Last year when blackout talk was sadly popular, Raheem Morris routinely said he only was concerned about the fans in the stands supporting the Bucs. They were the greatest fans in the world, Raheem would say, and the head coach would express empathy for the economic forces at play keeping many fans from buying tickets. 

You get the idea.

But in 2011, it seems the tone of the head coach has changed. During a radio interview prior to the Bucs’ night practice last Saturday, Raheem talked about how he wanted to see a full house in the building, stressing that it was a free event and there were no excuses not to come out and enjoy the team, the fan-friendly practice and the fireworks.

Joe made a mental note but didn’t write about that comment at the time. It seemed like it could be a one-off take. Of course, the night practice was a popular event, but the stadium was nowhere near half full.

Last night, speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network following the Bucs’ blowout preseason win in Kansas City, T.J. Rives interviewed the head coach and closed the chat by saying he would see the coach at home against New England next week. Raheem responded by saying he’d see him in “a packed stadium.” (This just in. The Bucs will be nowhere near sold out on Thursday.)

To Joe, it seems like the head coach is sending a message to the community, — show up and support this damn youngry, 10-6 team — and Joe thinks this is a bad idea. First, Raheem’s only job is to win football games, so his time is best spent worried about stuffing the run. Second, it’s a battle he can’t win. Fans will do what fans will do, for whatever reason they feel like doing it.

If Raheem escalates the attendance talk, it will only backfire on him. The media will ask him more attendance questions, and the fire will be hard to put out.

Joe fears Raheem is taking a cue from one of his mentors and best buddies, Rays manager Joe Maddon, who loves to take measured pulic shots at the Rays support at the gate and the subpar quality of Tropicana Field.

At least Maddon has two division titles under his belt and ownership that likely cheers every time he rips the stadium and support. Raheem has nothing of the sort in his corner, Joe’s quite sure.

Joe’s calling attention to this simply because he wants Raheem to ditch the rhetoric before it takes away from his exciting young team. Another few one-liners and the wrong media types will take notice.

Raheem Morris is always saying his players must strive to play “fast, hard, smart, and consistent.” On Friday in Kansas City, rookie middle linebacker Mason Foster didn’t have to be as smart.

In a nod to Foster being greener than the honeydew Joe’s enjoying with his eggs this morning, Raheem snatched the playcalling duties and the headset from Foster and gave them to Quincy Black during last night’s game. Earlier in the week, and before that, Raheem — and Mark Dominik –had expressed confidence in Foster’s ability to handle all the traditional duties of the mike linebacker.

Roy Cummings of TBO.com penned the explanation from Raheem:

“I thought about it after a while and decided to give the head set to Quincy because he’s going to be out there on every snap,” Morris said of Black, who plays middle linebacker in the Bucs’ nickel defense.

“That takes something else off of Foster’s plate, which allows him to play a little faster and that was awesome. It allowed him to be more explosive and play faster and just play on instinct instead of calling the defense.”

Wise move by the head coach/defensive coordinator.

Without months of playbook study and OTAs, courtesy of the asinine lockout, there was ro reason to think a rookie would be ready to lead the defense after two weeks of practice. Foster must have felt like a huge leash was taken off his neck.

He responded with a fumble recovery and playing fast and physical along with the rest of the Bucs’ first-team defense.

Former Buccaneer Dave Moore marveled on the team’s radio network at the dimension Foster brings saying the rookie plays a style that’s necessary for success in Raheem’s defense. “He covers a lot of ground and he plays very physical,” Moore said.

In all, Joe was pleasantly surprised by Foster. Despite being heralded as a superstar-in-waiting and anointed starter, the guy was still a late third-round pick in a draft class that wasn’t considered exceptional. There’s a lot to prove, and a lot of hope.

Hey, the Bucs played a stellar game against the Chiefs and humiliated them on their home turf. Bravo! Joe couldn’t be happier.

But one major thing Joe was looking for Friday night was the Bucs’ run defense improving.

Joe’s not sure the Bucs showed much in that area.

First, the Chiefs No. 1 superstar running back, Jamaal Charles, didn’t play. Their No. 2 back, potential Hall of Famer Thomas Jones, had two carries for 25 yards. And their No. 3 guy, Jackie Battle, sports a 2.9 yard career rushing average and he ran for 3.1 yards a carry.

Sure, the Bucs were swarming, forced a fumble from Battle, and Joe’s not knocking them, but Joe’s just not ready to say the Bucs are any closer to ending 2+ years of poor run defense.

In the opening series, either Frank Okam or rookie E.J. Wilson (Joe’s pretty sure it was Wilson) got so turned around and off balance on Dexter McCluster’s eight-yard run, Joe feels bad for him when the coaches watch game film in his presence. The poor guy looked like Joe getting shuffled out of Mons Venus after accidentally walking into the undressing room.

Thankfully, Cody Grimm was there to clean up the mess with an open field tackle on McCluster that forced a punt. And Grimm was there to take down Thomas Jones after his 17-yard scamper. Jones took great offense at Grimm’s physicality.

Sensing a trend? It’s eerily similar to last year. The Bucs run defense is scary ugly without Grimm.

Joe looks forward to the Bucs playing a team that pounds the rock with a quality back.

Wearing a Bucs t-shirt, his trademark fat gold chain and seemingly flanking Raheem Morris and Josh Freeman on the sidelines, Aqib Talib was the head Bucs cheerleader tonight.

Give that man a towel, tattoos and some pink hair, and he could have been Dennis Rodman cheering on his teammates (pick a team) as they ice another playoff game. Joe’s glad to see Talib being a vocal leader and embracing the team spirit.

Sadly, the Bucs’ real cheerleader hotties don’t travel to road games. (Anyone see the somewhat obese woman wearing Kansas City colors that rode a spotted horse out onto the field as part of the Chiefs pregame hype? Joe’s glad he lives in Tampa.)

Gerad McCoy, Arrelious Benn, Kellen Winslow, Myron Lewis, and Luke Stocker joined Talib among the Bucs in street clothes Friday, as Team Raheem stayed cautious with its wounded, though Joe didn’t know Lewis was banged up — again.

Joe isn’t one to get aroused by a kickoff specialist, but Roboleg Koenen, the Bucs new punter/kickoff guy is probably going to win the Bucs a game this year.

Yes, Joe is aroused.

By Joe’s count, in the first half Koenen had three touchbacks, including one booted out of the end zone. And the game-opening kickoff was halfway into the end zone and returned probably only because the Chiefs wanted to get their kickoff team some work. Elbert Mack proceeded to crush the Kansas City returner at about the 10 yard line.

Joe was pleased yet nervous about seeing healing Cody Grimm on the kickoff coverage team, but that’s all but worthless at this point thanks to Roboleg and the NFL rule that’s moved kickoffs up to the 35 yard line.

It was comfortable for Joe to watch backup quarterback Josh Johnson tear up the Chiefs tonight.

Johnson was Mr. Everything tonight. he led the Bucs in total offense, both through the air in passing and on the ground with rushing. His 24-yard run to bring the ball near the goal line was not an accident, so Johnson told the Bucs radio network after the game.

“On the run, it was a naked play,” Johnson said. The Chiefs defense “covered all of my reads and I saw a seam and tried to let my natural ability take over. Coaches have told me to do that. I hoped to get the team in position to make a score.

“Coach gave me a lot of opportunities to put some drives together. I was finally happy to get to play someone else.”

Johnson almost seemed a bit surprised he played that well as he noted it was difficult to go an entire offseason without a chance for OTAs or a minicamp or to hang at One Buc Palace studying tape.

“Not having an offseason was critical for us quarterbacks,” Johnson said. “We didn’t have a chance to get out mental reps in or get our feet wet. Now [in training camp] it’s everything times-10. Fortunately, we have the same coaching staff and are not struggling with a new playbook.

“It’s been different.”

The way JJ is playing, he’s putting together a reel for other teams to grab him next season when his contract is up.

It was a beautiful moment late in the first quarter with LeGarrette Blount catching pass for six yards after a play-action fake to him. Yes, Blount catching a pass! Then he powered three yards up the gut to set up third down and a long yard.

Blount took the third down handoff in the backfield and lowered his head — no dancing, no hesitiation — to grab three yards up the middle for a first down.

Blount came running off the field to his head coach going bonkers and slapping him in celebration.

Frankly, this is the Blount the Bucs need to win a playoff game this season. The guy is too talented to be a first- and second-down back that never catches the ball and can’t convert on short yardage — at 250 pounds.  That was fine last year when he was a rookie thrown into a new system and churned out 1,000+ yards and five yards a carry. 

Blount showed tonight that he’s evolving. Joe’s giddy at the thought of what this guy can do in 16 games with more touches behind a very high-priced offensive line.

Now Joe admits he had an adult beverage or two watching the game — no more than two — and Joe was at home as to not be distracted by Courtney the Bartender.

But for a moment, Joe thought he had his Fat Cat beers — a solid choice, Joe has to add — spiked.

Joe actually saw a pass rush. Really! From guys wearing Bucs jerseys. Imagine!

Friends, a good defense starts up front. And the Bucs were getting pressure, getting disturbance in the backfield, making Chiefs quarterbacks sweat. And this was without Gerald McCoy, this was without Brian Price.

Kyle Moore — Kyle Moore! — even had a good night. Up until tonight, Joe thought Moore was a ghost, always talked about but never seen.

Moore said his success was because of his teammates on the defensive line, so he told the Bucs radio network.

“Man it felt good,” Moore said. “We worked together, it was great. As a defensive end, I would never get in the backfield without pressure from the middle. As a defensive line, we showed a few people we can rush.”

Moore all but called out former Bucs defensive line coach Todd Wash in lauding his new defensive line coaches, specifically Keith Millard.

“We are playing better, we are growing as a defensive line, we are starting to gel, we are feeling each other,” Moore said. “We actually have a coach that was a player and knows how to pass rush. He knows the mentality to get to the quarterback. All we can do now is improve.

“We are learning our new rules and our new schemes and developing a new attitude. If we continue, we will get a lot of sacks and a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”

Man, how refreshing is that to hear… and to see? Damn, Joe is just geeked to know the Bucs put this much heat on quarterbacks and got into the backfield often despite missing so many defensive linemen.

Let Joe make this perfectly clear: Joe LOVES Arrelious Benn. The Bucs wide receiver was just coming into his own last year when he blew up his knee which made Joe sick, still does to this moment.

Joe’s not sure whether it’s the fact Benn played for a college that Joe damned near went to or that Benn is one of the nicest guys Joe has dealt with in the NFL. Joe just likes the guy.

But the way Dezmon Briscoe played late last year, in training camp this year and tonight in the shutout of the Chiefs, Joe can see right now that Benn will be in a fight for his gig thanks to the way Briscoe is playing and this is not lost on the Bucs quarterbacks.

“Briscoe is a nice pick up for us,” Josh Johnson said after the game of the Bucs radio network. “He’s been putting the work in. You can tell he is hungry from being on the practice squad and he is taking advantage of every opportunity given to him. We know as quarterbacks that if we get the ball to him he will make the catch.”

Briscoe, who led the Bucs in receiving with four catches for 60 yards, even caught the eye of Raheem Morris.

“He kind of knows what’s going on and now he’s fitting himself into the role,” Morris said at halftime.

“It’s good to produce on the field,” Briscoe told the Bucs radio network.

The way Briscoe is producing, Benn will have to work to make the starting lineup. The old saying is if you snooze you lose. Getting hurt was not Benn’s fault at all. But in his void, Briscoe is shining.

Bucs 25, Chiefs 0

Well, Game 1 of the preseason is done and the Bucs dominated the Chiefs in every way imaginable at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Stay tuned with Joe into the wee hours of the morning as Joe will have updates and stories about the win.

Preseason Game 1
Bucs at Chiefs
Kickoff: 8 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally.This is a nationally televised game so tune in to your local FOX affiliate. The game will be rebroadcast on the NFL Network at 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Monday.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 91.
Weather: Per Accuweather.com, thunderstorms are supposed to begin right at kickoff and may continue on and off until perhaps the fourth quarter. Temperature at kickoff is expected to be 83 and may get to 79 by the end of the game. Wind is expected to be mild.
Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs -3.
Outlook: Well, as hard as it is for Joe to get excited about preseason football, at least it’s not football in your underwear. And for a good part of the offseason, Joe was wondering if this game would ever happen thanks to the asinine lockout. But here we are, so Joe will raise a pint… or more. … But there will be some things to watch and Joe has pointed these out. Here are some more: Mike Williams and Josh Freeman have both looked otherworldly in training camp. Whether that is because they wear boxers or briefs, Joe is not sure. This will give us an idea tonight. … Also, Joe wonders if all that cash Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik dropped on a punter is worth it. Of course Joe believes field position is imperative. However, part of the reason that Dominik signed Michael Koenen was for kickoffs. But with kickoffs now five yards closer to the goal line this season, Koenen better put every damned one of his kicks into the end zone for his salary. … Then there is the backup running backs. Can Packers outcast Kregg Lumpkin, who Dominik has been pumping up like the second coming of Terry Metcalf, really replace Cadillac Williams? These are just a few of the things Joe will be watching for.

There have been shakeups with the men (no women transactions to Joe’s knowledge) who cover the Bucs for a living. Joe, who one Bucs beat writer described as “an ombudsman,” likes to discuss the ways various outlets cover Tampa Bay’s favorite professional sports team, in case you haven’t noticed.

There have been three significant happenings in recent days that will impact Bucs fans in their consumption of Bucs news.

* One less paper will cover the Bucs. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has decided to not cover the Bucs with its own staff, which makes Joe chagrin in a number of ways, but this isn’t really surprising. Joe’s going to get a little “inside baseball” so bear with Joe.

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, newspapers are dying a not-so-slow death, at least how we currently think of them, which brings no joy to Joe whatsoever. Joe’s an old (?) newspaper guy himself and still freelances with various papers so this trend has hit Joe hard, both personally and financially. The current 19th century model of newspapers soon will go the way of the buggy whip. Now Joe has often been asked if the Tampa Tribune, for example, is going to die. Joe enthusiastically responds always, “NO!”

Now the paper version, the 19th century version of the Tribune, and other papers, may very well die in the near future but the “Tampa Tribune” name, like many other papers, will continue to live if not thrive on the interwebs.

But as papers are losing revenue more and more each year and the current business model continues to become more and more cost prohibitive, newspapers have had to devise ways to survive, sometimes drastically. So the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, owned by the New York Times chain, has decided to focus strictly on local sports, read: prep sports.

This depresses Joe as the most underrated Bucs beat writer, Tom Balog, will no longer cover the Bucs. Instead, he will be on the University of South Florida football beat.

The Lakeland Ledger, which has dapper Rick Brown as its Bucs beat writer, also is owned by the New York Times chain. It just surprised Joe that the chain would have two beat writers (Balog and Brown) cover the team for two different papers. Joe has no idea if this will happen, it’s pure speculation on Joe’s part, but Joe suspects the Sarasota Herald-Tribune will use Brown’s Bucs copy, or use Bucs content from the Tampa Tribune since the two papers have a content-sharing partnership.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s decision to drop Bucs coverage makes it the third paper in three years to stop covering the Bucs. The Orlando Sentinel stopped it’s Bucs coverage in 2010 and the Bradenton Herald discontinued Bucs coverage in 2009.

* Charlie Campbell of PewterReport.com is leaving the publication. Campbell, truly one of the good guys, has accepted a position with WalterFootball.com and will be a senior draft analyst for the publication.Charlie has always been way cool with Joe and Joe hopes and wishes the best for Charlie. His last day with Pewter Report is today.

* Lastly, Joe stands and applauds his good friend Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620. In case you haven’t heard, Justin has been named one of the personalities to host the Bucs pregame and postgame shows on the Bucs radio network, along with former Bucs linebacker Ryan Nece. Joe knows that Justin craved this gig and Joe is very, very, very happy for him.

Well done, Justin! Kudos, my friend!

Much has been made of Josh Freeman going back home to play against his hometown Chiefs. Freeman grew up in the Kansas City suburbs and was a Chiefs fan growing up.

But it’s also a homecoming of sorts for two other Bucs. Cornerback Aqib Talib and wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe played their college ball at the University of Kansas, located in Lawrence, basically a suburb of Kansas City.

(Geography lesson: Kansas City is sort of split in half as it covers two states. The Kansas side is Kansas City, Kan. and of course the Missouri side, where Arrowhead Stadium is located, is Kansas City, Mo. There is a street that divides Kansas City known as “State Line Road.” Houses on the western side of the street are located in Kansas, houses on the eastern side of the street are in Missouri. The running joke by Kansas City residents is “I sleep with my wife in [pick a state] and go to the bathroom in the morning in [pick the other state].”)

Joe chatted with Briscoe this week at Bucs training camp and the Bucs wide receiver, who arguably is having the best training camp outside of Freeman, discussed how excited he is to play for the Bucs.

“Going from Cincinnati to Tampa, there was a big age difference. There were a lot of older guys in Cincinnati. The Bucs team, as everyone knows, is a lot of young guys. I’m a young guy and I want to surround myself with those kind of players. We are youngry.”

“From the get-go, I wanted to be drafted by the Bucs. I told my family that. It didn’t quite happen but it all worked out.”

On wide receivers coach Eric Yarber saying he is the best route-runner on the Bucs.

“Best route-runner? That’s a compliment. Coach Yarber has helped me with my fundamentals. He tells me little things like keep your toes off your nose, that type of thing. It has really helped.

“Playbook-wise, this is very easy. In Cincinnati, it was veyr difficult knowing the route concepts but I learned this playbook really easy. It’s easy for me to line up and tell me what to do and I can do it.”

On Josh Freeman:

“Freeman is a great leader. He tells us if we are not running routes correctly and he will help us and if he overthrows a ball, he admits it. It’s little stuff like that that helps. It shows how much of a competitor he is and how much he wants to be perfect.”

On his fellow wide receivers:

“All of our wideouts, we are close, we may be the closest [unit] on the team.”

On his expectations for this season:

“I expect to make the playoffs and contribute by making plays.”

On why it was a difficult transition from Kansas to Cincinnati but the transition from Cincinnati to Tampa Bay has been smooth:

“The transition from Cincinnati to here was very easy. Cincinnati runs a number system and it was hard to adjust to the different types of routes. But here, it’s easier and you can play faster when you are not [bogged down] by thinking too much.”

How excited should one get during a preseason game? What does it all mean when starters leave early and teams don’t roll out a true gameplan?

Not a lot, but Joe still likes to get a full sense of what’s happening. So Joe’s going to refer you to what Chiefs fans are considering in the game against the Bucs tonight, courtesy of the Kansas City Star.

Here’s one excerpt that lets Joe know not to do cartwheels if the Bucs start racking up sacks just before halftime:

POST BUMP: Just in case you missed this Saturday.

Call Joe a sicko, but Joe’s been sniffing around the Chiefs website ever since Kansas City defied logic and signed Sabby The Goat the other day.

Joe doesn’t trust Sabby The Goat. And right on cue, Sabby The Goat is a bit too eager to face the Bucs on Friday. Considering the report comes from a sanitized NFL team website, Joe can only imagine what Sabby was really trying to say. You can read the Goatspeak here.

No doubt Sabby The Goat has an axe to grind with the Bucs. Raheem Morris said he would “fix” Sabby the Goat during the 2009 offseason. It was perhaps the greatest public neutering of a player in recent memory.

Who knew that meant signing Sean Jones? And that ungrateful Sabby The Goat was angry.

Joe hopes nobody gets hurt on Friday. The way that Sabby The Goat takes an angle, no player on the field is safe.

Photo by Michael Hamm

Even if fans were subjected to hearing Chucky rave about Jimmy Wilkerson and Todd Wash of the Seahawks last night, it was great to have real football back on the tube.

Glorious!

And tonight’s when the real fun starts with the Bucs kicking off in Kansas City just after 8 p.m. In no particular order, here’s some things Joe wants to see:

1. Dominance along the offensive line: The entire line is back, it’s likely the highest paid O-line in the league, and they’ve got no excuses. Joe wants to see dominance from Day 1.  If Josh Freeman is going to be the player the Bucs need him to be to win a playoff game, then the line is going to have to finally fulfill its potential.

2. Michael Koenan: The Bucs dared to dabble on the dark side, aka free agency, to grab and overpay the top punter and kickoff specialist on the market. For those who want to see the Bucs buy players next year, you better hope this guy is a superstar.

3. Da’Quan Bowers: In a preseason that’s already considered soft with no two-a-day practices, the Bucs are babying Da’Quan Bowers and his knee, which Bowers claims is fine after a surgery that he says wasn’t a big deal. Keith Millard spoke of the team working to get Bowers healthy. Color Joe very skeptical of Bowers’ health. Let’s see the guy play 10 snaps and look like a live, dangerous body.

4. LeGarrette Blount in short yardage: On WDAE-AM 620 the other day, Mike Alstott talked about how he looks forward to seeing Blount becoming a three-down, all-around back. Raheem Morris has said he’s been very encouraged by Blount’s development. Joe wants to see Blount hit a hole hard and move the chains on 3rd-and-short.

5. Stop the damn run: Joe doesn’t care how the Bucs do it. Just do it. If Thomas Jones’ first five carries are something like six yards, seven yards, 11 yards, four yards, and eight yards, Joe’s going to need Valium.

6. Mason Foster: Good luck, young man.

It seems Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net is geeked for the start of preseason. Joe wishes he could be as well, but Joe can’t fully get past that these are glorified practices. “Old School” explains to Bucs fans what to look for and expect tonight.

On any normal NFL season, Mason Foster would have gone through multiple OTA sessions, a rookie minicamp, and hung out at One Buc Palace not just working out but poring over film for months before training camp even began.

But the rookie middle linebacker, who has been handed a starting job virtually from the moment he put pen to paper on his contract, before he could memorize the names of his teammates no less, didn’t have that luxury this year thanks to the asinine lockout.

Now, with the Bucs first preseason game just hours away, Foster will start his first game. He knows he has had to cram a lot into his cranium in just a scant amount of days and he’s happy there’s a game to prepare for, so writes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

“It’s been tough not having the offseason work with the coaches and the time with the playbook that you would normally have, but at the same time, there’s a game plan now and that makes it easier,’’ Foster said. “Once you get a game plan you can lock into certain things and certain play calls, because in certain situations you know exactly what you’re going to be calling. So, that makes it a lot easier. So, I’m ready to go.’’

Well, there’s already been a hiccup on Foster’s all too steep learning curve. Raheem Morris said earlier this week that Foster will not be playing on pass plays, which sort of reinforces to Joe his heightened fears that no matter how much the haters shrieked over the alleged worthless departed Barrett Ruud and his annual 100+ tackles, that a third round pick from the PAC-10 who played outside linebacker was not going to fully be prepared to play middle linebacker in the NFL and call defense plays with only five weeks to absorb everything.

Joe, of course, hopes he is wrong. But to ask all of the above from Foster is putting a helluva lot of pressure on a young man that nobody knows what to expect.

This will be one of Joe’s focal points in watching the game tonight: How will Foster play? And will he be in the game longer that usual as the Bucs have put Foster on a fast track to starting?

A chill of fear ran through Joe while checking out a story on Josh Freeman in the Kansas City Star today. Just reading about Freeman’s boyhood dream of playing for the Chiefs was enough have Joe running to Mugs Grill & Bar for a few cold ones.

The Star talked to Freeman yesterday about visiting Arrowhead Stadium for the first time as a professional.

“It should be a lot of fun,” Freeman said. “Growing up a huge Chiefs fan, I went to a lot of games there through the years.”

As a wide-eyed youngster, he was captivated by the Chiefs’ quarterbacks starting with Joe Montana and continuing to Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, Rich Gannon and Trent Green before Freeman took his game to Kansas State.

“When you’re a little kid, that’s what you dream about … the Chiefs were the team I always dreamt of playing for,” he said.

Freeman grew up in Missouri and to Joe’s knowledge his parents still live there. Freeman has even called himself “a momma’s boy” and said he chose Kansas State to be close to home, despite offers from “every conference.”

Might No. 5 ever think of jumping ship when his five-year $36 million Bucs contract ends after the 2013 season? Scary thought.

Joe can only imagine the massive contract coming Freeman’s way.

Arguably the great Bucs defensive player of all time, Warren Sapp, dropped so many quality nuggets during his visit to One Buc Palace yesterday, Joe still has more to share.

This time it’s Sapp glowing about the Josh Freeman, his “MVP candidate,” and offering an education to Bucs fans who yearn for the days of Sapp and his teammates.

“I’m going dispel the rumor. Defense does not ‌win championships,” Sapp said via video on Buccaneers.com. “Defense gives you a chance, and the offense will win it for you. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a franchise quarterback in Josh Freeman.”

“Boy, you give me Josh Freeman, and we might have about four of these things, [championships] around here,” Sapp said, referring to the Bucs teams of his era.

Sapp also was clear about what he expects from the Bucs in 2010. “I don’t care what anybody says. This is a playoff team.”

Joe’s pleased that Sapp has high expectations. Joe also agrees that there’s no reason for the Bucs to take a step backwards in 2011.