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?

Look for more of Dekoda Watson at defensive end when the Bucs take on the pass-happy Lions next weekend

Bucs fans saw former starting linebacker Dekoda Watson with his hand on the ground as a rushing defensive end on the right and left sides yesterday. It was Watson’s left-end rush that altered/affected Matt Ryan when he threw into the arms of Mason Foster, who ended the play with a Pick-6 that gave the Bucs a 16-3 lead.

You can watch the video here. Watson beats Jeremy Trueblood 1-on-1 to the outside. But it’s also noteworthy that Adrian Clayborn is not on the field. That’s happening more and more.

Yesterday, Clayborn also was used as a stand-up left end rusher, in addition to his regular duties at right end. Clayborn did some good things, but he’s just not playing like a first-round pick. The production isn’t there, and it now seems the confidence of the coaching staff is undoubtedly waning.

Joe was keeping any eye on Clayborn entering the Bucs-Falcons game and will continue to do so.

Joe suspects Clayborn will see his snaps limited against the pass-happy Lions on Sunday. Matthew Stafford is averaging 42 pass attempts per game, tops in the NFL.

“Beers on me, kid.”

As Joe’s written earlier this morning, the national media is back on the Greg Schiano bandwagon. The Bucs are somehow captivating again — for good reasons this time.

Longtime NFL writer Mike Garafolo, now of FOXSports.com, penned a Schiano column today that explains why Garafolo believes there’s legitimate hope in Tampa and for Schiano to stay in 2014

So I asked McCoy to be dead honest: Is that locker room still behind Schiano?

“Of course. Of course we are,” [McCoy] said, adding that the way the team responded on a short week was proof. “Coach Schiano issued a challenge to us today as a team: ‘Are we going to have a Monday Night Football hangover or come out and keep the momentum and keep going?’ We did that today.”

Frankly, fast starts to games are routine for the New Schiano Order. The staff clearly comes prepared but often fails the adjustments game.

That’s where Joe’s focus was yesterday, not on a “hangover,” but on the Bucs’ ability to bury Atlanta in the second half. They got the job done.

What a wacky day for the Bucs yesterday in beating the Dixie Chicks. First, there were the 41 points scored (six from Ric Flair-loving Mason Foster on a pick-six). Where did that offense come from?

Then there were three sacks from defensive tackle stud Gerald McCoy, tying a franchise record for defensive tackles.

The icing on the cake? Rookie quarterback Mike Glennon outplayed one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. No, not Matty Ice, but Peyton Manning.

Of course, the Bucs did not play Manning but statistically speaking, Glennon outshined a guy that already has his path to Canton greased. Glennon completed a Jameis Winston-like 20 passes of 23 attempts. No other quarterback this season, not Aaron Rodgers, not Tom Brady, not Drew Brees, not Manning have had a better statistical day with completion percentage.

Is Joe sold yet that Glennon is the franchise quarterback of the future for the Bucs? No. Is Joe impressed? Yes. Not sure anyone expected Glennon to pass like this.

Now if he can only improve his downfield proficiency, then Joe might entertain the thought of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik not drafting Johnny Football next year.

You gotta love the rollercoaster of the NFL. Greg Schiano was dead coach walking a few weeks ago, especially after NFL Network spent days pounding the Bucs’ head coach before and after the Bucs were embarrassed on Thursday Night Football.

But now Schiano is turning around the national media with his team’s admirable and surprising performance in Seattle, followed by two consecutive home wins.

Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, devoted lots of time to Schiano in his renowned Monday Morning Quarterback column.

King named Schiano his “Coach of the Week” and went on to sing more praise.

4. I think the American sports media fired Greg Schiano too early.

5. I think running back Bobby Rainey deserves a load of credit for sticking with it and taking advantage of his opportunity in Tampa Bay, after their myriad running back injuries. That was a Greg Schiano, grind-it-out running performance by Rainey, 163 yards on 30 carries, with two touchdowns. Schiano loves to grind teams down with his backs. But this performance, to me, also says a lot about the Falcons. Rainey is not fast. He’s not a Bettis-type tackle-breaker. The Atlanta defense has much to answer for this morning.

Well, with that last note about the Bucs’ running game, it’s clear to Joe that King didn’t watch the Bucs-Seattle finish, when running Mike James dominated but was not given a regulation carry in the final 7:50. (Why? That still steams Joe.)

Regardless, Schiano is the comeback coach of November in the world of perception. How much Team Glazer cares about media musings is a mystery.

Joe just wants to see the Buccaneers keep thriving. That means Mike Glennon and Schiano beating good football teams and playing winning football over there next six games. Let’s see it, Coach.

Joe understands the concept of changing one’s mind, but this example is oddly extreme.

Bucs beat writer Scott Reynolds, of Pewter Report, boldly and loudly called for Mark Dominik to fire Greg Schiano if the Bucs opened the season 0-5. And then the Bucs promptly opened 0-5, and Reynolds typed up a detailed case of why Dominik should wise up and send the leader of the New Schiano Order to the unemployment line.

But now Reynolds has “reversed course.” Reynolds, typing before yesterday’s win, served up a detailed explanation of why Schiano having to deal with Josh Freeman somehow releases the head coach of responsibility for the mess of the Bucs’ early season losing.

When the Buccaneers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 31-20 in a Week 6 contest to drop to 0-5, PewterReport.com called for head coach Greg Schiano to be fired. There was a disconnect between the players and the coaches, and more importantly, Tampa Bay had lost 11 out of its last 12 games, which was the same 1-11 record Raheem Morris had over his last 12 games before being fired.

We reported the facts as we knew them at the time and felt justified in calling for an in-season regime change. One of the reasons PewterReport.com used in determining that the Bucs needed a head coaching change is that Schiano had bungled the development of quarterback Josh Freeman, who was benched after Week 3 and released a week later after he and his agents had become a distraction by – according to the Buccaneers – leaking information to the media that when reported would look like it was leaked by the team.

After weeks of digging, PewterReport.com has reversed course … (You can read the long explanation here.)

Joe finds this mystifying. Coaches are responsible for losses, poor execution, and getting outcoached — things that happened routinely to the New Schiano Order over a dozen games until last Monday night. These are major sins for a head coach, yet Reynolds is serving up complete absolution?

Joe’s stance on Schiano is simple: prove you can win.

The Bucs are a talented team that did run into unique problems in the first half of the season, some of them self-inflicted. But that mess is in the rearview mirror. If Schiano proves he can play winning football against a tough schedule, then he deserves to stay. Six games remain.

Bucs captain Davin Joseph lets loose on what Greg Schiano means to him and the locker room

“I don’t think it could have got any worse for [Coach Schiano.] But the guy stuck with it, stayed with what he believed in. And now it’s finally paying off. It was tough for a while, new quarterback, you know what I mean, the whole Josh Freeman thing. Doug [Martin] gets hurt. All these things. And people are ready to can us. And Coach Schiano was like, ‘Sh*t. Fu*k that. Keep your pads on and we’ll keep on working.’ And you finally get the sense to where it’s like guys believe in him. You know what I mean; we’re becoming closer. It’s the first time I can actually really say that we’re a family now. I mean, it’s some tough times. All that stuff could have like broken us up and we could have been just getting blown out and not fighting and all that sh*t. But Coach Schiano, that’s a tough son of a bitch.

“Because it’s such a business, it’s so hard to say “family” in the NFL. Dude’s been preaching it since he walked through the door. And sometimes you don’t really know where they’re coming from when they say that, and you blow it off the first time or the second time and you don’t really know where they’re coming from. ‘Family, family, family, family.’ But it makes sense now. I can really say now that we’re like a family. Guys trust him. Guys believe in him. All he’s been saying has been coming true about just keeping your head down and working. Because it couldn’t have gotten any more negative at One Buc. It’s the worst it’s ever been, and I’ve been here for eight seasons. It was the worst it’s ever been. The dude is tough, man.” Davin Joseph, following the Bucs win against Atlanta yesterday.

This was heartfelt stuff from Joseph. It’s not possible for Joe to convey the seriousness with which Joseph delivered these words.

None of this makes Schiano a good gameday NFL coach. He’s got much prove there, but there is no question the Bucs are a united and motivated team. Joe’s very eager to see how these final six games, against tough competition, play out.

Adrian Clayborn takes down Dixie Chicks running back Jacquizz Rodgers.

One element Team Glazer almost surely will factor in when weighing whether to award Bucs coach Greg Schiano a mulligan and bring him back for the 2014 season is player performance. 

Akeem Spence demonstrated a positive example yesterday. On a screen pass from Matty Ice to Steven Jackson over the middle, Jackson gained 12 yards and a first down. What stood out was that Spence, a defensive tackle, was engaged with a blocker when Jackson got the ball. Spence shook his block and ran down Jackson from behind.

Is that the sign of a quitting team? Quitting players would have just turned around and watched someone else try to make a play. Spence, instead, got off a block and busted his tail to catch Jackson.

Plays like that will get the attention of Team Glazer. And plays like that cannot help but bolster Schiano’s standing with Team Glazer.

Getting to the Quarterback

It sort of started a week ago when the Bucs pass rush manhandled Ryan Tannehill in the final defensive stand of a win against the Dolphins. It continued to a lesser degree yesterday when Bucs coaches decided to take a break from playing Ring-Around-the-Rosie and stop the stunts long enough to get to the passer.

Gerald McCoy had three sacks of Matty Ice, tying a franchise record for defensive tackles (with Warren Sapp and Brad Culpepper). In previous weeks, GMC was double- if not triple-teamed and when he did get penetration, quarterbacks, with no pressure from the edge, only stepped to the side to buy time and avoid GMC.

That didn’t happen yesterday. On two of GMC’s sacks, defensive ends William Gholston and Adrian Clayborn totally collapsed the pocket, trapping Matty Ice like a rat and GMC was only happy to pounce on his prey.

Without pressure from the edge, there is only so much GMC can do. Where are the GMC haters this fine morning? What do you have to say for yourselves now? Speak!

Whither a Franchise Quarterback?

Joe isn’t quite sold on Mike Glennon as the franchise quarterback. Yet. Yes, he had a good game yesterday and he did put up Jameis Winston-like numbers. Difference is, Winston (yes, Joe understands he’s a college freshman) has gaudy completion numbers while throwing the ball downfield. Glennon is largely throwing safe, short or intermediate passes, which is no problem.

That written, when Glennon faces good defenses, those passes will be taken away from him (hello, Alex Smith) and he will have to improve his downfield proficiency. Can Teddy Bridgewater or Johnny Football do just as well on the NFL level? Time will tell.

The thing is, the Bucs could still draft a quarterback in the first round next year and if the guy flames out, there is always Glennon as insurance. Even better: let the rookie sit and learn the game at his own pace and force him to beat out Glennon, while also possibly forcing Glennon to raise his game. Schiano is a competition kind of guy, isn’t he?

All Smiles

When Bucs commander Greg Schiano left the field after the win over the Dixie Chicks, he wore the biggest smile on his face Joe may have ever seen. Few fans were heckling him, either. Ah, the joys of victory.

Match-up of Greatsen

Who is geeked for Sundaoy (already) when Darrelle Revis will try to lock down Calvin Johnson? If Revis is healthy enough to do this, and the Bucs bring their defense like they did yesterday and hassle Matthew Stafford, it should be an interesting game.

Around the NFL

Colts: Andrew Luck is running out of weapons. His wide receivers are getting hurt and that lummox the Colts threw a first round draft pick away on isn’t any better than the Great Lumpkin. This is going to catch up to them.

Bills: Talk about two Jekyll and Hyde teams. One week the Jets look like a playoff team, the next they are horrible. And the Bills aren’t that much better. And people wonder why Bill Belicheat has owned that AFC East division for so long.

Bears: Because of inclement weather, the game was delayed and fans were ordered to the concourses, packed like sardines. Then Bears officials ordered the halt to beer sales because they were selling too much beer. Too much beer?! Yes, stopping beer sales when you have everyone jammed into a concourse is a really nice way to ignite a riot.

Bengals: Yep. Keep mocking Andy Dalton. He just wins games and gets his team to the playoffs. What is wrong with that?

Raiders: Remember how horrible Matt McGloin was with Penn State? He threw for three touchdowns to beat Houston. Wow.

Cardinals: This team just may hang around for a wild card berth. Talk about a team who will be in the hunt for a quarterback next spring. Carson Palmer is playing on life support, but playing well in his last three games.

Eagles: Right now, if you were the Redskins, you’d trade RGIII for Nick Foles straight up, be honest!

Steelers: The woebegone Steelers spanking the Lions in the second half. See what a quarterback like Big Ben Roethlisberger can do for you?

Dolphins: Wow, talk about putting a dagger in the heart of the Chargers’ playoff hopes. That is a killer. The Dolphins messy defense (remember last Monday night?) held the Chargers without a touchdown in the final three quarters. Damn.

Saints: Fun game Joe missed much of as he was banging away on his keyboard. The Niners may have gotten jobbed when Ahmad Brooks got flagged for a weird we-have-to-coddle-quarterbacks call that would have forced a fumble with the 49ers recovered, until the ref got involved and gave the Saints a first down and the Saints scored. Of note, both Colin Kaepernick and Drew Brees made huge mental errors late in that game. It’s a tough game, even for veteran QBs.

Giants: Yeah, they beat the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers. Whoop-tee-do. No injury has buried a team worse than what Rodgers’ has done to the Pack.

Seattle: The Seahawks manhandled the Vikings. Joe still says they are the best team in the NFC.

Broncos: This was a lot closer than the score indicated. Joe can’t count how many Chiefs first downs and drives were killed by holding penalties. Geez.

Top 10 Non-NFL Thoughts

1) So Jameis Winston is now embroiled in a sexual assault case? We think? Hard to tell from the 11-month old police report with names heavily redacted. Joe smells shakedown here. A charge of such a felony is no laughing matter and not to be trivialized; it just seems really odd. The report is 11 months old and only when it seems TMZ and the Tampa Bay Times started sniffing around did the Tallahassee police send the report to the State’s Attorney?

For some reason this reminds Joe of LeGarrette Blount. Remember when Blount was in a fender-bender with an old lady and nothing happened… until she realized months later that Blount was an NFL player and only until then did she get the long arm of the law involved? That’s what this reminds Joe of.

Winston, last December, was a nobody redshirt. Now, if he stays healthy, he is surely the first pick in the 2015 draft, with tens of millions of dollars floating his way, he’s a marked man of sorts. Something smells here and no, Joe can’t put the pieces of the puzzle together where Urban Meyer is somehow behinds this, as some Noles fans would have you believe.

No matter the outcome, this turns Joe’s stomach.

2) Memo to Tray Matthews: Stand the f’ down when your teammate is about to make an interception! Thanks to Matthews trying to ballhog an Auburn pass for his own glory, he runs into his teammate, Josh Harvey-Clemons, who had his mitts on the ball to begin with. The collision forced the ball to pop in the air and Auburn, like manna from heaven, catches a Hail Mary pass to beat Georgia. Great game, wild finish, and because a guy got greedy, he cost his team a major win.

3) If Joe was selecting the top three BCS teams, Baylor is clearly ahead of Ohio State. The Buckeyes had two years under Meyer to beef up their non-conference schedule and instead, true to Meyer’s history, he found a patsy like Cal to try to pad his record instead of playing someone halfway decent. Baylor is playing fantastic ball and seems to be better than Ohio State. And the Big Ten is so far down this year, it is sickening. The MAC may very well be a better conference this year.

4) Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times is having a conniption on Twitter about how bad the ACC is. While he has a point, the dude is drunk if he thinks the ACC is worse than the Big Ten.

5) How bad is the Big Ten? If you are heading anywhere around the Midwest triangle of Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis and want to catch a college football game this coming weekend, you can get tickets to the Illinois at Purdue tug-of-war for 39 cents.

6) Memo to Pat Haden at USC: Just give the job to Ed Orgeron and be done with it. If you are stupid enough to hire Jack Del Rio, then you should be dragged through the streets of Los Angeles; East L.A. in fact.

7) How soon before Jimbo Fisher’s agent Jimmy Sexton starts working for a handsome raise for his client by planting rumors of USC and Texas going after Fisher?

8) For a minute there, it appeared Oregon would face Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Damnit you eggheads, Stanford!

9) You want to see a Chinese fire drill? Watch this game-ending, tying field goal by Michigan. No timeouts and the clock was near zero. The field goal team was in such a hurry, the holder slid onto the field as if he was sliding into second base.

10) Does Auburn have a prayer of beating Alabama? Joe isn’t so sure.

11) How long (and fun) was that Texas Tech-Baylor game? It started an hour before Stanford and USC kickoff and ended after the Stanford-USC game. I guy can get awfully hammered in that span of time (ahem).

Darrelle Revis will let his stats vs. Calvin Johnson do the talking

Joe was going to write about this tomorrow, but Joe’s too jacked up to wait. Joe’s had next Sunday’s Bucs-Lions game circled on his calendar for a long time. The matchup between All-World receiver Calvin Johnson and All-World cornerback Darrelle Revis should be epic.

Bucs fans suffered through Raheem Morris trying to figure out how E.J. Biggers and Aqib Talib would handle “Megatron” in 2010 and 2011. It was like a cruel, cruel joke.

But now the Bucs can go toe-to-toe with the best receiver in the game.

Joe asked Revis this afternoon about how and when he’ll start preparing for Johnson. Revis declined to talk about Johnson, saying he only wanted to enjoy the Bucs win against the Falcons right now. But Revis did advise Joe and other reporters to “go look at the stats” when Revis last covered Johnson in 2010, Johnson’s first Pro Bowl season.

Revis held Megatron to one catch for 13 yards.

The streaking Buccaneers are now tied at two wins with the Falcons, Texans and Vikings. Those teams are sandwiched by the one-win Jags and the three-win Redskins. Eight teams have four victories, including December Bucs opponents, the Rams and Bills.

It’s the race for position in the 2014 draft!

Joe’s rooting for the Bucs to win out, go 8-8 and shock the world … but a top draft pick wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.

The good news is the Texans and Jags still have two games against each other. The bad news is the Bucs’ brutal strength of schedule will work against them. That’s the top tiebreaker among teams that finish with the same record.

It’s a quarterback-heavy draft class. So even if the Bucs pass on Johnny Football roll in 2014 with Mike Glennon, there could be some extraordinary trade-down options with a premium draft pick.

Mike Glennon might be the man in Tampa for the next 15 years, so Joe figured you’d want to hear what he has to say.

Here’s Glennon’s full postgame news conference below. Finally, 1-on-1 coverage at times for Vincent Jackson made a big difference today, Glennon explained. There’s much more, as well. Audio via 620wdae.com.

Bucs commander Greg Schiano suggested his squad is using the same offense current-USF coach Willie Taggart used at Western Kentucky, where Bucs running back Bobby Rainey played.

Now here’s something you don’t often see: an NFL team running an offense from a Division I program. But that’s what Bucs commander Greg Schiano insinuated when he described why running back Bobby Rainey, who was walking the streets just four weeks ago, was able to rack up 163 yards rushing, with two touchdowns, as he did today when the Bucs beat the Dixie Chicks.

Rainey, who played for current USF coach Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky, performed so well today because, Schiano said, the Bucs have the same type of offense.

“The thing that Bobby has the benefit of is when he played at Western Kentucky, this is the stuff that he ran,” explained Schiano. “Power, inside zone, those [are] lays that we run. So he was very comfortable seeing them, feeling them. But to answer your question, I don’t think anybody thinks that a guy is going to come out and rush for, whatever he did, 163 yards. But [we are] very proud of him.”

Rainey, who set a franchise record with two rushing touchdowns and one touchdown reception in the same game, claims the Bucs have not dumbed down the playbook for him.

“I was pretty familiar with it and as the season goes on, I’ll get even better,” Rainey said. “Right now, I’ve got a good grasp of it, but I;ve got to continue to keep studying and get even better. You can never just know the offense. You always can go back and find something new.

Dekoda Watson’s blocked punt relieved a lot of long-standing frustration

Greg Schiano is a lunatic about punt blocks. He considers himself a guru. Ronde Barber can attest.

The Bucs led the NFL in punt blocks by a good margin last season but had zero before Dekoda Watson got one with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter to set up the Bucs’ fifth and final touchdown against Atlanta today.

Schiano admitted it was a troubling drought.

“We’ve been frustrated because we led the league in punt blocks last year and all of a sudden we’re shut out nine games. So that’s a good one. Hopefully that will open the floodgates because we’re a punt block team,” Schiano said.

Watson, who had two blocked punts last season, said it was about time and it was driving him “crazy” because he had two last season.

He credited rookie defensive end Steven Means for rushing the punt off the edge in a precision manner to get the offensive tackle to bite and free up Watson for a 1-one-1 rush to the punter.

The Bucs were in a blocking mood today and should have had a blocked field goal, too. Joe bring some interesting inside scoop on that in the coming hours.

Sometimes, the result of one play is insignificant but the play itself speaks volumes.

It was early in the second quarter and the Dixie Chicks had 2nd-and-1 from their 29 yard line. Matty Ice, out of a no-huddle, tosses a screen pass to Steven Jackson who rumbles up the middle for a first down with a gain of 12.

Not cool for Bucs fans. But peeling back the onion skin a little showed a whole lot of cool. Defensive tackle Akeem Spence, after Jackson caught the pass, peeled off his blocker and gave chase, corralling Jackson from behind for the tackle.

Now if fans want evidence of a team, despite a sorry 2-8 record, that has not given up, there you have it. A defensive tackle who was locked up with a blocker shed said blocker and then ran down one of the better running backs to have played in the NFL in the past decade.

That is hustle. That is heart. That sure as hell isn’t quit.

That didn’t happen in the final couple of months of the Raheem Morris administration.

“On screen plays, we are taught to retrace,” Spence said of his hustling play. “Steven Jackson is a big guy and I happened to have wrapped his legs up and bring him down. It’s just about playing relentless.

“It shows we are building every week. We haven’t gotten the results we wanted earlier in the season but we are turning things around. We are playing electric right now.”

Gerald McCoy takes down Matty Ice in the Bucs’ win over the Dixie Chicks today. McCoy leads the Bucs with six sacks.

One name sticks out among the three Bucs defensive tackles who have racked up three quarterback sacks in the same game: Warren Sapp. 

Just days after Sapp’s number was retired by the Bucs, his current protege, Gerald McCoy, matched Sapp’s feat. McCoy dropped Dixie chicks quarterback Matt Ryan three times today, including two sacks on consecutive plays. The last time GMC pulled off that stunt was when he was in high school.

(Brad Culpepper is the third Bucs defensive tackle to have three sacks in the same game).

Of course, GMC had help. On passing downs, the Bucs employed Adrian Clayborn and WIll Gholston on the right side of the line, and on at least two of GMC’s sacks, pressure from the edge by both Clayborn and Gholston trapped Ryan like a rat and GMC pounced on his prey.

“Coach issued a challenge to us,” GMC said of Bucs commander Greg Schiano. “‘Are we going to have a Monday night hangover or build the momentum from Monday night?’ Perfect set up to be tired and happy coming off our first win. We came out on fire.”

Yes, the Bucs did come out on fire and for once, put an opponent under the heel of their boots, and never let up. Never.

“We moved some guys around on the offensive line wanting to get our best five,” Dixie Chicks coach Mike Smith said. “It did not work as well as we would have liked.”

Joe wonders after today’s performance from GMC just what length the GMC haters will reach for in order to concoct some lame excuse as to why GMC — in their perverted eyes — is a such a slug?

Darrelle Revis says he sees the intense work, sometimes after practice, that Mike Glennon and Vincent Jackson put in together and how that’s clicking, and it reminds him of what he saw in New York. 

Speaking to Joe after the Bucs win today, Revis said those two remind him of how his old Jets teammates, Chad Pennington and Laveranues Coles, logged endless hours building chemistry during Revis’ rookie season.

“The chemistry is key,” Revis said, speaking like a man who understands the unspoken edge a QB-receiver combination can gain.

Jackson also spoke about the extra time and work with Glennon to improve timing on deep balls and capitalize on the 1-on-1 coverage when it comes anywhere on the field.

That chemistry was evident today as Jackson flashed his Pro Bowl form with 10 catches for 165 yards and a touchdown. The Bucs targeted Jackson 12 times, leading a much improved success ratio versus previous weeks.

For Joe, it was eerie how much the Glennon-to-Jackson combination today looked like Josh Freeman-to-Jackson through much of last season. But it was a new look for the 2013 Bucs.

Bobby Rainey scores his second rushing touchdown of the game sliding past Dixie Chicks linebacker Paul Worrilow.

It was a day to celebrate Bobby Rainey. And Bucs fans wanted to celebrate with him.

Rainey had just gone all Doug Martin on the Dixie Chicks, grinding and slicing and weaving his way through the Dixie Chicks’ defense to lead the Bucs to a previously unthinkable 41-28`win Sunday.

As Rainey came off the field, looking veery bit the part of a running back who racked up 163 yards on 30 carries, he ran behind the Bucs’ bench and high-fived every fan in the front row as he slowly made his way to the tunnel, trying his best to slap skin with as many Bucs fans as he could.

Just a four weeks ago, Rainey was walking the streets looking for work when, as a result of a rash of injuries to Bucs running backs, Rainey received a call from Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to join the team.

Now, the Bucs have gone from a thin running back corps to as deep as a team can get at running back. Think of the possibilities next season with Martin, Mike James and Rainey all healthy.

Wonder who picked Rainey, Bucs commander Greg Schiano or Dominik? (Hint: Rainey did not play at Rutgers; he played for Western Kentucky.).

Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon was Jameis Winston-like today, completing a heady 20 of 23 passes against the Dixie Chicks.

Now Joe understands Mike Glennon starting this year. After sleepy, leaky Josh Freeman was thrown off the team, Glennon began a near-season long rehearsal to help the Bucs decide if he is the franchise quarterback (that Freeman turned out not to be) or if the Bucs should select a quarterback with a top-five pick in next spring’s draft.

Well, after the Bucs handily beat the Dixie Chicks today, it is becoming less and less likely the Bucs will have a top-five pick, and more and more likely Glennon will be barking signals in Tampa next year.

Glennon did his best impersonation of Florida State phenom Jameis Winston. The Seminoles (redshirt) quarterback has wowed the nation with his uncanny accuracy and Glennon seemed to channel his inner-Winston by coming close to pitching a perfect game.

Glennon completed a gaudy 20 passes in 23 attempts for 231 yards and two touchdowns.

If the Bucs keep on winning, Joe is pretty sure of two things: 1) Bucs commander Greg Schiano will be granted a mulligan and be retained for 2014; and, 2) Drafting Johnny Football or hoping to tank in 2014 for Winston will be out of the question as Glennon will be your Bucs’ starting quarterback.

As long as Schiano is with the Bucs, Glennon is his guy. It’s just that simple.