Earlier this week Joe brought word of the high irony of the Carolina Panthers, a team which has committed assault and battery both on the football field and among themselves, whined that Aqib Talib had what they perceived as an illegal hit on rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

Clausen was trying to score a touchdown late it the game when he was stopped by Talib. Clausen received a concussion in the hit and likely won’t be available this Sunday.

The Panthers, John Fox in particular, cried and thus far the NFL has turned a deaf ear though Fox is doing his best to see that Talib is fined, or worse.

Well, hearing the wails of Fox, Bucs coach Raheem Morris took to the microphone and had Talib’s back, reports cool cat Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times.

“When we play our game, our job is to not let people score,” Morris said. “My guys play within the confines of the rules; we go out there, we play. I know the league right now is emphasizing concussions, but you’ve got to understand, the league is trying to protect defenseless players, not guys trying to score a touchdown. When you run sneaks and those things, people get hit. It’s a violent football game.”

Joe just thinks it’s beyond rich that of all teams to whine and bellyache about perceived illegal hits, it’s the Panthers. Again Joe asks, where was their outrage when one of their own all but ended the career of Clifton “Peanut” Smith with a filthy hit?

As the U.S. government keeps printing money at an alarming pace, Team Glazer apparently will go in the other direction and pay down some of its massive debt.

A story in the Wall Street Journal says Team Glazer has found $354 million to pay off the nastiest of its Manchester United loans.

The U.S. owners of Manchester United, the fabled English football team, will repay roughly £220 million ($354 million) of high-interest loans without using club funds, the team’s parent company said on Tuesday.

Joel Glazer, United’s co-chairman, issued a “voluntary free-payment notice” on Monday informing lenders that Red Football Joint Venture Ltd., the club’s holding company, is poised to pay off 100% of its expensive payment-in-kind facility on Nov. 22, seven years ahead of its maturity date.

In a statement accompanying its first-quarter results, the team’s holding company confirmed that the Glazer family, who bought the 18-times English champion in 2005 in a £790 million leveraged buyout, have not taken money out of the club to pay off the loan. PIK debt is where interest is paid via the issuance of new debt, rather than in cash.

Of course, it’s unclear how Team Glazer came up with the money, though they may be forced to reveal the sources next year in financial filings related to the soccer team.

Did they merely find a lower interest loan to pay off this one? Or did they sell a piece of Manchester United? Did they simply drain other holdings? Did they have Michael Vick last week in a covert $10 million-a-head fantasy league among NFL owners?

Do Bucs fans care?

Joe assumes this can be filed under “Trying To Cover Up A Dumbarse Move.”

Titans coach Jeff Fisher, due to a string of injuries, has been relegated to trying out the likes of Larry Johnson. Instead, he cut a guy who has single-handedly jump-started the Bucs offense, LeGarrette Blount.

Fisher cried to TitansInsider.com that he “gambled” in cutting Blount, hoping all other 31 NFL teams would pass and then Fisher would sign Blount to his practice squad.

Whoops.

Asked if he now wishes he had not let Blount go, Fisher said, “Every day. I thought we could get him to the practice squad, get him on practice squad, knowing that when and if there was any kind of interest, we could bring him back to the active roster. That didn’t happen, but I’m very, very happy for him.”

Oh, well. Tennessee’s loss is the Bucs huge gain.

Joe had a chance to chat with Bucs wide receiver Mike Williams recently. Williams, a rookie, has a shot at being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year if St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford slips up. Williams spoke with Joe about adapting to life in the NFL.

JoeBucsFan: How much did it help you when you got the call from Josh Freeman after you got drafted when he said, “Come down here, let’s go to work.”

Mike Williams: It helped me out a lot. At first, I didn’t know what to expect coming down here. I didn’t know if [Bucs players] were going to like me or what. That let me know they wanted me down here and they were ready for me. It helped a lot. It helped in learning the playbook and stuff too.

Joe: What was the biggest transition for you coming into the NFL form Syracuse?

Williams: The speed of the game. Reacting to the speed and seeing the blitzes and cutting off my routes in certain coverages. The speed of the game was so different for me. Once I adjusted to the speed I was able to go out there and play my game.

Joe: It didn’t seem like you struggled at all with the adjustments.

Williams: Oh, the first two weeks I had a little struggle.

Joe: Was that the first two weeks of preseason or regular season?

Williams: Regular season, but the first two preseason games, that’s how I was, adjusting. I adjusted as I went.

Joe: You’re playing like a veteran now.

Williams: Nah, I’m still a rookie.

Joe: How much has it helped you that Arrelious Benn is starting to blossom and coming up with big plays?

Williams: It’s great. It’s great for him and now, teams can’t double-up on us all the time.

Bucs fans are so fed up with the putrid production of the defensive line while watching games, they’re just about ready to wing a shot glass at an ugly bartender after throwing down a drink to try to numb the pain.

In fact, many believe any defensive lineman on the Bucs active roster who doesn’t go by the last name of “McCoy” should be given a one-way ride by Paradise Worldwide Transportation — at cost! — to the front steps of the UFL franchise in Orlando.

Hold up! says Steve White. The former Bucs defensive lineman who started at defensive end on one of the greatest defenses in Bucs history and played six years for the Bucs under Rod Marinelli, believes the Bucs do have talent on the defensive line not named McCoy.

Joe will let Steve explain, as he breaks down each player and explains what the problem on the defensive line is.

Accepting that draft status isn’t necessarily a good arbiter of talent, still I don’t think there is anybody that the Bucs have on their current roster that couldn’t make most other teams roster providing they also run a 4-3. I’ll point out that last year people didn’t think much of Jimmy Wilkerson but the Saints signed him as a free agent when he was still rehabbing a torn ACL.

Now I understand that none of the guys has had what you would call a dominant year this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have talent. I know people who will claim Stylez isn’t a good pass rusher because he only has 3 sacks but if I point out that Justin Tuck and Jared Allen only have 4 sacks then they will claim that it isn’t just about sacks. Look there’s a lot in this world I don’t know, but I DO know defensive line talent and the Bucs have it. I can’t account for how they are using it though.

I want everyone reading this blog to seriously think about this question though. What defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the last 5 years would you say got better and progressed as his career went on?

Please educate yourself and read Steve’s entire article. It’s riveting if not detailed analysis for any Bucs fan.

My friends, it’s quite simple. The Bucs defensive linemen simply are not being utilized correctly or they just aren’t being coached up. Joe has written this before: If Stylez White’s numbers are down, if Roy Miller is a shell of his rookie self due to his regression, it’s fairly easy to connect the dots.

It’s simply difficult for Joe to believe that Mark Dominik can find all sorts of hidden gems at virtually every position other than defensive line.

In this BSPN video, “The Professor,” John Clayton, explains what’s working for the Bucs.

Joe’s loves hearing “Run Micheal Run” from Gene Deckerhoff as much as the next guy, but a few big plays don’t take away from a lot of substandard stuff Bucs fans have seen from the return game this season.

What was a major strength of the Bucs last year — possibly the best return unit in the NFL — has lost its consistency.

Raheem Morris talked about the questionable decision making on special teams and lack of consistency on Monday during his news conference. And it was Micheal Spurlock himself who fought off the usual barrage of Scott Ledger softballs Friday evening on the Buccaneers Radio Network to express disappointment.

Despite his big returns against Atlanta, Spurlock talked about how the return game hadn’t done much before that and about how he hoped success against the Falcons would give them a spark.

Of course, fans hardly saw the Bucs best Sunday against Carolina.

Surely, Rich Bissacia hasn’t forgotten how to coach these guys at a high level.

Without watching coach’s film, Joe must assume that so many rookies on special teams is causing some problems, although poor communication and decision-making between Spurlock and Maurice Stovall is not a rookie thing.

Joe hopes Spurlock can add some Clifton Smith-caliber consistency to his homerun returns, and the Bucs can figure the whole thing out.

The Bucs’ special teams kept the team in games last season, and it’s an area that seems like it could be improved very quickly.

Intelligent baseball fans know Joe wears his heart on his sleeve after every Rays game on JoeRaysFan.com, the best damn Rays site known to mankind.

So Joe is very plugged in to everything Rays.

Raheem Morris is a Rays fan, too, and an admitted fan and friend of the Rays’ maddening skipper, Merlot Joe Maddon.

Several weeks ago Morris told the story during a news conference of how he planned to keep his famed “Race To 10” motto only among the Bucs, but after a fireside chat with Maddon was advised to tell the world about the 2010 Bucs’ rallying cry: “Race To 10.”

And Raheem went for it.

Raheem said Maddon inspired him to let the catch phrase infest the community and take a life of its own, a little Bucs “mentality before reality” for everyone to share.

At that point, Joe was worried Maddon would start trying to convince Raheem to play all kinds of different bizarre lineups, get all mad scientist with his playbook, and make the offensive linemen walk around town in plaid jackets, among other assorted unorthodox behavior.

But Joe shrugged it off.

On Monday, however, during the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620, co-host and former Bucs guard Ian Beckles relayed a story of how he met Raheem on Friday at a swanky South Tampa restaurant.

Beckles said he entered the restaurant for a casual business meeting when he saw Raheem, Maddon, Rays president Matt Silverman and Bucs receivers coach Eric Yarber bellied up to the bar enjoying adult beverages.

Beckles said he took advantage of the chance to chat with Raheem one on one and left the head coach impressed.

That’s all lovely, but Joe is now increasingly worried that Maddon is trying to play some sort of mentor role with Raheem.

Of course, Raheem is his own man, but Joe is quite sure that Maddon’s stats-focused/psychoanalyst approach to baseball doesn’t translate to the NFL, and Joe is leery of Raheem entertaining such thoughts while consuming a few hard-earned cold ones.

After all, Maddon “wants to be the smartest guy in the room,” and he might just feel the urge to play a little fantasy football on a grand scale.

Joe’s going to keep an eye on this. If LeGarrette Blount is sat down because he’s reached some concocted maximum number of carries, or Todd Wash gets a Derek Shelton pass, Joe will know something’s up.

Though the touchdown only was relevant for gamblers, Cadillac Williams’ 45-yard run to seal the win over the Panthers was the feel good story of the week.

Even if Joe tried to find one, it’s highly unlikely that there are any Cadillac haters. Sure, fans were frustrated that he has seen his better days but Joe can’t fathom anyone wishing Cadillac ill will.

His touchdown run Sunday was sort of a flashback to his rookie season where there was so much hope for the Auburn star. It even warmed the heart of good guy Maoist Michael Silver who waxed poetic about Cadillac in a recent Yahoo! Sports column.

I’ve been an unabashed Cadillac Williams fan since our pre-draft breakfast at the Gadsden, Ala., Waffle House in 2005, and after about five minutes of watching the ferocity with which the former Auburn back ran as a Bucs rookie, I was convinced he was headed for stardom. Alas, Cadillac has been in the shop far too much during his six-year career, and it has taken inordinate amounts of drive, perseverance and courage for him to fight back from a pair of devastating patellar tendon tears in consecutive seasons. That’s what made Williams’ game-clinching, 45-yard touchdown run in Tampa Bay’s 31-16 victory over the Panthers so momentous – it was his longest carry since he took a 71-yarder to the house in his first NFL game. Welcome back, Cadillac.

Perhaps this is a sign of things to come later this season? LeGarrette Blount is the key rushing weapon, there’s no denying that. But perhaps Cadillac can come in late in the game and deliver some more punishment when linebackers have had their fill of wrestling with Blount all afternoon?

Last winter when Joe first began banging the drum that Cadillac Williams could no longer be a go-to running back, Bucs fans recoiled in outrage at Joe calling him everything from a hater to a Panthers fan, and more.

None of which could be further from the truth. Joe loves Cadillac Williams but as Joe wrote at the time, “Father Time rests for no one.”

This season proved Joe correct. Currently, if Joe suggested LeGarrette Blount should be benched for Cadillac, Joe’s confident this very site would be hacked into in revolt.

Joe has always thought the world of Cadillac — still does. A piece typed by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune is another example of what a great guy Cadillac is.

After being benched for Blount and basically used as a designated blocker to save quarterback Josh Freeman’s bacon — which Cadillac did on successive plays in the second quarter Sunday — Cadillac could have easily sulked and pouted and been a general pain in the arse like that Kardashian-chaser Mark Dominik jettisoned for the better of the team.

Instead, Cadillac said he’s all about wins and his teammates.

“But it’s team first with me. So I’m going to continue to support these guys and help get guys ready to play and be a leader. And whenever my number is called I just have to try to do the best I can with it.” It’s quite possible that Williams’ number will continue to be called simply in an effort to reward him for all the things he does when he’s not running the ball. After all, he’s done a lot that few know about, Morris said.

“If you don’t (think) Cadillac has helped LeGarrette Blount get to this point, then you’re sadly mistaken and you’re making a big mistake on judging that young man’s character,” Morris said. “Believe me, what you say as a coach to Cadillac and what you do as a coach with Cadillac is very important to (this) team because, believe me, they’re all looking. They all want to know what’s going on with Cadillac.

“There’s no doubt about that. That’s one of the things that will remain un-wavered by me, because Cadillac is the ultimate character guy on our football team and he means a lot to us.”

There’s only one word that fittingly describes Cadillac in Joe’s eyes:

Class.

Bucs fans have grown so angry over the lack of heat the defensive line has put on opposing quarterbacks, so unnerved they’re ready to toss a warm $7 beer onto the field of the CITS.

The fact the Bucs are dead last in the NFL in sacks from their defensive linemen — last! — may be on purpose.

No, Joe’s not hitting the bourbon this early in the morning. Joe’s completely sober. Joe gets this information from none other than Steve White.

In his recent “Bull Rush” column on his blog, “Passing on the Game,” White, who logged six years with Rod Marinelli as a Bucs defensive end, details how the Bucs are using a 3-3-5 defensive set on third downs and that formation simply cannot produce sacks from the front line.

Joe will let Steve explain:

First its obvious that all the talk about showcasing Gerald McCoy last week was just that, talk. The Bucs didn’t do anything new that could possibly be construed as “showcasing” his talents as far as pass rushing goes and if anything to me they just stayed the course.

Second because we are winning more than we are losing I am willing to accept that the Bucs will continue to feature a 3-3-5 alignment. What I am not willing to accept is the notion that they ALSO care about getting sacks. The two are just about mutually exclusive at this point. If they want to keep running the 3-3-5 that’s fine, but at least admit that the goal in that case is to cover, not pressure the quarterback.

Yesterday out of 14 non two minute 3rd down plays the Bucs used a 3 man line 9 times. That doesn’t mean that they only rushed 3, but it does mean only 3 defensive linemen were in the game. All year they have run the same thing and they had 1 sack to show for it from Quincy Black. Now they have 2 thanks to Ronde Barber. So you do the math, two sacks in 9 games, none by a defensive lineman, but they used it 9 out of 14 times on third down against the Panthers.

And there you have it. There’s the reason why the Bucs are so pitiful in racking up sacks. It’s the formation that Todd Wash (Raheem Morris?) is using. It’s the mentality: cover, not pressure.

Please click on the link above and read Steve’s entire column. Educate yourself!

Jim Mora, Charles Davis and Dick Stockton discuss the current state of the Bucs and if playoffs are a realistic goal in this FoxSports.com video.

Joe was reading an article by noted Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly who typed a touching story about how the Bucs are heartbroken over the declining, troubling health of former Bucs lineman Arron Sears.

Sears was arrested Saturday on an outstanding felony warrant for roughing up a cop. He was found “confused” and wandering the streets of Tampa.

The latest episode of Sears and his troubled mental state is hardly news. It’s why he’s not in the NFL much less playing for the Bucs. But what caught Joe’s eye reading Fennelly’s piece was how cursed the Bucs draft class of 2007 has become.

First round: Gaines Adams, dead.

Second round: Arron Sears, unable to play.

Second round: Sabby, back-up and special teams player.

Third round: Quincy Black, starting but with mixed results.

Fourth round: Tanard Jackson, gifted but has pretty much smoked his way out of the league.

Fifth round: Greg Peterson, out of work.

Sixth round: Adam Hayward, backup.

Seventh round: Chris Denman, out of work.

Seventh round: Marcus Hamilton, out of work.

Seventh round: Kenneth Darby, playing for the Rams.

Man, that’s just sad. Fennelly was absolutely correct. What a star-crossed draft class. Man.

After a solid rookie season, Bucs defensive tackle Roy Miller has regressed.

People from the drunk at the neighborhood bar to seasoned, educated, reasoned former NFL players like Steve White and Ian Beckles can see that the Bucs defensive line has been nothing short of inept this year, with the exception of stud rookie Gerald McCoy.

Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski has seen — and read — enough excuses. He’s fed up and he’s manning up and he’s being real. The WDAE-AM 620 on-air personality believes if not for the Bucs, the defensive line, sans GMC, would be working at Publix.

I learned that, other than Gerald McCoy, the Bucs do not have a defensive lineman that would start on another NFL team. Gerald McCoy was close to being great on Sunday. With that being said, the rest of the defensive line played 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage all day long. Stylez White is playing himself right out of Tampa. The rest of the defensive ends are non-existent. Roy Miller might be one of the bigger disappointments on the Bucs this year. I’m not looking for impact plays from Miller, but that dude has to hold his ground, and he is not. With that being said, the main point is that McCoy was very good and the rest of the defensive line will be replaced this off-season. Can you imagine how good Gerald McCoy would be with better players around him like Ndamukong Suh?

Now Joe thinks the world of Stylez White, but like GMC, if the guy isn’t getting any help, exactly how much can one expect from him?

Joe’s been saying it. Steve White has been saying it. Beckles has been saying it. Either Mark Dominik has swung and missed on each and every defensive line acquisition (except GMC and Stylez White), or quite simply the guys on the line are just not being coached up.

How is it that Miller put up some of the best numbers for a rookie defensive tackle last year and this year, he’s invisible?

It’s difficult for Joe to believe that Dominik has made that many mistakes in drafting/signing talent on the defensive front when Dominik has hit home runs virtually at every other position.

When Miller regresses this terribly, when Stylez White’s numbers drop off the cliff, when no one else can stop a cool breeze other than GMC, that speaks volumes to Joe.

Jay Glazer decides to interview Bucs coach Raheem Morris for his “After Party” segment in this FoxSports.com video.

Video: After Party: Raheem Morris

Seems as though the Panthers are outraged over a play late in the game when Aqib Talib flew in to stop Jimmy Clausen on his lunge to try to gain a first down on fourth-and-one.

The play ended the Panthers final drive and sealed the Bucs win, ending any hope of a Panthers rally.

The Panthers claim Talib drilled Clausen with a helmet-to-helmet hit that gave the rookie quarterback a concussion, so reports the Associated Press.

Receiver Steve Smith said Aqib Talib and Sean Jones “went head first into Jimmy.”

Replays showed Talib appeared to hit Clausen with a helmet-to-helmet hit. Smith then shoved Talib and was given a 15-yard penalty.

“Despite what people might think, actually I am a team player and I’ll do it again, and I’ll do it 10 out of 10 times, 100 out of 100 times,” Smith said of the penalty. “Guys going in there, he goes head first in there, so I’m going to follow.”

Joe thinks that the Panthers’ anger is rich. Where was this same outrage, this same concern for an NFL player, when thug Dante Wesley assaulted Clifton “Peanut” Smith, knocking him out cold on vicious, dirty blow to the head on a kickoff return that referees saw fit to throw Wesley out of the game on the spot?

Steve Smith, a dirty player known for thuggish behavior, sucker-punching his own teammate, Ken Lucas, in practice two years ago which resulted in a two-game suspension and lying to his own employer about how he broke his own arm, ought to keep his trap shut.

Anyone notice that Peanut Smith never fully recovered after Wesley’s battery? Peanut Smith was never the same player and it’s not difficult to connect the dots that the concussion he received on Wesley’s assault may very well have directly led to the end of his career?

Let’s just say had Wesley done that to a bystander on the sidewalk, he’d be doing time.

Even Rodney Harrison, who some suggest played beyond the boundaries of good taste, claimed Wesley’s hit on Smith “was one of the dirtiest, dumbest plays I’ve seen.”

Memo to the thin-skinned, short-minded Panthers: Shaddup!

It’s a bit too premature to talk playoffs but that hasn’t stopped Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports to write about playoffs, specifically the Bucs in the playoffs.

Robinson wrote late last night that the win over the Panthers puts the Bucs in the playoff chase.

After Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers, you look at the schedule and start to see some wild-card potential for this team. Could they still win the NFC South? Absolutely. Do I think it will happen? No. Not with the Buccaneers’ wins all coming at the hands of teams that have losing records. But when you look at the schedule, the road games against the Ravens and New Orleans Saints and the home tilt against the Atlanta Falcons look the toughest. Everything else is very soft. Sitting at 6-3, 10-6 is within reach, and so is the postseason.

Well, here’s Joe’s take on this: Sure, the Bucs mathematically are in the playoff hunt but that loss to the Dixie Chicks hurt and may come back to haunt the Bucs.

Had the Bucs beat the Dixie Chicks, Joe thinks playoffs would very much be in play. Now, the Bucs must win the games they should win. We all know that there are upsets in the No Freaking Logic league.

This is not to say the Bucs cannot make the playoffs, but it’s a tightrope walk. There cannot be any slip-ups. The Bucs cannot be upset and it may take a win over New Orleans to ensure a playoff berth.

Surely the Bucs should get to nine wins. Joe thinks 10 wins is reachable. It may take 11 wins to get to the postseason.

Time for some high comedy.

Joe turned to the website of the world-renowned 19th century news model based in Charlotte known as the Charlotte Observer and noticed a hysterical headline screaming at Joe.

Panthers’ young guns nearly pull off Tampa upset

Um, that might be a little bit of a stretch, no?

Now Joe knows first-hand copy editors — those charged with writing headlines — are not the authors of stories. So the lead paragraph of Joseph Person’s story wasn’t nearly as wild (if not inaccurate as is the headline).

In fact, Person’s lead paragraph was downright accurate.

At times Sunday it looked like the Carolina Panthers brought their JV offense to Florida.

Pretty spot on. Joe browsed the story and it was pretty accurate: that the Panthers made the Bucs break a sweat in the first half but the game wasn’t really in doubt.

Joe’s guessing that some non-sports chick wrote the headline and she’s more inclined to write about plunging necklines, open-toe shoes and some two-bit play 45 people may watch, and likely doesn’t know the difference between a goal post and a down marker.

This isn’t much different than — not to pick on her because Joe likes her but it’s a good example — when WTSP anchor Heather Van Nest has to speak sports happy talk in the buffer/transition when intro’ing the sports segments following a commercial break. She physically freezes and forces a smile with nervous laughter when she attempts to talk sports, no matter how vapid.

Don’t worry Heather, you’ve never come close to the world class, horrendous gaffe Bourbon Bob Hite once pulled when he called Mario Lemieux “Mario LEE-mewks.”

Oy!

(Hat tip to WTSP producer Mike Weber for this find.)

Jon Anik and Cris Carter break down the Bucs win over the Panthers in this BSPN video. Carter doesn’t think the Bucs are an elite team… yet. He explains why. Tell Joe what you think of Carter’s analysis.

Joe wrote yesterday how Bucs wide receiver Arrelious Benn is busting out to become a real weapon for quarterback Josh Freeman.

Well, it seems Benn hasn’t just caught Joe’s eye. It seems Peter King, finished wolfing down spaghetti, chili and hot dogs recently, also noticed how Benn is becoming a force, and mentioned the Bucs rookie in his “Monday Morning Quarterback” column, a true must-read for NFL fans.

Arrelious Benn, stuck in Mike Williams’ rookie shadow, with a good catch, move and stretch for a touchdown against the Panthers.

That’s two touchdowns in each of the last two games for Benn. Joe will take that kind of production any day.

As Joe told a member of the Bucs press corps yesterday, there are only three channels he listens to on his Sirius satellite subscription: Sirius NFL Radio, Rivals Radio and of course, the King of All Media, Howard Stern.

Virtually all day long, Joe flips between those three channels. On Sirius NFL Radio, when Bob Papa and Peter King co-host “The Opening Drive,” Joe’s locked in.

Apparently, the Bucs have not been before Sunday. Rather than listening to The Opening Drive yesterday, Joe saw it. The Bucs opening drive that is.

For the first time all season, the Bucs scored a touchdown on their first possession, documents good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Pete Times.

All you need to know about the manner in which the Bucs have started games this season is that they did not have an opening-drive touchdown before Sunday. The best they managed was a field goal on their first possession against the Steelers in September — a drive that started at the Pittsburgh 31 after an interception by CB Aqib Talib. Otherwise, the Bucs have been painfully slow in starting games this season — until putting together a 47-yard touchdown drive Sunday for an early 7-0 lead, setting the tone for the rest of the day.

This is absolutely unbelievable to Joe. We are into the second half of the season and the Bucs are through nine games and Sunday was the first time all season the Bucs scored a touchdown to open the game?

This is simply stunning to Joe. Stunning. Have opposing defenses figured out Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson that well or is Olson not putting that much emphasis into the Bucs first drive of each game (which Joe cannot fathom is the case)?

Joe sits at his computer on this sunny Monday morning stunned by learning this, as if Joe just received a “Dear Joe” letter from Rachel Watson.