Many Bucs fans — largely those known as “Freemanites” — still howl about the Bucs cutting loose malcontent defrocked franchise quarterback Josh Freeman. In some cases, so much so that local animal services has visited their residence for drop-kicking a pet cat across the backyard.

There really hasn’t been a marked difference in the Bucs’ passing attack since Freeman left, partially because of injuries to skill position players. But hold up, says Bucs commander Greg Schiano. The passing of current starter Mike Glennon has improved greatly over Freeman in one area: Accuracy. Can you imagine? Light upon this subject is shed by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Glennon’s mobility isn’t the only thing that has Schiano smiling. His ability to hit receivers on the run with his passes has brought back an offensive dimension Schiano said was missing with former starter Josh Freeman.

Freeman’s inability to consistently hit his targets in stride, Schiano said, greatly reduced his receivers’ ability to make yards after the catch and therefore limited the offense’s true potential. Last week, Schiano said he thinks that trend will slowly change for the Bucs now that Glennon is at quarterback, and there is already proof.

Though the Bucs are last in the league in total yards after the catch with 421, a season-high 107 came against the Eagles, when Glennon completed 26 of 43 throws (60 percent). It marked the first time this season a Bucs quarterback has completed more than 50 percent of his passes.

Joe is somewhat interested to see how Glennon does against the Dixie Chicks. It could be the first time the Bucs had their projected starting tight end and receivers. Vincent Jackson will start, of course. and Mike Williams is expected back. Tight end Tom Crabtree also should log many more snaps.

This can only help Glennon and the Bucs find that elusive first win of 2013.

Unable to score a second-half touchdown all season, Greg Schiano and the offensive gurus on his staff didn’t need any more criticism. But they got another hefty dose of it from a very credible source this week.

Longtime NFL quarterback and noted film guru Ron Jaworski claims he studied all of Josh Freemans 2013 snaps and he did not see a bad quarterback. The Star-Tribune out of Minnesota snatched a chunk of Jaworski’s breakdown behind an ESPN subscription wall and shared some nuggets. Jaworski puts a load of blame on the Buccaneers’ offensive line.

As we know, the quarterback gets too much credit and takes too much blame for most situations on offense. So let me start by saying Freeman’s position certainly amplified his issues with the Buccaneers. When I re-examined all of Freeman’s throws thus far in 2013, I came away confident in my opinion that his benching — and ensuing release — wasn’t warranted. Moreover, I’m convinced Freeman has it within him to be a good quarterback in the NFL. And he’ll prove it in Minnesota.

I’m not about to give Freeman a free pass for the Bucs’ struggles, but he was a victim as often as he was a perpetrator.

Start with the pass protection. In Freeman’s 103 dropbacks in 2013, he was under pressure on 26 of them, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Compare that to Peyton Manning, who has felt pressure on just 29 of his 245 dropbacks to date in 2013, and you get a decent idea of the uphill battle Freeman was fighting the first three weeks.

Again, Jaworski is a top notch source on QB play. He has said in previous interviews that he spends a load of his time working out of NFL Films headquarters, often alongside Greg Cosell, the film guru who claims the Bucs are, in fact, using Darrelle Revis in zone coverage most of the time.

Whatever reality may be, the New Schiano Order’s credibility is taking beating after beating — seemingly day after day.

Sunday against the depleted Dixie Chicks should be time for the secondary of the Bucs to dominate for a change.

Yes, many Bucs fans have focused the past week on if/why Darrelle Revis is playing zone coverage. Or too much zone coverage. Or exclusively zone coverage.

What is important is if the Bucs are to find their first win of the season, then it will be the defense that will lead them, likely the secondary. The defensive backs of the Bucs may not get such an opportunity to dominate as they could and should tomorrow, writes Trey Cunningham of Pro Football Focus.

Julio Jones is done for the year. Roddy White has been playing with various injuries and may not be able to play in this contest. Aside from Tony Gonzalez, who should now be focused on even more by defenses, who is going to receive Matt Ryan’s passes? The fact Steven Jackson, who was supposed to bring a pass-catching threat the team lacked with Michael Turner, seems iffy at best to play on Sunday doesn’t help.

It seems that 2008 third-round pick Harry Douglas will be the No. 1 WR if White is unable to suit up. Douglas, who has actually played one more snap than White, has disappointed thus far in 2013 with only 16 catches, no scores, a fumble, and two drops. The last drop was near the goal line in the Jets loss, one play in a sequence of events that saw the Falcons stopped on the 1-yard line right before halftime. To be fair, that pass, which could have gone for a TD and changed the game, was a bit overthrown, but Douglas still could have made a play. The next wide out with the most snaps on the year is former undrafted free agent Drew Davis, who has played in every game but hasn’t had a pass thrown to him since Week 1. After Davis is Kevin Cone, who has played in four games and actually had a 12-yard catch-and-run and forced a missed tackle against the Jets, but that was his only target. Fourth-round rookie TE Levine Toilolo could become a bigger target for Ryan. Toilolo has caught all but one pass thrown to him this season, forced two missed tackles and scored a pair of TDs. Otherwise expect a lot of short passes to HBs Jacquizz Rodgers and Jason Snelling, who have a combined for 32 catches, 20 forced missed tackles and two TDs.

Look. The Bucs have All-World cornerback Revis, who as Bucs commander Greg Schiano likes to say, even at 70 percent is 50 percent better than most. The Bucs have stud Dashon Goldson. They have high first round draft pick Mark Barron. They have promising rookie Johnthan Banks. They should take the game over. The only receiver to worry about, and he is a big worry, is Anthony Gonzalez.

That’s it. The rest are scrubs. Joe knows Matty Ice is a helluva quarterback but this is the time for the secondary of hte Bucs to dominate and shut down these scrubs. Take the game over. Smother them.

If not, the Bucs just may have bigger problems than just being winless.

The fine folks at BSPN, including Mark Schlereth, Darren Sharper and Jerome Bettis, give their two cents about the Bucs-Dixie Chicks game in this BSPN video.

Bucs fans, seemingly trying to ignore how their team is in a woeful 1-10 spiral, all seem to be hand-wringing about how Bucs commander Greg Schiano is deploying Darrelle Revis. Is it zone or is it man?

Bucs fans say zone. NFL analysts say zone. Schiano and his crew invite fans into defensive meetings to help out. Joe thinks the Bucs are doing both, but playing more zone because Revis isn’t yet recovered fully from his knee surgery and cannot handle the rigors of a full game playing press-man.

Well, former Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber has weighed in. After watching the Bucs play last week, Barber doesn’t believe Revis is the old Revis. He is not healthy, so he told the Custodian of Canton, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

“I don’t think that knee is back to where it was yet, but he still has been playing well,’’ Barber said in a text message Friday to The Tampa Tribune. “Probably not where he wants, but it’s not like he’s a liability.’’

On his weekly radio show on WDAE (620 AM), Revis said his left knee has recovered from surgery, but indicated some of his leg muscles and glutes are still trying to regain their previous strength.

“He’s not being asked to play on the line of scrimmage like they were last year,’’ said Barber, who retired in May after 16 seasons. “I think a lot of people expect him to be shutting receivers out playing man, but that’s not what they are asking him to do. He does on certain third downs and situations where it calls for it, but not every snap like he was in New York. He still has awesome movement and wins at the line when he’s up there.’’

There’s not much better of an authority than that, eh? The more Revis recovers from his knee surgery — remember, Davin Joseph also had knee surgery last year before Revis, and Joseph has been a shell of his former self — the more Joe suspects Revis will be playing press-man.

Besides, the Bucs defense is not the reason the team has yet to find a win in the 2013 campaign.

With two sacks in his last 10 games, Adrian Clayborn is among the Bucs pass rushers that must step up.

Former Bucs scout, Jets linebackers coach and front office man Pat Kirwan, now a top analyst for CBS and a host of SiriusXM NFL Radio, doesn’t like the slide of the Bucs’ pass rush. “Two sacks in their last 79 pass plays,” Kirwan notes in the video below, and he says the Bucs will be “lucky” to get one on Sunday in Atlanta.

Kirwan joins prickly Pete Prisco in breaking down Sunday’s game and predicting a Falcons victory. There’s also an interesting Mike Glennon/Peyton Manning comparison unveiled.

Below is the TV map showing where Bucs fans can watch the Bucs-Dixie Chicks in the comfort of their living rooms via an over-the-air FOX affiliate. The areas shaded in yellow will have the Bucs-Dixie Chicks game, with Bucs icon John Lynch as color analyst. As always, map is courtesy of 506Sports.com.

This seems to be the hot-button issue to distract Bucs fans from the ugly fact the team is circling the drain, losers of 10 of its last 11 games: the defensive coverage of superstar Darrelle Revis.

Some noted and respected football analysts, like Greg Cosell of NFL Films, suggest the Bucs are almost exclusively running zone coverages. The Bucs dismiss these charges. Some claim Revis playing in a zone defense is a waste of his talent and a significant waste of Team Glazer cash.

Bucs commander Greg Schiano discussed this subject Friday, and he seemed to dismiss any notion that Revis not being 100 percent recovered from major knee surgery is a factor in what coverages the Bucs call.

Sort of.

“He and I talk all the time and he tells me he’s not all the way back, but I kind of expressed in here, whatever percent you want to put on him – I think that’s kind of hokey sometimes, how does a guy know I’m exactly 97.5 [percent]? Whatever he is, he’s a good player and he’s played really well for us in five football games,” Schiano said. “[He’s] another guy though that the first time he walked out on a game field since he tore his knee was the opener, [against] the [New York] Jets. What are we talking about five games? He played 50 something [snaps] in that game, now he’s played more each game. He’s just going to get more and more comfortable. I thought this week’s practice was the best week of practice he’s had since he’s been here. I really did and he’s just fun to coach. This guy understands ball, he’s physically and mentally talented and he loves it. It just a matter of time. He’s already made plays, it’s not like I can’t say he’s not made plays, but I think once he starts really feeling it – and who knows when that’s going to be? I like what we have now, I look forward to liking it even more when he’s 100 percent.”

This seems kind of wishy-washy and Joe isn’t quite convinced the Bucs are trying to get the most out of Revis despite the fact Revis isn’t the old Revis.

If that is the case, isn’t that a smart move?

What if Revis was forced to play press man for a full game but couldn’t handle it physically, and he re-injures his knee or starts getting roasted like Myron Lewis late in a game? Would that be a smart move by Schiano?

Joe doesn’t think so. Besides, it’s not like the defense is the Bucs’ Achilles heel this season.

Not that long ago Greg Schiano talked about the “Hall of Fame” throws Josh Freeman made this year, and about his legendary vision down the field.

Freeman, though, is now divorced from Schiano, as well as his former life partner Raheem Morris. Freeman finally spoke out in detail today on The Dan Patrick Show on CBS Radio.

“I know exactly what happened [in Tampa],” Freeman said. “Obviously, a place where I was coming from was a place where they didn’t see me as the guy. They didn’t see me as the guy that could get it done. You know, I strongly disagree with that. But at the same time, it’s not really my decision to make. It’s just been an awesome deal being blessed having an opportunity to play for an organization like Minnesota.”

Freeman went on to say the “bottom line” in Tampa was “the coach wanted a guy of his own.” He also called Mike Glennon “an awesome dude,” who “works his butt off.”

Freeman also said it’s on him for not playing better and forcing the Bucs’ hand to keep him, but Freeman said of his benching and the aftermath, “it did kind of seem personal [from Schiano] coming from a number of different angles.”

LIsten to the entire interview below. It’s worth the seven minutes. Freeman explains how difficult the rumor mill became for him.

If Dixie Chicks wide receiver Roddy White can’t play Sunday with a bad hamstring, that pretty much leaves the Dixie Chicks upside down at the offensive skill positions..

The Dixie Chicks are banged up bad. About the only skill position on offense where the Dixie Chicks (thus far) have not felt the sting of injuries is at quarterback, where Matty Ice is still slinging the ball.

But the rest of the squad? Decimated. Already gone is Julio Jones for the year. Roddy White, Jones’ counterpart at wide receiver, is nursing an injury as is highly underrated running back Steven Jackson.

Vaughn McClure of BSPN reports from Flowery Branch that both Jackson and White missed practice today. Again.

While Jackson seems more than likely to miss his fourth-straight game with a hamstring injury, White’s status remains unclear. He apparently has missed all week of practice in the past yet still played in a game. Right now, White is nursing a hamstring injury as well as a high-ankle sprain.

Now if White cannot go, that means he will snap a consecutive streak of 133 games played. Something tells Joe, unless the guy simply cannot walk, he will play. How effective will he be? That’s another issue.

If White and Jackson cannot make a go of it, then the Bucs simply must shut down future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez. Sunday would be a good time for safety Mark Barron to live up to his pre-draft hype and lock up Gonzalez.

“That wasn’t a false start!”

Outplayed and run out of town in Tampa and in D.C., 30-year-old Jeremy Trueblood is the new starting right tackle for the Dixie Chicks. He moved into the role three games ago.

Now Joe and Bucs fans know Trueblood is a below-average right tackle. Former Bucs QB Shaun King even referred to the Falcons’ having the worst right tackle in the NFL, during an interview on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday.

Joe brings this up because the Buccaneer opposite Trueblood on Sunday, Daniel Te’O-Neshiem and/or DaQuan Bowers, is somebody the Bucs hierarchy expected to be able to beat a guy like Trueblood and wreak havoc in the offensive backfield, recording sacks and hurries and tackles for loss.

Trueblood must prove to be a glaring weakness against Atlanta. That has to happen.

Imagine if Michael Bennett (4.5 sacks for Seattle) was staring down ol’ Dunderhead. But he’s not, and the Bucs need to produce.

The Bucs’ four-man, D-line-only rush has been poor this season. Joe sincerely hopes it improves Sunday.

Joe checked in with the Ron and Ian show this morning to discuss a wide variety of Bucs subjects. Enjoy.

Joe knows the subject de jour lately has been the Bucs are playing in a man-to-man/zone defense, depending on who is doing the talking.

Ask fans and well-respected analysts, and they state without a doubt the Bucs are playing Darrelle Revis in a zone defense. Ask the Bucs, and they smile and invite fans to help craft game plans.

Some even are so bold to suggest Bucs commander Greg Schiano is throwing away good, hard-earned Team Glazer cash by “wasting” Darrelle Revis. That’s what Pete Damilatis of Pro Football Focus recently told Sports Talk Florida.

“Starting to really believe that the Buccaneers are really wasting him. One of our analysts, Sam Monson, made the analogy that I am going to steal, that it’s like buying a Ferrari and using it to grocery shop. You have one of the best man-to-man cover corners in the league. He excels at locking down one guy. You put him out there and you are basically just playing 10-on-10 because you don’t have to worry about [the opponents’] top receiver. … I don’t know why you would give up the draft pick and give up the [mega] contract to get [Revis] if you are not going to use him the way he is meant to be used?”

Joe has an idea why. Perhaps Revis isn’t 100 percent? Recently, Revis was asked if he was fully recovered from his major knee surgery from last year, and in so many words, he suggested he was getting there. It was hardly a definitive answer.

Notice that David Joseph, who also had knee surgery last year, is not his same self? This is largely because he has yet to fully rebound from knee surgery and Revis had his surgery a few weeks after Joseph had his.

Maybe Revis’ body can’t handle the rigors of a full game playing man-to-man, and can only perform in such coverages a few plays a game (he has), that his knee or his body isn’t allowing him to make the sharp cuts and stops and starts needed for strong man-to-man coverage for a full game?

The numbers are staggering up in Atlanta. The Falcons’ defense is putrid on third down — worst in the league bad.  

D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution penned a look at the Falcons’ futility.

Missed tackles and soft pass coverage is foiling the Falcons’ defensive scheme on third downs.

Teams have converted on 33 of 66 third-down situations for 50 percent inefficiency rate, which ranks 32^nd in the league.

What is even more troubling is that the defense has not been able to stop offenses in third-and-long situations.

When confronted with situations of third-and-8 yards-plus, the defense has been getting scorched. Teams have converted of 10 of 22  (45.4 percent) in third-and-8-plus situations.

The Bucs’ stuck-in-the-mud offense could be just the tonic the Falcons need. Or the Bucs could be able to move the chains consistently and score points, and win the field position battle to give their defense plenty of good chances to shut down Atlanta’s depleted offense, which is missing Steven Jackson, Roddy White and Julio Jones.

Given how heinous the Falcons defense is right now. This will be a telling game for Mike Glennon and friends.

Veteran Ch. 10 sportscaster Dave Wirth examines what might give Bucs fans the greatest hope for a “W” in Atlanta on Sunday. Enjoy this exclusive video preview for JoeBucsFan.com.

There’s a lot of respect for No. 8 out there. The young man is appreciated.

It’s impossible to deny that Mike Glennon has a done an admirable job in a brutally tough situation. He walked into a mess as a rookie and didn’t add to it. He’s even scoring strong grades from tough critics.

Donald Penn talked this week about how Glennon has a tough time with the losing and veterans have invested time pumping up his spirits.

“That’s good for him to be so hard on himself, too. That’s going to take us a lot further,” Penn said.

Joe’s very interested to see how Glennon develops and how he handles intense pressure.Trips to Atlanta and Seattle over the next three games will be telling.

The play of the offensive line really suffers without roadgrader Carl Nicks.

If there is one area of the Bucs that has played  woefully below expectations, it’s the offensive line. Once thought to be a strong unit, it has been anything but.

First, there is the MRSA foot/turf toe of stud left guard Carl Nicks, who just had surgery and no one knows exacly when or if he will return in 2013. Then there is the right guard, Davin Joseph, who simply isn’t his old self since having major knee surgery. He claims his knee is fine, but something is awry.

Because of Nicks’ absences, the Bucs have juggled the line and now are toying with returning Jeremy Zuttah to left guard and Ted Larsen to center. It’s just a mess.

If Joe could point to one area that is the problem for the Bucs 0-5 start (there are many) it is the line. It can’t run block, and as a result, defenses are loading the box with eight and nine men, confirmed by Bucs All-Pro running back Doug Martin. Defenses are daring the Bucs to pass by loading up the box, which is why Mike Glennon is second all-time in NFL history for most pass attempts in his first two starts.

“Trust” is a word tossed around a lot of late at One Buc Palace and Bucs commander Greg Schiano asks that people trust that the offensive line, as a mess as it is, will eventually get the job done for Martin, and the floodgates will open.

“Every play’s designed to go in a certain area with a certain scheme, but then, once you trust the play, you’ve got to trust your eyes then,” Schiano said. “So, trust the play to get it going and then trust your eyes, and [running back] Doug’s [Martin] got as good [of] vision as any back I’ve ever coached, so we’ve just got to keep trusting it. It’ll pop.”

Here’s the thing: Rarely has Martin been able to break a good run through five games because of the instability of the offensive line. After five games, how much more can Martin, or any Bucs running back, trust that the offensive line will magically turn into the Hogs of the 21st Century?

Getting the offensive line turned around may be the key to getting the Bucs turned around. But after five games of being unable to flip the switch, Joe must be frank and ask, why should anyone expect the line to suddenly blast open holes?

Isn’t five games, nearly a third of the season, enough of a sample size to suggest with some authority that the play of the offensive line may just be what it will be for the remainder of the season?

There’s a good old fashioned Xs and Os disagreement brewing between Bucs coaches and what feels like the rest of the free world.

Earlier today, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan had strong and fun words for fans and pundits “chirping” about the Bucs allegedly not using lockdown cornerback Darrelle Revis frequently in man coverage. That’s not the case, Sheridan said, echoing prior comments from Greg Schiano.

Hogwash, claimed acclaimed NFL Films icon Greg Cosell. During an interview this morning on WHFS-FM, 98.7, Cosell charted the Eagles-Bucs game and explained it’s clear what the Bucs aren’t doing with Revis.

“Actually, they hardly played any man (coverage),” Cosell said of the Bucs secondary coverage. “We watched that tape over and over and they hardly played any man, it was almost all zone (coverage).”

As for Revis in particular, Cosell was surprised by the Bucs usage of him.

“We counted 2 plays in which you could truly say Darrelle Revis was playing man (coverage),” Cosell said of Revis’ play against the Eagles.  “Revis only lines up on the left side of the defense which makes the defense fairly predictable from a coverage stand point.”