Losing in the trenches and letting the Stinking Panthers punish Bucs QB Mike Glennon led to a loss yesterday.

The old football axiom is true today as it may have been 100 years ago. Football games are won and lost in the trenches, on the line of scrimmage.

That clear yesterday when the Stinking Panthers curb-stomped the Bucs’ offensive and defensive lines, stole their lunch money and took their glasses. It seems Stinking Panthers coach Ron Rivera emphasized his team dominated up front, so types eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

“Yes, they were on a roll,’’ said Panthers coach Ron Rivera, referring to Tampa Bay’s three-game winning streak that followed a dynamic losing effort at Seattle. [read more]

Don’t fret, Mike Glennon Mob members. Your quarterback remains mentally strong.

During Glennon’s postgame news conference yesterday, he declared that he’ll study his errors against the Panthers and emerge better. “I’m not going to make the same mistake twice,” Glennon said emphatically. (Full audio below via Joe’s friends at WDAE-AM 620.)

Would this happen to Warren Sapp in his prime?

Perhaps Joe’s being unfair comparing Sapp to Gerald McCoy. But, Sapp himself did just that recently, even saying McCoy might be a better player. McCoy also declared on his Buccaneers Radio Network show Wednesday that he could become better than Sapp. [read more]

Bucs running back Bobby Rainey touched upon it yesterday after the game when he said the Bucs’ running game couldn’t get on track because Carolina was doing things the Bucs had not prepared for or seen.

Now, Rainey didn’t go into detail what those things were, but Bucs commander Greg Schiano took responsibility, per Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com, and said point fingers at him, not the players.

“We didn’t do enough to help them as coaches and we didn’t execute well enough on the field,” Schiano said. [read more]

Now we are back to the old quarterback question. Mike Glennon looks more and more like a decent starter in the NFL. He is starting to get better with his long throws; a little inconsistent, but better.

But here’s the rub: Glennon is still the worst quarterback in the division. How high of a ceiling does he have? Is he near the ceiling now?

And in a quarterback league, if you have the worst quarterback in your division, how realistic is it to expect a winning season much less a playoff berth?

Joe doesn’t think drafting a quarterback in the first round should be off the table. [read more]

The leader of the New Schiano Order sat down with the Buccaneers Radio Network after today’s clubbing in Carolina to talk briefly.

Greg Schiano seems flummoxed by why the Bucs were bad on third down. “You have to look in the mirror as a Bucs team and say, ‘Why couldn’t we perform better than 1-for-10?’ Whether it’s the plays we have, or the plays we called, or the players not executing, I think there’s enough blame to go around.” …The full WDAE-AM 620 audio is below.

How bout them Vikings, helping the Bucs move up in the draft today!

With leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman as their third quarterback today, the Vikings’ tag team of Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel led Minnesota to an overtime win against the Bears.

That means the Vikings are 3-8-1 and leapfrogged the Bucs in the 2014 NFL Draft sweepstakes. [read more]

The Bucs won’t keep paying fat O-linemen salaries without production

“Offensively, we had trouble handling their front,” Greg Schiano said after the Bucs beating at the hands of the Panthers today.

Boy, isn’t that an understatement.

The Bucs were mauled for the second week in a row by a defensive line. But that’s in no way acceptable given what the Bucs’ offensive line is paid. [read more]

Joe believes there are still some diehard Freemanites out there. They will have you believe that leaky Rip Van Freeman was as innocent and pure as a fresh snowfall, that evil Bucs commander Greg Schiano had Freeman shackled and wouldn’t let his franchise quarterback be himself.

To listen to the Freemanites, Schiano ruined the best quarterback the Bucs have ever had. [read more]

Maybe lost in the frustration of the Bucs getting back-alley beaten by the bullies known as the Stinking Panthers, is a bit of team history recorded today.

And no, it wasn’t how Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon went all Parnell Dickinson in his first-half fumble that may have cost the Bucs three points (that is, if you believe Rian Lindell is capable of making a field goal of over 25 yards). [read more]

Joe could write a love poem for Lavonte David nearly every week. The guy is just that good. Even Derrick Brooks has said David is ahead of where Brooks was early in his Hall of Fame career.

Now David has landed in team record books. The Bucs announced that David’s interception today against Carolina made him the first Buccaneer to record three picks and five sacks in one season. Pretty damn good for Game 12 of the regular season.

Again, what more can be said about David? He looks like a Hall of Famer — at 23 years old.

Joe’s not down on Mike Glennon for his big mistakes today. It’s what rookie quarterbacks do. Glennon just hadn’t been doing it much.

Despite a beautifully thrown ball to Vincent Jackson and other sharp throws, Joe knows many Bucs fans are ready to stop all plans to erect a Glennon monument on Dale Mabry Highway. [read more]

The Stinking Panthers scored — and danced — when they had the opportunity to do so today. The Bucs did not.

Let’s be honest. The Stinking Panthers roughed up the Bucs in a Charlotte back alley this afternoon and stole their lunch money.

That’s what it looked like. The Stinking Panthers bullied the Bucs into submission. Pounded them. Beat them up. Mike Glennon’s ribs must look completely purple about now. It was big boy football played by the Stinking Panthers and the Bucs were the neighborhood runts.

Now, the Chip Kelly’s of the world will try to peddle the notion time of possession means nothing. Kelly is basically a baseball stat geek in a football coach’s sweatshirt, thinking he can reinvent the wheel. Time of possession means a lot. Yes it does. [read more]

Before Joe gets going here, before the haters try to blame Vincent Jackson for forcing Bucs fans to perform the laborious if not dangerous extra click of the mouse for the “read more” option, Joe loves VJax. Thinks the world of him. He’s a warrior.

Usain Bolt, VJax is not.

Joe just loved how VJax hauled in a bomb from Mike Glennon down the right sideline in the first half, got behind the defense, but, again, VJax was caught just short of the goal line.

Again.

Naturally, the Bucs, specifically Mike Glennon, fumbled and came up empty-handed on the play. That was critical. It also reminded Joe of how [read more]

Joe really couldn’t stomach watching the Bucs rush the passer today. It was like watching one of those bad Geico ads over and over when the guys play the banjo to close the commercial. You could just play that damn music while the Bucs defensive line stunts over and over again.

Is there a reason first-round pick Adrian Clayborn can’t rush off the edge? It’s 100 percent clear to Joe the Bucs don’t believe he can. [read more]

Bucs running back Bobby Rainey said the Bucs were surprised at what the Stinking Panthers were doing defensively.

Bucs running back Bobby Rainey was refreshingly candid but not specific about the struggle of the Bucs running game today in the loss to the Stinking Panthers in Charlotte.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game, Rainey was asked specifically why the run game sputtered. [read more]

Where does Greg Schiano stand with ownership at 3-9?

 Nobody Joe knows thought the Bucs would win today, but they weren’t competitive against Carolina, which is always a red flag when it’s a division game.

And that’s not a good thing for a second-year head coach who’s 3-9. [read more]

Overmatched.

Joe’s not sure how else to describe this debacle.

Yes, the Bucs shot themselves in the foot with a heinous, needless Mike Glennon fumble in the red zone, a few plays after Vincent Jackson got dragged down from behind en route to the end zone, but those plays really didn’t matter much today.

The Bucs were mauled badly in the trenches — on both sides of the ball — by the streaking Panthers, who won their eighth straight game with ease. There were also terrible breakdowns in the Bucs secondary by All-Pros Darrelle Revis and Dashon Goldson.

And Joe’s convinced the Bucs might have set an NFL record for ineffective blitzes.

Most noteworthy to Joe was Mike Glennon looking like a rookie again, tossing a bad pick on a throw that looked more like a shanked punt (yes, Joe realizes there should have been a defensive penalty against Vincent Jackson), missing open receivers, and that fumble that will be a highlight show laughing point all night long.

Joe had little hopes for the Bucs today. This is how the Panthers win. But Joe would have liked to see the Bucs execute better when they had their shots.

In case you were wondering, the Bucs officially were eliminated from playoff contention today.