By BOB FOX

JoeBucsFan.com analyst Bob Fox takes a weekly look at the playoff picture. He write for numerous sports publications and brings an insightful take on the road to the Super Bowl. Fox has picked six of eight winners in the playoffs.

There is a decent shot that Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa will host at least one Wild Card team, as well as a chance TWO Wild Card teams will play each other for the first time in history. That would happen if the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens win this weekend. 

JoeBucsFan.com analyst Bob Fox says Ben Roethlisberger will not raise the Lombardi trophy for the second time in four years

Wild Card teams are 5-4 in the Super Bowl.  Actually, one could really say 6-4, as the Kansas City Chiefs were not a divisional champion in 1969, before the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970, and before they upset the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. 

The exclusive club of Super Bowl winners from the Wild Card ranks are the Oakland Raiders (XV), the Denver Broncos (XXXII), the Ravens (XXXV), the Pittsburgh Steelers (XL) and the Giants last year.

So big history could be made this weekend.  In fact, I think it will.

NFC

Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals

Who would have thought that when the Cardinals and Eagles squared off on Thanksgiving night in Philadelphia, it would be a warm up for the NFC Championship game, this time in Arizona.  I am not surprised to see the Eagles in this game, but the Cardinals have shocked me for two straight weeks.  First the Cardinals beat the Atlanta at home and then upset Carolina on the road. Unlike the regular season, the Cardinals are running the ball well now behind resurgent Edgerrin James, and defensively they are stopping the run effectively. Plus, the Cardinals still have a great passing game behind QB Kurt Warner and maybe the best WR in football, Larry Fitzgerald. The Cards expect WR Anquan Boldin to return Sunday, after Boldin missed last week due to a hamstring strain.

The Eagles hope they can have the same success that they had in the regular season matchup when the Eagles whipped the Cardinals 48-20.  That probably won’t happen, but the Eagles are still very dangerous. Quarterback Donovan McNabb is playing exceptionally right now. RB Brian Westbrook has been a little banged up and hasn’t been as effective in the playoffs as he was late in the season. But he is still  dangerous, as the Vikings found out in the first round of the playoffs, when Westbrook scored on a 71-yard screen pass. Westbrook also has a very capable back up in Correll Buckhalter.  The receiving corp is led by DeSean Jackson, who also is an explosive kick returner, and by a number of other options like Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant and others. But it is the Philly defense that will make the difference in this game with all of their exotic blitzes. The Eagles didn’t sack Warner in the regular season, but they did pressure him into throwing three interceptions.

Bottom line, I think the Cardinals will play much better this Sunday compared to the game on Thanksgiving. A Cards win wouldn’t shock me. Still, I like the Eagles to come out to the desert and win. I would not be surprised if the Cardinals win, they have given me my only two losses in the playoffs thus far. Philly will be able to make the big plays when needed both offensively and defensively. 

AFC

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Division rivals Baltimore and Pittsburgh meet for the third time this season. The previous games came down to the wire; one was an overtime game and the last one was determined in the last few seconds with the help of a VERY controversial call by the replay booth. Pittsburgh won that one and the division title. This game will rival any playoff game ever in terms of the hatred these two teams have for each other.  The other fascinating reason why this game will be enjoyable is the dominating presence of BOTH defenses. The Steelers and Ravens were ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in total defense in the NFL this regular season.

Both teams have VERY good players defensively.  The Steelers have NT Casey Hampton, LB James Harrison and S Troy Polamalu among others. The Ravens will counter with players such as NT Haloti Ngata, LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed. This game will probably be won by the team that forces the most turnovers. The Ravens have created nine turnovers in just two games thus far in the playoffs. Safety Jim Leonhard was in on three of them last week against Tennessee, as he forced an errant interception with a blitz, caused a fumble and recovered a fumble.  Plus, Leonhard returned a punt for more than 20 yards to set up a Ravens field goal.

Offensively, the Steelers will ride behind Big Ben Rothlisberger and his arm, as he tries to connect with Himes Ward, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller and others. The ground game was definitely ignited last week by the performance of Willie Parker, who ran for 146 yards against the Chargers. The Ravens will be led by rookie QB Joe Flacco, who has not turned the ball over once in the playoffs. Flacco also likes throwing to deep threat WR Derrick Mason and TE Todd Heap, as well. The Ravens ground game is led by Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee; both can break off a big gainer once in awhile. Just ask the Dallas Cowboys.

Bottom line, I see the Ravens shocking the Steelers in a very close game in Pittsburgh. Flacco has played a lot older than his years since Day 1, and I think he will continue to be smart with the football. Like the first two games against each other, this one should come down to the wire. The Ravens seem to be in the groove defensively creating turnovers, and that is where I see the difference in this game.

Joe understands Chucky might be returning to his Hooters roots, where he onced toiled in the kitchen as a teenager. In fact, Chucky was dining at a local restaurant upon learning of his demise. …Joe will offer more on that another day.

For the record, Joe cannot take credit for the photo. It is the handiwork of Mike Florio’s worker bees at ProFootballTalk.com.

The St. Pete Times is reporting Broncos offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates could run the offense for his good friend Raheem Morris

Look for young Broncos offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates to join the Bucs staff, along with fired Saints defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs to land in Tampa as an assistant head coach.

Those are the hot rumors from credible sources linked above. …We’ll see how it shakes out.

If Bates can bring Mike Shanahan’s proficiency of running the ball and his own experience of developing a young quarterback like Jay Cutler, Joe likes the Bucs’ potential behind their offensive line.

Joe can’t wait to hear what Morris and Dominik plan to do at the quarterback position.

Of course, Joe has video of what the NFL Network talking heads say about Chucky’s firing. Of course Roger Goodell won’t offer embed codes.

The first video displays Rod Woodson’s downright anger of how Chucky was fired. Let’s just say that Woodson is no friend of the Glazer Boys.

The second video is of NFL Network’s Adam Schefter discussing Chucky’s firing. The third and final video displays Rich Eisen and Schefter discussing the aftermath.

Bucs WR Michael Clayton raked Chucky over the coals in a radio interview shortly after Chucky's firing was made public.

The news of Jon Gruden’s firing may have pleased many a Bucs fan but no one seemed more ecstatic than Bucs wide receiver Michael Clayton.

Speaking with Nancy Donnellan of ESPN 1040 AM Friday, shortly after the news broke that Chucky (and Bruce Almighty) was fired, Clayton pulled no punches in describing how players were treated by Chucky.

In fact, Clayton trashed Chucky like few players Joe has ever heard, including Meshawn Johnson.

Granted, Clayton has had an erratic-at-best career with the Bucs. But that didn’t stop him from tearing Chucky to shreds. He noted how Gruden essentially treated injured players as third-class citizens, no matter how serious or legitimate the injury. If a player was injured, said Clayton, he was automatically in Chucky’s doghouse: a target of constant vulgar ridicule and scorn.

“You don’t treat people that way,” Clayton said.

Please note Clayton also played for a guy by the name of Nick Saban at LSU, who isn’t exactly a choir boy. Given Clayton’s tirade, that doesn’t say much for Chucky.

When Donnellan asked him if he would be interested in returning as a Bucs receiver, Clayton acknowledged he had a great deal of interest in staying to Tampa Bay and that he loved the area. Weeks ago he talked like a man dying to leave town.

When Clayton was asked if he would have considered resigning with the Bucs with Chucky as head coach, “an hour ago,” Clayton flatly stated, “No!”

Clayton was so descriptive and emotional in his dressing down of Chucky, that at the end of the interview, Donnellan thanked Clayton for “being so candid.”

"Look, I heard you the first time, Joel. I know. I have to hire Raheem as my defensive coordinator."

Joe’s going to stroke himself a moment and remind readers that JoeBucsFan.com was the only outlet to report Jon Gruden himself implied he was no longer wanted in Tampa back on Christmas Eve.

It was a rare slip of the tongue for Chucky. And, perhaps coincidentally, it came just one day before Raheem Morris was named defensive coordinator. 

Gruden made his admission to the Oakland media while talking about quarterback Josh Johnson.

““I don’t know if they’re going to give me enough time to develop him,” Gruden said.

Back then Joe wondered what Chucky knew. Perhaps he was forced into hiring Raheem by the Glazers and was feeling like he had lost his power?

Joe hopes one of the local Bucs beat writers will get to the bottom of this when Raheem Morris is introduced to the media as head coach.

Yes, it’s meaningless at this point. But it sure would be fun to know.

Joe says the Bucs will now make sure Jermaine Phillips returns in 2009

Let’s not forget new head coach Raheem Morris returned to coach the Bucs’ secondary in 2007, after his one-year stint as defensive coordinator at Kansas State.

The Bucs quickly went from 19th against the pass to No. 1 in the NFL. The guy is a teacher and a motivator.

And one of his best students has been strong safety Jermaine Phillips, who was by far the best of the Bucs’ secondary in 2008. Limited by injuries, Phillips was performing at a Pro Bowl level, and there was a noticeable drop in peformance when Sabby Piscatelli filled in.

Frankly, Phillips, 29, was the only guy on the Bucs’ defense who brought his A game and hit hard on every Sunday he played.

(Maybe the Bucs even hold that 10-point lead against Oakland with Phillips in there, and Chucky would still be in his office plotting more dump-off passes to John Gilmore.)

Regardless, Joe is confident that Morris and new GM Mark Dominik will make signing Phillips a major priority. He becomes a free agent next month.

It’s a critical move to keep one the Bucs’ few strenghts – the secondary – in tact.

Current BSPN NFL talking head and former Bucs QB Shaun King all but predicted Raheem Morris would be named head coach

Joe is ready to proclaim former Bucs quarterback and current BSPN talking head Shaun King a mind reader. Either that or the guy has unbelievable sources.

Appearing on a special edition of “The Blitz with Justin Pawlowski” on WDAE-AM 620 Friday night, King all but predicted the Bucs would name Raheem Morris as Chucky’s successor.

“I’ve got an inkling it’s not going to be a big name,” King, a former Gibbs High School quarterback, told Pawlowski. And King wasn’t very complimentary toward his former Bucs coach. The Bucs “have already had a Hollywood profile coach and it didn’t work out in the long run.

“I think the Bucs are going to want someone young. They’ve seen what’s happening in Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin.”

King appeared on Pawlowski’s show roughly two hours before Steve Duemig broke the news of Morris’ hiring.

Former Bucs QB and JoeBucsFan.com analyst Jeff Carlson says the Gruden-Allen era wiped out the Bucs' talent

Why did the Bucs’ owners fire the coach and general manager?

After seven seasons, the cupboard of talent on this team is almost bare and that is nothing but the result of poor management.

Jon Gruden said he wanted Jeff Garcia back as the starting quarterback at 39. Earnest Graham is the only running back with potential. Antonio Bryant is the only quality receiver on the team – and he’s a free agent. The defensive front is questionable. Barrett Ruud is a stud, but Cato June is a question and Derrick Brooks should be a reserve. Ronde Barber is going to the Pro Bowl, but should be a situational nickel-back. Most of the role players don’t have upside (future starter) potential.

Make no mistake that pro sports is an entertainment business. And as I watched the final game of the season against the Raiders from the back of the Club section (sparse crowd in that area), there was no entertaining going on.

Gruden’s offense hasn’t offered much in the way of entertainment since the playoff run that ended in the Lombardi Trophy. Plus the defense hasn’t been able to get within arm’s length of the opposing quarterback in some time.

The Glazers need to sell Pewter Partner sponsorships and luxury suites and, as Jon Gruden likes to say, that takes some “juice.” His players don’t have any juice, as witnessed by the December meltdown.

You can bet that in this country’s economic meltdown, sponsors weren’t going to pour juice into the Glazer’s coffers anymore with Gruden running the team.

She’ll always remain in our hearts and dreams, even if we never see her at a Bucs game again.

The Bucs latest moves to fire Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen means we’ll all likely have to say another goodbye.

And that sad farewell is to the lovely Carmella Garcia, wife of Jeff Garcia, who surely is not returning to the Bucs in 2009, unless he’s willing accept being a backup quarterback. It’s possible – he did just that in Philly – but it’s best that Joe just start to forget about Carmella.

We’ll miss you.

Raheem Morris will replace Jon Gruden. The hot young prospect has never been a pro coordinator. Mark Dominik is the Bucs new GM. He's another in-house hire.

Steve Duemig, of WDAE-AM, The Sports Animal, was first to report that Raheem Morris, just 32 years old, has been named the Bucs head coach. Mark Dominik a 13-year Bucs personnel executive is the new general manager.

Only weeks ago, Morris was named Monte Kiffin’s replacement at defensive coordinator. And Dominik was a leading candidate for the Chiefs’ general manager position.

Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas, of ESPN.com has confirmed the report.

Are the Bucs cutting payroll and going with the inexpensive young talent? Or are these guys the real deal?

Joe is excited.

Kudos to the Sports Animal for their fantastic coverage

Major props to 620 AM, The Sports Animal, for its outstanding coverage of the Bucs firing of Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen. They have stayed with live coverage hours after the announcement, which came about 6 p.m.

Joel Glazer spoke to the Sports Animal moments ago. 

“We made this decision after careful thought. …Carefully thought out. At the end of every season we sit down and evaluate every season.  … It was very emotional. It was an emotional end to the season. … We look at where we are and where we want to go. … This is the most dificult decision any franchise will make.

“You can’t point to one thing or three things or one play. …We owe it to our fans to make a decision in the bets interest of the Buccaneers.

“We have a plan on how we’ll go forward, and it will unfold in the coming days.”

"We whacked him. And it felt good. He let down the family."

Boy the Glazers are fascinating. They let Bruce Allen trot out in front of the Tampa Bay media last week and spend an hour twisting the truth and spinning a bunch of laughable answers to direct questions.

The Glazers must have had quite a laugh at that display. That was comically cruel, while they clearly were working the angles behind the scenes and preparing to fire the dynamic duo.

 It was almost poetic justice for Allen and Gruden, who worked the phones secretly courting Brett Favre last summer after Jeff Garcia had saved their jobs.

Know this, Bucs fans. The Glazers have a plan here. And we’ll all learn about it very soon – when they’re good and ready.

For now, we’ll speculate 10 reasons the Glazers fired Chucky.

1. Monte Kiffin ripped Chucky to shreds in his exit intervew
2. Glazers bet $2 million on the under in the last Carolina game
3. Al Davis laughed at the Glazers after the Oakland loss
4. Season ticket reps couldn’t get Tony Dungy to buy tickets
5. Joel Glazer’s new open-door policy saw 45 players lined up
6. Bryan Glazer signs Dexter Jackson’s paycheck
7. Joey Galloway was on the Glazer’s fantasy team
8. Cheerleaders quit citing nothing left to cheer about
9. The season ticket waiting list was down to 26.
10. Jerramy Stevens moved next door to Joel Glazer

"Am I hearing this right, man? Jimminy Christmas!"

 Jon Gruden Fired

Bruce Allen Fired

Check back soon for much more …

Had the Bucs somehow beaten the lowly Raiders in the last game of the season, thus qualifying for the NFC playoffs, the Bucs might have found themselves playing the Giants in the New Jersey Swamplands last week.

This video, shot last week at the Eagles-Giants game, shows just what fun Bucs fans would have missed had they traveled to New Jersey.

There’s nothing like tailgating in freezing weather between a dumpster and a row of porta-potties in the midst of drunken Giants fans.

Ah, East Rutherford.

America's worst defensive coordinator has a new job - Bucs linebackers coach

The hard-working Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas of ESPN.com is reporting Joe Barry, commander-in-chief of the NFL’s worst defense in 2009, is returning to Tampa Bay to become Bucs linebackers coach.

It seems Barry’s pleading for a job has come to an end.

Joe has no personal beef with Barry, and surely if he wasn’t a capable coach during his last tenure here, Monte Kiffin would have sent him packing. But it just doesn’t sit well with Joe to have anyone associated with the 0-16 Lions join the Bucs organization in ’09, let alone Detroit’s defensive coordinator.

Oh, well. Joe is confident Raheem knows best.

San Diego scribes report L.T. is expected join the list of free agent running backs in 2009

Joe stays up late yearning for a free invite to the always-wild Maxim Super Bowl party, as well as a stud running back to team with Earnest Graham.

As for the backfield fantasy, Brandon Jacobs is the choice, if the Giants let him walk. But now LaDainian Tomlinson is sure to be on the market, says San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Tim Sullivan.

Since Tomlinson represents an $8.8 million cap hit for 2009, and since the Chargers could clear $6.725 million of that by deleting his salary, LT might as well be auditioning for the role of Maria Von Trapp.

Thus what would have seemed unthinkable less than a year ago now appears almost inevitable: that the Chargers will dump Tomlinson rather than continuing to pay him. Despite all of his accomplishments, and the career records still within his reach, LT is now dogged by the dangerous perception that he has reached the point of diminishing returns.

Joe thinks Tomlinson still has a Pro Bowl or two left in him. (Ahh, the dreaming is getting interesting.) Regardless, the Bucs need to improve greatly at running back, if they are being honest about their faith in the young offensive line.

Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas, who covers the NFC South for ESPN.com, reports the Bucs will be one of the most aggressive teams in free agency.

Joe’s not going to bet a nickel on that. But the Bucs are sure to go after at least one big name, after throwing big money at Antonio Bryant and Jermaine Phillips. And, while many might cringe and disagree, Joe believes Jeff Garcia will be offered some cash as well for 2009.

Tampa Bay has $40.4 million to throw around this year, reports Yasinskas. Compare that to New Orleans, which is over the cap, and Carolina and Atlanta, which are about $10 million and $20 million under, respectively.

Yasinskas also writes that Joey Galloway will “almost certainly be released,” providing the Bucs even more cap space. But Joe wouldn’t bet on that either. Galloway and Chucky could easily rekindle their old love affair in 2009, as Joe commented after Galloway’s final radio show on WDAE-AM. If Galloway comes to camp healthy, Chucky might just give him quite a hug.

All-time good guy and provider of houses to working single moms, Bucs running back Warrick Dunn is a finalist for the 2008 Bart Starr Award. The award honors one NFL player annually for exemplary character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.

Dunn is a finalist along with Drew Brees and Kurt Warner.

The winner of the Bart Starr Award will be announced during the 22nd annual NFL-sanctioned Super Bowl Breakfast, hosted by Athletes in Action on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 8 a.m. at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-866-448-7849.

The 2009 program features NFL athletes and coaches, including  Tony Dungy, NFL Hall of Famers Bart Starr and Anthony Munoz, and Bucs legend Derrick Brooks. Former San Francisco 49er Brent Jones is emcee.

Both Brooks and John Lynch are past winners of the honor. Learn more about the Super Bowl breakfast at SuperBowlBreakfast.com.

Joe is scheduled as a guest this morning on The Ron Diaz and Ian Beckles Show heard locally in the Tampa Bay area on WDAE-AM 620, The Sports Animal. Expect Joe to be on the air with Ron and Ian about 10 a.m.

Joe likely will discuss the Bill Parcells-Antonio Bryant tampering issue along with the “Fuzzy Math” of the Bucs, among other topics.

JoeBucsFan.com readers who can’t be near a radio or live outside the signal’s reach can listen to Ron and Ian via streaming audio on the station Web site.

Thanks for listening.

Dolphins executive Bill Parcells knows all too well what tampering is and may have done it again.

About a month ago, Joe read an article by Sean Jensen of Yahoo! Sports on the resurrection of Bucs wide receiver Antonio Bryant. In that article, a quote from Bryant jumped off of Joe’s computer monitor.

Bryant says he has spoken to [Bill} Parcells “on several occasions” and that the current Dolphins executive vice president “sends messages to me through other coaches.”

Among the messages: “Keep it up,” Bryant says.

(Parcells declined interview requests for this story, a Dolphins spokesman said last week.)

Joe quickly became curious as to why Parcells, otherwise known as “The Tuna,” would need a third-party, specifically third-party coaches, to talk to Bryant? Why not pick up the phone himself?

Second, what messages was Tuna sending to Bryant, his former player in Dallas?

Then it hit Joe: Bryant is a free agent after the season. Was Tuna, who has a history of being fingered for tampering, trying to lay the groundwork for Bryant to come to Miami for the 2009 season? It’s not like Tuna had never been accused of tampering in connection with the Bucs before.

So Joe reached out to a contact he has in the NFL front offices in New York recently to try to obtain the official NFL definition for tampering. Here’s what Joe learned:

Per the NFL’s Anti-Tampering Policy, the league defines tampering as:

The term tampering, as used within the National Football League, refers to any interference by a member club with the employer-employee relationship of another club or any attempt by a club to impermissibly induce a person to seek employment with that club or with the NFL.

Now granted, Joe is going on what Bryant told Jensen. If Bryant is to be believed, and if he was not yanking Jensen’s chain, there has been multiple times a third party of Tuna’s has contacted Bryant this past season. That’s not very kosher in the NFL’s eyes. Again, verbatim from the NFL tampering policy document:

Example of Tampering.

The following chain of events is enumerated here as one example of a violation of the policy against tampering with another club’s players:

1. A club’s representative, or a third-party intermediary of that club (Club A), is involved in a private meeting or conversation with a player (or his representative) who is under contract to, or whose negotiating rights are held by, another club (Club B); and

2. The League obtains substantiation that after or during the above contact with the player, Club A has stated, publicly or privately, its interest in obtaining his services (see “Public/Private Statements” below); and

3. Contract problems or other disputes subsequently arise between the player and Club B (for example, the player’s failure to report on time to Club B).

Well, news leaked out recently that the Bucs are in the midst of negotiations to resign Bryant. And if they bog down, the Bucs may slap Bryant with the franchise tag. With all the cap space the Bucs have, why use the franchise tag unless there may be a snag in negotiations and have contract negotiations stalled possibly because Tuna may be waving a carrot in front of Bryant’s face?

Though Joe is not a lawyer, and doesn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express, it seems that, again, if Bryant is honest, Tuna could still be hit with tampering charges for employing a third-party to speak to Bryant. Once again, Joe quotes the NFL Tampering Policy:

In circumstances like those of the example above, tampering will be found even in the absence of a demonstrated cause-and-effect relationship between the player’s contract problems and his prior involvement with the other club. In other words, a club will not be able to defend a tampering charge in these circumstances by asserting that its private contact with a player (or the player’s representative) did not involve any expression of interest in the player or was not related in any way to the player’s subsequent contract problem with his club.

It appears that, provided Bryant wasn’t feeding Jensen a line of fertilizer, if the Glazer Boys or Bruce Almighty wanted to, they could go forward with tampering charges against Tuna.

Given Tuna’s history of tampering, Joe believes the Bucs should press forward with this issue.

A Bucs spokesman says the NFL stats policy is particularly unfair to Barrett Ruud

Ronde Barber had 100 tackles this season. It says so right on Barber’s Pro Bowl press release issued by the team and in the stats at Buccaneers.com. So it must be true, right?

Maybe not.

Tackles, while widely quoted as a player stat by the media, are considered an unofficial stat in the NFL. That means the NFL doesn’t care if the numbers recorded are accurate. And Roger Goodell is not concerned that these numbers are used by millions of fans, plus coaches and players, to cast an allegedly intelligent vote for the Pro Bowl.

League stats posted on NFL.com show Barber with 75 tackles (67 solo and 8 assists). But the Bucs Web site shows 100 tackles (70 solo and 30 assists).

Similar discrepancies exist for every Bucs player Joe researched: Gaines Adams, Aqib Talib, Tanard Jackson, Barrett Ruud, Kevin Carter, Jovan Haye, Derrick Brooks and Phillip Buchanon.

All of them have significantly more solo and assisted tackles on the Bucs site versus on NFL.com.

How could this be? Especially in the category of solo tackles. There can only be so many tackles in one game. Right?

Joe asked Bucs spokesman Jeff Kamis to explain.

Kamis said the official line is that recording tackles during live action is very difficult and Bucs coaches review game films and provide new stats to the media relations department the day after a game. The Bucs then present those stats to the media and on the team Web site.

But NFL.com only uses the stats initially recorded at the game from the press box, Kamis said, and the league has no interest in recording revised, accurate stats from its teams.

“You look at Barrett Ruud who has 178 tackles, and NFL.com has him for 130 or so,” Kamis said. “It’s unfair to Ruud. The NFL.com stats are misleading.”

Kamis said the NFL is acutely aware of the inaccuracies.

“For whatever reason, they’ve determined tackles aren’t going to be an official stat,” Kamis said. “It’s been a point of discussion since I’ve been in the league, about nine years.”

The Bucs are one of only a few NFL teams that publish revised stats for its defensive players – offensive stats are all official. The other teams just defer to NFL.com.

The fact Bucs coaches track tackles concerns Joe. Given Joe’s many years covering sports on all levels, coaches are wont to sometimes wildly exaggerate statistics for the benefit of their own players and many coaches have no real desire to be remotely accurate.

Joe is very curious whether Bucs officials and player agents use NFL.com stats or the bloated in-house numbers when it comes time to determine a player’s contractual value. Kamis didn’t have an answer avaiable at press time for that.

Regardless, the NFL is ridiculous for not making a statistic as basic as tackles an official stat. Who would get hurt if they did?

In general, Joe is not a stat guy. But if the NFL is going to put them out there as facts, then they should at least make every effort to get them right.