If rookie defensive tackle Brian Price gets more game action, then who’s going to sit?

Will Gerald McCoy play even more snaps at defensive end? Have the Bucs given up on Kyle Moore rushing inside?

And what about Michael Bennett, who Raheem Morris said last week might be in line to get his first action of the season as the Bucs look for answers to their pass-rush issues.

At Morris’ news conference today, he talked about Price getting more time, so Twittered the Bucs front office.

Another rookie who is going to start seeing more playing time after the bye is DT Brian Price, who has looked sharp in limited time so far.

Joe can’t even hazard a guess as to what will shake out on gameday in Cincinnati along the D-line. The Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach wants to be unpredictable, and Joe expects the multitude of combinations will continue.

Surely there were plenty of surprised Bucs fans watching NFL highlights yesterday.

Front and center on all the networks was Kardashian-chasing Derrick Ward busting a first-quarter, 33-yard touchdown run for the Houston Texans in his first significant action of the season.

Ward finished the day with 80 yards on 12 carries. Very impressive, especially off the bench.

Now Joe went on and on during the preseason and offseason that the Bucs’ running backs were average at best. However, Joe made it clear that Ward, along with the other veterans, were excellent No. 2 running backs. The point was the Bucs only had a stable of quality reserve backs in Ward, Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham.

That’s why Joe was a bit concerned when Ward was cut and thought he likely would have a solid season with his new team. The concern was not because Ward is a great player, it was because of who was behind him (Kareem Huggins) and who was in front of him (Cadillac Williams), plus Graham’s move to fullback and that Ward had shown real flashes in the third preseason game against Jacksonville.

It was Joe’s opinion, at the time of final cuts, that the Bucs could have used the depth Ward offered. And it perplexed Joe a bit that Bucs staff members and St. Pete Times beat writer Rick Stroud,were saying the Ward release was, in part, about money. Because Joel Glazer did say “money will never be an issue.”

Regardless, Joe gets that the plan is to build with young players, and Ward was never going to be around here to raise the Lombardi Trophy. So there wasn’t much point to keeping him, even if the Bucs could have used him.

The lovely Tiffany Simons talks Cadillac Williams and the Bucs in this NBCSports.com video. She really doesn’t tell Bucs fans anything new, but who doesn’t want to gawk at Tiffany on an otherwise depressing Monday morning?

Though Bucs receiver Arrelious Benn was drafted in the second round, Mike Williams, drafted in the fourth round, has upstaged him.

Part of that has been that the two are far different receivers. One is a stretch-the-field kind of a guy, Williams. The other, Benn, is more of a possession, YAC kind of a guy.

It also hurt Benn in that not only is he learning to play a different receiver position with different responsibilities with the Bucs, he also had to wrap his mind around an NFL offense, as opposed to that gimmick college spread-option that Illinois ran.

But Raheem Morris has all but declared Benn a finished product. In other words, expect Benn to see plenty of playing time against Cincinnati this weekend, so reports Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

“Benn came on slow,” Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris said. “He had the breakout (two touchdown catches) in the Houston (preseason finale) game as far as production on the field. Now, in practice every week, he’s been able to show that he’s picking all of his packages up. He’s starting to learn his position even more.”

Said Benn: “When I was at Illinois, I played the slot, the split. Certain plays were named for me. So pretty much I’m learning an offense that’s very different from a traditional spread in college.”

Last week in practice, Benn was taking many of the snaps at flanker that normally Sammie Stroughter would take. So it’s not out of the question that Joe, along with other Bucs fans, could see Benn start in place of Stroughter come Sunday.

Somewhat surprising events in the NFC South today. The top teams looked very mediocre.

The Saints squeeked out a victory at home against winless Carolina, 16-14, likely thanks to the Panthers’ putting themselves out of field goal range after a five-yard loss on third down late. Carolina played an extremely physical game.

Atlanta had to mount a comeback at home against winless San Francisco. They also were victorious 16-14.

Both the Saints and Falcons sit at 3-1, with the Bucs at 2-1 and waiting to head to Cincinnati next week. The Bengals’ passing game was back in full force Sunday, but they fell to 2-2 in what was a darn good game in Cleveland.

Of course, all this means a whole lot of nothing. In Carson Palmer, the Bucs will see the best quarterback they’ve faced to date this season, and they’re going to have to re-establish a pass rush.

After watching the Bengals today, Joe would have to say Sunday is a winnable game, although the Bucs must manufacture a running game.

There are few words in Joe’s vocabulary that he can use in polite company that properly describe the stupidity displayed by Bucs safety Tanard Jackson.

Because he couldn’t put the bowl down (allegedly), he cost himself untold amount of cash as he was due to be a free agent.

Well, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports thinks he has a figure. Cole believes Jackson’s habits likely meant losing out on some $10 million.

But the real disaster in the Jackson story is that he has probably cost himself any chance of ever getting a really lucrative contract. Jackson, who was in the fourth and final year of his contract, will now have to wait until 2012 to become a free agent. Worse, Jackson will probably need two years to regain any confidence from another team, even though he’s really talented. Throw in that safety is generally a low-priority position and it’s fair to say that Jackson threw away anywhere from $10 million to $15 million in possible earnings.

Joe just hopes whatever Jackson was smoking (allegedly) was some really good s(p)it to be worth eight figures and being set for the rest of your life.

Hope it was worth it, Tanard!

No, the Steelers didn’t manhandle and push the Bucs’ defense around the field. It was the Bucs defense that fell apart mentally and was out of position trying to make plays.

That’s how Barrett Ruud described what went wrong last Sunday. Ruud revealed this during an interview on WDAE-AM 620 last week.

“I think we kinda panicked a little bit, too. I think we tried to do too much. Tried too hard to make plays, when a team like that, they’re not going to make mistakes. You gotta just play. Do your job. Do what we’ve done all week in practice and slowly chip away. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that,” Ruud said.

“Overall, literally 95 percent of the plays that were made by them, it was something that we did to give it up. It wasn’t getting manhandled. It wasn’t getting blown back. …It was guys getting out of whack. … It was us not making the plays compared to Pittsburgh making the plays.

Ruud went on to say he played a “good” game but would like to have a few plays back. “There wasn’t a whole lot of opportunities [for me] to make big plays,” Ruud said.

Well, giving up 200 yards on the ground sure seems like getting manhandled to Joe.

That said, Joe’s not surprised the Bucs would show the mental weakness Ruud illustrates. The team is so young, it’s bound to fall apart in a big way at times. The Steelers scored three offensive touchdowns last week on just 10 plays — 10 plays!

Joe’s looking for Raheem Morris to correct those prolonged breakdowns through his leadership, and by sucking more leadership out of guys like Ruud, who called the Steelers game “great learning tape” for the defensive line. It’s not going to magically fix itself on its own — not this year.

Those who have watched Raheem Morris news conferences have seen the head coach do his Aqib Talib impression many times.

However, Joe knows many of his readers have never heard Talib himself speak. Joe can’t find an analogy to describe Talib’s voice, although he probably has a future in cartoons.

In this Buccaneers.com video, Elbert Mack grabs a microphone and asks some Bucs, including Talib, what their plans are for the bye weekend.

The Rays have taken it down to the wire. Win this afternoon in Kansas City and grab the AL East crown from the hated Yankees.

The Rays do own the tiebreaker with the Yanks, so if both lose today, then the Rays still get the glory. 

As for the headline here, a photo of Rays rookie hazing has emerged, which shows Reid Brignac wearing an interesting costume, as well as other young Rays.

It’s all at JoeRaysFan.com, which is hands down the best Rays site online. Joe challenges you to find a more comprehensive and entertaining Rays site.

Now every Bucs fan knew Chucky had a doghouse. And it was a pretty busy kennel at times.

Joe remembers Michael Clayton and Joey Galloway fighting for kibble in there with Dexter Jackson and Michael Bennett, as they all stared at the Kenyatta Walker pictures on the wall.

But could player’s coach/master communicator Raheem Morris have a doghouse?

Anwar Richardson, of the Tampa Tribune, says Morris does and Sabby Piscitelli is getting his mail there.

In this latest TBO Video Blog, Richardson and Bucs beat colleague Woody Cummings talk about Piscitelli, and whether the Bucs are hurting themselves by playing Cody Grimm ahead of him at free safety.

Joe won’t spoil it for you. Check out the video.

NFC South beat writer Pat Yasinskas, who is employed by the that fancy Disney sports outfit, was chatting with his followers Friday and offered an opinion on Raheem Morris’ job security.

For Yasinskas, Morris only has to finish the season out 4-9 with some good things happening to earn a return trip to One Buc Place next year. Yasinskas spit out this take during a live chat on ESPN.com.

JC (MS)

What record keeps Raheem Morris’ job? 8-8? Go Penn State!

Pat Yasinskas: 

Don’t think it has to even be that good. I think six wins and some positive signs mean he stays

Joe’s unsure how the employment landscape might have changed for Raheem after opening the season 2-0. The Bucs have four very winnable home games remaining, Seattle, Detroit, Carolina and St. Louis.

Taking those — and only those — would give the Bucs six wins and give them a winning record at home. Is that enough success for Team Glazer to let Raheem take the young Bucs another step? Has the bar been raised?

There’s really no way to know at this point. But Joe would specualte that barring a serious injury to Josh Freeman, Raheem needs to hit the six-win total. Joe can’t imagine a scenario in which the Bucs finish out the remainder of the season 3-10 and Raheem doesn’t feel the pain of the hot seat after the final whistle.

Now Joe is sure all his readers fly to Vegas to wager legally, versus placing bets with the guy whose cell number changes every week. 

Regardless of how or why you wager, Joe knows there are many aspiring handicappers reading. So to please the gambling crowd, Joe has turned to superpicker Bob Fox. A writer for various sports publications over the years, Fox flashed his stellar picking skills back in 2008 on JoeBucsFan.com, when Joe had a contest here among sports media members.

Fox will be here to give you a few games every week. 

By BOB FOX
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Alabama Crimson Tide 24,  Florida Gators 21
 
This game matches the past two national champions in college football. The two teams also have met the last two years in the SEC championship game, where probably will play again this year. The game tonight will be at Bryan-Denny Stadium, which is the site of Urban Meyer’s first loss as head coach of the Gators. Since then, Meyer has led the Gators to two national championships. Head coach Nick Saban has also won two national titles, one last year with Bama, and one previously at LSU. The Gators have struggled a bit offensively behind QB John Brantley, but they definitely played the best game of the young season last week vs. Kentucky. The top ranked Crimson Tide had to rally against a fired up Arkansas team last week, but the Tide prevailed 24-20 in a tough environment on the road. The No. 7 Gators will be facing similar conditions traveling to Tuscaloosa. Both teams have very talented running backs, with the Tide having Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram, and the Gators countering with Jeff Demps.  Bottom line, like last week’s Alabama-Arkansas game, this game should come down to the play of the QBs. All Greg McElroy does is win for the Tide, while Brantley is running the Gator offense for the first time this year after the graduation Tim Tebow. I see McElroy making more big plays and making less mistakes than Brantley. I also see Ingram outperforming his counterpart Demps as well.
 
Batimore Ravens 20, Pittsburgh Steelers 17
 
The Ravens will try try and take down the Steelers from the unbeaten path, and tie Pittsburgh for the division lead. This game will be another defensive battle between the two teams. The Ravens are ranked No. 1 in the NFL defensively, while the Steelers are ranked No. 5. Both offenses have struggled, as the Ravens are ranked 23rd in the NFL, while the Steelers with suspended QB Ben Roethlisberger are ranked 26th. The game will be at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, but that will not be a problem for the Ravens, who play well on the road. QB Charlie Batch has done okay, as he keeps the seat warm for Big Ben. Bottom line, the Steelers are still undefeated, and Batch has a 90.0 QB rating with three TD passes to two interceptions. QB Joe Flacco has had an up and down season, and only has a 66.3 QB rating with four TD passes anf five picks. Flacco has plenty of weapons to choose from with receivers like Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Todd Heap. And the biggest weapon the Ravens have is RB Ray Rice, who recently injured his knee, but has practiced for two straight days, so it looks like he will play. Bottom line, it will be a a hard fought game, but I see the Ravens sneaking out of Pittsburgh with a win.

New York Giants 20,  Chicago Bears 13
 
The 3-0 Bears are the only undefeated team in the NFC right now. The 1-2 Giants have performed poorly in their first three games and need a win badly. Da Bears have been a bit on the lucky side, as they won their first game against the Lions when the officials took away a TD pass caught by Calvin Johnson, and last week were very fortunate to get a win over the mistake-plagued Packers. The Bears are ranked 11th offensively in the NFL, led by QB Jay Cutler, who is off to a good start in 2010. Cutler has 109.7 QB rating and has thrown six TD passes to just two interceptions.  However, Cutler was fortunate that he didn’t throw four or five picks last week vs. the Packers, as penalties and drops cost the Pack. The Bears are ranked 14th defensively in the NFL and the defense has a way of creating turnovers. The Bears special teams is always good as well. The Giants’ offense and defense are both in the top ten. You wouldn’t know it by their record, however. QB Eli Manning has had an inconsistent season, but should have opportunities in the Chicago secondary. RB Ahmad Bradshaw will have to work hard for his yards against the Chicago top-ranked rushing defense. When it’s all said and done, I see the Giants playing their most complete game of the season and getting a win they need desperately Sunday night.
 
New England Patriots 24,  Miami Dolphins 20
 
The Patriots and the Dolphins are 2-1 and lead the AFC East, along with the Jets. This game will be a Monday night affair in Miami, as the Fins try not to drop two straight night games at home. The Dolphins are ranked 18th in the NFL offensively, while they are ranked 11th defensively. The Patriots meanwhile, are ranked No. 7 offensively and only 24th defensively. QB Mark Sanchez of the Jets had a big game vs. the Fins last week, and QB Tom Brady of the Pats should be able to do the same thing, maybe even better. Brady has had a fine 2010 season, compiling a 109.1 QB rating, along with eight TD passes to just two interceptions. Brady has multiple weapons at receiver with folks like Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez to throw the pigskin to. QB Chad Henne of the Dolphins has had a decent start of the season, as well, as he has a 88.1 QB rating with three TD passes to just one pick. I see Brady making more big plays than Henne, and although the Patriot defense has many issues, I see the Pats pulling out a victory against a tough Miami team.

With news that the Raiders and Chargers are going to be blacked out, Joe is finally fed up with insensitive Bucs fans who mock those who are not going to games.

The Chargers are expected to have a solid team this year, perhaps win the AFC West, yet this week will mark the second blacked out game this season for San Diego.

The Raiders are one of the most historic sports franchises in the nation, with a rabid, strong following.

Both these teams have more going for them than the Bucs. What they also have in common is that both are located in California, which is an absolute trainwreck economically. If California’s terrible unemployment rate isn’t bad enough for residents, the taxes will choke any sensible citizen.

Oh, and the unemployment rate in San Diego isn’t quite as bad as it is locally in the Tampa Bay area, pushing 13 percent.

In short, fans not going to the games or not owning season tickets has little if anything to do with Team Glazer or, perhaps, not even the expected Bucs rebuilding season.

As James Carville, then working for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992 once so famously uttered, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Earlier this week, amid national hysteria of what a rotten sports market the Tampa Bay area is, the Rays generously gave away 20,000 tickets to the final regular season home game. The Fruitdome was packed, the Rays handed out the freebies in 90 minutes.

If this town was so rotten of a sports market, the Rays would not have been able to give away that many tickets in such a narrow window of time.

Oh, anyone see a televised game at Florida State this season? To hear the Seminoles crowd, the fact the school ran off the man who built the program to historic levels, Bobby Bowden, was supposed to be a watershed moment for the school, that the football team would be a college football version of Lazurus.

FSU booster accounts were bursting with streams of newfound revenue, so the narrative went, since that old coot Bowden was gone.

Yet Seminoles home games have been played this season before scores of empty seats. Joe wasn’t aware Team Glazer was affiliated with Florida State?

No, the Bucs’ blackouts have little to do with Team Glazer despite what the haters may suggest. The blackouts have everything to do with about a third of people’s homes underwater worse than the Upside Down Barge Reef off of Indian Rocks Beach, one of Joe’s favorite local dive spots.

Big Brother NFL has dropped a written hammer on eight Tampa Bay area bars that apparently unlawfully showed the blacked out Bucs-Steelers game to patrons Sunday, so reports Ray Reyes of The Tampa Tribune.

Joe must wonder, if eight were warned by the NFL, then how many establishments actually grabbed one of the unauthorized Internet feeds and showed the game? 20? 30? 40?

Per the Tribune story, each location got a letter telling it to stop showing blacked out games or face a fine up to $150,000 per showing.

No surprise that the league is cracking down. The NFL protecting TV revenue is almost like a mother protecting her newborn. Joe’s almost surprised the NFL didn’t actually file suit. If the first step is a warning, then what’s to stop a pile of other locations from showing the next Bucs home game, which is nearly certain to black out?

Joe’s not surprised that one of the bar owners is giddy over the free attention he’s gottten.

O’Brien’s will no longer be using live video streams from the Internet, but the pub owner said blackouts of Bucs home games won’t really affect his business because he caters mostly to Steelers fans.

“The publicity’s been crazy,” O’Brien said about the live-streaming that drew more than 200 fans to his pub on Sunday. “I have no regrets about it.”

Perhaps O’Brien will start marketing WiFi access and offer a free pitcher to any patron with a laptop during Bucs home games.

Mike Florio, the curator, creator and guru and ProFootballTalk.com says the NFL is on similar high alert in San Diego, which also is suffering blackout blues.

Joe predicts it’s only a matter of time before the NFL finds a fan or two to send a scary letter.

If you’ve been wondering what former iconic blocker Michael Clayton has been doing as he earns $3 million from the Buccaneers on his couch this season, Clayton is still contributing to the team.

Speaking Wednesday on Total Access, on WDAE-AM 620,  rookie standout wide receiver Mike Williams talked about how Clayton is in his ear daily.

“A guy like that, that helped me every day in practice, after practice, telling me what to look forward to, telling me what DBs are going to do, a guy who had success in this league. …It was hard seeing him go,” Williams said.

 “Clayton made me watch his rookie season [in the offseason]. …I still talk to Mike every day. He tells me I’m running too high on my routes.”   …[He says my] routes are terrible. ‘I could defend you and I’m an old man.'”

“He’s telling me to “keep my shoulders down.”

Williams also explained that it was intense pressure from Josh Freeman and Clayton that helped him learn the playbook very quickly.

As for Williams’ ugly, critical fumble against Pittsburgh, Williams said it was first time he fumbled in a game at any level.

Joe did a double take on that. But that’s probably welcome news for Bucs fans concerned about Williams holding onto the ball.

Much has been made of Mark Dominik doing extreme homework on wide receiver Mike Williams before the 2010 draft.

Williams was a man among boys (minus Dez Bryant) at the NFL Draft combine, but his non-criminal troubles at Syracuse had NFL teams leery. 

Dominik did his diligence and snatched Williams in the fourth round. So how far did Dominik go to check out Williams? The Bucs’ top rookie explained on Wednesday night on WDAE-AM 620.

“They went all the way back to my third-grade teacher. She texted me like, “An NFL guy came to talk to me.” They went all the way back as far as third grade,” Williams said. “They did a lot of research.”

Joe wonders what they could have asked the third-grade teacher, “Did Mike learn his multiplication tables quickly?” or “Did Mike ever wee-wee in class?” Perhaps Dominik had a lead on Williams shooting a spitball.

Whatever Dominik did to check out Williams, Joe wishes Bruce Allen had done the same thing on Tanard Jackson, another Syracuse guy. 

Williams went on to say he was focused on working his way up the roster before the season when he got a surprise phone call before training camp from receivers coach Eric Yarber, who Williams said told him he’s be the starting X receiver on Day 1 of camp.

Williams went on to say he’s close friend with Josh Freeman. He says the two play pool and cards all the time and Freeman can’t beat him.

Yes, this Jeff Garcia video below is a shameless way to post a Carmella Garcia photo and still stay in Bucs mode.

Hanging on to the game in the UFL, playing in Omaha for Jeff Jagodzinski, Jeff Garcia leads his team to a fourth-quarter comeback against Duante Culpepper’s team. Garcia makes the game-winning toss to Rendrick Taylor, the manbeast rookie fullback who was one of the Bucs’ final cuts this year.

Funny how Garcia still hasn’t figured out how to slide.

Some Bucs fans still seem to think the Bucs are not in a rebuilding mode and that the Bucs can trade for help on offense.

But Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune softly reminded Bucs fans that the Bucs are building from within, therefore, don’t expect a trade to help out.

Q: The Jackson that I think we’re missing more than Tanard (IDIOT) is Vincent. Another receiver to stretch the field and force defenses to remove that eighth man in the box would help Caddy and everyone else by opening up the middle of the field. Jackson’s not that old, and wouldn’t be the first “character” challenge that we’ve taken on. Winslow, Williams, and Stevens have had little drama. Are we in the hunt?

Nashville Buc Fan, Nashville, Tenn.

A: I don’t think the Bucs have much interest in Vincent Jackson. They’re pretty happy with the young receivers they have, and in a rebuilding program you just have to be patient with them. One of the big problems is that the Bucs still haven’t had anyone really step up at the flanker spot. If someone can jump out there, everyone will benefit.

— Woody Cummings

As far as wide receiver help, Joe fully understands if Bucs general manager Mark Dominik decided to pass on trading a fifth round pick for an elite receiver like Santonio Holmes, what makes people think Dominik will cough up a significant amount more for a lesser player?

Even the most casual Bucs fan can see Kellen Winslow stand out on the field, displaying extreme athleticism and focus on the ball.

It’s even obvious during practice. He’s exciting with mad skills.

Sadly, Winslow only has 11 catches this season, way off his 2009 pace, and he’s a tad behind his NFC South brethren, Jeremy Shockey and Tony Gonzalez.

Joe expects some breakout games from Winslow, and the Bucs will need that, if they are to compete against solid teams this season.

While Winslow was pretty quiet on Sunday, he did turn in a phenomenal one-hand grab on a tipped ball thrown by Josh Freeman early in the game. On a scale of 1-1o, the difficulty there was 11.

Raheem Morris was asked about that play and Winslow’s impact during his news conference yesterday. Raheem is smitten with his tight end soldier. 

“He’s a freak. There’s no other way to put it. He makes plays that I don’t coach. He makes plays that he just has that inate ability to make a play,” Morris said. “But he’s awesome. He’s a freak, man. He brings energy to our football team like no one else.

You know, we all joke about him a little bit. I see Geno [Hayes] out there doing the Kellen routes today because we missed him on the practice field. He brings us a different type of energy and a different type of flow, and a different type of playmaking ability.”

With all that ability, Joe would like to see the Bucs get him more involved. There is no reason to save or baby Winslow. He’s in his prime. He’s got limited life left on his knees. Let him loose all over the field.

Allow Joe to offer Bucs fans a virtual dose of Zoloft.

Ross Tucker, speaking on Sirius NFL Radio this morning, as he co-hosted “The Opening Drive” with Bob Papa, suggested the Bucs may not be a bad team at all.

Despite the fact the Bucs are 2-1, many Bucs fans are licking their wounds after the beatdown administered by the Steelers last week.

Tucker wonders whether such thought is valid. He pointed out that of the three Steelers opponents this year, they are all 2-1, that the only loss the three teams that played the Steelers suffered were to the Steelers.

That’s right, the Falcons, Titans and Bucs are all 2-1, each becoming roadkill for the Steelers.

So, in a manner of speaking, the Bucs, in Tucker’s eyes, are no worse than the Falcons or Titans.

JoeBucsFan.com has teamed up with his good friends at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa to put some Cadillac Williams jerseys in your hands.

This is simple.

Sign into your personal Facebook account and then head over to the Facebook page for Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa. Click on the “Like” button at the top of the page and you are automatically registered to win a Reebok replica Cadillac Williams jersey (retail value $79). 

Two winners will be announced on the Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa Facebook page on October 1., 2010

Winner selected at random from Facebook entrants/followers. Ed Morse employees are not eligible.  Must be 21 years old to win with a valid driver’s license. Cadillac Williams Jersey offer expires September 30, 2010. Winner will be announced via Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa Facebook page.