Some Bucs fans are still giddy this evening (no, nothing about a Saturday evening tryst) because of the running of Bobby Rainey.

Now Joe would say this is just an example that teams should not draft a running back in the first round as there are tons of talented running backs that can be found late in the draft (Mike James) or off the street (Rainey).

This is not armchair quarterbacking by Joe saying the Bucs should never have drafted Doug Martin. Hogwash. First, the Bucs traded their second round pick to jump into the late first round to get him.

One reason why Rainey was so successful so quickly is that, so types PewterReport.com chieftain Scott Reynolds, the Bucs use virtually an identical offense as Rainey played in at Western Kentucky when now-USF Willie Taggert ran the show.

“[Rainey] runs the inside zone plays so well,” said Bucs right guard Davin Joseph, whose play is improving as he is getting healthier each week. “It’s reading the defense, understanding the defense, and understanding the blocking scheme and going out there and executing. He’s been able to run in some tough looks. We’ve been able to give him some premium looks and he’s been able to capitalize on them. He’s a smart player and he really, really fits our offense.

“The guy just knows how to run power plays. It’s crazy how he reads so well and he’s able to get up in the holes. He rarely takes any negative runs or has losses on runs. He has the strength to keep the drive going, but also has that big-play factor about him.”

Of course, Joe also wants to give credit to Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for pulling Rainey off the sidewalk to play. Sadly, Joe knows that ruins the narrative of too many haters.

Below are the areas of the country where folks can watch the Bucs-Lions game free on their local over-the-air FOX affiliate. As always, map courtesy of 506Sports.com.

NFL.com, CBS Sports and others ran wild this week when noted NFL Films senior producer and film guru Greg Cosell compared the quarterback play of Mike Glennon and Robert Griffin, III, aka RGIII.

“Mike Glennon is so far more advanced than RG3 playing NFL quarterback that it’s not even close,” Cosell said during an appearance on WHFS-FM 98.7. “They shouldn’t even be in the same discussion.”

Joe shook his head.

Cosell, of course, is dialed into the film and decision-making and execution. That’s interesting and worthwhile, but that just doesn’t account for intangibles that make guys winners and, of course, the ability to produce on the ground. Joe remembers what RGIII did to the Bucs in Tampa last year.  Through RGIII’s first seven NFL starts (Glennon has seven starts), he had 468 yards rushing with six touchdowns. Glennon can’t do such things. RGIII had passing stats similar to Glennon through those seven games, but a completion percentage over 70 percent.

Joe’s not taking anything away from Glennon’s development and progression, but at some point Joe’s got to put his foot down on stats and film and judge quarterbacks on wins and losses and playoff efforts. 

Jimminy Christmas! Can we at least see Glennon beat a team with a winning record first before saying he’s more advanced than a guy now on surgically repaired knees who put a team on his back to the playoffs in his rookie year last season? Can we please see more from Glennon before writing off Johnny Football drafting a QB in 2014? 

Yes, RGIII, like Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick, seems to have taken a significant step back after a great 2012. Only the Hall of Famers, the greats of the greats, do not. Glennon’s got a long way to go. Joe’s hopeful but can’t get caught up much yet in the Mike Glennon Mob mentality.

The leader of the New Schiano Order was asked point blank Monday on his radio show, “[With Mike Glennon performing] better, if we got a high draft pick, is that out of the question drafting a quarterback?”

Look for Schiano to get that question over and over and over.

“To start with on Mike, you know, as we talked about as Mike took over the job, we have a whole season here to be able to see how he’s improving, how he’s progressing. Up until this time I think he’s doing a great job. So I have no reason to believe that’s just not going to keep moving forward and doing the same thing. But we’ll have plenty of time to evaluate where we in the draft and all those things when the appropriate time comes,” Schiano said. “Right now, we’re just trying to give our players the best chance to win and Mike’s one of those guys. Like I said, he’s doing an incredible job of preparing for the games all week long and then going out and executing the game plan pretty much just the way we ask him. And when you get a guy doing that, as a coach you get excited.”

It’s hardly a surprising answer from Schiano, but he surely could have gone different directions with his answer, such as calling for competition at all positions.

It’s the JoeBucsFan weekly podcast with Joe and the Tampa Bay’s finest baritone, Ronnie Lane, of WDAE-AM 620 and the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Joe hits on various subjects, including interpreting the Bucs’ performance, Sunday’s Lions game, and more.

The Bucs are not in danger of losing the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week next season

Imagine if Bobby Rainey has a strong final six games as the Bucs’ No. 1 running back? What stunning depth and tough decisions the Bucs would have next season! They’d be stocked with three young, promising backs that have actually shouldered the load in NFL games and had 150-yard games.

Rainey, though, seems like he might be a bit confused by what 2014 could hold for him.

The Bucs signed him off the street last month, after spending 2012 with the Ravens, mostly injured (Yes, he’s got a Super Bowl ring). Rainey was among the final cuts with the Ravens this summer and was scooped up by the Browns immediately before the Ravens could sneak him on their practice squad, so Rainey explained yesterday on Pro Football Talk, hosted by Mike Florio. Then the Bucs claimed Rainey off waivers when the Browns cut him in October.

Florio asked Rainey about his future in Tampa, and Rainey referenced that he too busy showcasing himself and doing his job to worry about next year.

“Once the season is over then I can actually think about that. But right now I’m actually just trying to, I’m still auditioning for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the other teams out there,” Rainey said.

While Rainey has no contract for 2014, he isn’t really “auditioning” for the rest of the league.

As a second-year player, the Bucs hold his exclusive rights for 2014. All they have to do is offer him a take-it-or-quit, one-year contract after the season. It’s roughly a half-million bucks. Essentially, Rainey won’t have any free agency rights.

It’s impossible not to pull for Rainey. He’s the underdog, and a little guy, who’s shocked the NFL world. If he continues to shine, it will be quite a training camp/preseason battle for carries next season. Somewhere, Doug Martin is shaking his head.

In this TBO.com video, Olivia Stacey gets Bucs commander Greg Schiano to discuss making the Bucs a family and how much he has learned from his players.

Though Joe isn’t sold — yet — on Bucs starting quarterback Mike Glennon as the signal-caller of the future for the Bucs (would love to see him rifle a few passes downfield, connecting with receivers in stride rather than throwing rainbows), wide receiver Vincent Jackson sure seems to be.

Jackson, who made a one-handed Willie Mays basket catch of a Glennon deep ball along the right sideline last week in a beatdown of the DIxie Chicks, waxed poetic about Glennon today at One Buc Palace. That’s sure to warm the cockles of the Mike Glennon Mob, led by Dave the TV Producer.

“I’ve just been so impressed with him from the start,” Jackson said of Glennon. “From the first game that he was asked to come in and take the reins of this offense. He was prepared, he did everything he needed to do in the offseason, training camp and when his number was called, he was ready. Very mature for a young man, a young quarterback, we ask him to handle a lot on his offense with the protections and the sights and making all the adjustments and he’s done it without missing a beat, so he’s only going to continue to get better and improve with experience like any quarterback would. But where he’s at right now is very impressive.

“With any position you play in this league, the more you’re out there, you’re seeing live snaps, you’re seeing defenses, getting a different look each and every week. It’s only going to help him in his experience, in kind of his catalog of understanding where he needs to go with the ball. He’s taking care of the football, that’s one of the biggest things [for] a young quarterback, not having a lot of impulse throws. If he has to eat it he’ll eat it, if he has to run with it he’ll run with it. A lot of people don’t give him credit for what he can do with his feet, but he’s made some plays outside of the pocket, throwing the ball and running the ball.”

Hhhmmm. It doesn’t take J. Edgar Hoover to read between the lines there: Jackson wasn’t much happy with leaky Rip Van Freeman, was he?

Again, Joe doesn’t know if Glennon is the long-term answer. He may be better suited for a West Coast offense, but you cannot ignore his solid completion percentage and his lack of picks. Joe can only wonder if Glennon would be that much better with better receivers. No, Jackson is fine. But Tiquan Underwood and the notorious Skye Dawson will never be confused with Mike Willams.

Joe still isn’t convinced the Bucs should pass up  chance to land a certain Heisman Trophy winner who plays for some school in College Station, Tex.

Every person who follows the Bucs, whether it is Warren Sapp of Steve White or Booger McFarland or Joe or the drunk in the corner bar and other simple people, has been hollering how awful the Bucs pass rush has been.

Many want to tar and feather Bucs defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan for having his defensive linemen run tryouts, play after play, for “Dancing with the Stars” — the favorite TV programming of the NFL-AM crowd — rather than doing their jobs of rushing the quarterback.

After losing the season, and on the cusp of losing their jobs, Sheridan and company seem to have had an epiphany and relented by letting defensive linemen go after quarterbacks directly in recent weeks. Since, the Bucs have racked up sacks and pressures. Can you imagine?

Well, even with only rumors of a Bucs pass rush for seven or more games this season, the pass defense has improved. Dramatically, so, notes the Custodian of Canton, eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune.

@IKaufmanTBO: In 2012, the Bucs yielded 69 completions of at least 20 yards. With the additions of Revis & Goldson, that figure is now 28 with 6 gms left

Now Joe understands Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik doesn’t call defensive plays, but he does pick talent and his moves to bolster the Bucs’ defensive backfield have worked well.

If the Bucs continue to utilize this novel, untried approach of having their defensive linemen attack the quarterback, instead of some perverted square dance of constant stunts, then maybe the Bucs might develop into a suffocating defense?

Mason Foster’s blow to his coconut last Sunday also has knocked him out of Sunday’s game at Detroit. Foster’s concussion is serious business, Greg Schiano said today, and there’s no timetable for his return.

This is a huge blow to the Bucs’ chances against Detroit. It’s brutal to lose two components up the gut of your defense: Dashon Goldson (suspension) and Foster. Both those guys had interceptions last Sunday and are playmakers. Replacements Keith Tandy and Adam Hayward are significant steps down.

As Joe noted yesterday, this is Foster’s first missed game since before high school.

If Mike Glennon keeps earning accolades from coaches and media, Bucs fans could be saying, ‘Johnny Who?’ come April.

Mike Glennon fever is gripping the nation. ProFootballTalk.com of NBC Sports monitored Greg Schiano’s news conference this afternoon (for a 2-8 team?) and is sharing the leader of the New Schiano Order’s words about Glennon’s decision-making.

One interception for Glennon in his past five games has the attention of the football world.

In fact, Glennon is throwing so few interceptions that Schiano was asked at his press conference today whether Glennon is too cautious with the ball. In Schiano’s view, Glennon is taking some shots downfield, but he’s taking them at smart times.

“You can get to be that way, but Mike hasn’t,” Schiano said when asked whether Glennon has become too safe. “I don’t think that’s an issue with Mike. Mike will rip it in there with tight coverage. But what he’s not done is rip it in there with tight coverage and a man behind, and that’s where you get the tipped passes and interceptions and that kind of thing.”

Joe’s glad that Glennon fever has calmed the masses and injected hope that the Bucs can thrive in 2014 without drafting, say, Johnny Football.

And Joe’s also glad that Glennon has a very tough schedule in his final six games. Bucs fans should have few questions about Glennon at the end of the season. Thirteen games is a solid audition, especially when your offensive line is blocking well.

Bobby Lewis, of Joe’s media pals at WTSP-TV, Ch. 10, put together a neat video here to explain Sunday’s “Optimus Prime” vs “Megatron” event in Detroit. Bucs fans like Joe, who only engage in fantasy games revolving around real women, will enjoy the education.

Lions running back/pseudo wide receiver Reggie Bush is a much better player indoors at Ford Field.

Many NFL watchers are talking about the match-up of Darrelle Revis and Calvin Johnson. That should be big and whoever wins that, his team has a solid chance of winning the game.

But if the Bucs are just worried about Johnson, they will get burned. There’s a guy in the Lions backfield named “Reggie Bush,” who, on the turf Ford Field, is pretty damned dangerous. Thankfully, Bucs commander Greg Schiano knows this.

Bush creates “Big time [mismatches],” Schiano said. “They displace him a lot so you’ll see him out here, you’ll see him as a wide out on both sides, they free release him out of the backfield so even though he lines up in the backfield appearing like he’s going to protect, he’ll free release so it’s like being out there as a receiver. And when he gets the ball in his hands he’s very, very good.”

Now Bush didn’t do anything last week at Pittsburgh against a now average Steelers defense (how far has that team crashed?). Something about Bush at a cold-weather site on grass, he vanishes. But put him on the turf and under the roof of Ford Field and he’s another man.

Bush touched the ball against the Steelers (rushes and receptions) 14 times for 54 yards. Sadly, Bush seems ticked off at his performance Sunday in Pittsburgh, which is not good for the Bucs, per Kyle Meinke of MLive.com.

“It’s very frustrating, because I want to be out there making plays,” Bush said. “It’s been on my mind ever since, and it should sting. It should hurt. It shouldn’t feel good.”

Stopping Bush will be as important if not more important for the Bucs to win Sunday than stopping Johnson.

Ndamukong Suh leads the Lions’ 30th-ranked pass rush with 4.5 sacks

You think the Bucs can’t get to the quarterback? They’re the Steel Curtain compared to the Lions.

Detroit has a dreadful pass rush, and their needle is trending down. The Detroit Free Press highlighted the woes with a quote from Lions DE Willie Young.

SACKS OUT TO LUNCH: It looks like the Lions’ sack well has run dry. They rank 30th with 16 sacks, hit Ben Roethlisberger only once last Sunday and have averaged one sack over the past four games.

“We’re hungry all right,” Young said. “We’re as hungry as can be.

“But at the same time we’ve got to keep playing collectively as a group. We’re sitting at the bottom of the sack list right now, but we’ve got somewhat of a decent schedule right now.

“We let one or two get away from us, but everything’s laid out for us. We’ve just got to capitalize and take advantage.”

Joe’s confident the Bucs can run the ball on the Lions and Mike Glennon should have time to throw. The Bucs should score points, hopefully touchdowns over field goals.

The real Tums-inducing worry comes from the Bucs defense that will be down Dashon Goldson (suspension), and possibly Mason Foster (concussion) and Johnthan Banks (shoulder). The Bucs would have trouble slowing the Lions even with those guys all in the lineup.

The debate will rage for many months. The topic is simple: Is Mike Glennon the guy to lead the Bucs to the promised land?

Can it be all about No. 8 in a division with Cam Newton, Drew Brees and Matt Ryan?

Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990 – 1996) offered an emphatic, “No,” on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday. Glennon, per Beckles, is simply in the wrong era.

“Mike Glennon, to me, would be a solid quarterback in 1990. It’s 2013. You gotta have something special, ok,” Beckles said. “We’re not good enough anywhere to have an average quarterback and win consistently.”

You can catch Beckles’ full rant below. Joe doesn’t disagree with Beckles. However, Joe wants to give Glennon more time. If he can thrive through the Bucs’ difficult final six-game stretch, then there’s no reason to think it can’t continue.

In this Bucs-Lions preview for CBSSports.com, Will Brinson, prickly Pete Prisco and Pat Kirwan gather to scoff at Darrelle Revis’ chances if he covers Calvin Johnson 1-on-1 Sunday. Kirwan, the NFL Radio host and former Jets assistant coach and personnel man, continues his about face on Mike Glennon, raving about his having only one interception in his last five games, among other observations. 

Kirwan is convinced Reggie Bush will wipe out Revis getting safety help if the Bucs let Revis revive his island, and that would doom Revis, Kirwan believes.   

Joe’s ready to roll at 10 a.m. to talk all things Bucs with the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620. Take note and tune in.

Look out! Free agent tight end Tom Crabtree is coming from Green Bay and he’s going to help stretch the field and be a punishing blocker and the Bucs have studied his film and found a hidden gem. … That’s what Bucs fans heard often this spring and summer from Greg Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik.

Will it ever happen?

Crabtree went down with a bad ankle sprain late in preseason while lined up as a fullback. It was the “worst possible timing,” Crabtree told Joe yesterday. “That’s right at the point where you’re hoping to peak physically to start of the season, and I was there, as well as achieving a complete understanding of the offense,” he said.

Crabtree was lost for more than a month and only got his health back fully a few weeks ago. He’s been part of the Bucs’ revived running game, but he’s been invisible in the passing game despite playing a load of snaps.

Coach Schiano, is Crabtree healthy enough to be unleashed? Joe asked yesterday.

“That’s a good point. I was just thinking that on the practice field the other day. Because it’s been like a couple of weeks where I haven’t heard in the injury report and anything that the [ankle’s] bothering him. And you can see an increased level of play,” Schiano said. “I don’t know if he’s all the way back, but I think you’re right on in that observation. He’s getting real close to being where he was.

“I can think back to how excited we were about Tom at a point in the spring and in training camp. And then when he got injured, it’s a long road back. That’s been a nagging injury. So I’m optimistic there.”

Crabtree says he’s healthy and ready to show his worth in the passing game. Playing 50 or so snaps per game the last few weeks, he said, should be enough evidence of his health.

Joe’s interested to watch Crabtree in the final six games. If he can prove to be valuable, then he’ll become another plus on the offseason report card of Dominik and Schiano. Right now, Crabtree gets an incomplete.