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Tiffany Simons of NBCSports.com suggests fantasy football players should draft/pick/promote/start Bucs running back Warrick Dunn this Sunday.
Joe isn’t bringing you this video because he’s keen to fantasy football. Rather, Joe is bringing you this video because he likes to look at Simons. Joe doesn’t have any opinion on Gregg Rosenthal.
Joe apologizes. Reggie Bush's girlfriend isn't quite in Carmella Garcia's league. But Joe has a longstanding Wonder Woman fantasy.
If you’re making a list of Bucs killers out there in the NFL, Reggie Bush has to be very high on the list. It’s too painful for Joe to revisit the details of the whoopin’ he’s put on our beloved Bucs.
Bush, who has been out about a month with a minor knee injury, is expected to return to action when New Orleans comes to Tampa on Sunday, according to the Times-Picayune.
Tailback Reggie Bush said, “I definitely feel like this is the week.” He has missed the past four games after tearing the meniscus in his left knee, but he has been inching closer to a return, increasing his workload in practice each of the past two weeks.
Bush said he didn’t suffer a setback last week, but he was held out of the Green Bay game as a precautionary measure.
“You’re just trying to make sure you’re 100 percent before you get back out there on the field,” he said.
Like many of you, Joe watched the Saints drop 51 points on the Packers on Monday night. That was without Bush, who creates more options in the passing game and has breakaway speed.
The Saints come to Tampa with the No. 1 ranked pass offense. The Bucs are No. 2 in the NFL versus the pass. It should be a great matchup.
And let’s hope Bush brings his celebrity girlfriend with him. Perhaps she’ll wear her Wonder Woman costume again and have a wardrobe malfunction.
Give it up for Ted Rieger of Oldsmar who won last week’s contest.
Rieger brought home a $20 gift card to the Courtside Grille. Ted said he’s never won anything in his life and he can’t wait to check out Courtside Grille in Westchase with his dad on Sunday.
You can be a winner, too. If you haven’t feasted at the Courtside Grille during football season, well, you haven’t taken on the Bay area’s best feeding frenzy and drinkfest on gameday.
E-mail Joe how many yards Warrick Dunn will rush for Sunday against New Orleans. If your guess is closest, and within 15 yards, Joe will send you a $20 gift card to Courtside Grille. You must include your name, mailing address and e-mail.
Courtside Grille, with locations in Feather Sound and Westchase, serves up a Sunday tailgate all-you-can-eat that would satisfy the hungriest offensive lineman.
SI.com columnist and NFL guru Peter King is scheduled to appear on “Happy Hour With J.P. Peterson” on WQYK-AM 1010 this afternoon at roughly 3:20 p.m.
Joe is sure King will discuss an item he had in his Monday Morning Quarterback column yesterday that concerned Joe greatly. King is likely to fire back a couple of shots at JoeBucsFan.com.
If you are not near a radio, you can hear the show streamed from the station’s website.
MEMO TO KING: If you have any issue with anything Joe wrote yesterday in his post, Joe is offering you an open and unedited forum to refute Joe’s concerns. Joe can reached at joe@joebucsfan.com.
Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune suggested return specialist Clifton Smith could be the Bucs MVP this season.
Yep, Joe’s been listening to sports radio, something it seems most of our local friends in the MSM don’t do.
Joe tuned into Bobby Fenton’s weekly Monday evening Bucs show last night on WQYK-AM 1010. Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune made an appearance and had an interesting comment.
Cummings suggested that if he had to pick a Bucs MVP today, he would give serious consideration to return man Clifton Smith. Cummings had sound reasoning.
In two games where the outcome was in doubt, Smith gave the Bucs a jolt returning touchdowns in each game to propel the Bucs to victory.
It’s an interesting thought: While Joe is hesitant to crown a special teams player — a part-time player — as team MVP, the Bucs lose a game at Kansas City if not for Smith, and Smith helped the Bucs overcome a 17-point Detroit cushion by returning a punt for a TD Sunday.
Take away those two wins and the Bucs likely are out of the playoff picture.
Cummings did admit Smith needs to learn how to take care of the ball, currently a glaring weakness.
And as Joe suggested Sunday, Cummings also predicted, barring an injury to Smith, Bucs fans have likely seen the last of Dexter Jackson returning kicks.
Waiting for an opportunity is nothing new for Joey Galloway
Now just an afterthought in the Bucs offense, healthy Joey Galloway is tapping into the virtue of patience he learned years ago.
Galloway told a story of devotion and patience Monday on the Joey Galloway Show on WDAE 620 AM. When Galloway shared the story, his co-host, Steve Duemig, was stunned. So was Joe.
In short, after a strong junior season at Ohio State University, Galloway said he made the decision to enter the NFL draft. He said he had already informed university officials and others that he was going pro .
Then Galloway drove home to tell his parents, who lived a couple of hours off campus.
Well, when Galloway broke the news to mom and dad, they immediately said, “No, you’re going back to school for your senior year to get your degree. End of story.”
Galloway’s response? “OK.” Galloway explained that disobeying his parents was not an option for him, despite being in his 20s. (The podcast of the broadcast should be available at Buccaneers.com in a couple of days.)
Joe just can’t imagine having that kind of patience and devotion as a kid about to sign a million-dollar contract in the NFL.
Joe hopes Chucky is smart enough to find ways to get Galloway meaningful opportunities in the Bucs offense. Gruden can talk all he wants about how good Antonio Bryant is, but that doesn’t take away from Galloway’s talent and capabilities. Getting Galloway involved should only make the team better.
Minnesota defensive lineman Ray Edwards thinks Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia wears panties.
Remember Minnesota’s Ray Edwards’ late hit on Jeff Garcia in Week 11 that busted open his chin? The one where Garcia had taken two steps after he released the ball and then was leveled by Edwards? Well, Edwards got fined $25,000 by the NFL for the late hit and Edwards is none too happy.
Essentially, he called Garcia what Warren Sapp called Meshawn Johnson, in so many words, to the Associated Press.
“No offense to women, but men don’t wear panties,” Edwards said. “We chose to play this game. We don’t cry when we get cracked unexpectedly. That fine is what it is. Just got to go out there and play ball and have fun.”
So let’s get this straight: Edwards would be OK with things if, say, he was walking off the field after a play and Jeremy Trueblood clotheslined him when he wasn’t looking?
Look, Joe agrees that some of the fines Roger Goodell and his boys have handed down are a bit much. Joe still can’t figure out how a play isn’t flagged by the referees, yet a player can still be fined for a play three days later by the NFL. If a play was illegal, why didn’t the referees throw a flag?
But what Edwards did to Garcia was way out of line. Edwards’ reaction tells Joe he’s alright with getting leg-whipped. That it’s all fun.
Memo to Edwards: Garcia doesn’t wear panties, but his wife certainly does.
Joe hopes the Saints drop a Deuce all over the Packers tonight
On the surface it might seem like Bucs fans should cheer for the Packers tonight against the Saints in New Orleans on Monday Night Football.
After all, the Saints are a dangerous division rival and knocking them down to 5-6 should be a priority, right? Wrong.
The Bucs must beat the Saints at home on Sunday. No question about that. But if the Bucs pull out that Sunday win, they’d rather have the Saints be 6-6 after that game rather than 5-7.
Tampa Bay needs the Saints to stay in the hunt until the final week of the season, when they play Carolina at home. Likely, the Bucs season will come down to the final week, and nobody wants the Saints to have a meaningless game against the Panthers.
Go Saints!
Saints remaning games: Today vs. Packers, @Tampa Bay, vs. Atlanta, @Chicago, @Detroit, vs. Carolina
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post considers former Bucs great Warren Sapp to be a bigot.
Joe absolutely loves Phil Mushnick of the New York Post. Loves him. Joe considers Mushnick to possibly be the best sports scribe in America.
So Joe wasn’t surprised to read a Mushnick column where Joe’s favorite columnist lashed out at former Bucs great Warren Sapp as a bigot.
Background: Sapp, and his former Bucs teammate, Meshawn Johnson, do not get along. In recent weeks Sapp has called out Meshawn for being a “malcontent” and worse, “a bitch.” Joe even has the video of the latest incident.
Since, Sapp has apologized to Meshawn for the latter comment after he was scolded by his mother for uttering such a remark.
But in Mushnick’s eyes, the apology wasn’t enough.
After insulting more than half the country’s population with a bigoted, misogynistic comment – trashing Keyshawn Johnson as “a bitch” – NFL Network/Showtime/CBS employee Warren Sapp has issued an apology . . . but only to Keyshawn Johnson…
The segment was on tape, thus it could have been edited, but Showtime apparently was pleased with Sapp’s remark, highlighting it in a promotional press release…
Sapp was sorry for offending Johnson by comparing him to that low form of human life, women, and, worse, for degrading him by calling him a crude word usually applied to women. So sorry, Keyshawn.
Though the apology is shamefully misdirected and as ugly as Sapp’s original offense, no matter, end of story. Carry on, Warren Sapp.
Though some sports commentators have been fired for less – condemned to Wikipedia as a racist or a pea-brained bigot – Sapp, Thursday, worked the NFL Network’s Bengals-Steelers telecast having not suffered even a public scolding from the NFL or from Showtime, a CBS subsidiary.
Then again, that Sapp’s playing career was loaded with unsportsmanlike penalties, fines and suspensions helped make him attractive to TV.
Though Joe can’t read enough of Mushnick, let’s be honest: We do not live in the 1950s any longer. Sapp’s comment was on Showtime, a pay-per-view cable channel where far, far worse things are seen and heard on a nightly basis. To unload on Sapp for such a remark – in relative terms, a tame remark – one wonders what Mushnick thinks of the rest of the late-night programming on Showtime?
We live in too much of an airbrushed age, where everything out of someone’s mouth must seemingly be spoken in language that would comfort a kindergartener, no matter if it’s accurate or not, as Mushnick points out in seperate yet brilliant column. Seems as though accuracy and truth are secondary so long as someone is not offended — which is primary. It’s as if adults have to be treated as children.
Sadly, the truth sometimes hurts
Joe considers what Sapp said to be a breath of fresh air. Sapp doesn’t like Meshawn. And he said as much in very direct if not crude terms. Bravo!
If only BSPN wasn’t so hypersensitive, Joe is convinced Meshawn would have had some very pointed comebacks at Sapp. Sadly, Meshawn is (rightfully) paranoid that he will be fired. Just look at what BSPN did to Rush Limbaugh and Michael Irvin.
Joe hopes Cadillac will listen closely to his body this week
So now that Cadillac Williams had significant playing time for the first time in 14 months, we can all hold our breath to see how he comes out of the Lions game.
Is there swelling in his injured knee? Does he feel right? Will he have the strength to play every week?
In horse racing, trainers are more interested in how a horse responds after racing following a layoff, rather than how the horse actually performed in the race.
The same analogy holds for Cadillac. Those 16 carries for 27 yards were largely garbage-time runs. Yeah, it looked like he moved pretty well. But the real test is whether he can bounce back for a full week of practice and show little effects from his gruesome knee injury heading into Sunday’s home game against the Saints.
Cadillac told the Tampa Tribune he’s commited to not rushing himself back too soon. It was a gripping interview about his knee rehab.
Williams couldn’t even stand up on his own, let alone walk, for the first two months.
Virtually bedridden, he developed bed sores on his back and needed help bathing and getting to the bathroom. There were some nights when he cried himself to sleep.
“Hands down the toughest time of my life,” Williams said. “It was one of the lowest points in my life, too.”
Joe thought the Bucs were nuts to release a healthy Michael Bennett in the midst of a playoff run. Joe was sure they were nuts after Earnest Graham went down for the season last week.
Today, Joe truly is hoping that Cadillac and the Bucs make the decisions that are truly in the best interest of Williams. Whatever those may be.
Derrick Brooks did a huge favor for Peter King of SI.com. To repay Brooks, King stabbed him in the back.
It’s really nice when a player of the status of Derrick Brooks takes time out of his busy day of preparation to sit down with a member of the fourth estate to teach a reporter some insightful, inside information on how he and the Bucs defense were able to shut down possibly the best offensive player in the NFL.
So Joe considers it a gross slap in the face for a reporter to turn right around and spill the beans to said offensive player after being afforded such a favor from Brooks and the Bucs. But that’s exactly what SI.com’s Peter King did.
Recently, Brooks sat down with King in the Bucs film room, as King detailed in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column. Brooks broke down the scheme the Bucs used to stop Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. So how does King thank Brooks and the Bucs? King turns right around and calls Peterson to let him in on the secret.
Brooks and the Bucs did a good job on Peterson, and when I called Peterson Wednesday to explain the Tampa Bay defensive plan for stopping him, he was pretty forthcoming. In the story, I explain how Brooks and the Bucs tried to throw a front-seven net around Peterson on every logical rushing down, because the times he gashes a defense are usually the times he gets a hole — even if for a split second — to break a big one. It’s more complicated than that, but this was Peterson’s reaction: “They played me right. They did a great job staying true to their gaps. Good strategy. That’s what it’s all about [against me].”
Maybe Joe is overreacting a bit, but Joe thinks it’s outrageous for King to immediately call Peterson to let him know how Brooks and Bucs stopped him. Sure Peterson and the Vikings can see what happened on the tape. But why help them?
Think about it: It’s not out of the question the Bucs could be playing the Vikings and Peterson again in the playoffs. Obviously, Joe is not privy to any agreements King and the Bucs may have made prior to the private film session. But Joe thinks it’s more than a bit shady for King to blab to Peterson how the Bucs came up with this scheme and how they executed it.
One thing is for sure: To prevent King from ratting out Monte Kiffin, Brooks and the Bucs again, pull his credentials and keep him out of One Buc Palace.
At least until after the Super Bowl.
The sheer will to win is the strength of this Bucs team
There’s no panic in the 2008 Bucs. No worry or quit, either.
They play like a team with complete confidence in its game plan, even if Antonio Bryant often shows get-me-the-ball frustration.
The credit goes to Jon Gruden and the coaching staff, as well as the tremendous on-field and off-the-field leadership on both sides of the ball. Effort is the strength of this team. They play with a Super Bowl caliber commitment.
Whatever the reasons for the Bucs falling behind on the road to the Bears, Chiefs and Lions by a combined 48 points, Tampa Bay played with confidence during every moment of those comebacks.
They believe.
And Joe thinks most fans are starting to watch Bucs games with that same swagger.
Barrett Ruud and Chris Hovan shared their thoughts with the Tampa Tribune.
“We were out of whack at the start,” said LB Barrett Ruud, who led the Bucs with six tackles. “Once we tightened up our run fits, we were fine. When it was 17-0, there was frustration … but no panic.”
Perhaps most impressively, Tampa Bay overcame a combined 10 giveaways in the three comeback road victories.
“We’re sitting there down 17-0 and I’m thinking, ‘Hey, we’ve been here before,'” DT Chris Hovan said. “One thing we’ve learned the hard way is that this team keeps its poise, no matter the situation. The guys in this room are going to stay the course.”
The Bucs no doubt must stay mentally tough through the next three games: New Orleans, at Carolina, and at Atlanta. They’ll likely trail in every game.
Together, they’re coaching and leadership should drive them to win two out of three. And there’s enough talent on the Bucs to win them all.
Joe can just see it happening. Chucky has made no bones about the fact he grew up a Domer, bleeding blue and gold for Notre Dame. He even had an alarm clock that played the Fighting Irish fight song.
So now that cheating slob Charlie Weis has so ruined the Notre Dame program that in successive years they’ve lost home games to Navy and Syracuse, and have lost more games in the past two years than at any time in the rich tradition of the school, Domers are screaming bloody murder for Weis’ head.
Problem is, Weis signed a sweetheart 10-year contract three years ago worth eight figures. Eight! So if the Irish canned him, they would be on the hook for millions.
Despite this, Joe can envision the rumors of Chucky to Notre Dame just as sure as Joe knows he will eat his morning oatmeal.
At any rate, enjoy the disgust of this little Domer.
This is a photo of Warrick Dunn scoring the Bucs first touchdown. You can watch a breakdown of the run by clicking on the NFL Network link Joe provided.
Of course Joe has links of video highlights of the Bucs win over the Kittens today. What, you think Joe is Roger Goodell and is trying to keep you away from watching videos?
First up are the game highlights of the win with analysis from Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci and Deion Sanders.
Next is a breakdown of Warrick Dunn’s first quarter touchdown.
A neat feature NFL.com has is a compilation of Jeff Garcia’s best throws.
Next is a breakdown of Clifton Smith’s punt return for a touchdown.
Don’t forget about Ronde Barber’s interception. NFL.com didn’t.
NFL.com also has nearly four minutes worth of highlights replete with calls from Gene Deckerhoff and the Kittens announcers.
Joe also brings you Chucky’s postgame press conference. Chucky claims some players were mad because he went to the run in the second half. Let them be mad! The video also includes remarks from Garcia.
For fun, Joe offers a link of the soon-to-be unemployed Rod Marinelli and his excuses. At least he admits he has failed. Naturally, Marinelli was condescending. Yeah, like it’s the Detroit media’s fault his squad is the worst NFL team Joe has seen in years.
No particular order here:
The evidence against Ronde Barber has been mounting this season. Then came Sunday's second half against the Lions.
Imagine Warrick Dunn trying to guard Shaq in the paint in a pickup basketball game. Comical, pathetic visual, huh.
Well, that’s what Ronde Barber has looked like against a long list of wide receivers this season.
There are other examples, too. But Joe knows you get the point.
Today, though, just when it was time to stop making excuse after excuse for Barber and legitimately – and painfully – say he’s washed up, Barber goes ahead grabs two key interceptions, with the second a vintage Barber timing play for a TD return.
So which is it, Ronde? Joe wants to believe you’ve still got it. That you can make more plays than you allow. Are you back from the dead, or just teasing us with a couple of plays?
You got five more games to clear the air. We’re pulling for you.
Joe's going to invest in a defibrillator, which will be charged and ready every time Clifton Smith touches the ball
Clifton Smith keeps performing mean Devin Hester impressions but displays the hands of hundreds of NFL rookies who have fumbled their way out of the league.
Cardiac Smith is going to give Joe a heart attack by January.
The rookie fumbled for the fourth consecutive game on Sunday, a punt return in the third quarter. Yes, Cardiac has only played four games.
But Sunday he again showed big-league talent in the Bucs return game, including another TD punt return for 70 yards to rip the heart out of the Lions just after halftime.
Bucs fans, this is our return guy for the rest of the season.
Like him or not, he’s exciting and talented. Plus he’s the kind of playmaker who can score us an upset in the playoffs. That’s if he doesn’t fumble away our chances to get there.
* Nice win by the Bucs. Sure, a win over a winless team is really nothing to get excited about. But when the Bucs gave the Lions a 17-point cushion the Bucs could have caved and thrown in the towel. Instead, they blew the Lions out. That’s impressive.
* Joe can’t remember the last time he saw such a worthless team like the Lions. Undisciplined, no heart, dumb mistakes. And when you have to pull a guy off the couch like Daunte Culpepper to save you, that says it all.
* There was a White Tiger sighting! On the sidelines that is.
* Now it’s time for a Falcons win, by the time the Bucs land at TIA, they could be tied for first.
* Joe just realized he’s out of beer. How’s a fan to celebrate without beer?
Plenty to cheer in the Bucs win at Detroit. Joe will now settle in with another round of beer and food to root for Atlanta to crush Carolina and put the Bucs in first place in the NFC South.
* Clifton Smith! Great, great runback. Anyone want to give Joe odds Bucs fans will never see Dexter Jackson run back a punt (or kickoff) again in a Bucs uniform?
* That punt return was set up by a fantastic open-field tackle by Gaines Adams. The second-year defensive end is pretty weak at open field tackles unless he’s chasing a quarterback. But on the third down play just prior to Smith’s return, Adams dropped back into pass coverage. Aveion Cason caught a Dante Culpepper pass wide open along the right sideline and Adams flies in and takes Cason down to save a first down reception. Not too many defense ends will make plays like that.
* Also, Aqib Talib made a world class block on Detroit’s Adam Jennings on the return. Had Talib not waited for the perfect time to lay the block, he would have been whistled for a clip. Jennings was “this close” to making the tackle. Props to Talib for using a heads-up play that resulted in seven points and maybe the game-winning score.
* Good Lord, how awful are the Lions? How Rod Marinelli has kept his job this long Joe cannot figure out.
* Oh, yeah. The beer tastes good to Joe.
* Yeah, the kittens got jobbed by no pass interference called on Sabby Piscitelli on Calvin Johnson, but the Bucs got jobbed on no face mask called on Chuck Darby. Call it even.
* Ronde Barber returns an interception for a score after a Bucs turnover. What an absolutely miserable team the Lions are! And people wonder why Ford is in trouble?
* Bucs close the quarter with what looks to be another scoring drive. Man, Joe’s starting to feel sorry for Lions fans.
BUCS 21, LIONS 17
* What a beautiful run by Warrick Dunn! Now that’s how you cure your red zone ills. As if on cue, Dunn helps the NFL’s second worst red zone offense. Beautiful run. Joe can’t write enough about that.
* Outstanding job by Camella’s husband to buy some time which enabled not only Garcia to escape and get a pass away but it gave Ike Hilliard a chance to break free and wide open. Fine job by the old Gator, Mr. Reliable.
* That’s the way to make a team pay for a turnover and that’s the kind of play Joe wants to see more often: throw the ball downfield, even if King of Turds is on the field.
* This is how bad the Lions suck: They have a 17-0 lead at home and before the two minute warning they are losing. Nice job — excellent job — by the Bucs to take the lead but just how horrible is an NFL team to be leading by three scores in the first quarter and then losing before the two minute warning?
* Joe loves Gaines Adams and the defensive end has always taken far outside routes to the quarterback. Even though he has made some great plays this half, his outside rushes are so outside it appears he’s taking a detour through Pontiac. And he’s gotten burned and missed a couple of sacks by doing that.
* Terrible choice of plays to end the half. Over one minute left and the Bucs take the air out of the ball. Why not at least try to get in field goal range? Strange.
* Just HAD to rush Cadillac Williams back, didn’t you Chucky? Just had to. Cadillac being out of position (not knowing the plays perhaps?) cost the Bucs a touchdown. I hope you’re happy Chucky! You better hope you win this game or you might be working in Cincinnati next year — the University of Cincinnati!
* Come on Donald Penn! Joe knows Steve Campbell thinks the world of you but good grief, you CANNOT let a guy come past you untouched and have a free shot at your quarterback. I mean at least take out his legs! A 15-yard penalty is better than having Son of Bob calling signals. Is that what you want?
* My, that Cadillac is making Joe forget about Michael Bennett. Freaking Chucky!
* It’s third-and-14 and you are calling a play where a wide receiver is running a pattern where he is barely past the line of scrimmage? Really Chucky???
