The Tuna, Dolphins executive Bill Parcells, is sending messages to Bucs receiver Antonio Bryant through intermediaries. Since Bryant is an unrestricted free agent after the season, Joe considers this tampering.

Not sure if JoeBucsFan.com visitors have read the fantastic piece on Antonio Bryant yet, about how the embattled wide receiver found his way to Tampa Bay. But please do yourself a favor. It’s a fascinating read.

After a second look at the story, an element jumped out at Joe that disturbed him concerning Bryant’s relationship with current Dolphins executive Bill Parcells, the Tuna, who Bryant refers to as “The Godfather:”

Yet Bryant says he and Parcells cleared the air, with the coach informing the receiver of his clashes with former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Bryant says he has spoken to 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.)

Of course, Tuna won’t comment. He’s dangerously close to tampering. And if Tuna thinks so much of Bryant, why go through secondary sources? Oh, that’s right. That would be tampering, no?

Joe suggests Bucs fans keep an eye on this. If some how Bryant winds up on the Dolphins roster next year, Bruce Almighty should press tampering charges.

It's difficult dispute that the best development for the Bucs this season is the emergence of WR Antonio Bryant.

Clearly one of the bright spots of the season, no matter how it ends for the Bucs, is the emergence of wide receiver Antonio Bryant into an elite NFL player. Bryant, who has a checkered history in the NFL, last played in San Francisco where he was paired with one of the greatest NFL draft busts in recent years, quarterback Alex Smith.

Partially, the 49ers and coach Mike Nolan cut Bryant because of Bryant’s inability to mesh with Smith, as Sean Jensen of Yahoo! Sports writes.

Bryant says Smith operated under a different set of rules and that he was slow to pick up the 49ers offense.

“You go to practice, and you go over something over and over again,” Bryant says. “When are you going to figure this out?”

Then-49ers coach Mike Nolan says he mishandled his receiver and regretted the team’s decision to release him.

“He was the best receiver we had in San Francisco, in the time I was here,” says Nolan, fired by the 49ers in October. “Looking back on it, I actually made a mistake in letting him go. I think I put too much blame on Antonio, as far as his relationship with the quarterback.

“As it turns out, it was not all his doing. I blamed him for more than he should have been blamed for. There’s no question he was making more effort than I was made aware of. I truly regret that.”

Bryant was no angel prior to coming to the Bucs and whether he would even make the team was very much up in the air during the preseason. Thankfully, Bryant proved he was more than capable.

Joe’s not sure if the Bucs would be in the playoff hunt without Bryant.

Of course,  who can forget this catch:

JoeBucsFan.com analyst Bob Fox picks the Eagles to nab one of the two NFC Wild Card spots. He writes Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb are at the top of their games.

The Giants have clinched the East, but they still haven’t clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.  The Cowboys seem to be imploding, as their loss in Pittsburgh illustrated, plus you have owner Jerry Jones questioning the manhood of Marion Barber, and Terrell Owens is performing his usual childish and paranoid act that calls out his quarterback (this time it’s Tony Romo).  The Eagles, a team that went through the tired T.O. act once, is playing the best football in the division now. QB Donovan McNabb and RB Brian Westbrook are razor sharp, playing their best football of 2008 right now.  The Redskins lost a key game last week against the Ravens last week that would have set up their playoff chances.  Right now, I would bet on the Eagles to be the Wild Card team that comes out of this division, as they have to play Washington (road) and Dallas (home) one more time apiece, after a date with the suddenly QB-less Cleveland Browns at home on Monday night.

NFC North

Minnesota Vikings 8-5

Chicago Bears 8-6

Green Bay Packers 5-8

Detroit Lions 0-13

The 2008 season may be one of the rare times a division winner will end up 8-8.  The Vikings are not playing that well, but are winning close games they probably should have lost.  The Vikes finish against the Cards on the road, and then host Atlanta and the Giants at home.  It would not surprise me to see Minnesota lose its last three games to finish 8-8, especially because the Falcons and Giants may have need those games.  The Bears won a key game Thursday night against the Saints at Soldier Field, but they finish with the Packers on Monday night and then finish at Houston.  Again, I would not be surprised to see the Bears lose their last 2 games to finish 8-8.  The Packers would need a miracle finish –  three straight – to finish 8-8, as they play at Jacksonville and Chicago and then finish at Lambeau against the lowly Lions.  However, if the Packers do finish 8-8, which isn’t likely, they would win the divisional tiebreaker if the Vikings or Bears are also 8-8.

NFC South

Carolina Panthers 10-3

Tampa Bay Bucs 9-4

Atlanta Falcons 8-5

New Orleans Saints 7-7

The Panthers won a key game Monday  as they dominated the Bucs in the ground game, as both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart had over 100 yards rushing.  To me, that was a fluke or an aberration against the usually stout Buc defense.  The Bucs can still make the playoffs, and even the NFC South crown a reality, if they run the table.  But it ALL starts at Atlanta.  That will be a huge game for both teams.  The Falcons are the Bucs biggest rival for the Wild Card spot, along with the Cowboys, who beat the Bucs earlier this year.  If the Bucs beat the Falcons, it certainly will impove Tampa Bay’s Wild Card chances.  Atlanta will bring an attack like Carolina did; The Falcons are second in the NFL in rushing with Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood leading the way.  If the Bucs win on Sunday, then the pressure is on the Panthers, who have to face the dangerous Denver Broncos and their big play passing game Sunday, and then travel to face the Giants on the road and then to New Orleans, where the Saints are very tough.  The Bucs meanwhile, close the season at home against the Chargers and the hapless Raiders.  The Bucs are 6-0 at the Ray Jay this year, as well.  If the Bucs run the table, and the Panthers lose to either the Giants or the Saints, then the Bucs win the NFC South and probably a No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.  I still think either the Bucs or Panthers will gain a Wild Card spot in the NFC, but look out for the Falcons if they win Sunday vs. the Bucs in Atlanta.

NFC West

z- Arizona Cardinals 8-5

San Francisco 49ers 5-8

St. Louis Rams 2-11

Seattle Seahawks 2-11

The Cardinals have clinched their first division title since 1975, and will host a home playoff game for the first time since 1947.  What does that tell you?  Tampa Bay fans have complained about Hugh Culverhouse and also about the Glazer family, but those owners have NOTHING on the Bidwell family that runs the Cardinals organization.  The Bidwell’s have also moved the Cards from Chicago to St. Louis to Arizona.  The Cards have been in the NFL as long as the Bears (1920) and and were around a year earlier than the Packers (1921).  But the Cards have won just two championships, compared to 12 by by the Packers and nine by the Bears.  The reason?  It starts with the owners.  The Bidwell family has owned the team since 1932.�

z– Clinched Division

Last Sunday was one of the few days the Bucs were better off without Brett Favre. In a 24-14 loss to the 49ers in San Francisco, Favre connected on 20 of 31 passes for a paltry 137 yards. Favre also had an interception.

Monday against the stinking Panthers, Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia threw two touchdown passes and hooked up 24 times in 38 attempts for 321 yards.

In a rare feat, last week the Bucs were better off with Garcia than Favre.

A trio of BSPN personalities, including Mike Golic, preview the Bucs game Sunday against the Dixie Chicks.

Joe will appear this afternoon on “Happy Hour with J.P. Peterson” at roughly 3:45 p.m. The show can be heard locally in the Tampa Bay area on WQYK-AM 1010. It also can be heard on the Internet via streaming from the station’s website.

Among many Bucs stories Joe is expected to discuss with J.P. (and his co-host/producer Dave Ortiz) are Chucky waffling on starting quarterback Jeff Garcia and Warrick Dunn’s all too big heart.

Please tune in.

Joe has learned Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia will start Sunday at Atlanta not because Chucky needs him; not because his teammates need him; not because this game may be critical for a Bucs playoff appearance.

Garcia will start because the kids need him.

Faced with the unthinkable — no football — due to a lack of funds for youngsters playing Pop Warner football in Garcia’s hometown of Gilroy, Calif., a local watering hole has decided to take care of matters, so reports Josh Koehn of the Gilroy (Calif.) Dispatch.

Realizing how tough times have gotten to raise money during the current economic crisis, Stubby’s Sports Bar & Grill owner John Steiber recently decided to pitch in by asking customers if they were interested in making a donation for each touchdown Garcia pitches in the month of December.

As of kickoff for the Monday Night Football game between Tampa Bay and Carolina, Steiber has garnered a pledge total of $237.60 per touchdown pass.

Koehn also writes that interested parties wanting to donate can contact Steiber at (408) 848-3455. So now Bucs fans have twice as many reasons to pull for a Garcia touchdown.

Joe was suspicious from the word “go” when rumors began floating out of One Buc Palace that Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia may not play due to missed practice time from a sore right calf. And if Woody Cummings’ report on TBO.com is to be believed, Joe’s cynicism was accurate.

Garcia is expected to start.

“He was limited,’’ Gruden said. “He didn’t do a lot but after talking to the trainers and talking to Jeff we think he’s got a chance to play. We’re hopeful he can play. Jeff’s our starter and we’ll leave it at that. If we have to make an adjustment we will.’’

Unless Garcia was missing a right leg, Chucky was going to start him. And Garcia wasn’t going to let Chucky take him off the field, 100 percent or not. This may be the Bucs’ biggest game of the season.

Joe is confident Camella is pleased with the news.

Tiffany Simons and Gregg Rosenthal debate whether to play Bucs running back Warrick Dunn in your fantasy football league roster moves.

Joe is not a fantasy football player. He’s bringing you this video only because he likes to look at Simons. Through exhaustive research, Joe found Simons finished sixth in the Miss Florida pageant in 2005. Additionally through the same research, Joe is led to believe — but cannot confirm — she was a cheerleader at Florida State.

Joe is not familiar with Rosenthal but finds it curious he discusses the attributes of an NFL player’s private anatomy with Simons.

"I'm smiling now. But if that sawed off little Vince Lombardi wannabe with a visor sits me in Atlanta, Im going to go ballistic. That SOB."

Luke McCown has taken most of the snaps at quarterback during practice this week because a calf injury has limited Jeff Garcia, reports both the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune.

Joe’s not taking the bait that Garcia has anything resembling a serious injury.

That’s something for Falcons’ coaches to stress about and prepare for McCown, and that’s why the Bucs are playing this injury game. Tampa Bay needs every edge it can muster to churn out a road win against the Falcons on Sunday.

This is nothing more than Chucky playing mind games with Mike Smith. Then again, when isn’t Chucky playing mind games?

Since Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan first played the Bucs in September, he has gone from an inexperienced rookie to a stud NFL quarterback.

When the Bucs hosted Matt Ryan and the Dixie Chicks in Week 2 of the season, the former Boston College star and rookie Atlanta quarterback was more familiar with Mickey Andrews’ defensive schemes than he was Monte Kiffin’s; more familiar with linebacker Geno Hayes than Derrick Brooks.

But a lot has changed in the past three months writes Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ryan has gone from a former All-American with limited experience to a potential Pro Bowl quarterback with significant savvy. And Ryan’s play is a big reason why the Dixie Chicks are pounding on the NFL playoff door.

For the first half of that game in Tampa, Ryan looked about as overwhelmed as a quarterback can look. Playing in only his second NFL game, he threw nine times before he completed a pass to one of his teammates.

By the time he hit Roddy White for a 9-yard gain with 6:22 left in the second quarter, he’d thrown two interceptions, which led to 10 Tampa points. He’d also had a pass slip out of his hand and bounce backward for an 11-yard loss.

The Bucs rattled him with the blitz and old-fashioned physical intimidation.

They sacked Ryan a season-high four times and delivered 14 other quarterback hits. Ryan took one helmet-to-helmet blow following an interception, which got cornerback Elbert Mack a one-game suspension.

Just to give Bucs fans an idea of how well Ryan has played this season, he has more passing yards (2,940) than some of top quarterbacks in the game including Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger.

Joe has a very bad feeling about this game. And the development of Ryan into an elite NFL quarterback is one of those reasons.

Bucs defensive lineman Kevin Carter needs to have a monster game for the Bucs to burn Atlanta Sunday.

The Professor, better known as BSPN’s John Clayton, took a brief look at the Bucs-Dixie Chicks game this week.

Monday night was a wake-up call for the Bucs’ defense. Though Tampa Bay’s defense has been solid all season, the Panthers overpowered the Bucs with 299 rushing yards in a 38-23 pounding. Big, powerful, no-nonsense offensive lines can take advantage of the light Tampa Bay defensive line.

Joe is more than a little concerned about this game. The Bucs D-line is banged up, and Tampa Bay is traveling after a short week, and we all know that no NFC South team has won a division game on the road.

Charley Casserly and Jason Horowitz of CBSSports.com preview the Bucs-Panthers game. BOth talk about how no NFC South team has beaten a division foe on the road this season.

Watch CBS Videos Online

The way Warrick Dunn is going, he will fix the housing crisis single-handedly. Yet again, the little running back with the big heart bought a needy family a house. While this is hardly the first time Dunn has done such a thing — he’s been buying houses for the less fortunate since the Bucs drafted him 11 years ago — it never gets old.

Here’s his latest gift:

Clark Judge of CBSSports.com suggests Carmella's husband is "underappreciated."

It seems as if Clark Judge (not to be confused with Mike Judge of “Beavis and Butthead” fame) has dug up an old wound. He writes for CBSSports.com that Garcia is “underappreciated” and recounts how he had to fight for his starting quarterback job back after being benched for Son of Bob perhaps the most mind-blowing of too-many-to-count decisions from the deranged mind of Chucky.

It’s always something with him. When he became a free agent a year ago, only Tampa Bay, Oakland and Houston showed up at his door. So he proved to Tampa Bay that he was the quarterback it needed. Then, when he was benched a year later for Brian Griese, he was forced to swing into a familiar course of action.

“I felt like I had to re-prove that I belong as a starting quarterback,” said Garcia, whose contract expires after this year, “and that I’m capable of leading this team and doing the necessary things to help this team win games.

“As much as I can say, ‘At this point of my career why do I have to continue to prove myself?’ it just seems like that’s the battle I have to face every single year. It does get tiring, but it’s nothing new for me.”

And that’s what I don’t get. He makes the Pro Bowl three consecutive seasons in San Francisco and wins a division title there. He takes over for an injured Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia and leads the Eagles to a division championship. Then he steps into the Tampa Bay huddle and takes the last-place Bucs to the top of the NFC South.

Let’s see, that’s three Pro Bowls and three division titles. Something must be right, and that something is Jeff Garcia.

Joe is on record as a big Garcia booster. He saved Chucky’s job last year and we have all seen how rancid Son of Bob is behind center. If not for Garcia, not only are the Bucs not in the playoff hunt, Chucky is working with his brother in the arena league.

Sure, Garcia might set himself up for more sacks than necessary and he may not look downfield enough. But without him, the Bucs are screwed.

Speaking of underappreciated:

Well, the Bucs can actually clinch a playoff berth this week, if information released by the NFL front offices Wednesday is accurate.

Per Adam Shefter of NFL Network, the Bucs could be playoff bound if they win and get some help.

Tampa Bay clinches a playoff spot with:

1) TB win + DAL loss or tie OR
2) TB win + PHI loss or tie.

Joe hopes one of the above factors plays out. But Joe may be overly worried about the Dixie Chicks.

Well, it must be real because Joe is reading this all over, so it appears the Tampa Bay Storm will, in fact, play football in 2009. That’s good news for local football fans.

Joe promises he will only post arena football stuff here if it’s highly important. And if a league talks about cancelling a season, Joe considers that important.

NBCSports.com’s Tom Curran, choosing his weekly Rising/Falling elements of the NFL, makes an analogy of how the Bucs playing on the road remind him of a senile old man. Curran colors a more vivid picture that Joe will let you discover at your own convenience.

Something to do with underwear.

Judging from his quotes, Bucs linebacker Barrett Ruud seems deeply disturbed by the loss to the stinking Panthers. Joe was disturbed too.

The Bucs returned to One Buc Palace Wednesday and seem to be deeply shaken by the ugly loss Monday to the stinking Panthers, so reports The Sports Xchange via CBSSports.com.

“It is embarrassing,” linebacker Barrett Ruud said. “You don’t get many opportunities to have that national audience. This is by far our worst game of the year. We know we’re not that team we showed out there (Monday). But it is what it is. We did it in front of national TV. Now we’ve got to regroup with one less day and go play Atlanta.”

Yeah, it was embarrassing. But the Bucs have to move on. A loss to the Dixie Chicks Sunday and Bucs fans can pretty much forget a playoff spot.

Yesterday Joe pointed out a fantastic article written by JoeBucsFan.com analyst Steve Campbell where he detailed how Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia was at fault for a number of the recent surge of sacks given up the Bucs.

Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune explained how Garcia has been sacked 15 times in the past three games. Joe wanted readers to make sure they read Campbell’s article so as not to drop all the blame at the feet of the Bucs offensive line (not that they are totally innocent either).

Well, it seems Campbell was right. Garcia even said so.

Speaking to Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune Wednesday, Garcia accepted blame for some of the sacks.

“It’s just unfortunate. I realize we have been sacked quite a bit more in the past three weeks. That’s something that personally I would like to talk to [Buccaneers offensive line coach] Bill [Muir] about what I can do to help the team out in that sort of situation,” Garcia said. “Part of it is just getting caught in situations where either I’m getting stuck holding onto the ball or having one mistake in one place that’s allowing pressure to get through.”

Joe is not one to blow his own trumpet. But darn it, Joe is beyond fortunate to have someone like Campbell writing for him. Please do yourself a favor and be sure to read his weekly breakdowns of the Bucs offensive line. You are welcome.

Campbell was also correct when he mentioned to Joe that pictures and videos of Carmella add a certain spice to Joe’s blog.

Former Bucs great Warren Sapp appeared on the “Boomer and Carton Show” on WFAN radio out of New York this morning and had some interesting things to say as can be expected from the outspoken Sapp.

(Full disclosure: Joe went to the WFAN website for completely unrelated reasons. Joe is not a fan of any New York team, though he pities the Jets. The closest Joe has ever come to New York is either Pittsburgh or Washington, D.C.)

Since Sapp was on a New York station, of course the Plaxico Burress (i.e. nitwit with a gun) story came up and Sapp talked about how he got a little static from the Bucs for bringing his gun to One Buc Place. Sapp went on to say how the NFL bans any type of firearms at all NFL facilities.

“I tell them my gun don’t leave my car. But they said, ‘But Warren, you can’t bring it to One Buc Place.”

Sapp said one reason he had a gun is that so many people in Florida also have guns.

“You would be a fool not to have personal protection in Florida.”

Sapp ripped Burress for being a moron saying if Burress actually did take a class on gun ownership, how is it Burress didn’t know local gun laws or how come Burress didn’t know how to safely handle the gun?

When asked to guess how many NFL players own guns, Sapp said, “Ninety percent. Most of us are country boys coming from the woods. You telling me country boys don’t have guns? You telling me country boys don’t go hunting?

“But packing? I would hope zero.”

Sapp thinks the horrible Bucs loss to the stinking Panthers might be a good thing.

“They need to feel disrespected. Oh my God [Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin’s] must be screaming at the top of his lungs right now.”

Sapp also said he has patched things up with Meshawn Johnson (through intermediary Cris Carter) after a few verbal incidents earlier this season.