The Bucs can’t replace what Goldson offers

The truly sad thing about the suspension of Dashon “I’m not going to let nobody take the Hawk out of me” Goldson is the inevitable insertion of second-year safety Keith Tandy into the starting lineup.

For Joe, this is the equivalent of replacing Gerald McCoy with Albert Haynesworth in 2011. It’s so troubling, at times Tandy at safety gives Joe visions of Sabby the Goat. 

Joe’s been down on Tandy’s tackling and his angles to the football. He looks like a sixth-round pick waiting for the light to go on. There’s a reason Tandy was behind Ahmad Black on the depth chart and Black is now unemployed.

Yes, Tandy’s made a couple of plays, but he’s nowhere close to the level of Goldson, who was strong against the Falcons and is just getting back to 100 percent.

Joe’s being harsh here, mostly because Joe’s so darn annoyed by the suspension of Goldson and how much it will hurt the Bucs’ secondary Sunday. “Hawk” has got to learn, and hopefully the loss of playing time makes an impact.

In the meantime, Joe’s going to ease the tension with some adult beverages and hope Tandy is a new man Sunday.

Dashon Goldson will not play this week against the Detroit Lions. The Bucs safety, who was suspended a game for a(nother) hard hit, lost his appeal with the NFL and will have to serve his sentence this weekend when the Bucs travel to Detroit.

The ultimate NFL insider, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, broke the news.

@JayGlazer: Dashon Goldson suspension is upheld, out this week

Sooner or later, Goldson, who Joe loves for his hard-hitting, is going to have to wise up. If he is just getting fined for his head-hunting, well, then that’s his choice and that’s money out of his pocket and food off of his children’s plates.

But when he starts missing games as a result of his actions, then Goldson isn’t much better than an injury-prone player or a lout who keeps getting suspended for dalliances with PEDs and other things (Joe is looking right at you two, Adderall Twins Aqib Talib and Eric Wright. And you, too, bongman Tashard Jackson), because that puts the Bucs at risk.

Maybe the Bucs need a specific hitting coach to teach Goldson how not to hit? It’s not like the rest of the 48 assistant coaches seem to be getting through to him.

The Buccaneers have repeatedly celebrated fan Paul Stewart, chieftain of a Bucs “booster club” with a few hundred members in England and proprietor of BucPower.com.

Team officials have gushed over Stewart in extraordinary ways. He’s hobnobbed with Team Glazer. He’s joined Gene Deckerhoff to call plays in the radio booth. He’s been featured in video and in print on Buccaneers.com, and by NFL Films.

Now Joe doesn’t get the fascination with Stewart, a seeming regular middle aged guy who works for IBM and plays golf, per his website.

But since the Bucs have revered Stewart, Joe would be remiss by ignoring Stewart calling for the head of Greg Schiano and demanding action by the Bucs’ front office come “Black Monday.”  Stewart has had enough of the New Schiano Order and penned an “editorial” recently that explored potential new head coaches for 2014.

You can click the link to read Stewart’s prose. He says the talented Bucs have been “coached down” by Schiano like the Chiefs were under Romeo Crennel.

Joe doesn’t know Stewart and considers him just another fan with an opinion. But it seems that the Bucs organization sees Stewart as more than that. So perhaps this call for action is noted in the meeting rooms of One Buckingham Palace.

Strong interview below with former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht, a gameday analyst on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Becht seems perplexed why it’s taken the Bucs half a season to play consistently aggressively on offense and special teams. (Joe’s been banging on that since the three-man rush on the infamous Geno Smith-Lavonte David mess on opening day.)

On Mike Glennon, Becht said there were “maybe some shackles on him” by the coaching staff early in his starting tenure. Regardless, Becht says Glennon must have gained a significant level of confidence after Sunday’s success down field and victory. Enjoy the WDAE-AM 620 audio below.

Former Bucs scout, Jets linebackers coach under Monte Kiffin, Jets pro personnel director and current CBS NFL insider and co-host of “Movin’ the Chains,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Pat Kirwan, has been down on the Bucs most of the year.

He frowned upon some offseason moves and was highly critical of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik — who he likes — for not replacing Michael Bennett, and he’s never been overly enamored with Bucs commander Greg Schiano.

The tide, however, may be turning. In a CBSSports.com column, Kirwan, who was a big fan of former franchise quarterback, sleepy, leaky Josh Freeman, has had an epiphany of sorts.

After Glennon roasted the Dixie Chicks defense Sunday, Kirwan seems to now be all in on Glennon.

1. Good call by the Bucs

The Tampa Bay Bucs were criticized for releasing QB Josh Freeman. A young QB with size, a strong arm and who threw 27 touchdown passes in 2012 and 80 scoring passes over 60 games doesn’t get cut in a league starving for quarterbacks.

But the Bucs saw something in Mike Glennon, and the 6-foot-6, 24-year-old is getting better every week. Sunday’s win over Atlanta was his second straight; neither Geno Smith nor EJ Manuel has managed to string together consecutive wins.

Glennon has thrown 248 passes with 11 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Watching Glennon go 20 for 23 with two TDs and no picks vs. Atlanta was impressive. Don’t be surprised if Glennon winds up leading rookie QBs in TD passes and finishing with at least 20.

Can you imagine if Freeman was still behind center and all the hand-wringing and screaming and yelling and bellowing that would still be going on? Joe can just about promise the Bucs would have quit on Schiano if Rip Van Freeman was still here.

Is Joe sold that Glennon is the franchise quarterback? No, but Joe is nonetheless impressed with Glennon. He has made strides.

Why not draft a quarterback in the first round? Schiano likes competition, right? Glennon buys the kid (ahem Johnny Football) time to get acclimated to the NFL and if the rookie is a bust, Glennon is a great safety net. Who knows, the rookie may even push Glennon to be better.

That’s what Joe calls a win-win.

Perpetually upbeat good guy Rock Riley of Bright House Sports Network landed a one-on-one interview with Bucs commander Greg Schiano for a very candid sitdown. Among the topics discussed are who exactly runs the defense, the future of quarterback Mike Glennon, how Schiano has changed as a coach in his days in Tampa Bay and how he has learned to cope with the unhealthy lifestyle of an NFL head honcho. Oh, and Schiano lauds the work of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

Significant injuries are piling up and cornerback Michael Adams is lost for the season.

There’s a crisis brewing in the Bucs’ defensive backfield as the New Schiano Order prepares for the pass-happy Detroit Lions.

Veteran cornerback Michael Adams, who logged a lot of snaps since returning from knee surgery last month, was placed on injured reserve yesterday with a fresh knee injury. It also was learned, per Greg Schiano, rookie starting CB Johnthan Banks has a new and “very painful” shoulder injury.

CB Danny Gorrer has been inactive the past two weeks with a new groin issue. And there’s a looming one-game suspension for safety Dashon Goldson for, you know, being The Hawk. So the Bucs are a mess in the secondary.

Thankfully, Darrelle Revis is healthy and primed to lock down Calvin Johnson. The trash talk started quietly on Sunday, in case you missed it.

But the Bucs will be thin. This troubles Joe because in addition to attempting more than 40 passes per game, the Lions allow the fewest sacks in the NFL. With the Bucs’ questionable pass rush, that’s a terrible mix for a depleted secondary.

The CBS NFL gang of Jason Horowitz, prickly Pete Prisco, Chad Johnson and Dave Richard discuss the Bucs’ win over the Dixie Chicks in this CBS Sports video. Johnson compared Glennon to a video game.

Joe already wrote about how off-the-couch running back phenom Bobby Rainey was ready for the Bucs offense because he played for Western Kentucky. Greg Schiano dove a little deeper into that topic on his radio show last night, so Joe will share more.

Schiano explained that Rainey is a dying breed of young running back: a downhill, I-tailback.

“So few teams now in major college football are running pro style offense. Everybody’s in the spread and running backs are taking the ball out of the shotgun and running sideways. You know, Western Kentucky was running an I-based, pro-style first- and second-down offense. And Bobby had plenty of shots of running the football in these kinds of plays,” Schiano said on WDAE-AM 620. “Power play is a lost art from the I-tailback position. You know, in college football there’s not a lot of teams doing it. The ones who do it well in college football are having success.”

One thing that stunned Joe was just how much the Bucs used Rainey on Sunday. It was almost like (gasp!) an in-game adjustment.

As expected, Brian Leonard was the starting tailback and had two runs on the opening drive, up the gut on first down for six yards, followed by a sweep left for no gain. Then Rainey took the first handoff of the next drive for 11 yards, followed by consecutive runs of 10 yards and 11 yards. The Bucs never looked back and Rainey finished with 30 carries.

Fun fact: That 30 carry total was Rainey’s per-game average during his workhorse senior season at Western Kentucky.

Joe was on the field the night the Bucs lost to the Stinking Panthers and the crowd nearly lost its mind when Bucs commander Greg Schiano left the field. It wasn’t much better the home game prior, when Schiano left to a chorus of boos, cheers and taunts.

That seemed like ages ago Sunday, when Joe was on the field just as the game ended and Schiano jogged off with an ear-to-ear grin and was met with mostly applause.

The ship of the Pewter Pirates was listing badly just two weeks ago and to read more quotes from Davin Joseph, typed by Woody Cummings The Tampa Tribune, the Bucs were once lost and are now found and their shepherd is none other than Schiano himself.

“It was coming down hard on (Schiano). After we lost to Carolina on that Thursday night, you would have thought it couldn’t get any worse for him. But he stuck with it. He stuck with what he believes and now it’s starting to pan out.

“All of a sudden, it’s like a light’s been turned on. But that’s what he said. He said we all just need to keep pushing hard, keep working hard and now we see it. He stayed tough, but now it’s just different. It’s starting to feel like we have something here.

“But it’s different when you see that hard work turn into something. Now we believe.”

Have the Bucs really turned the corner? Well, there are six more games to play. How the Bucs finish these next six weeks will be telling.

But it is interesting to see how the players have responded. There hasn’t been an ounce of quit. Beating the teetering Dolphins and the sorry Dixie Chicks, both at home, is one thing. Beating a team on the road fighting for a playoff spot like the Lions will be en entirely different matter.

In this NFL.com video, insider Ian Rapoport discusses coaches that are off the hot seat. Atop his list is Bucs commander Greg Schiano. In the video, Rapoport cites various reasons why Schiano could very well return as the Bucs mentor for the 2014 season.

One reason is the development of rookie quarterback Mike Glennon. Rapoport said, “If [Glennon] was a first round pick instead of a third round pick, imagine the buzz he would be generating?” (Hmm, that’s the same quote Joe used during the JoeBucsFan hour with Steve Duemig on WDAE-AM 620 two weeks ago.)

Since being unleashed before the Seattle game, Gerald McCoy has transformed into a complete terror to quarterbacks.

Three of the loudest voices about Bucs football also happen to wield some of the most clout about football in the area. That would be Hall of Famer Warren Sapp ad his former defensive linemates with the Bucs, local and national sports radio host Booger McFarland and popular Bucs blogger and Twitter hound Steve White.

For weeks (if not years), the three have been hollering, using their respective platforms, that the constant and myriad of stunts used on the defensive front has not only taken players out of position to make plays, but renders the defensive line impotent (Joe is tired of using Connie Chung as a reference for impotency. IF you know of any other celebrities who cannot bear children, help Joe out).

And each week, until recently the Bucs’ defensive front routinely plays like powder puff players for their inability to breathe on a quarterback.

But Bucs defensive tackle Akeem Spence told Joe after the win over the Dolphins that defensive linemen have been lobbying coaches to knock off the stunts and let the linemen do what they do best: in the words of Sapp, hunt the quarterback.

During the past three weeks, seemingly more so each week, the stunts have been scaled back and the Bucs are letting D-linemen get after the quarterback, which resulted in Ryan Tannehill being buried twice at the end of the Dolphins win, and Gerald McCoy racking up three sacks Sunday to tie a franchise record.

Monday, typed Pat Yasinskas of ESPN, Schiano discussed turning the hounds loose.

Take the case of what’s been happening on the defensive line in recent weeks. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has been dominant the last three weeks. If you’ve watched McCoy, you might have noticed that his surge coincides with the Bucs doing fewer stunts and getting McCoy more straight-on rushes.

Schiano acknowledged Monday that McCoy had some input in the changes.

“What we’ve tried to do all year is visit with Gerald and visit with the defensive line and take their ideas as a coaching staff,’’ Schiano said. “They’re the ones doing it, so they’ve got to feel good doing it. That’s my point always, you learn the most from the players.’’

Now Joe gives Schiano and his staff a standing ovation for finally letting the sackmeisters do their thing. But Joe thinks he is fair in asking, why did it take the team to go 0-8, and for the coaching staff to come to the very cusp of getting launched, to (finally) let the defensive linemen rush the quarterback?

Joe has written that there is a chance that Schiano will be given a mulligan by Team Glazer, courtesy of the sleepy, leaky Josh Freeman mess and the MRSA. Team Glazer may bring Schiano back (three more wins will go a long way for that result). But Joe is sure that at some point between now and the immediate days after the season, Schiano will have to answer to Team Glazer why it took half the season before he and his assistants allowed the linemen to rush the quarterback.

Funny how winning makes players talkative. But that is what has happened after the Bucs won their second straight game, this time pounding the Dixie Chicks.

Joe’s good friends at WDAE-AM 620 and the Buccaneers Radio Network were there to get the audio. Among the players up for chatting were quarterback Mike Glennon, running back Bobby Rainey, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, wide receiver Vincent Jackson, linebacker Lavonte David, defensive lineman Will Gholston, center Jeremy Zuttah, defensive tackle Akeem Spence, defensive end Adrian Clayborn, safety Dashon Goldson, offensive guard Davin Joseph, linebacker Dekoda Watson, offensive tackle Donald Penn, cornerback Darrelle Revis, linebacker Mason Foster and offensive guard Demar Dotson.

Also, Bucs commander Greg Schiano’s initial thoughts after the game.

Again, audio courtesy of Joe’s friends at WDAE-AM 620 and the Buccaneers Radio Network.

“You are my guy, Mike. Just make sure you use two alarm clocks, OK?”

Sometimes, words come back to haunt you. No one knows this better than Bucs commander Greg Schiano. In a lighthearted moment at One Bucs Palace today during his daily press briefing, Schiano nearly walked into a thicket he never completely got himself out of last year.

Flash back to the day after the final game of the 2012 season, when Schiano was explaining how he firmly believes competition at every position is good and healthy and when asked about then-franchise quarterback, leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman, Schiano, perhaps frustrated at missing the playoffs and not thinking clearly, perhaps suffering from jetlag, did not back away from his statement. That opened to door for a quarterback controversy.

Schiano, best as he tried, could not shake himself from that statement until the day that Schiano benched the insolent, selfish Freeman.

Schiano nearly crossed the same path today when he caught himself in the nick of time. Schiano was in the midst of praising players like defensive lineman Will Gholston for working hard, buying into the program and earning his playing time through competition when Schiano was quickly asked if there was competion for current starting quarterback Mike Glennon’s job.

“We’re not asking that question,” Schiano retorted, breaking out into a laugh. “Isn’t that the question that got me in trouble last winter? I thought [the quarterback question Monday] was a set up?”

So yes, Mr. Glennon, your seat is safe. You are the Bucs starting quarterback, so long as you don’t develop a case of sleep apnea.

Bucs safety Dashon Goldson has been suspended without pay for one game in what the NFL deemed a violation of its safety rules, the NFL announced today.

Per Buccaneers.com, Goldson’s crime came yesterday in the beatdown of the Dixie Chicks.

Goldson was penalized for unnecessary roughness in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons after making direct, helmet-to-helmet contact with a defenseless receiver, Atlanta’s Roddy White. 

The violation of this rule was Goldson’s third of the 2013 season.  Goldson was fined $30,000 for striking a defenseless player in the head and neck area in a Week 1 game against the New York Jets.  He was initially suspended for making direct, helmet-to-helmet contact with a defenseless receiver in a Week 2 game against the New Orleans Saints.  The discipline for the Week 2 violation was subsequently reduced on appeal to a $100,000 fine.

This is the new NFL we live in. People can holler and scream and carry on, but until or unless the NFL competition committee deems otherwise, this is the way life in professional football is going to be.

Goldson is either going to have to adjust, or be comfortable with the NFL taking money out of his children’s mouths and losing subsequent playing time.

Joe loves the headhunting of Goldson, but Joe doesn’t live in the 1970s any longer, either. Adapt and adjust or whither on the vine.

Goldson has three days to decide if he wants to appeal his penalty.

Bucs commander Greg Schiano’s image is one of a man who thinks a screen pass is too radical. Pound the ball between the tackles and hit on short passes and everything is in good order, football is in good order, society is in good order, the world is in good order.

Recently, Schiano has been pulling out all the stops Why? Does he fear for his job or has he had an epiphany? Regardless, Schiano is suddenly a virtual riverboat gambler. Hell, Joe is almost expecting Schiano to pull a fumblerooskie (if it were legal). Schiano talked about his new found devil-may-care calling of gadget plays after yesterday’s win, especially on special teams.

“We thought we had some things we could do,’ Schiano said. “I thought the onside by [punter] Mike Koenen was just tremendous, that’s a very talented guy that can do things like that with his foot. I mean he just played catch with [Russell Shepard] there. That was a great catch there too. And then the play by [linebacker] Dekoda Watson, a big play blocking a punt. We’ve been frustrated because we led the league in blocked punts last year and all of a sudden were shut out nine games. So that’s a good one. Hopefully that’ll open the flood gates because we’re a punt block team. Got a little greedy maybe there on the one when they ran the fake. That was touché, right?”

It just seems there is a new air in the Bucs locker room since the Bucs deloused themselves of leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman, and no, it’s not the scent of someone’s used athletic supporter or bath towel.

Until this month, the Bucs played so tight it was as if someone was about to have a coronary. Now, it appears the team is looser, the coaches are coaching looser, and oh by the way, the team is playing much better.

Real mysteries like a cure for cancer, why the government can build spacecraft but not websites, why sports fans are brainwashed by ESPN, or how Budweiser sells so much lousy beer, they pale in comparison to the mystery of why the Bucs’ offensive line has turned into a juggernaut over the past three games.

Is new starting left guard Jamon Meredith making that much of a difference?

Joe asked Jeremy Zuttah yesterday to please offer a candid answer to that pressing question. Zuttah has played left guard and plays center alongside Meredith, so who would know better?

“It’s probably a combination of things. I mean Jamon came in last year and we started running the ball [effectively] again, you know. So he came in last year and he’s done it before,” Zuttah said. ” I think it’s really just a mentality, you know, that we’re going to run the ball, we have to run the ball. It’s not we want to, we have to run the ball. He came in here and he’s doing a good job. There’s a lot of, you know, we have guys that have done it before so there’s no reason why we just can’t keep doing it. It was frustrating for a while where it’s not as successful as it should be.

“Jamon has everything he needs. He’s big, physical, athletic. With him, it’s about just that confidence. Now that he’s rolling, you know, keep that confidence in himself and continue to play aggressive. That’s all it is. He has every attribute he needs.”

Adding to the mystery is the fact Meredith doesn’t like to talk much to media. So he’s not one to enlighten the masses.

After four games in 2012, Meredith replaced Ted Larsen at right guard. Larsen was starting for injured Davin Joseph and, guess what? The Bucs’ running game was ugly with Larsen but took off when Meredith was inserted. Meredith started the rest of the way and you rarely heard his name, a good thing for offensive linemen.

If the Bucs’ O-line finishes strong, then the next great mystery would be why it took half a season for Meredith to get a shot. 

Bobby Rainey is now No. 9 on the Buccaneers’ list for single-game rushing performances by running for 163 yards yesterday.

If Bucs fans haven’t noticed the Bucs’ running game has been reborn in recent weeks, then Joe can only assume it is because they are awash in beer and other liquid refreshments (not that Joe has anything against that).

How much have the Bucs improved? Well, two of the top 10 rushing performances in franchise history have occurred in the past three weeks. Yes, that’s true. And both came on the feet of backup running backs.

Two weeks ago in Seattle, Mike James tied Cadillac Williams for the 10th-best Bucs rushing performance by racking up 158 yards. Yesterday, Bobby Rainey, who was walking the streets not too long ago, tallied 163 yards, which is No. 9 on the Bucs’ single-game rushing mark.

(Muscle Hamster Doug Martin is the Bucs single-game rushing leader with 251 yards last year, as he ran over, around and through the wretched Raiders.)

To Joe, this is both good and bad for the Bucs. The good is plainly obvious. The bad? Is this Lazarus-like rising by the Bucs offensive line really the result of inserting Jamon Meredith into the starting lineup at left guard? And if so, why oh why did it take the Bucs coaching staff, on the verge of being jettisoned, this long to figure this out?

If Meredith is proven to be the difference in the running game doing a full 180 turnaround, shouldn’t someone on the coaching staff have had this figured out by, oh, the start of October?