in order to not make the silly mistakes that can easily turn a playoff team into an also-ran in close games in December.

“Get Smart” was a great TV show, but playing Maxwell Smart in football games is rather dumb.

Bucs corner Danny Gorrer falls to his knees after the Eagles beat the Bucs on the last play of the game.

The Eagles were marching and, sadly, Bucs fans had seen this too many times on the very same piece of real estate — at the very same end of the field earlier this season.

Philadelphia was moving the ball on a must-convert drive in order to win in the final seconds. As any Bucs fan should have expected, the Bucs’ secondary was struggling.

Then, rookie third-round pick quarterback Nick Foles threw down the middle on third down trying to hit Marvin McNutt. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Bucs cornerback Danny Gorrer jumped in front of the pass and had the ball in his gut, but couldn’t hang on.

If he did, game over, Bucs win and the playoffs are still alive.

Instead, three plays later, the Eagles win on a touchdown pass on the game’s final play and the Bucs, again, will be watching the playoffs on TV just like the rest of us.

Gorrer was a destroyed soul after the game, all but placing the loss on his shoulders.

“What I saw, I got excited and as I said earlier, the great corners in this game make those plays and get the team off the field,” Gorrer said. “If I want to be a leader, and be great, I have to make that play.”

It was Eagles ball, fourth-and-five from the Bucs 23. Some 16 seconds left. It was do-or-die for the Eagles. The Bucs make a stop, and the win is theirs.

Instead, quarterback Nick Foles, a rookie third-round draft pick, looked far more the franchise quarterback than his counterpart for the Bucs. He stood tall in pressure and connected down the middle for a 22-yard gain to Jason Avant.

We all know what happened after that. Touchdown, ballgame, see ya, playoffs.

In Michael Bennett’s eyes, that play should have never have been completed.

“That sprint out play, that is the play we practiced,” Bennett said in a mausoleum-like Bucs locker room after the game. “We went over that play several times this weekend. We should have been ready for it. We had to make one more play. That is their No. 1 go-to play. And we had to have it.

“We studied that play. We should have made the play.”

Put away your calculators and your hopes. The Bucs’ shot at the playoffs is gone.

Dallas, Washington and Minnesota all rose to the occasion today and won to move their records to 7-6, while the Bucs fell to 6-7. Dallas and Washington both have the key head-to-head tiebreaker edge on the Bucs and better conference records, also a potential critical tiebreaker. And they play each other later this season.

The Rams at 6-6-1 even leapfrogged the Bucs, and at the time of this post, Seattle is clobbering Arizona.

The Bucs need an absolute miracle to get in to the playoffs with a 9-7 record. But that would mean running the table in New Orleans, home for St. Louis and at Atlanta — and that would be a bigger miracle at this point.