FEATURE EXCERPT: “Galloway is finally healthy now.  The Bucs have to find a way to get him on the field together with Bryant.  Look at the Arizona Cardinals with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.  Look at the Indianapolis Colts with Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison.  Look at the Green Bay Packers with Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. Look how Jon Gruden found over 220 receptions for Keenan McCardell, Keyshawn Johnson and Joe Jurevicious in 2002.”

Click here for the full story in the JoeBucsFan.com Features section.

Gil Brandt of NFL.com suggests that if Bucs linebacker Barrett Ruud has a solid game, the Bucs have a good chance of winning Monday night.

Gil Brandt of NFL.com writes a piece of what he thinks will be the key matchup in the Bucs game with the Panthers Monday night. In short, if linebacker Barrett Ruud can shut down the Panthers running game, the Bucs have a solid chance of winning.

In fact, Brandt seems smitten with Ruud.

Ruud is a fourth-year player, in his second year as a full-time starter. He plays every down, makes all the defensive calls, and is a very aggressive competitor with the ability to play in space. Ruud led the Bucs with 169 tackles in 2007 and has 95 tackles through 12 games this season — that’s almost double the team’s second-leading tackler, veteran LB Derrick Brooks. He also has two interceptions and three sacks. Ruud is a very underrated player.

The way the Bucs offense, specifically Chucky’s play-calling, loves to try to dink-and-dunk opponents to death, the Bucs defense better be strong. Joe doesn’t believe the Bucs can come from too far from behind against the Panthers. So Monte Kiffin’s defense better be up to the task, just like when the teams played earlier this year at the CITS.

Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com has a video report called “Playoff Watch.” He dissects how the NFC playoff picture shakes out with four games left in the season.

Smith suggest that, given NFL history, the Bucs will win this game and win the NFC South. Check out his explanation.

Joe apologizes for Roger Goodell not coughing up embed codes.

Written for CBSSports.com, The Sports Xchange claims the Bucs will need to get creative to compensate for the loss of defensive tackle Jovan Haye.

To paraphrase a favorite phrase of Mike Florio, the creator, curator and guru of ProFootballTalk.com, Joe has unearthed a great feature on CBSSports.com that previews in great detail each week’s games.

For the Bucs-Panthers game, the three-part article from The Sports Xchange sums up how the Bucs will battle the Panthers on defense.

The Bucs may have to get creative on the defensive line with injuries to Jovan Haye (knee) and Gaines Adams (hip pointer). Haye’s injury appears more serious of the two, so DT Ryan Sims may have to participate in more plays.

In the future, Joe will try to link to these articles as they are great in detail with lots of juicy nuggets.

Jeff Garcia has revealed his bedtime is 8:30 p.m. Joe hopes that's just light-out time with his lovely wife Carmella.

Talking about preparing for Monday Night Football, Jeff Garcia told the Tampa Tribune he’s usually in bed by 8:30 p.m.

Wow. Those hard partying days Garcia was known for in San Francisco are long gone.

Perhaps the early bedtime is because Garcia has been tired lately from late nights with his baby, according to his father’s blog (which has disappeared) for the Gilroy Dispatch.

Joe can only speculate how Garcia might be entertaining himself in bed at 8:30.

Hmmmm. We’re pulling for you, Jeff.

Bucs wide receiver Michael Clayton owns a gun. Big deal!

In the wake of Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress (who Steelers fans still refer to as “Plexiglass”) being a moron (yeah, Joe knows that’s a redundant phrase), some members of the MSM are going to hysterical lengths to brand guns as the most evil aspect of American life.

Stephen F. Holder of the St. Petersburg Times sort of jumped on the bandwagon of the “Guns in the NFL” hysteria with an article Thursday that was curiously crafted, possibly by a copy editor at the far-left leaning Times.

While the story was mostly reasoned, Joe wonders why the critical element of the story – clearly spurred by Burress’ criminal misconduct and abject ignorance — was buried in the latter part of Holder’s article?

Receiver Michael Clayton, 26, owns multiple weapons but emphasizes responsible use.

“You have to really know your weapon,” he said. “It’s not just something you carry around and mess with. You need to know how to handle it, how to take it apart, everything. It has to be your best friend, because if you’re in a situation where you have to use it, you can’t be messing up.

“I have a family to protect, and I will protect myself at all times. But I’m very careful with my weapons. I use them at the range, and everything I do with them is legal. I keep them locked up around my kids, and I take all the precautions you have to take with weapons.”

Look, Joe isn’t going to go all Second Amendment today. Joe doesn’t own a gun and has no plans on purchasing one. But Joe isn’t anti-gun, either.

Joe grew up in a small town where people often left their doors unlocked at night. It was also a community in which hunting is popular and many, if not the majority of households, had firearms. To this day, Joe wouldn’t be surprised if more families there had guns than Internet access.

Yet it wasn’t until Joe left for college (and never returned home) that a murder occurred in the town: a crime of passion. Few citizens in the burg could remember the last local murder in town.

What does all this tell Joe? That if guns are used responsibly by responsible people they are harmless. Joe still can’t figure out how, if a human being doesn’t load a gun and doesn’t pull a trigger, the inanimate object can be dangerous.

Joe doesn’t have a problem whatsoever with anyone owning a firearm so long as the person knows how to handle it and isn’t an idiot.

Walking around with a loaded rod in your pocket is moronic beyond words. Walking into a bar at 2 a.m. with a loaded rod in your pocket is begging for trouble. Who the hell brings a gun into a bar and why the hell would you even want to go to that bar if you have to pack heat?

That’s like saying you want to go to Iraq!

This whole issue has zero to do with guns but everything to do with the functionally retarded masquerading as products of higher institute of learning.

Like matches, children or morons shouldn’t play with guns. Joe has zero problem with any Bucs owning a firearm. Last Joe checked it’s still legal in the United States.

Just don’t bring the gun into a bar (especially if you don’t know how to use it) and please don’t flash it in front of a high school.

Joe hopes Greg White was distracted by cheerleaders and not serious when he said the Bucs pass rush doesn't want to "peak too soon"

Joe’s internal spin meter blew a fuse when he read the following quote from defensive end Greg White on TBO.com Thursday.

White was asked about the Bucs pass rush, which is clearly the one weakness of this great defense. White implied there was some master plan to reveal a bigger and better pass rush later in the season.

Huh?

On if the defensive line is feeling like the pass rush is getting where it needs to be
“Yes and no. We don’t want to peak too soon. We’ve still got a long way to go. We’re trying to rush smart, if you can believe that. We’re really trying to be smart on how we pass rush, when we pass rush and what stunts work best when we do pass rush.”

Joe respectfully asks White to please, please lose this mindset and “peak too soon” with all of his linemates. Let it all go, man. Start in Carolina, and the finish peaking in Atlanta the following week.

Mr. White, if all that peaking in Carolina and Atlanta screws up the pass rush against San Diego and Oakland to close the season, that’s just fine. You won’t need it anyway to beat those bottom-feeders. 

Earlier this season, the Bucs were without a sack for 16 consecutive quarters, and they managed to go 2-1 in their sackless games against Denver, Carolina and Seattle.

Joe has some videos to help Bucs fans kill the time on a lazy Friday. Sadly, Roger Goodell doesn’t have embed codes.

First up is Scott Smith of Buccaneers Insider from Buccaneers.com who has a look at how the Bucs may attack the Panthers.preview of the Bucs-Panthers game.

Next up is an “anatomy” by NFL Films’ Greg Cosell of the Bucs’ top interceptions last week.

Defensive backs coach Raheem Morris is one of three key 2009 free agents in the Bucs secondary. Jermaine Phillips and Phillip Buchanon are the others.

The key 2009 unrestricted free-agents-to-be on the Bucs are Jeff Garcia, B.J. Askew, Kevin Carter, Phillip Buchanon and Jermaine Phillips, according to ESPN.com.

But a bigger priority than those names for the Bucs might be Raheem Morris, the stud, 32-year-old defensive backs coach possibly in line to take over for Monte Kiffin when he leaves for Tennessee. Morris also is a free agent after the season.

Rick Stroud of the St. Pete Times takes a look today at Morris’s mindset as a hot assistant coach in the NFL. It seems Morris may be looking for a top job, rather than his first coordinator gig.

Realizing their mistake, the Bucs lured Morris back by making him one of their highest-paid assistants. Last season, the secondary improved from 19th to first in the NFL. It currently stands third.

But he doesn’t have a contract for next year. Didn’t want one.

“Why am I a free agent? It’s just my choice,” Morris said. “It’s nothing with the Buccaneers. They’ve been awesome. I just chose not to put myself in a position to lock myself up.

“If the opportunity presents itself, I just wanted to have the choice (to go somewhere else). It’s no secret they’ll make the choice for you. And that’s fine. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, and they’ve done a great job with the coaches. All the guys they’ve held back have become head coaches or have become coordinators. So they’ve done something right.”

Morris clearly has the Bucs where he wants them. Joe is hard pressed to believe he’ll stick around Tampa without landing the Bucs defensive coordinator job.

Al Keck of WFTS-TV has a report where Cadillac Williams discusses his return to Carolina. The last time Williams played at Bank of America Stadium, he tore up his knee and nearly ended his young career.

Charley Casserly and Greg Amsinger of CBSSports.com take a look at the Bucs-Panthers game Monday night. Casserly seems to be favoring the Panthers. He states Steve Smith will be the difference maker or, in his words, “the X-factor.”

Sadly for some odd reason, CBSSports.com did not provide embed codes for this video, yet other NFL previews this week have embed codes. Joe will chalk this up to a technical glitch and give CBSSports.com a pass.

Once again Joe must apologize for the forced informercial from a Satanic cable company.

More whining by Warren Sapp. Now he says Monte Kiffin didn't give enough credit to him, Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber.

Joe gives a gracious nod to BucStats.com for this one. Their blog is a little, shall we say, off color, so be careful kids.

Anyway, BucStats is very reliable and this story about Warren Sapp ripping Monte Kiffin on TV is believeable and expected, really.

Apparently, Sapp thinks Monte didn’t give his players enough credit and called out Monte on Showtime’s Inside the NFL on Wednesday.

“He’s riding on a golden carriage that me, Brooks, Ronde, and all those other guys pulled for years. And at no point have I ever heard Monte Kiffin give any of those horses that are pulling that carriage any love, any love! I’ve seen him in the middle of a game drawing up a zone dog in the middle of a game and I looked at Brooks and said, ‘You see your coordinator giving away our defense?’ It’s all about him, it’s always about him. I’ll bark him out of the building. I’ve heard all the stories.”

It’s like Sapp’s begging to be left out of the Bucs new Ring of Honor, just so he can later complain about being left out. 

Joe will update you later with a video clip if it appears on YouTube or somewhere else.

Joe says Buddy Ryan and Monte Kiffin should at least garner some discussion by Hall of Fame voters

Joe’s an avid listener of sports radio – good and bad, satellite and local – and over the past week many hosts have brought up the topic of whether Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is worthy of a bust in the Hall of Fame.

The talk usually ends quickly with the host unable to think of any assistant coaches that have made their way to Canton, or even been worthy because the dope doesn’t do any research. But everybody with a grasp of the NFL seems to think coordinators like Monte or Dick LeBeau should be considered.

Joe agrees. And he’s agreed since Buddy Ryan said goodbye to the NFL and went to try and breed or buy the next Kentucky Derby winner. (No. Joe has no idea if Ryan is still in horse racing).

As specialized as the NFL has become with head coaches like Jon Gruden who play no role in the defense, genius coordinators and assistants like Kiffin and Ryan need to get a hard look by the Hall of Fame voters for their contributions to the game and their successes. And it would be nice to do it before they’re dead 20 years.

As defensive coordinator, Ryan was the genius behind the ’85 Bears, which ran his league-changing “46” defense. Before that, he was one of the defensive architects of the Vikings’ Super Bowl teams of the 1970s, and prior to that he won a Super Bowl ring with the ’69 Jets. He was credited for crafting the scheme that upset the Colts in Super Bowl III.

Ryan set up the Eagles with a dominating defense in the ’80s and ’90s, but there he was head coach and his playoff flops probably cost him a shot in the Hall. 

Regardless, the Hall of Fame should find a way to expand their consideration to the game’s geniuses, like Kiffin and Ryan.

Below is a quick Buddy Ryan video flashing back to the infamous “bodybag” game. Unfortunately, Ryans’ punch in the face of Kevin Gilbride is nowhere to be found on YouTube.

Despite Steve Smith's circus catch against Green Bay last week, the Panthers get about the same national respect as the Bucs. And that's not much.

At 9-3, the Bucs find themselves on the defensive throughout much of the media.

The pundits have been trying to drop all kinds of asterisks on the Bucs record, and few seem impressed by Tampa Bay’s No. 2 seed in the NFC.

This is one lonely bandwagon.

Joe believes this is a byproduct of Tampa Bay’s lack of glamour players on offense, the growing national dislike of Chucky and far too many offensive players serving as analysts, when compared to defensive players.

Usually, these days the Bucs get a shamefully slight nod to the defense followed by a big slap to the offense, “They win ugly and they’re hard to watch” and “They can’t win in the playoffs with this kind of offense” are among the typical shots taken.

That’s part of what makes Monday night’s matchup in Carolina so interesting, as the Panthers get the same type of disrespect.  

Panthers coach John Fox got short with the media this week as they grilled him for the defensive shortcomings of his 9-3 squad. The Panthers have allowed 22, 45 and 31 points in its past three games.

“I don’t know where you’re really going with this, but all I’d say is I think we’re in the top third in the league in defense, I think we’re 9-3 and it’s a team game and yards don’t win game, points do. So I hope that answers all your questions in one.”

Unless the Bucs put together the perfect game on Monday, they’ll likely win “ugly,” if they win at all. 

Joe is sure a win would make the Bucs the least respected 10-3 team in history.

With the Super Bowl played at the CITS in February, if somehow the Bucs make it, will they be able to use the cannons?

Joe will post the weekly Power Rankings in the near future. But in the process of gathering the data, he ran across something interesting from Don Banks of SI.com.

Banks, a former Bucs beat writer, wondered if the Bucs make it to the Super Bowl in February (yeah, Joe understands it’s a real reach right now), will the Bucs get to use the cannons from the pirate ship?

Super Bowl sites are regarded by the NFL, which runs the Super Bowl, as neutral sites. The NFL has never had a team play a Super Bowl in its home stadium. The closest was the 1980 Super Bowl when the Los Angeles Rams played the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Rose Bowl. At the time, the Rams played at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

So technically, the CITS will be a neutral site. Just like the Ravens-Giants Super Bowl in 2000, the cannons were not used. But if the Bucs advanced to the Super Bowl, would the NFL allow the cannons to be used? Would Bucs fans get to hear Gene Deckerhoff bellow, “Fire those cannons!”

Joe will try to find the answer to such a compelling question. But he doubts the NFL would allow such a thing.

If one is to believe the word of “Stink,” known to most viewers as Mark Schlereth of BSPN, the Bucs are in the playoffs. The Glazer Boys might as well start printing tickets.

Stink — who received the nickname as a member of the Denver Broncos for a very unusual and nasty personal hygiene habit — is joined by James Hasty who also is convinced the Bucs are in the playoffs.

Joe is hopeful, but not as confident.

Joe could easily see former Bucs defensive assistant and current Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards replacing Monte Kiffin.

Since it’s all but a done deal that this is Monte Kiffin’s last season as the Bucs defensive coordinator, Joe is fond of fun speculation about who will replace him.

No, Joe doesn’t think Bum’s son has a prayer of replacing Kiffin. Let’s not get out of control here.

Joe has already guessed who he thinks will replace Kiffin. But that doesn’t mean it’s a done deal. Don Banks of SI.com, and a former Bucs beat writer, threw out names of coaches possibly in line for head coaching jobs. Joe thinks some could make good replacements for Kiffin.

Rod Marinelli, Detroit — No way, no how the Lions sell tickets for 2009 with Marinelli still around. Time to put Matt Millen’s final coaching hire out of his misery. A historic 0-16 season wouldn’t even require an explanation, just a firing and a press conference.

Marinelli wouldn’t be a bad choice. No one outside One Buc Palace knows the Tampa-2 or the Bucs defensive players better than Marinelli. One could argue Father Dungy knows more than Marinelli but consider Father Dungy hasn’t been around since the end of the 2001 season.

Raheem Morris — Haven’t heard of the Bucs defensive backs coach? You will. For one thing, he’s thought to be a slam dunk to become Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator should Monte Kiffin join his son’s staff at the University of Tennessee. But Morris is also thought of as the next Mike Tomlin, whom he worked under in Tampa Bay as recently as 2005. He’s got a winning and magnetic personality, and though he’s only 32 — younger than Bucs veterans Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber — his players rave about his fiery coaching style and his ability to motivate.

Again, Joe thinks Morris is the likely successor to Kiffin.

Herm Edwards, Kansas City — That win at Oakland on Sunday was only Kansas City’s second in its past 21 games, and there’s not many coaches who could survive a 2-19 run in the NFL. But Edwards could be one of them, if — and it’s a big if — Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson returns. I just don’t know how owner Clark Hunt sells another season of Peterson and Edwards to the frustrated fans of Kansas City.

Herm would be a fine choice. Joe has always liked Herm, despite some atrocious play-calling as Jets head coach.

Even before Herm got to Kansas City Joe could see storm clouds on the horizon there. Herm decided to take over a sinking ship which is just about totally submerged now. Bad timing for Herm may end up being fortunate timing for the Bucs.

If any hardcore Bucs fan is holding out a glimmer of hope Monte Kiffin will return to the Bucs next year, Woody Cummings story in the Tampa Tribune should eliminate any false hope.

This will be Joe’s last post about Monte Kiffin going to Tennessee until Kiffin either confirms, yes, he is going or, no, he will be back next season with the Bucs.

If anyone has any doubts about where Kiffin will be next season, the following item from Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, along with Joe’s numerous posts over the past couple of months, should dismiss any suspicion.

“Gaither High School star Jarvis Giles said in a text message to The Tampa Tribune that Lane Kiffin told him during a Sunday morning telephone conversation he was bringing his father with him to UT.”

Joe will continue to post relevant information about who may replace Kiffin (just such a post is coming shortly) but enough is enough about Kiffin going to Tennessee.

After all the information Joe has provided, does any fan really believe Kiffin will return?

Good Lord, BSPN will hire anyone who can speak the King’s English. Jamaal Anderson and Kordell Stewart — Kordell Stewart! — talk about who may win the NFC South.

Anderson really walks out on a limb and makes a bold prediction that the Monday night game between the Bucs and the stinking Panthers “is a big game.”

Wow, what insight! Joe is impressed. Where do BSPN’s producers find these guys?