Loyal Bucs fans remember that cold Seattle day back in 2009, when rookie Josh Freeman and his 1-12 Bucs made their way to the Great Northwest and thumped the Seahawks 24-7.

Sammie Stroughter was the Bucs’ leading wide receiver. Derrick Ward spearheaded the rushing attack, and the defense forced turnovers, as the Bucs’ stormed back from a halftime deficit to score 18 points in the third quarter.

“It wasn’t too loud that day,” Donald Penn said last night on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Penn, of course, was referring to the infamous 12th man, the intense noise at Seattle’s home turf. The Bucs’ defense took the crowd out of the game in the first half, and Freeman and friends shut them up for good with that third quarter, rather commonplace after Raheem Morris made second-half adjustments/woke his team up.

Penn’s point was how very important it is for the Bucs to start fast on Sunday. That’s the only way to dial back the crowd, he said.

Unfortunately, Greg Schiano told fans the Bucs can’t come “storming back,” like the those high-powered ’09 Bucs. But the Bucs do have the defense now to stifle the run-focused Seahawks and keep the crowd subdued. Joe shudders to think of what might happen Sunday if the Bucs trail by two scores early.

There’s also fantastic live greyhound racing day and night, and Tampa Bay’s best poker room is always buzzing. Derby Lane is always a fantastic time, one of Joe’s favorite places. Click on through below.

ESPN put one of its top feature writers, Elizabeth Merrill, on the trail of what’s wrong with the New Schiano Order. And she unearthed the typical, predictable stuff; practice is too demanding, Greg Schiano’s rules are childish, some players reject the head coach’s ways amongst themselves.

But what Joe couldn’t have predicted is that Merrill’s two featured on-the-record sources are Derrick Roberson and E.J. Wilson, two nobodies who haven’t been with the Bucs since the summer of 2012. What a joke of an effort by Merrill, who had the massive resources of ESPN behind her to flush out current, insightful sources.

In a laughingstock moment, Merrill wants us to believe Wilson, who was best known as a Buccaneer for his women-hating Tweets in the wee hours during training camp, actually quit playing professional party because Schiano was a too tough. Yeah, right.

“Everyone thinks he started losing the team recently,” former Bucs defensive end E.J. Wilson said. “He started losing the team around the middle of training camp last year. It never really came out, but there were a lot of guys who were not happy being there. A lot of the veteran guys were like, ‘We’re going to give it a chance,’ but it kind of felt like they weren’t really being treated like men.

“It was almost like being a freshman in college all over again. You were nervous of being made an example of for breaking one small rule.”

Wilson was coming back from a torn Achilles in the summer of 2012. He was hurting one day during camp, so a trainer pulled him from a workout. Wilson said Schiano spotted him on an exercise bike and insisted he practice or Schiano would find somebody else who would.

Wilson was eventually cut from the team in 2012 and said he’s finished playing football, in part, because of his experiences with Schiano. There was a weeding-out process that offseason, an effort to cast out the players who clearly weren’t Schiano guys.

Joe buys all the anti-Schiano player feelings during 2012 Bucs training camp and offseason, but the team was 6-4 and playing great football. Whatever Schiano did from the day he took over to roughly Thanksgiving of 2012 worked just fine, better than nearly everyone expected.

The real issue with Schiano is his coaching ability at the NFL level, the Xs and Os and elite decision-making and gameday leadership necessary to be successful. That was a major X-factor Joe wrote about numerous times before this season started. He hasn’t proven he can do it. That can’t be argued.

If ESPN wants to do its readers a service, it should dive into that instead of recycling tired year-and-a-half-old nonsense.

Below is the map detailing where Bucs fans can watch the Bucs play the Seahawks free via their over-the-air local FOX affiliate. Areas in blue will be able to view the free broadcast.

Great video here from the Seattle Times beat writers to learn about all things state-of-the-Seahawks. Jimminy Christmas! You watch this and you expect the Bucs to be able to compete Sunday, assuming they can finally play sound football for four quarters.

So much of this game is going to come down to the Bucs’ offensive line. If these guys can’t play their best game, it’s going to be hopeless.

Bucs fans seemed to have rejoiced this week when they learned All World cornerback Darrelle Revis was going to play more man-to-man defense.

In what Joe believes was the most manufactured story in recent times, fans were all aghast that Bucs commander Greg Schiano was using Revis too much in zone defense. Weeks ago Revis admitted he wasn’t quite fully recovered from his knee surgery last year, so Joe thought this was a no-brainer why he wouldn’t play man defense. Yet Bucs fans fumed hysterically.

Well, word came Thursday from the locker room at One Buc Palace from the very lips of Revis himself; he still isn’t 100 percent, but well enough to play more man defense.

“It’s a process; it’s a process that you’ve got to go through. Sometimes it takes a while, but it’s a process. I’m not all the way there yet, but you’ve got to change your game up and that’s what I had to do,” Revis said. “I’m getting back to myself. The last game I pressed [Panthers wide receiver] Steve Smith every chance I got, so I’m getting there. It’s a process. I just have to keep on strengthening my leg and getting stronger.”

Revis admitted rust more than a lack of stamina kept him from his Revis Island press coverage. Revis felt he needed a specific number of reps playing man-press where he felt comfortable increasing his workload in such a defense.

So now Bucs fans can rest easy at night. Revis, getting healthier, having enough reps to shake off the early-season rust, will play more man-press as the season grows older.

The Seahawks are minus wide receivers Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin, and Darrelle Revis is back playing press man coverage (as Joe reported in detail last night) so he can lock down Golden Tate.

Damn, with tight end Zach Miller having a down year and Mark Barron drafted to shut down opposing tight ends, Seattle might not complete a pass Sunday! Throw in the Bucs’ strong run defense, which has taken a step back this season, and Tampa Bay just might make it a ballgame.

Well, Bucs fans can dream. But the Bucs should be able to match up defensively.

If Mike James can break out and the Bucs can win the special teams battle, Bucs fans might still be paying close attention in the fourth quarter.

Will Brinson, Pete Prisco, and former Bucs scout and Jets assistant coach Pat Kirwan go deep breaking down the Bucs-Seahawks game in this CBSSports.com video. There’s a lot of Mike Glennon bashing here and little hope for the Bucs in Seatttle.

“I don’t know if I would have hitched my wagon to Glennon,” Kirwan said, a very different take than Ron Jaworski this morning.

Doug Martin has an injured shoulder that’s kept him out of games and practice for two weeks, and the Bucs are out of the playoff chase. For Joe, that’s a recipe to shut down Martin for the season — a no brainer. He’s a young star with three more seasons left on his rookie contract.

Why risk anything? And what a great opportunity to use/develop Mike James.

Today, Greg Schiano explained that Martin has a strong chance to come back this season if his range of motion can reach the appropriate level and Martin can deal with the pain. Surgery, Schiano implied, is inevitable for Martin but he won’t injure that shoulder further by playing.

“Eventually, he’ll need to get it repaired,” Schiano said today. The injury has been reported to be a torn labrum, but that’s not been confirmed by the Bucs.

Again, Joe doesn’t get it. Even if Martin can’t injure the shoulder more, Joe’s sure Martin could be prone to another injury by compensating for the shoulder. 

Here’s Schiano’s full news conference from One Buc Palace. He talks about Martin early in the WDAE-AM 620 audio below.

Joe sounded on off on a wide variety of topics this morning on the lively Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620. The full audio is below.

Greg Schiano fancies himself as a punt block guru. The Bucs led the NFL in that category by a mile last season. But this year, the Bucs have zero blocked punts.

That likely has to change on Sunday for the Bucs to pull off a massive upset in Seattle, so says former Ravens Super Bowl winning coach Brian Billick, currently a FOX analyst. Billick spoke yesterday on Tampa Bay sports radio giant WDAE-AM 620 and said the Bucs’ best chance to win is not to take big chances offensively but to force turnovers and make big plays special teams and defense.

Joe almost disagrees in the sense that the Bucs still have to produce offensively more than they have been. But it would be nice to see the Bucs have a breakthrough game on special teams. Eric Page has the talent to bounce back from his fumbled punt last week, and hopefully the New Schiano Order can dial up one of those magical blocks it had last season.

Catch the entire Billick interview below.

Joe’s celebration of Donald Penn’s making his 100th consecutive start on Sunday continues.

Here’s another nugget from Bucs icon and former Penn teammate Derrick Brooks, this time on Penn being underrated.

“I don’t think he gets the credit leaguewide because of the team’s struggles,” Brooks told Joe. “He’s a classic example of a player whose talent doesn’t get appreciated because of the record of his teams lately. He reminds me a lot of Paul Gruber, who was one of the better tackles in this league but the Bucs struggled during his time and Donald Penn is kind of in that situation. But you ask defensive lineman around the league and they single him out as the Bucs’ best offensive lineman over the past five years.”

One thing often overlooked is Penn being voted by his peers to the NFL Network’s Top-100 (No. 97) after the 2011 season. Considering how the Bucs finished 2011 with a 10-game losing streak and were absolutely horrendous, it was very noteworthy that Penn got the honor.

The way Mike Glennon is playing and progressing the Bucs have no reason to draft a quarterback, says Ron Jaworski.

It’s not just the New Schiano Order that thinks Mike Glennon is doing an excellent job for a rookie. Longtime NFL quarterback and noted QB guru and film junkie Ron “Jaws” Jaworski rates Glennon as the NFL’s 22nd best quarterback.

Speaking on WDAE-AM 620 this morning. Jaworski talked about how Glennon plays the position like a pro and how he has been impressed with Glennon and his work in the pocket. Jaws went on to say that if Glennon continues to progress, the Bucs should stick with him as their quarterback even if they land a top pick in the draft. Whoa!

Jaworski reminded fans that there are no guarantees in the draft, RGIII and Russell Wilson haven’t played to the level they last season, and that it’s been a bad year for QB play.

Glennon’s development, of course, is critical to the Tampa lifespan of Greg Schiano. If somehow Glennon looks like a winner, and wins games, then not disrupting Glennon could be a huge decision-making factor for Team Glazer. Again, Joe can’t say it enough; Glennon does need to win games.

NFL insider Jason LaCanfora discusses the chances the Bucs have at securing the overall No. 1 draft pick next spring in this CBS Sports video. Fast forward to the 2:20 mark.

It is now November. Time to think of turkey, liquor, buying Christmas lights (gggrrr) and like a squirrel gathering nuts in the fall, soaking in as much football as humanly possible to pass us through the sports winter, when northeast types try to ram the non-basketball association down our throats until July.

Dear, God. Joe’s stomach turns just at the thought (maybe that’s why Joe has become a very casual fan of NASCAR in recent years because that is as far away from the non-basketball association and golf as one can get).

This season, November is also a month in which Bucs fans begin sweating whether the Pewter Pirates can win a game, and avoid a Detroit Lions 0-16 season.

Will Brinson of CBS Sports is beginning to wonder if the Bucs matching that mark is a done deal, so he Twittered this week.

@WillBrinson: The Buccaneers are going to win a game this year. Right?

Then, Brinson attached a copy of the remaining Bucs schedule, which Joe has included in the upper-right hand corner of this post.

Let’s read it from you, Bucs loyalists. Which team will be the first to succumb to Bucs commander Greg Schiano and his Buccaneer Men this season?

Joseph confirmed a non-MRSA staph infection affected him this summer

It was odd Wednesday when the he-said; she-said tug-of-war developed between reports that Bucs good guy right guard Davin Joseph had MRSA, then didn’t have MRSA, then had staph/ MRSA, staph, split hairs, tap dance. Either way, Joseph, who hasn’t been his normal self this year and who was coming off of major knee surgery, had something wrong with him and it wasn’t good.

On the same day, before Tampa Bay Times Rick Stroud’s Twitter moved that Joseph indeed had staph, Joseph was not in the Bucs locker room during the media session. This raised a few eyebrows. Joseph, one of the coolest guys in the locker room (he’s just a cool guy all around, especially how much he helps out the athletic department at King High School), wasn’t available. Joseph is always available. Hhhmmm?

Well, Thursday, Joseph was available to talk to the local pen and mic club and put all MRSA rumors to rest.

“I never had MRSA,” Joseph said. “I do not have MRSA and never had MRSA, plain and simple. I had a staph infection over the summertime, but it wasn’t MRSA.”

That probably explains why Joseph did not go to New England for joint practices with the Patriots, which was the same time the Bucs discovered a MRSA outbreak in their locker room.

Still, a staph infection is nasty. Joe’s been hospitalized for that before. The meds they give you definitely zap you of your stamina. Joe couldn’t imagine playing football or practicing football while under those meds, much less running to the nearest bar for cold beer.

Perhaps this is why Joseph has struggled to find his previous form, from before his knee buckled in a 2012 preseason home game.

Finally, the truth comes out. Darrelle Revis details why Revis Island hasn’t been seen much.

Greg Schiano and defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan have been battered by fans, Warren Sapp and various analysts for not using Darrelle Revis in true press coverage and for playing too much zone defense with their $1 million-per-game cornerback.

“What the hell are they doing?” is the typical rhetorical question.

Finally, during his weekly radio show tonight on the Buccaneers Radio Network on WDAE-AM 620, Revis explained in detail that his surgically repaired knee just hasn’t been healthy enough to revive the Revis Island of old. But the good news is he’s progressing well. 

“I changed my game up last game. Instead of playing off, I started pressing,” Revis said. “You know, last game against Carolina against Steve Smith and it felt pretty good. Because you know my thing is, yes I can play off coverage, but at the same time, you know earlier in the year I didn’t have the explosion to play press and then the receiver would just run the [vertical] nine-route on me and I can be full-go, at full speed running. I didn’t have the stamina to do that play in and play out, especially playing press.

“I mean you get physical up there playing press coverage and then actually just running; that’s running full speed — you and the receiver. I didn’t have that yet. I’m starting to get that back, which is awesome because I like to be in receivers faces and try to put my hands on them and try to be physical with them.”

Revis detailed the changes in his training regimen that are returning his explosion.

“I feel pretty good right now. You know, the biggest thing, and you know I had a conversation with Coach Schiano a couple of weeks ago, was about strengthening my whole leg,” Revis said. “The hamstring, the quad, my calf as well, just strengthening it and getting that full explosion back is what we talked about. He presented it to [Bucs director of sport medicine] Todd [Toriscelli], and Todd has been doing a great job with me in the training room to get me back to where I have that explosion. But yeah, I’ve been feeling pretty good. I felt good the Carolina game, and I feel good this week in practice. I just got to keep on chopping at the wood. Eventually, I will get there. I do feel pretty good now, but you never know.

“The biggest thing is my knee hasn’t been swelling up. It’s been responding well. So I think that’s the big thing, the outcome, that it’s not been swelling.”

So there you have it. Mystery solved. Schiano and Sheridan are not complete buffoons.

Revis hasn’t been playing to his strength because he hasn’t had the strength.

Joe must wonder why Schiano and the Bucs didn’t just come out and spell this out publicly sooner. Either Schiano is a masochist (highly doubtful), or he just didn’t want to expose what could be competitive advantage for opposing teams. 

Regardless, Joe’s glad this raging issue that has driven so much negativity toward the Bucs is put to rest — unless you want to ask why the Bucs are paying all that cash for a guy coming off major surgery.

There’s also fantastic live greyhound racing all weekend long, and Tampa Bay’s best poker room is always buzzing. Derby Lane is always a fantastic time, one of Joe’s favorite places. Click on through below.