The football gods have rained on Byron Leftwich and the Bucs.

The Bucs loss was so horrible yesterday, it was “embarrassing.”

That’s the word Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune is using.

Joe has used much stronger language than that, but he won’t use it (for now) on this very site.

In short, Fennelly asks Bucs fans to walk across the street — any street — and that’s just about how much the Bucs moved the ball for 45 minutes of football yesterday. 

“We made zero plays,” Bucs quarterback Byron Leftwich said.

Welcome to zero hour.

One day, they might build a stone obelisk to this season, and those might be the only four words on it.

You couldn’t blame just the defense Sunday, though it was its usual lousy self. You couldn’t just blame the offense, though it was near-record awful. You couldn’t blame just the passing game, or the pass rush, or the running game, or the pass coverage. You couldn’t blame just players, or just coaches.

“It was spread throughout the team today like a plague,” Bucs coach Raheem Morris said.

Joe doesn’t give a damn who the starting quarterback is. If the Bucs don’t block any better; if they don’t tackle any better, it won’t matter who they play: Washington, Florida State, Plant High School or Largo High School. The Bucs will lose unless they start playing football.

And playing football is quite simple: Block the guy in front of you. Tackle the guy with the ball. Real simple.

It doesn’t take a quarterback change to figure that out.

OK, as the immortal Ricky Ricardo would say, someone’s “got some ‘splainin’ to do.”

Not that long ago, Raheem the Dream talked about how Josh Johnson is a “career backup.” Those are Raheem the Dream’s own words; not Joe’s. After that glorified high school junior varsity performance the Bucs turned in yesterday, Raheem the Dream was adamant that Byron Leftwich was not nor should be the scapegoat. Joe tended to agree.

So less than 24 hours after getting testy with the normally soft local fourth estate for even suggesting that Johnson may be the starter — whoops! Johnson is the starter.

Forgive Joe but something smells fishy here. Either this is an absolute panic move or someone within the walls of One Buc Palace is telling (ordering?) Raheem the Dream who to start. Joe finds it difficult to believe that Raheem the Dream came up with this on his own given his comments about Johnson.

Basically, Raheem the Dream is admitting he made a mistake in naming Leftwich the starter and after three weeks he’s throwing in the towel?

In an article by Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune, Raheem the Dreams claims it’s time to make changes.

“The secret’s out of the bag – this is a young team,” he said. “And we have to look at all young players and see what they’re going to be, what they’ve got the opportunity to be.”

Wait a minute, like Raheem the Dream didn’t know this before?

Something smells about this move to Joe. Now, don’t get Joe wrong. He’s not saying it’s a bad move. It just flies against everything Raheem the Dream has talked about for the past few weeks.

Joe doesn’t believe this move was Raheem the Dream’s call. Either he had to be talked into it by offensive coordinator Greg Olson or some players or Raheem the Dream was ordered to make the move.

If it’s the latter, which is entirely possible, Joe would like to know who gave the order?

UPDATE: Raheem the Dream also announced that Josh Freeman will be the Bucs No. 2 quarterback and Leftwich has been demoted to No. 3.

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Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune reports that Raheem the Dream has benched Bryon Leftwich and Josh Johnson will make his first NFL start at Washington Sunday.

Joe wonders what (who?) changed Raheem the Dream’s mind? He said emphatically yesterday that if changes were to be made, it would not start with benching Leftwich.

Could it be Raheem the Dream was told who to start Sunday? Given how strongly he supported Leftwich after yesterday’s horrible loss, Joe believes it to be a fair question

Joe is just waiting for “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, to begin fielding calls from fans begging for Josh Johnson to start against the even more hapless Redskins.

Joe also wonders who will be the first caller to grovel for Josh Freeman to start?

But the pending quarterback controversy has already hit national satellite airwaves, specifically on “The Opening Drive,” with Bob Papa and Randy Cross on Sirius NFL Radio Monday morning.

Papa, who is the voice of the Giants, had a first-hand view of the trainwreck the Bucs have become. But not even he’s psychotic enough to suggest Josh Freeman should start for the Bucs.

Josh Johnson? Maybe.

Papa asked Cross what he thought of the Bucs quarterback situation and while he understands the cries for a quarterback change, doesn’t want to see Freeman punished, physically or mentally.

“What is your take on what Tampa is doing with Josh Freeman?” Papa asked rhetorically. “He was the third quarterback yesterday. Josh Johnson moved them on a meaningless drive. Leftwich looks horrible. He looks like a pitcher winding up in baseball. I get what they are doing with Freeman based on how bad the team is.

“If they start Freeman later, I’ve got no problem with that. They aren’t winning anything with Byron Leftwich at quarterback.”

“What is their style?” Cross asked. “They fired their offensive coordinator and they never had one at the opening.

“They think a lot of Freeman. They think so much of him they don’t want to expose him to what is going on. They want him to sit and watch. It may be through the bye, it may be halfway through the season, it may be three-quarters through the season.

“Josh Johnson is very athletic and an extremely sharp guy. He may be the answer short term to let Freeman grow. Remember, he came out after three years and he didn’t have unbelievable results or any fantastic statistics. He is completely different to me than [Jets quarterback Mark] Sanchez or [Lions quarterback Matt] Stanford. Completely different. He’s at least a year behind them. He needs at least a year of seasoning.

“Do you want to subject him to that? I don’t think so.

“Jon Gruden thought the world of Josh Johnson. Freeman is not anywhere near a finished product and it’s smart to sit him.”

Just so Bucs fans get an idea of what people from the other side of the street (or country) think, Joe has collected a few samplings from articles appearing in some of New York’s papers.

George Willis, New York Post:

It was hard to distinguish just what was more evident at Raymond James Stadium yesterday. Are the Giants that good? Or are the Bucs that bad?

Ultimately, both statements hold a measure of truth as evidenced by the Giants’ 24-0 dismantling of the Bucs in a game that was more one-sided than the score indicates.

Giants center Sean O’Hara:

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a defense control an offense the way [the Giants] did,” O’Hara said.

Hank Gola, New York Daily News:

As it turned out, the Giants could not have hand-picked a better opponent to help them get back on track. Jersey guy Raheem Morris has a massive rebuilding job in front of him. He wants to model his team after the Giants. Presumably, he didn’t mean Allie Sherman’s 1966 squad.

Ralph Vacchiano, New York Daily News:

In one of their most impressive and dominant performances in years, the undermanned Giants overwhelmed the Buccaneers, 24-0, recording their first road shutout in 26 years. In fact, they didn’t just shut out the Bucs, they shut them down completely, holding them to 86 total yards and five first downs. The Bucs had just 35 yards and one first down before their final, garbage-time drive.

Chris Carter of BSPN takes a gander at the train wreck that was the Bucs loss to the Giants Sunday.

Peter King, of SI.com, describes just how rotten the Bucs were yesterday with a simple point in his quality Monday Morning Quarterback column.

Tampa Bay, in the first 50 minutes AT HOME Sunday, managed 30 net yards against a Giants team missing two huge pieces from the front-seven puzzle — Justin Tuck and Chris Canty.

King also forgot someone else: The Giants were without stud safety Kenny Phillips. So New York was without three of its top three players on defense and the Bucs, playing in miserable hot weather where teams from the north are supposed to melt in, played like a Division III team.

King goes on to write how the only team in the NFL worse than the Bucs are the Browns. Oh, and King wants Josh Johnson to play more.

It would have been fitting had the Bucs broke out the orange jerseys yesterday.

Josh Johnson saved the Bucs.

No, he didn’t lead the Bucs to a win.

No, he didn’t score a touchdown.

But Johnson’s drive to tease Bucs fans with a score late in the game kept the Bucs from perhaps their worst offensive game in team history, so reports Vacation Man of BSPN.com.

The Bucs finished with 86 yards of offense and Johnson’s one drive left him as the leading passer (36 yards) and leading rusher (15 yards). The only times the Bucs had less offense was in a blizzard at Green Bay when they had 65 yards on Dec. 1, 1985 and when they piled up 78 yards against the Falcons on Nov. 27, 1977 to run the franchise record to 0-25.

Kind of ironic that the Bucs are bringing out their throwback uniforms later this season. They’re already playing like the Bucs of old.

That’s a frightening concept. Joe tried not to chuckle yesterday that for all of Raheem the Dream’s boasting that he would use the brutal Florida heat as an ally and have teams wilt under its sun, actually backfired so terribly the opposite occurred.

If it can happen in politics, why not sports?

That must be the mindset of the coloring book crowd at BSPN.com. They have instituted an NFL coaches approval rating system where the public casts votes on how popular they are.

If Obama thinks his approval ratings have sunk since he has tried to wreck modern medicine in the United States, he has nothing on Raheem the Dream whose approval rating is just above forward-thinking, two-bit actor Eric Mangini and dead man walking Jim Zorn.

If Morris and that offensive coordinator can’t see they need to change up something on offense, then what was the point in letting all those veterans go if you cant coach the young guys and teach them anything? Now I know what a Chiefs fan feels like.

Joe isn’t nearly ready to pull the rug out from under Raheem the Dream’s feet. One cannot make chicken salad out of the douchebag on local sports radio in the afternoon who can’t even get a 0.1 rating. While Raheem the Dream is not blameless in this, as much as this truly pains Joe to type this, one must also look inside the walls of One Buc Palace as to who is pulling the strings on personnel matters.

The disgust in Joe Henderson’s fingertips comes bouncing off of the computer screen. The Tampa Tribune columnist can no longer remain silent.

The Bucs, Henderson writes in so many words, are a horrid team.

After three quarters, just before head coach Raheem Morris pulled ineffective quarterback Byron Leftwich and replaced him with “career backup” Josh Johnson, the Giants had 326 yards in total offense to 35 for the Bucs. New York had 21 first downs to Tampa Bay’s 1.

The Bucs have played badly before but I honestly can’t recall a game where they looked completely helpless like they did in this one. The Giants simply lined up and ran over them, five and six yards at a time. There was never a sense, even at the start, that the Bucs had a chance.

Reading the column thoroughly, Joe was particularly impressed with Henderson’s tasteful use of the phrase, “seal-clubbed.”

If one is of a sick and demented mind, Joe has the lowlights of the ugly loss to the Giants.

Either one has to have a full day’s supply of Caybrew in them, or be in the need to stay up all night with an upset stomach in order to watch these videos.

First are the radio calls of Bob Papa and Gene Deckerhoff, voices of the Giants and Bucs, respectively.

Next is Raheem the Dream’s postgame press conference courtesy of Buccaneers.com. Also from the same site are thoughts from Byron Leftwich.

Who can Michael Clayton blame for dropping another TD pass? Chucky? A wet ball? The Ghost of Ike Hilliard?

What can be said about Michael Clayton dropping an easy touchdown pass from Josh Johnson?

Joe’s waiting. Joe’s waiting. Anyone?

For those like Joe who pay extra close attention, this is the second TD drop of the season for Clayton.

At the very end of the loss to Buffalo, Byron Leftwich hurled a high ball to Clayton in the end zone with second remaining. Clayton had man coverage against him and clearly shoved his defender out of the way and then dropped the TD pass while wide open in the end zone.

Clayton was called for offensive pass interference and the game ended.

Yes, it was a meaningless play. But Clayton still dropped the TD pass. And now he’s done it again.

At least he’s an effective blocker in the running game.

Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity for the Bucs against the Giants was in New York’s opening drive.

Aqib Talib had a flat out whiff on a sure interception opportunity that went through his hands and off his chest and was caught by Steve Smith for a 12-yard gain. Three plays later the Giants were in the end zone.

Last week Talib put up a good effort against Terrell Owens but was beaten in the end zone for a critical score. He was beaten again in man coverage today for a touchdown by Sinorice Moss.

Talib gets a lot of love nationally for his talent and ability in man coverage. Bucs fans want to believe he’s a budding big-time playmaker.

But Talib just isn’t there yet. And Joe just hopes he’s strong enough mentally to fight through these tougher times and get through the season.

He can come out of all these learning experiences a great player. But Joe is nervous. Talib is always one outburst away from throwing away his career. And That outburst is much more likely when your team stinks and you’re in the spotlight every week.

Byron Leftwich's play is getting progressively worse

Raheem The Dream said he doesn’t want to place the blame of his team’s collapse on starting quarterback Byron Leftwich.

Of course, Leftwich doesn’t deserve all the blame, but Joe is of the mind he should get more than Raheem The Dream might think.

There is no debate that Leftwich deserves a grade of F for this game. He was beyond horrendous. And he did the absolute one thing the Bucs needed him to avoid; he threw an ugly interception early in the game. The Bucs needed to keep the game close to establish the running game, and Leftwich did his best to kill that chance again.

Back in Buffalo last wee, Leftwich’s “Pick 6” to put the Bucs in a first-quarter hole. Joe would grade Leftwich a C for his performance in Buffalo. And Joe would give him an A- against Dallas in the season-opener.

In other words, Leftwich is getting worse every week. And, of course, he’s getting beat up.

Chris Hovan spoke on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game. Sadly, Hovan didn’t talk about why he was nearly invisible. Hovan had more wrestling makeup on his face than he had dirt on his uniform.

“The Giants had a good game plan and they played on their terms,” Hovan said. “They ran when they wanted to; they threw when they wanted to. We needed to tackle the ballcarrier and hold them from getting extra yards.”

While he knows things are going well, Hovan tried to temper the panic Bucs fans are in.

“We are just three games into the season,” Hovan said. “We just have to keep fighting. The young guys are playing well. We know what we did wrong. Let’s correct them and go to Washington.”

Joe loves the guy and loves how outspoken he is. But at some time talk is cheap and empty. It would help if a guy who wants to be such a leader can’t back up his talk better than four tackles when the opponent has the ball for over 43 minutes.

Those listening to the TV broadcast of the Bucs-Giants blowout heard announcers Tony Siragusa and Daryl Johnston talk about spending time with Chris Hovan the other day.

They showed Hovan some on-air love about what an old school guy he is. Siragusa said Hovan thinks too many of his teammates are caught up in playing Madden and other video games instead of being obsessed with real football.

Johnston made similar comments.

Joe is certain Hovan was referring to a charity video game event on Friday night to benefit Will Allen’s foundation in Tampa. A dozen or so Bucs players came out to play video games with fans who paid money to participate. Good clean fun. Why Hovan would seemingly have a problem with this perplexes Joe.

Would he rather they be out drinking beer, entertaining groupies in Ybor City? Or slugging cab drivers?

This is the problem Joe has with Hovan as a team leader. He runs his mouth, talks the talk, but he can’t really back it up on the field. He’s just not a great enough player to inspire.

He’s not Derrick Brooks. And these Bucs are missing that kind of leadership.

A depressed Raheem the Dream spoke on the Bucs radio network and he didn’t seem inclined to replace Byron Leftwich with Josh Johnson.

Although fans will go crazy this week wanting Josh Johnson to play, Raheem the Dream doesn’t seem to agree, but didn’t totally rule it out.

“He came out and executed very well,” Raheem the Dream said of Johnson. “We know J.J. can move around the pocket and move his feet and find a receiver and he was able to capitalize on that. But we weren’t looking for field goals.

“There’s no way [the loss] is on one man [Leftwich]. You can’t blame the quarterback but that is what will happen. We didn’t lose thanks to one man. We might make some changes but I won’t start with that guy.”

As for his team, he all but blasted his players.

“We were outmanned. No excuses,” Raheem the Dream said. “Those guys were a better football team than us across the board. We got absolutely nothing going. They are a better football team. They blocked open holes and got after it. They had a big back carry for extra yards and a smaller back make us miss tackles. They ran it down our throats for 38 minutes.

“We were just outmanned right off the bat. People took their turns losing individual battles. “They tried to make us into a passing football team which we are not. They are a more physical team.”

To be perfectly frank, Joe is loathing using his computer right now. He wants to do anything but be associated with Bucs football for the moment.

After a non-performance like that — a total and complete beating at home — Joe would prefer to have his pubic hair plucked than think about the state of the Bucs. … But Joe presses on.

Joe has to hang a lot of this game on the Bucs coaching staff. The team wasn’t ready to play, and the adjustments were non-existent. It was as if the Giants marched the field for an opening-drive score and the Bucs collective said, “Oh, no. Here we go again.”

What does Jim Bates do at halftime?

Joe’s waiting for Raheem The Dream to start shouldering some of the blame for having what sure looks like the worst team in the league.

His team does nothing well right now. And they’re still not tackling, which in Raheem The Dream’s words is about “want to.”

Coach, right now, you’re team doesn’t want to play for you.

Josh Johnson spoke on the Bucs radio network right after the game to describe his first play in an NFL regular season game at quarterback.

“I played all right. We didn’t score. That was a disappointment. I moved the ball well, but not good enough. It was a long day for us in the huddle.

I just took what they gave us. As we got closer to the red zone they were jumping the routes.”

On the near-touchdown pass to Michael Clayton:

“He was an option but not a primary option. I just tried to give Michael a chance to make a play. It was one of those days for us. We were just not executing. We have to look at all of ourselves in the eye and man up

It’s going to be very hard for Joe to make a good case against Josh Johnson getting a chance to start a game for the Bucs soon.

Maybe it’s next week in Washington? But it’s got to be before Josh Freeman is handed the ball to try and launch a new era from what appears to be rock bottom.

At 0-3, and getting worse every week, the Bucs are as good as done before Week 4. At this point, Byron Leftwich deserves a firm handshake, a well-written Thank You note and fancy seat on the bench. His work is done.

Johnson, finally playing in something outside a preseason game, was competent, dangerous and gave the team a spark in the fourth quarter against a Giants team that was gunning for the shutout. Johnson picked up blitzes, hung in the pocket and moved well.

Poor kid would have had a touchdown if Michael Clayton knew how to catch the ball.

But that drop was no surprise other than to Raheem The Dream and Mark Dominik: perhaps the only two guys on planet earth who believe Clayton deserves elite receiver money in the NFL.

Somewhere Chucky is stroking patting himself on the back for drafting Josh Johnson, who allegedly was blossoming in Chucky’s laboratory.