When you’re the best team in the NFC, you better believe your defensive line is doing some great things.

Monday evening, a caller into The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620, was critical of Kyle Moore’s play and the Bucs head coach fired back with a rant on the great things happening along the Bucs’ defensive line.

“I keep hearing the criticism for the D-line. But what I’m seeing from a coaching standpoint from the coach’s booth is I see Gerald McCoy get five tackles and a tackle for a loss. I hear about him getting pancaked. They’re not watching the same tape I’m watching. He’s causing disruption along with Roy Miller up in there getting four tackles [Sunday] and a tackle for a loss,” Morris said. “Stylez White coming up big [Sunday] with a sack and a forced fumble, two tackles for a loss and a big-time tackle in the flat on a third down stop. I’m seeing these guys, you know, start to be productive.

“You can’t lead the NFL in interceptions if your D-line is not working. So I think it’s all working together. I really mean it, and don’t take it the wrong way, but stats are for losers. You gotta go out there and play as a unit, as a team and find ways to win football games. And that’s what they’re doing.”

Now Joe thinks this “stats are for losers” line from Raheem is getting a little ridiculous if the head coach is going to quote numbers of tackles and interceptions to a fan and then tell the guy “stats are for losers.”

Make up your mind, Raheem.

For Joe, stats are not for losers in many cases. Frankly, they’re a good way to evaluate aspects of a football team. From looking at success rates in the red zone, numbers on 3rd-and-short, or dozens of other stats, they’re relevant.

Plus, Raheem is always talking about the importance of self-evaluation.  And stats surely play into that. Heck, Greg Olson was out there flapping weeks ago about how Josh Freeman needs to up his completion rate a few percentage points.

And every player on the Bucs knows his stats are so very critical when it comes time for a contract. There are so many other examples.

Of course, Joe gets that the wins and losses are all that matter, which is the message of the “stats are for losers” line.

Joe suggests Raheem switch to saying “success is not measured by stats.” Or perhaps, “this isn’t Gary Shelton’s fantasy football team.”

Yesterday, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman appeared on the “Jim Rome Is Burning” show on BSPN. Below is the video of Freeman’s appearance.

Joe is bringing his readers a treat this morning. Sadly, no, it’s not news of Joe’s never-ending quest to lure Rachel Watson into his lair. Rather, it’s a rare video sighting of noted Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly.

In this TBO video, Fennelly has a sitdown with his colleague eye-RAH! Kaufman, to discuss the prospects of the Bucs making it to the postseason.

Please watch the video and by all means break down Fennelly’s analysis.

Joe was drunk with joy (and other liquids) following the Bucs thrilling win over the Cardinals Sunday. Part of that was Joe had to calm down he was so frightened.

No, this Steelers fan was not knocking on Joe’s door looking for a treat. Joe was frightened beyond words that the Bucs gave up 305 yards passing to the likes of Max Hall and Derek Anderson of all people, and coughed up a 17-point lead.

Winning cures all ills but Joe is having a hard time getting that memory scrubbed from his brain. It seems this nasty image also left an impression upon Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620.

Justin, who hosts the award-winning “Blitz” on Saturday afternoons, has gone of record suggesting the Bucs defense is not much different under Raheem Morris than it was under the heinous Jim Bates Experiment.

Sunday’s showing seemed to reinforce Justin’s thoughts of the Bucs defense, so he wrote in his weekly “What I Learned” column.

1. I learned that no lead is safe in a game involving the Buccaneers. We’ve seen the Bucs have to come back in the 4th quarter in 4 of their 5 wins this year including Sunday’s game in Arizona. The Bucs offense has shown the ability to score when needed most, but what about the Bucs defense? Raheem said the defense played phenomenal on Sunday, but other than 2 interceptions thrown right to defenders returned for TDs, what was so phenomenal about it? The defense blew a 17 point lead in the 2nd half and gave up 28 points to an offense led by Max Hall and Derek Anderson. Yuck! I know that “stats are for losers”, but giving up 400 total yards to the Cardinals and still having one of the worst ranked defenses against the teams they’ve played is cause for concern. Hey, at least they’re running the “Tampa 2” which is better suited for these players!

Watching the immortal Anderson rally from a 17-point deficit, when the Bucs should have stomped on the Cardinals’ collective throats, was so unnerving to Joe he broke out in hives.

This is why Joe wrote earlier in the week that with LeGarrette Blount in the game, defenses have to play the run more honestly which means the Bucs should — and can — absolutely turn the offense loose.

All of us witnessed this Sunday. It can be done.

The way the Bucs defense has been playing lately, the Bucs are going to have to win shootouts to get to the playoffs.

Why would an anchor on that alleged news show SportsCenter call Bucs head coach Raheem Morris “Radio Raheem?”

More specifically, it was sounds like anchor Trey Wingo, a noted ESPN personality, referring to the Buccaneers as “Radio Raheem’s company” during a highlight shown on ESPN following Sunday’s Bucs-Cardinals game. Here’s the video evidence, courtesy of BucStop.com.

Radio has a been a Bucs message board nickname of Morris floated by haters of the head coach since he got the job last year. Radio is the movie title and the nickname of the main character in the 2003 film starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. The actor played the role of Radio, a mentally challenged young black man mistreated by the local high school football team but later embraced by team coaches and worked with the team.

Calling Morris “Radio Raheem” is an insult, for sure, no doubt born from the color of Morris’ skin. There’s a chance this “Radio Raheem” is a reference to the profanity spewing young black male character murdered in New York City in the movie Do The Right Thing. But that movie had nothing to do with football.

Regardless, the Bucs are 5-2 and there is no reason for some BSPN clown like Wingo to be calling the coach “Radio Raheem.”

So where does this go from here? Joe, who loathes BSPN, vows to call the Stalinist Mouse outfit tomorrow for a response, although Joe expects to get nothing.

Joe sincerely hopes the Bucs’ brass use their muscle to ruffle some feathers in Bristol.

Rookie Brian Price missed some minicamp time because of college commitments, had hamstring issues through the preseason and played a part-time role through three games before going down with some sort of mysterious pelvis injury.

Now Price is done for the season, the Bucs announced this afternoon, placed on injured reserve.

Joe’s always leery of injuries that team’s don’t detail. The Bucs haven’t offered many specifics since Price starting sitting out. Hopefully, this is more precautionary than anything else.

Joe can’t say this is a huge loss for the Bucs this season, given Price has missed four games and only had three tackles. But surely this is a setback for his development and the Bucs’ ability to assess what they have along the line.

Ryan Sims getting more reps in a contract year might not be the worst thing in the world. Former Bucs defensive end Steve White, on his blog’s weekly Bull Rush column, has had some positive things to say about Sims.

No word yet on how the Bucs might replace Price.

Today on “The Opening Drive,” co-hosts Peter King and Bob Papa welcomed Atlanta coach Mike Smith for his weekly Tuesday morning appearance, heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio. It soon turned into a Bucs lovefest between coffee-slurping, oatmeal-loving, popcorn-shoveling King and Smith.

In particular, the two raved about Bucs wide receiver Mike Williams.

Peter King: He’s smart on the field, he runs great routes, he’s a very good boundary receiver in that he can get his feet down well. He has been manna from heaven for the Bucs. He will be a good player for them for a long time. Mike, I am telling you that the third practice of Bucs training camp he was their starting receiver.

Mike Smith: He should be. He has the skills you are looking for in a wide receiver. [Josh] Freeman has other weapons too. [Arrelious] Benn is another guy who has good size. They have got some guys there. Raheem is doing a good job with the defense. I like those two rookie tackles they drafted early.

Ronde Barber has been playing forever and Talib, he has unbelievable skills. They are doing some good things there and it shows. I told the players that you get what you earn and we both share a 5-2 record.

King: I think Raheem was smart in this, saying he’s the best team in the NFC because he’s saying to his team, “No one believes in us” and the reason for that is smart alecks like me are saying, “Hey, you played two good teams and you lost by 25.” Until they beat a good team, I’m not going to believe [the Bucs are a playoff team]. I think what they are doing is fantastic from what I thought they would be before the season. I thought they would be awful. But to believe they are a good team they have to win games like against the Falcons in Atlanta which is a very good team. Then you will get respect, even in your own market.

Smith: Peter, they are a very dangerous team. I don’t think you can compare teams just based on the scoreboard from one week to the next. I know they are a 5-2 team and they lead the division, the NFC South. What you can say other than that is that they are a young team and playing to win a game. There is such a fine line in the NFL.

Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net is wound up over the Bucs win against the Cardinals and he admits he’s drinking from a half-full glass this week.

It’s easy for Joe and Bucs fans to encourage icon Ronde Barber to play for the Bucs again next year. He’s been stellar this season and is clearly an invaluable influence on the young Bucs roster.

But after listening to Barber talk about his health on the Buccaneers Radio Network last night, Joe had to take pause.

Barber is a very physical cornerback, and Total Access host and former Buccaneer Dave Moore asked him about the toll on his body.

“There’s been about three weeks this year when I had 10 or 12 tackles that I did not feel good the next day. It takes me to about Thursday where I’m not limping around and I can get my arms above my head. But that’s just who I’ve been. It’s who I’ve always been,” Barber said. “That’s how I had to impress Monte Kiffin when I first started playing. You know I had to do those types of things to get on the football field and keep my position with this football team.

“It’s just carried over. Hopefully it’s rubbing off on my young guys. Because somebody’s going to have to do it after me.”

Barber referenced his “one knee that doesn’t straighten all the way out.” And he talked about his drive to play through injuries. He said he had a torn PCL (knee) and a broken bone in his hand during the Super Bowl run in 2002.

Now holding the NFL’s consecutive starts record at cornerback (174), Barber said his determiniation to never miss a game began during his sophomore year in high school, when twin brother Tiki Barber was the team’s starting running back and he was on the bench. Barber said he dealt with the same early struggles in college and pros, crediting former Bucs secondary coach Herm Edwards for sticking with him and being a driving motivator.

Barber went on to say he’s not a workout warrior. He said he routinely changes up his offseason regimen, this year going through biathalon training (running and cycling) with his wife.

“I’ve figured out how to work smart. I don’t kill myself in the offseason,” Barber said.

Joe’s just hoping Barber can stay healthy through 2010.

As you will hear (and see) in a video Joe has scheduled for this afternoon, Derek “Old School” Fournier is outraged people don’t respect the Bucs because the Bucs got absolutely chainwhipped by the two good teams they have played thus far, both at home.

Now Joe’s not the kind of guy who gives two whips what anyone thinks of the Bucs. But for those who cannot sleep at night without knowing what some slob in Connecticut who works for some Stalinist four-letter organization run by an Orlando mouse thinks of the Bucs, Joe quotes Peter King who said this morning, while he co-hosted “The Opening Drive” with Bob Papa, heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio, “Bucs fans ask what the team can do to gain respect. It’s very simple: Beat a good team.”

Well, Jenna Laine of NFL.com doesn’t need to hear anyone’s feedback on the Bucs. She has a list this morning of 10 signs the Bucs are legit.

Joe’s not going to spoil the list for you so you’ll have to click the link. But one sign Laine cites piqued Joe’s interest.

4) Buccaneers ticket hotline answering machine has messages.

Joe has two thoughts for those who sit in their office chairs and visibly shake while biting their wrists because of what others write and speak of the Bucs:

1) A Falcons fan called Peter King this morning and undressed the Sports Illustrated writer for not giving the Falcons any respect and for constantly slurping the Bucs.

2) Joe wonders if the same Bucs fans who pound their fists on the kitchen table because honest pundits point out the Bucs have been alley-beaten by the two good teams on the schedule — at home no less — also fight the good fight for Boise State being in the BCS championship game despite playing a low-rent schedule?

Bucs fans are still riding on Cloud-9 over the thrilling win over the Cardinals in Arizona. Part of that is because of the offense the Bucs showed.

Sure, LeGarrette Blount’s hurdling, eye-popping 48-yard run was sizzling and he helped open up the Bucs’ passing game.

As a result, Josh Freeman very well may have had his best game in the NFL. That’s what cool cat Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times reports. He touched base with Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson who lauded Freeman’s play.

“I felt like Josh probably played his best game as a Buc,” Olson said. “He went 18-for-25 for (72) percent completion (percentage), but after watching the film, really he had four drops; it could have very easily been a 23-of-25 game.”

Of course, Olson said they would have preferred a theoretical 23-of-26, if Freeman had thrown the ball away instead of taking a late fourth-quarter sack. But Olson said that the way Freeman handled the loud crowd, and adverse circumstances, made this game special.

“It was really a game where he was hitting hands and was very accurate, and to me, he was in the flow of the game and the game came to him (Sunday),” Olson said. “To see him do that on the road and … in a hostile environment where he’s having to make a lot of calls at the line of scrimmage and walk to the line of scrimmage and communicate to everybody. It’s really a tribute to him and what his preparation has been like.”

As Joe has written several times, the Bucs offense seems to be on the cusp of absolutely blowing up, now that it appears they have found their No. 1 back in Blount.

Joe’s of the belief that Olson needs to turn Freeman and the young offense loose. Throw the doors wide open. Until the Bucs defense shows it can shut down average teams (much less good teams), the Bucs are going to have to outscore opponents, as the Bucs did Sunday.

Giving up 305 yards passing to the likes of Max Hall and Derek Anderson gives Joe the hives. That’s not what playoff teams do.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

T.E.A.M — Together Everyone Achieves More — is an old acronym that has been used by teams and printed on t-shirts to keep the philosophy top of mind. 

I don’t think the Bucs have had any printed up this year, but this team epitomizes the concept.

The offense hasn’t been good enough on a regular basis to win the five games that they have notched thus far. The defense hasn’t either, and they’ve needed Josh Freeman’s late game heroics to pull out most of their wins. Special Teams encompasses both offensive and defensive contributors and has been pretty good generally (not counting Sammy Stroughter’s muffed punt this week). Parity between the offense and defense is a good thing because when one facet of the team is much better than another it can cause little dissensions in the locker room. Knowing they need each other is a positive thing for this team.

Now to the reality of the big picture: The Bucs are 5-2 and won again on the road. They are one game from the midway point of the season and are tied atop their division. Their current record is ahead of most anyone’s prediction, although when the schedule came out in the spring, the case could be made that eight wins was not out of the question with non-division games against Cleveland, St. Louis, Arizona (without Kurt Warner), Seattle, San Fransisco, Cincinnati, Detroit and Washington, none of which was expected to be fantastic.

One or two division wins against the Matt Moore led Panthers or the Falcons could be expected as well, so they are taking care of business with a favorable schedule and that is what has to happen in the NFL. Even Pittsburgh, with Ben Roethlisberger suspended, should have been a competitive home game with Charlie Batch throwing for the Steelers.

On Sunday, network broadcaster and former offensive guru/Super Bowl winning Head Coach Brian Billick called the Bucs defense “a very basic defensive package.”  A package that neither the Steelers nor the Saints had little trouble with and even the Cardinals put up what should have been enough points to win if Max Hall didn’t throw two first half TD’s to Bucs defenders.

The Cardinals started the little undrafted QB that Ron Jaworski said — among other less than stellar comments — didn’t have the skill set to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He was starting his third game and in his team’s 25 drives with him at quarterback had not registered a rushing or passing touchdown.

In fact, he had never thrown a TD pass before he got that on their second offensive drive to Larry Fitzgerald for the first points of the game Sunday.  The Bucs first touchdown came on a safety blitz that the little QB didn’t see and Sean Jones knocked him around enough to give Geno Hayes a “pick six.”  Max Hall would get pulled in the second quarter for a QB (Derek Anderson) that played so poorly they pulled him a few games ago for the little undrafted QB. 

The Bucs “very basic defensive package” was able to get four interceptions on the day and put two of them back in the end-zone for 14 of the team’s 38 points.  These two Cardinal QB’s were able to put up 28 points against this defense (and failed to score from inside the 5 before the half).

Following the defensive stop, the Bucs offense delivered a very impressive drive to kill the first half clock with a field goal. While they added three points, a big mistake was made that I hope will never happen again.

The ball was on the 3 yard line and Freeman backed up into a shotgun formation. He caught the snap and took a quick 3-step drop and then threw a “fade” route to Maurice Stovall. 

Some were surprised that they would throw it to Stovall since he hasn’t had much noticeable action this season. But the problem with the play is that it will never work no matter who the receiver is. The timing of a fade with only 13 total yards to the back of the endzone can’t work from the shotgun and especially with any time taken to drop back. The ball must be taken from under center and be put up in the air immediately. Stovall or any other receiver (even Mike Williams) will run out of room and any “run of the mill” defender should be able to knock it away with that much time to see the ball coming his way.

I’m surprised that the goal line fades from the shotgun formation weren’t nixed in practice.  If they keep that in the gameplan going forward, don’t expect success.

As a team the Bucs have a -27 point differential. This is not typical for teams that are 5-2, but is directly attributed to the blowouts from the Steelers and Saints and from the fact that four of their wins have been by a total of 10 points. That final stat is really amazing and something to be excited about. Winning close games more than every great once in a while cannot be considered luck, and the confidence that Josh Freeman, the rest of the team and coaching staff are building through winning close games and coming from behind can’t be underestimated for this season and beyond. 

The Bucs are tied atop the NFC and should be proud of that accomplishment and humble enough to realize it is a razor-thin difference to 2-5.

After losing their 10 point halftime lead to an average Cardinals team and needing another fourth quarter comeback for the win, Raheem Morris should have enough material for his T.E.A.M. to keep the “Us vs. The World” mentality going for a while. 

A win against the Atlanta Falcons (+36 point differential) would go a long way to making believers out of any remaining holdouts and may even put enough butts in those empty seats to get a home game or two on TV before the end of the year.

While Bucs fans are still celebrating Sunday’s eye-opening, tackle-avoiding hurdle by LeGarrette Blount, Raheem Morris says Blount’s hurdling is old news.

Speaking on The Raheem Morris Show yesterday on WDAE-AM 620, the Bucs head coach advised fans to visit Google and search Blount and hurdling. So Joe did just that and enjoyed the show.

To save you some time, here’s a Blount hurdle from the 2008 Holiday Bowl. Raheem praised Blount’s ability to hurdle the Cardinals’ defender Sunday and accelerate quickly afterwards. You’ll see the same stuff here against Oklahoma State.

Click below to visit Joe’s friends at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa.

Joe just typed that headline and it’s really surreal. As Joe noted yesterday, the Bucs are in a playoff race with a 5-2 record.

Now as pumped as Joe was — and still is — about that win Sunday over Arizona, Joe’s not quite ready yet to believe the Bucs will win the NFC South. But in this crazy NFL season, who knows?

The good people of the NFL Network tackled this very subject. Torry Holt and Charles Davis discuss the Bucs chances of winning the division in this video.

Check it out. You may be surprised at what they had to say. Let Joe know what you think of their responses.

Joe decided to take a brief moment from his grueling day banging on a keyboard to enjoy Raheem Morris’ radio show, heard exclusively on the Bucs radio network, locally in the Tampa Bay area on WDAE-AM 620.

During the show, which accepts callers, one Bucs fan was giddy like Joe and other Bucs fans about the play of right tackle James Lee in the win over the Cardinals, who was starting in place of injured Jeremy Trueblood.

The caller asked Raheem if Lee’s play meant that Trueblood will be sitting on the bench when he is healthy to suit up again.

That’s not happening, per Raheem.

While waxing poetic about the play of Lee, Raheem quashed any rumors of Trueblood losing his job when Raheem said emphatically that “Jeremy Trueblood is our starting right tackle.”

Joe’s played on enough sports teams and lived enough of life to know the power of visualization and believing in one’s abilities.

If you don’t feel the goal, see yourself obtaining it in your head 1,000 times and attack it relentlessly, there’s little chance of success.

From Muhammad Ali, perhaps the best self-motivator of all time who was The Greatest before he was champion, to Deepak Chopra’s “field of all possibilities” and countless great sports coaches across America in between, they all harnessed and preached the power of visualization.

And that’s essentially what Raheem Morris is doing now by keeping his foot on the pedal of the “best in the NFC” chatter.

During his news conference today, Raheem explained further that he is pushing “mentality before reality.” When Joe heard of this one-liner, it drove Joe nuts because he recognized the mantra but couldn’t remember from where.

Via the magic of the Internet, Joe realized it came from Raheem himself, shortly after getting the Bucs job.

During the lead up to the 2009 Super Bowl, Lakeland Ledger Bucs beat writer Rick Brown wrote a feature about young Mike Tomlin coaching the Steelers and Raheem talked about his friend and mentor.

“His attention to detail,” really influenced me,” the new Bucs coach said. “The way we set up pretty much our lesson plans, the way we got our message across, (the) different teaching styles that he taught me.

“It’s always mentality before reality. Mike Tomlin has been coaching Super Bowls for years in his own mind. Right now, he just made it a reality for himself. We just believe in that. That’s what he instilled in me and, of course, he’s had it already, a little bit of that swagger we talked about before.”

Joe’s all in favor of what Raheem’s doing. It’s a personal development method that, from reading above, is obviously part of his core beliefs. And if you’re going to sell this kind of mindset to you team, you might as well put your balls on the table and take it to the media.

Joe’s just not sure Raheem will know precisely how to handle it effectively when/if the Bucs lose a game and are no longer the “best in the NFC.” That’s probably his next great challenge in the locker room.

As for the Falcons’ getting their jock straps all twisted over the Bucs being the “best in the NFC,” so writes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, Joe thinks this is more of a distraction for Atlanta than a motivator. They should be far more worried about LeGarrette Blount and Josh Freeman.

Right now, Joe’s visualizing Rachel Watson joining him to watch Monday Night Football and asking to meet all of Joe’s halftime needs.

Mentality before reality.

At his 4 o’clock news conference, Raheem Morris said the Bucs will not seek the services of future Hall of Fame wideout Randy Moss, who was cut by the Vikings earlier today.

Raheem says that’s no knock on Moss; He simply likes his six wide receivers.

At 5-2 and at least thinking about the playoffs, Joe thought the Bucs might sniff out Moss. Hey, they could always cut him. But the reality is the Bucs are low on the waiver list, because of their strong record, and probably wouldn’t get a shot at him anyway.

Maurice Stovall or Randy Moss? Fun to think about.

Chatting with Bucs fans today around town, Joe is realizing that a lot of fans are not getting just how much better the Bucs are now that LeGarrette Blount will be carrying the ball 15 to 20 times a game.

The guy is a serious threat not only as an offensive weapon, but he’s in the heads of the defense. Few want to tackle the 250-pound manbeast. And on top of that, now defenses know he’ll go over them as well as through them, if he has to.

A reporter around Falcons camp asked Atlanta defensive tackle Corey Peters about Blount today, per CBSSports.com. Here’s what he had to say: 

T Corey Peters on Tampa Bay RB LeGarrette Blount, who had 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Arizona on Sunday: “He’s going to be someone we have to bring our pads with and be ready to play.”

Now what would have happened if Peters was asked about Cadillac Williams?

Joe suspects the answer might have gone like this: “Caddy’s done a lot in this league and he had a big game against the Saints last year. I saw that on film. Don’t let his 2.5 yards a carry fool you; he’s a dangerous back.”

Joe can’t emphasize enough how much Blount changes the offense.

As Joe has written before, Blount might not pick up the blitz like Cadillac, but an effective running game also will go a very long way in protecting Josh Freeman.

"I think we're more true to our core beliefs without a salary cap. Leave the free agency thing to Jerry Jones."

Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly is racking his brain to figure out whether Bucs fans will flock to home games now that the Bucs have proven they’re exciting and contending for a playoff berth.

Fennelly seems to find more questions than answers studying this subject today. Among the issues, Fennelly believes poor attendance is, in part, due to fans disdain for the actions or inactions of Team Glazer.

But it’s almost as if Bucs fans have been withholding their judgment early this season, almost as if they’re so beaten down that they want proof, always more proof, that this isn’t going to go away.

Yes, there’s the economy, too. And I think there’s some deep-rotted resentment toward ownership; the feeling that, true or not, the Glazers aren’t doing everything they can to make this franchise a winner again.

All of this is not the work of the liberal media. Fans, if you talked to them, have been decidedly neutral as Morris’ crew has surprised the league.

Now Team Glazer is not Vince Naimoli, the man who did everything he could to alienate fans from the Devil Rays and then was surprised when fans rejected him at the box office. Team Glazer has had major ups and major downs during their tenure in town, but in Joe’s mind they have to be surfing near the crest of a new wave right now.

Joe can’t imagine that today, at this moment, there’s more than a miniscule percentage of angry Bucs fans steaming with rage over Team Glazer’s handling of the team.

It’s very much Team Glazer’s executive decision-making — like it or not, respect it or not — that has the Bucs at 5-2 and sitting on a pile of talented young players and a mountain of payroll money they will have to spend when the NFL salary cap likely returns with a new labor agreement in 2011.

For Joe, Team Glazer is not a factor in attendance at the Bucs’ next home game against Carolina.