As Joe wrote earlier, local and national media are reporting it’s a lock that Cadillac Williams will be added to the Bucs roster on Wednesday, the team’s deadline to activate him or put him on injured reserve.

Joe doesn’t like the move, as he’s told you for months.

Here’s a list of 10 reasons Caddy should stay in the garage: (No particular order for this)

1. Cadillac doesn’t represent an insurance policy at running back. The guy hasn’t played in 14 months and is coming back from a gruesome knee injury. Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn do not have serious injuries, just typical Week- 10-in-the-NFL stuff. If Caddy returns, he can’t carry the load if needed. Also, if he’s back, who should lose carries?
2. Caddy is known for getting stronger as a game goes on and improving within a game after he’s had a dozen carries or so. If he returns, he’s not going to get that many carries.
3. Caddy has never been much of a receiver, and surely his rhythm in that aspect of the game has to be way off. He’d need major practice time to get that back. Regardless, when healthy, he’s nowhere near the receiver Graham or Dunn are.
4. Caddy is just 26 years old and surely would benefit from more rehab. If the Bucs want him in their future, why risk him now?
5. Cadillac returning likely means farewell to Michael Bennett. The Bucs won’t keep four running backs. But surely the Bucs should not discard a healthy, experienced 30-year-old RB for the stretch run. Things happen in the backfield, as the Bucs learned too well last season. They might need Bennett.
6. Jon Gruden has droned on and on this season about how players who missed training camp and significant practice time. Chucky has moaned missed time limits them in the offense and destroys their effectiveness and timing. What? Is Caddy somehow above all that?
7. Two of the Bucs next five games are on turf, in Atlanta and Detroit. How the can the Bucs seriously ask Williams to run his weak, barely-tested knee out on the dangerous carpet in midseason?

Joe was hoping for a top-10 list but ran out of gas. Got any other reasons?

The master of Bucs spin, Bruce Almighty, sat down for a chat with Eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune. What would Bill O'Reilly have to say?

Eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune sat down for a chat with Bucs GM Bruce Almighty. Of course, Bruce Almighty, being the brother of former U.S. Senator George Allen, Jr. and a former employee of Al Davis is a master of spin.

But Bruce Almighty seems generally geeked with the Bucs.

I like the character of this team and the resolve of this team. There are so many things you count on when you leave training camp and our players and coaches have delivered. Our fans and our opponents know that we are going to compete hard for 60 minutes.

While Bruce Almighty may irritate Joe with his spin and sometimes flat out falsehoods, Joe admires him. Joe thinks Bruce Almighty has done a wonderful job with the salary cap and the Bucs’ drafts of late have been top-notch. The Bucs are fortunate to have Bruce Almighty.

Of course, like any good spin master, Bruce Almighty didn’t offer anything really juicy in the interview, which first appeared in Sunday’s old fashioned newspaper copy of the Tribune. Anybody out there still subscribe to a newspaper? Didn’t think so.

If one reads the tea leaves correctly, Michael Bennett may not be on the Bucs roster by the end of the week.

From various media reports, it appears that running back Cadillac Williams will be reactivated Wednesday. That means the Bucs will need to let someone loose.

Is that someone Michael Bennett?

The Bucs, namely Chucky, have terribly misused Bennett. Chucky claimed just a few weeks ago that the Bucs were short-handed in the running backs department. Maybe Chucky didn’t have his eyes checked recently and didn’t see Bennett in a Bucs roster?

Of course, Bennett hasn’t been quiet about his frustration over not being played. He was stewing in September. That may have greased the wheels for his departure, as Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune documented moments ago.

“I don’t really count myself in the equation. I really don’t,” Bennett said Monday. “For me, I have to keep working, do what I have to do, stay healthy and whenever my number is called, whether it be here or somewhere else, I just have to go play.”

Joe thinks it’s terrible how Chucky has jerked around Bennett. If he had no plans to use him, why not trade him? If Chucky didn’t want him, why keep him? Just cut him.

Joe thinks Chucky is taking a major gamble in rushing Williams back and letting Bennett walk out on the streets.

Chucky claims he's happy in Tampa Bay. The real question is, are the Glazers Boys happy?

Chucky was finally confronted with the numerous rumors of him returning to the college ranks to coach the Tennesse Volunteers. He claims he’s not going anywhere, Chucky is quoted in so many words by TBO.com.

“I’ve said from the very beginning, this is the only job I’ve ever wanted,” Gruden said. “As long as the Glazers will have me, I’ll be here. Got a lot of respect for Tennessee. I grew up there, a little bit. My wife is from there. This is where I want to be. I can only make that so clear.”

Whether Chucky stays in Tampa, that remains to be seen. Let’s be frank: Since winning the Super Bowl in 2003, Chucky has a losing record with the Bucs. Both playoff appearances since the Super Bowl win have been a one-and-done.

Not to mention in his wake, Chucky has hacked off enough quality players to just about field a Pro Bowl team. Then throw in the fact the Bucs offense has woefully underachieved this season, not to mention the Offensive Boy Genius has yet to develop a quarterback, and it’s not so difficult to see Chucky may be looking for work come January.

Yeah, Chucky is signed through the 2011 season. But rarely is a coach allowed to stay in the last year of the contract and be a lame duck. Either a coach has his contract extended or he is let go.

Also, as if any Bucs fan has noticed, the Bucs are having trouble selling tickets. If the Glazer Boys think they could kick-start ticket sales and win a few playoff games, as well as pull in a few extra million dollars as a result, Chucky isn’t exactly on safe ground.

Joe believes Chucky needs to win a playoff game this year or the Glazer Boys could pull the trigger.

Peter King of SI.com thinks that just because Chucky gave the Bucs a few days off during the bye week, that the players now worship the ground he walks on. Joe disagrees.

As Joe has stated many times, NFL fans who do not read Peter King’s weekly Monday Morning Quarterback on SI.com are cheating themselves. This morning King writes about how Chucky gave the Bucs the week off for the bye week.

In the time between last week’s column and this one, the Bucs did not practice. Not once. Jon Gruden didn’t give his players a bye week. He gave them a bye-bye week. Smart move. You think his players won’t come back hungry to play hard for him the last seven weeks?

Joe does think that Chucky giving the Bucs a week vacation in the middle of the season is a good thing, both physically and mentally for the team. But to suggest the coach who, per a recent poll commissioned by the NFL Players Association, is one of the most disliked coaches by NFL players will suddenly be beloved by Bucs players is a stretch.

Players who like a coach like a coach. Players who don’t like a coach don’t like a coach. Just because the coach gives the players a few extra days off doesn’t mean the players all of a sudden think of him as their best friend.

Unless Chucky — or any coach — drastically changes his demeanor, players aren’t going to change their feelings toward him over a few days away from One Buc Palace.

Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte is simply wretched and the Bucs secondary should have a field day.

As usual, Joe can be found on a Sunday on his leather couch with two TVs working and ample adult beverages nearby watching NFL Sunday Ticket. Even when the Bucs are playing, Joe usually has his secondary TV pulling in an out of market game.

(Wait a minute. You don’t have two TVs for football Sundays? And you don’t have NFL Sunday Ticket? What’s the matter with you? You call yourself a football fan?)

Anyway, Joe was watching the Saints-Falcons on his primary TV and had the Packers-Vikings on his secondary TV, mainly because the Bucs will play the Vikings this coming weekend.

This just in: Gus Frerotte is horrid! The Packers picked him off three times and damned near pulled out a win thanks to Ferrotte.

The Bucs only have to worry about Adrian Peterson. He is the read deal. But Frerotte? Joe can only imagine how Tanard Jackson, Ronde Barber and the rest of the Bucs secondary are already drooling.

Chucky discusses the Bucs second half of the season and the push to the playoffs.

Chuck sits down for a chat with Scott Smith of Buccaneers Insider to discuss the second half of the season and the playoff picture for the Bucs. Naturally, as part of the NFL, Buccaneers.com does not have embed codes so Joe can’t post the entire video.

Joe is convinced that Roger Goodell is anti-internet because such Satanic sites like YouTube have exposed to the pubic that his cute wife has a naughty mind.

Since the Bucs have the day off, Joe thought he’d take a quick look at games involving the other three NFC South teams.

Currently all four NFC South teams are separated by two games. The Bucs are tied for first at 6-3 with Carolina. The Dixie Chicks are in second place with a 5-3 record and the Saints are 4-4.

New Orleans (4-4) at Atlanta (5-3)
TV: Channel 13, 1 p.m.
Outlook: The Dixie Chicks are one of the surprise teams this year, thanks to the emergence of budding NFL superstar, rookie quarterback Matt Ryan. Part of the reason Ryan is good is that Atlanta has a solid running game with Michael Turner.
For that reason alone, Joe thinks the Dixie Chicks will win. They will control the ball against an average Saints defense. The way Drew Brees can light up a scoreboard, the best way to stop him is to keep the ball out of his hands.
Bodog.com pick: Atlanta -1.

Carolina (6-2) at Oakland (2-6)
TV: DirecTV Channel 712, 4 p.m.
Outlook: It’s naive to think that the Panthers will lose this game. Not only do the Raiders smell worse than a can of tuna left on the countertop overnight (remember those college days?), but they are hurt.
Jamarcus Russell is has a hurt knee. Darren McFadden has a bum toe. And that’s the two best offensive weapons the Raiders have.
If Oakland scores more than two touchdowns, there will be a near riot in Vegas.
Bodog.com pick: Carolina -10.

NFL Films showcases Jeff Garcia's prowess late in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs

If your aching for Bucs football this weekend, Joe has a bye-week fix for you. It can’t replace the euphoria of an ice cold brew and a Bucs kickoff on a 42-inch LCD, but it’ll do. 

NFL FIlms and NFL.com have rolled out an Anatomy of the Game video breaking down the Bucs game-tying touchdown pass to Antonio Bryant and the 2-point conversion to Alex Smith. (Yes, the NFL still holds back embed codes so you have to go to their site for the video).

The video is further proof that Jeff Garcia can truly perform at a Pro Bowl level.

Via the same link, NFL Films also looks at Earnest Graham’s touchdown pass. Enjoy.

Jeff Garcia will use the bye week to sleep off late nights caring for his infant daugher and helping his wife through morning sickness, reports dad Bob Garcia

Regular visitors here know Joe’s favorite Bucs analyst is Bob Garcia, father of Jeff Garcia and a high school and small college coaching legend in Gilroy, Calif.

Upset after the Chiefs game, the senior Garcia didn’t hold back in his weekly blog for the Gilroy Dispatch.

Sheesh, I tell you what, I nearly had a heart attack. Matter of fact, when Jeff called after the game he goes, ‘Hey, dad, did you almost have a heart attack?’
I said, ‘Heart attack? I was pissed (the whole game). What did you guys think you were gonna do, show up and they’d roll over and play dead.’ I said you guys looked like crap because the whole game defensively — breakdowns — and offensively — couldn’t get nothing going. … You got go out there and punch ’em in the damn mouth and say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna rip their damn — hey, I don’t care what their record is.’ You gotta have that attitude. We’re at the point now where every game is important.

Bob Garcia went on to say that Jeff is feeling a lot of stress at home from getting up in the middle of the night with his infant daughter. It seems the bye week will really help freshen Garcia up for the stretch run.

Joe hasn’t forgotten you Bucs fans. The power rankings are in and Joe has them.

We lead off with Jason McIntyre, the creator of TheBigLead.com. He has the Bucs at No. 10.

Three losses by 11 points. Just sayin’ …

Up next is Vic Carucci of NFL.com. He lists the Bucs at No. 7.

Ultimately, they did what they were supposed to do vs. the Chiefs, giving them a chance to have a relaxing bye — at least as relaxing as a Jon Gruden team’s bye can be.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com suggests the Bucs are slightly better. He has them at No. 6.

That was an impressive comeback against Kansas City. They head to their bye at 6-3 and have to feel pretty good about it.

Vacation Man of BSPN.com apparently surmised through the highlights that the Bucs are No. 7 as well.

Avoided disaster in Kansas City. They get a bye week to try to find their offense.

And lastly, Joe brings you the notorious Dr. Z, Paul Zimmerman of SI.com. He too ranks the Bucs at No. 6.

The comeback from 24-3 down, to Kansas City, was the greatest in their history, they say. Short history, huh? Still, Gruden almost blew it when he went for a two-pointer early in the fourth quarter — too early — and had to hole the pressurized deuce putt later on to stay in it.

Brett Favre completed 19 passes this week against Buffalo.

As he does every week, Joe looks at what near-Bucs quarterback Brett Favre did in comparison to Carmella’s husband, Jeff Garcia.

To pullthe Jets within a tie with Buffalo for the AFC East lead, Favre completed 19 of 28 passes for 201 yards against the Bills without a touchdown. Favre threw one pick.

Garcia connected on 31 of 43 passes for 339 yards with a touchdown and a pick in the Bucs 30-27 overtime win at lowly Kansas City.

Joe gives a slight edge to Garcia, despite performing against the Chiefs’ poor defense. So this week, the Bucs were better off without Brett Favre.

There's no other way to describe it: Son of Bob is thieving millions from the Glazer Boys.

Joe recently stumbled upon a database on USA Today’s website that breaks down the salaries of each player in the NFL. To Joe’s surprise, the highest paid Buc is an offensive lineman.

Center Jeff Faine.

Faine clocks in with an annual salary of 13,105,760, nearly three times as much as the second-highest paid player on the Bucs roster, Jeff Garcia ($5,255,280).

(It seems this database is averaging signing bonus money and salary over the life of the contract)

Arguably the Bucs best bargain is safety Tanard Jackson who is the fourth-lowest paid Buc at $371,920. The biggest scam/travesty is Son of Bob who is the fourth-highest-paid at $4,250,000.

Quick, someone call the FBI! This isn’t highway robbery, this is felony interstate larcency.

Son of Bob shouldn’t even be on the team much less making $10. And he’s collecting a check of over $4 million! This is a moral outrage for any Bucs season ticket holder. The gall! Exactly what type of narcotics was Bruce Almighty on to sign off on this? How did Chucky con him into agreeing to such an insane, Satanic pact??

If I was one of the Glazer Boys, I’d have Chucky and Bruce Almighty cleaning the toilets and urinals and mopping up the puke from the drunks after home games to make up for the hard-earned cash of theirs that has been flushed away by Son of Bob.

Bucs wide receiver Michael Clayton (80) seems to be enjoying himself more now that hes catching more passes and is a businessman.

Easy Bucs fans. The Glazer Boys aren’t retiring Michael Clayton’s number.

His old high school in Louisiana is, so reports Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.

It seems Clayton will be a bit busy during his bye week. He’ll be at the Alabama-LSU game for the coin flip at his alma mater and then he’s opening up his own haberdashery, “80 Stitches.”

Joe’s not so sure the bye week will be good for Clayton in the long run. Finally he seems to be getting out of a slump that has stretched from his second season in the NFL which damned near had him cut from the Bucs roster. Clayton still has a bad habit of dropping key passes, though he seems to be catching more key passes in recent games.

“It’s about confidence,” Clayton said. “I had to go through a lot to earn Coach Gruden’s confidence in me again. I had to go through a lot to earn Jeff (Garcia’s) confidence in me. It’s about taking advantage of the opportunity and playing well. All that plays a part in how you feel out there on the field.

“When you get the feeling, it’s like you’re in a zone. You catch everything, you see more, you get more opportunities. You can really start to make stuff happen when you get the ball in your hands more. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to get that feeling.”

Joe hopes Clayton continues his hot streak. Sadly, for Clayton, the bye week couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Joe advises Bucs fans to stretch out on the couch this weekend and root for the Saints to drop the Falcons

With the Bucs taking their annual breather this week, every diehard Bucs fan will have his eye on the big matchup in the NFC South. That would be dangerous New Orleans (4-4) at upstart Atlanta (5-3).

So who do you cheer for in that game, considering the Bucs are 6-3 and in second place?

It’s a tough decision. But your team of experts at JoeBucsFan.com has made the call. Pull for the Saints, as hard as that might be.

Here’s the logic. While the Saints are a dangerous, playoff-tested team, and a team nobody wants to see in the playoffs, we Bucs fans need the Saints to stay in Wild Card contention until the final week. Why? Because New Orleans closes the season with a home game against Carolina.

It’s likely the Bucs and Panthers will battle to the final week for the critical NFC South title, which should lead to a first round bye this season.

The Bucs can not afford to have the Saints go into that final Carolina game without motivation.

As for Atlanta, a loss on Sunday would put them a full game behind the Bucs and 0-3 in the NFC South. Divsion record is the second tiebreaker for a division title. That means if the Bucs lose in Atlanta in December, they likely would still own the division tiebreaker edge against the Falcons.

In case Bucs fans didn’t know, it’s the bye week. The Bucs have but seven games left in the regular season.

To keep you focused on the Bucs season, Joe rolled out some playoff realities for you on Monday. He made the case that another NFC South championship for the Bucs will secure a first round bye in the playoffs.

Today, with the help of Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune and with apologies to current NFL Network analyst and former Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora, Joe will take another look at what chances the Bucs have to make the… puh… playoffs?

They are 6-3 and half a game behind Carolina in the NFC South with seven games remaining. The Bucs probably will need at least 10 wins to be in playoff contention, and four more victories seems to be an achievable goal.

Here are the teams the Bucs have left on the schedule, in order:

Minnesota, at Detroit, New Orleans, at Carolina (Monday night), at Atlanta, San Diego, Oakland.

As Richardson points out, the Bucs probably need to win 10 to make it to the playoffs. It’s possible, if not likely, but it won’t be easy. Minnesota is dangerous. Despite not having a QB of any worth, the Vikings have a lot of talented players. This game won’t be easy.

* Playing Detroit should be a no-brainer win. The Lions are dreadful beyond words and their coach, former Bucs defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, may be fired by then. He’s already getting really snippy with the fourth estate. But then again, the Bucs don’t exactly instill any confidence the way they have played on the road this year. Besides, the odds are the Lions have to win sometime this season.

* New Orleans, like Minnesota, is a dangerous team. Again, not a gimme game at all.

* Playing at Carolina, even though the Bucs manhandled them at the CITS earlier in the year, means nothing. Joe almost is ready to count this game as a loss.

* When the season started, this second Falcons game looked like a sure win. Not so fast. Atlanta (5-3) is  playing good football and is in the playoff hunt. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan just gets better and better. He has better numbers as a rookie than Peyton Manning did in his first year. And don’t forget how dicey road games have been for the Bucs. Playing a road game six days after another road game is not usually a good thing. Potentially consecutive losses.

* San Diego, like New Orleans and probably more so than Minnesota, has a team with plenty of weapons to make for a long Sunday night at the CITS. Sure the Chargers recently canned their defensive coordinator but the defense now under Ron Riveria may be playing in a groove by then.

* Playing home against Oakland, the Bucs, on paper, should win that. The Raiders are rotten to the core and Joe can’t picture the Raiders not having thrown in the towel by then. The Silver and Black will likely be going through the motions.

On paper, Richardson is right. The Bucs should be able to lock up four wins. But Joe is a little more than concerned that getting those four wins will be a tough task.

On Friday nights, Chucky is not the coach of the Bucs. He's just another dad watching his son play high school football.

In the rare moments Chucky is not holed up in his office at One Buc Palace breaking down tape, he gets to be a father. On a recent Friday night, Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel went to an obscure small prep football game featuring Carrollwood Day School.

Why? Because Chucky can be found at these games. Chucky’s son, Deuce, plays for Carrollwood Day. Deuce, a freshman, is such a talented player he rarely comes off the field playing offense, defense and special teams.

The father was ready with a news conference worth of questions when his son came out the door with a question of his own.

“Hey, Dad, can I have 20 bucks to go to Beef O’Brady’s with the guys?”

The moment hit Gruden like a Gaines Adams sack from the blind side.

“Next thing I know, my kid, the freshman, is talking to a couple girls, then heading off in a car with the starting quarterback,” Gruden said. “I’m standing there like the guy in that song. You know, ‘Cat’s In the Cradle.’ “

If fans are curious to see a more humane side of Chucky, or maybe want to see a chip off the old block, Carrollwood Day plays Canterbury School in St. Petersburg tonight in both teams’ final game of the season. Duece wears No. 22.

Joe doesn’t want to get too giddy about rookie Clifton Smith and his abilities in the return game. The reality is the kid out of Frenso State has fumbled in his first two games. And there’s no better way to get booted from the NFL in a hurry.

That said, we’ve seen enough evidence to hope Smith is the real deal. He brought home the NFL Special Teams Player of the Week award yesterday largely for his kickoff return for a TD against the Chiefs.

Here’s a look at two punt returns Smith took to the house in one game at Fresno State. The second is worth a few looks. Enjoy.

Bucs safety Sabby Piscitelli spoke to the Oregonian this week about how happy he was to get his first NFL start.

Bucs safety Sabby Piscitelli spoke to the Oregonian (Oregon’s largest newspaper) about his experiences playing for the Bucs and about how giddy he was to log his first NFL start against the Chiefs  Sunday.

“We might have one of the best defensive coordinators of all time in Monty Kiffin and having great defenses is definitely something they expect year in and year out,” he said. “Guys like (Derrick) Brooks, (Warren) Sapp, (John) Lynch and (Ronde) Barber established that attitude. You have to hit and be physical and be fast. This team is always expecting a great defense.”

Joe thinks Sabby is one of the reasons the Bucs not only have one of the top defenses in the league but possibly one of the best in team history, which is saying a lot. And Sabby is becoming one of Joe’s favorite Bucs. He hits and he is a ballhawk. What’s not to like?

ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, known here as “Vacation Man” since he only watches highlights of Bucs games sometimes, gives his take on the division to date. He’s showing love to Jeremy Zuttah and Chucky.

John Clayton, one of BSPN’s football gurus, grades the NFC South teams in the video below.

Though Joe grew up loving Doug Williams, Joe isn't so sure he was a Hall of Fame quarterback.

The NFL announced recently that Doug Williams is on the preliminary ballot for the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. The final round will be voted upon when the Super Bowl comes to Tampa in February.

eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune seems to be making a case for Williams to be among the enshrined.

Williams didn’t put up outstanding career passing numbers, but his leadership skills were extraordinary. He guided the 1979 Bucs to within one win of a Super Bowl berth in only the fourth year of the franchise and he was named a historic MVP when the 1987 Redskins rallied past Denver, becoming the first black starting QB to win a Super Bowl.

Joe’s not so sure Williams is a Hall of Famer. Joe grew up loving the Bucs, and Williams was one of Joe’s all-time favorite NFL players. Joe can still remember the time Williams, sitting on his rear end, threw a touchdown pass to a wide-open Jimmie Giles in the corner of the end zone at the old Sombrero.

Joining Williams on the same ballot are Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Ken Stabler and Joe Theismann, so it’s hard to envision Williams getting past the preliminary round. Joe thinks Simms should be in the Hall and thinks it is an absolute travesty Snake Stabler isn’t already in. A case could also be made for Plunkett, as well.