Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune and Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV discuss the Bucs loss to the Texans in this TBO.com video.

Now Joe is not about to call NFL players “quitters.” To do so is to suggest an NFL player has no soul and is more morally bankrupt than Tim Curley.

Watching yesterday’s, um, exhibition on the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway, it sure didn’t look anything like the team that beat both the Dixie Chicks and the Saints at home earlier this season.

During a live chat in the midst of Sunday’s exhibition against the Texans, St. Petersburg Times reporter Stephen Holder suggested the Bucs defense has accepted the depressing realization that the team cannot stop a cool breeze.

Stephen F. Holder: I don’t even see a sense of urgency from this defense. I think they have resolved themselves to conceding that they cannot stop the run. This is an embarrassing effort.

At this point in the season, the Bucs’ secondary is average. The defensive front, largely because they are so young, is a work in progress (though Joe is very geeked over the play of Adrian Clayborn).

Simply put, the Bucs have no play from their linebacker corps. Rookie Mason Foster looked like a stud early this season, but hasn’t played to that level of late, probably because there may be a book out on him from opposing NFL offensive coordinators.

To be fair, Foster is a one-man linebacker unit. Joe has to be reminded when Quincy Black is on the field and when Geno Hayes doesn’t play, well, there’s a massive void.

No, this defense isn’t very good. Not now. It was getting the job done earlier in the season.

What happened in the past month?

Sunday’s Bucs loss to the Texans was a game Team Glazer is probably grateful many in the Tampa Bay area couldn’t watch.

One local TV sports anchor suggested the game was over after the first play, a Texans touchdown. Well, that’s not quite accurate but pretty close.

There are a lot of fingers to point, so many targets one doesn’t have enough digits on his hands. Veteran St. Petersburg Times sports columnist Gary Shelton is of the mind the humiliating loss was a total team effort.

The team is slow, but it makes up for it by not playing smart. The only thing worse than the offense might be the defense. Who knows when it will win again?

You wonder: Did last year fool the front office, too? Did the team think it was better than it has turned out to be?

Joe strongly suggests clicking on the link above as it is one of Shelton’s better works: funny, smart and informative.

About the best thing Joe can say about yesterday’s ugly game is that the quicker it is forgotten, the better the Bucs can prepare for the world champs and Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews.

Watching the Bucs tackle today made Joe shake his head in disbelief several times.

That was bad enough, but Joe didn’t expect to be shaking his head the same way after the game. That came when Bucs postgame radio personality and former linebacker Ryan Nece said many Bucs fans need to show more loyalty to their team.

His take came after a caller said he left the Bucs-Texans debacle early.

Nece called today’s game “frustrating and disgusting” but chastised fans for leaving early, saying that if fans want players playing to the final whistle, then they should stay ’til the final whistle.

Joe’s not sure what could prompt the usually thoughtful Nece to have such an outlandish opinion. Fans pay cold, hard-earned cash for their tickets. If they only want to sit through 45 minutes of embarrassing Bucs football, then so be it.

Nece should be thankful the home crowd thinned out fast and early, rather than the Bucs being serenaded with a chorus of boos as they turned in a fourth-quarter effort worthy of words that rhyme with duck and spit.

Look, every man is human, short of Albert Pujols. But even the great Cardinals slugger will get fooled and have a strikeout once a month or so.

Same with Aaron Rodgers. Dude will have an incompletion from time to time.

So too are front office types human. Take Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for example.

Whether it was loyalty or something Dominik saw in Quincy Black, perhaps maybe a high ceiling, just about every Bucs fan raised an eyebrow that Dominik re-signed Black, handing the Bucs linebacker a five-year, $29 million contract. The deal contains $11.5 million guaranteed.

To date, Black has played on the level of someone earning the league-minimum.

In what may turn out to be the defensive equivalent of Michael Clayton’s re-signing, Black has far too often been invisible on the field. In the second half today there was a good reason why fans couldn’t see him on the field: he was replaced by Geno Hayes.

There was no announcement made by Buccaneers staffers that Black was injured, as is often the case when someone is dinged up and has to leave the game.

This is not the first time this season that Black was benched for subpar play, though the first time, against Minnesota, Black was less than 100 percent.

Black did have a tackle for a loss today, to his credit.

It has always puzzled Joe why Black was handed a starting job in 2009. Joe can count on one hand the number of big plays Black has made in 42 games. Often, one needs two hands to count the number of splash plays a good linebacker makes in one game, much less 41.

Simply put, if the Bucs rush defense is ever going to improve, Black must simply play better.

Bucs rookie defensive end Adrian Clayborn had a few things to say from a somber Bucs locker room after the game.

“We need to show for the whole 60 minutes and play like we want it, not just for a quarter or a half a quarter. I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, we’re just not playing the way we need to play.

“Practice always goes well, that’s how it goes. I’ve never had a bad week of practice. Just have to bring it to the game. I thought we had a good game plan. I guess they had a better game plan.”

There’s nothing worse as an athlete than to be called a quitter. You can suck or screwup, but you don’t want to be labeled a quitter. Just ask Albert Haynesworth.

But it seems that the some Bucs are quitting on Raheem Morris. These damning words come from the game radio analysts paid by the Buccaneers, former Bucs Ryan Nece and Dave Moore.

Moore said he’s not seeing the never-say-die Bucs from 2010. 

“That swagger and that effort from last year,” Moore said after the game, “we’ve lost that. You don’t see that. You see guys taking plays off.”

Moore went on to single out the defensive backs specifically for their lack of effort. “Last year a guy misses a tackle and three other guys are there to finish it off,” Moore said, claiming that’s not happening this season.

Nece said he’s disgusted by the lack of “intensity, the sense of urgency” and the Bucs are lacking consistent “nastiness.”

“Really, from the very beginning of game there was a lackluster intensity and effort, per se,” Nece continued. “It seems like there are some players waiting for other players to make a play.”

Nece called on the Bucs players to “feel embarrassed” and find a way to bring “anger” onto the field. He said as an ex-players it’s frustrating to see players “take plays off.”

Now Joe doesn’t have to be politically correct like Moore and Nece, so Joe will name some names. Joe would be stunned if Moore and Nece aren’t talking about Quincy Black and Sean Jones among the Bucs that take plays off.

To a man the Bucs say they love playing for Raheem Morris. Hopefully they realize that won’t last long if the effort continues to be questionable week in and week out.

Joe’s not going to go crazy here. He’s trying to temper his emotions despite another ugly loss.

This game very much reminded Joe of when the Saints pistol-whipped the Bucs last year in the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway that Derrick Brooks built.

It’s early in the game, the Bucs are only down 9-0, hardly an unconquerable difference. LaGarrette Blount is starting to get some nice chucks of yards against a damned strout rush defense.

Soon as Blount began to break a sweat, nope, back to dinks an dunks, Joe’s favorite was a three-yard pass in the left flat to Kregg Lumpkin on third-and 13.

OK, so perhaps Lumpkin was the only guy open, but why in the world is he running a three-yard route when 13 yards are needed?

Joe’s not the only person to notice this, trust Joe. Dave Moore wondered aloud during the Bucs broadcast why the Bucs are so quick to abandon the run when Blount was showing promise. Even eye-RAH! Kaufman took to Twitter asking the same thing at halftime.

@TBO_Buccaneers: LeGarrette Blount has 7 rushing attempts for Bucs today. Not a winning formula for a run-first team desperate to establish an identity.

The thing that puzzles Joe is, without question, Josh Freeman is having an off year. His receivers struggle to get open. People walking around with white canes can see this.

So why are the Bucs so insistent upon forcing an element of their offense to kick it into high gear when it hasn’t all year, while avoiding an element that has been productive?

Joe can promise you the chances of Blount busting out a 30-yard run — provided he is getting touches — is a higher percentage than a Bucs receiver getting a 30-yard pass.

The Bucs’ head coach put the loss today squarely on his shoulders.

Joe was going to type up a bunch of Raheem’s postgame quotes, but there’s reallly not much exciting in there. Simply, Raheem said he didn’t get his team ready in practice last week and didn’t get it done.

Raheem said the Bucs were “outplayed and outphysicaled.” He also said he’s glad to have the opportunity to get things right against the mighty Green Bay Packers.

Of course, Raheem isn’t on the field whiffing on tackles, playing with questionable effort at times, and looking lost on offense.

Joe hopes Raheem’s young team appreciates him shouldering the blame for them. 

If Joe’s going to try and find a glimmer of light from the crushing by the Texans today, it would be starting undertackle Albert Haynesworth.

Big No. 95 contributed.

He had five tackles and blocked a point-after in the first quarter. (Joe didn’t see who blocked the PAT, but the Buccaneers Radio Network reported it was Haynesworth). Haynesworth got penetration and looked to be giving consistent effort. At least he looked like a live body and a solid pickup at a position where the Bucs are terribly thin.  The CBS cameras even caught Haynesworth interacting in an interested and professional manner with defensive line coach Keith Millard on the sidelines late in the game.

Everyone knew of the unflattering reputation that followed Albert Haynesworth to Tampa, even Brian Price, who when asked to comment on Haynesworth after the game on WDAE-AM 620 told listeners that the guy lined up next to him is a standup dude.

“Man he’s a great guy. People look at the media and you think that he’s a butthole,” [but he’s not,] Price said. “Everybody respects him. …  You look at TV and he’s portrayed as a bad person, but he’s a great guy.”

As Joe’s typing this, Bucs color analyst and former TE Dave Moore is raving about Haynesworth’s performance.

At least it wasn’t all bad today.

The Texans embarrassed the Bucs defense and put up two touchdowns and a field goal in their first four possessions en route to a 16-0 lead. So that would mean the Bucs would take to the air and the wide receivers would rack up numbers even in a loss. Right? Wrong.

The Bucs’ wide receivers combined for only six catches for 107 yards, two each for Preston Parker, Mike Williams and Arrellious Benn.  Per the stat geeks at ESPN.com, Bucs wideouts were targeted 18 times.

Why can’t these guys get open? And why can’t the Bucs take deep shots or find seams underneath. Benn beat his man for a 33 yard strike downfield early in the second quarter, but the Bucs didn’t keep swinging for the fences.

There’s plenty of blame to go around given the thorough breakdown of the offense. But something has to change in a hurry. Joe’s heard from players that the playbook is gigantic. There’s got to be something in there that can jumpstart the offense.

Yugly!

Why are the Bucs are so much worse than they were last year? Even the most positive-thinking Bucs fan must be wondering. And make no mistake, there’s been a significant dropoff, underscored by the complete beating at the hands of the Texans at home today.

The Bucs started slowly again. Their tackling was horrid. They continue to get gashed in the running game repeatedly. They don’t catch sure interceptions. Albert Haynesworth wasn’t a liability, at least not as much as the linebackers that just aren’t shedding blocks.  Quincy Black and Mason Foster combined for six tackles, most of Black’s in garbage time.

And the offense? Well, it’s simply impotent at this point, even with the high-priced offensive line healthy and on the field.

CBS analyst Rich Gannon skewered the Bucs through the broadcast, saying the Bucs’ offense didn’t look good in practice Friday, Josh Freeman isn’t sharp (practice and game), and he called out Mike Williams and Arrellious Benn for losing battles downfield repeatedly.

What’s particularly heinous for Joe is the Bucs’ lame efforts this week and last after a bye week, plus the fact that there really isn’t a glimmer of hope anywhere. The coaching isn’t getting through, or the coaching is getting outcoached repeatedly.

Next up? The undefeated Green Bay Packers on the frozen tundra. … Joe suggests stockpiling painkillers.

OK boys and girls, have at it. Let your feelings be known about how the Bucs are playing against the Texans today. As always, any and all commenters who post addresses of pirated streams of the game, even spelling the addresses out, will be banned. You are welcome to post your e-mail address and share the pirated feeds amongst yourselves.

Now behave! 🙂

Q.: But Joe, why don’t you have live chats?

A.: They were more pain in the ass than worth it for Joe. The software for the live chats only allowed 15 unmoderated users. Any more than 15, each and every comment had to be approved. Joe’s trying to do work (read: watch the game) and too may people were b!tching about how their comments were not posted quick enough, so Joe decided to deep-six the live chats for Bucs games.

Inactives for the Bucs game with the Texans today:

Anthony Gaitor, Dekoda Watson, Derek Hardman, James Lee, Micheal Spurlock, Tim Crowder and Frank Okam.

Texans inactives are: Andre Johnson, T.J. Yates, Sherrick McManis, Danieal Manning, Thomas Austin, Andrew Gardner and Garrett Graham.

Notable: Albert Haynesworth will start and Sammie Stroughter is active.

Week 10
Texans at Bucs
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
TV: Blacked out locally. Outside the Tampa/Orlando TV market the game can be enjoyed on DirecTV Channel 706. Game is also available for free after midnight on NFL.com’s Game Rewind and on NFL Sunday Ticket’s Shortcuts.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 136.
Weather: Per Accuweather.com, just about perfect conditions. Sunny skies and for tailgaters the weather will be in the high 70s. Look for the temperature to rise to 78 at kickoff with not a whole lot of change. It should reach 80 by halftime and drop to 77 towards the end of the game. This is why we live in Florida.
Odds: Per SportsBook.com, Bucs +3.5.
Outlook: On paper, Joe is pretty certain the Bucs don’t have a shot. Good thing games aren’t played on paper. So far at home the Bucs have beaten the Saints and the Dixie Chicks, two solid teams. Houston has lost to the Saints in New Orleans and lost at home to the Raiders, hardly a Super Bowl-bound team. Yes, even though the Texans have the best defense in the league and the best rushing attack, they are still mortal. Now normally in this very spot Joe would do his weekly begging on his knees for LeGarrette Blount to get the ball early and often. But those pleas have been ignored so Joe’s giving up. Therefore, it is incumbent upon Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman to return to his 2010 form and slice up the Texans secondary. With Gerald McCoy out and the Bucs defense not exactly near the Texans statistically, Joe looks for Raheem Morris to call up some gimmicky defense (much like a “junk defense” in basketball) to slow down Houston and keep the Bucs in the game. It certainly helps that Andre Johnson is not available for Houston. Whew.

Bringing injured veterans in contact with the Bucs has been a hallmark of Mark Dominik's tenure as general manager.

Joe’s a bit late on this but it’s still timely given that yesterday was Veterans Day.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik since he has taken the football reigns of the team has fostered a strong bond with the military and veterans.

So to honor Veterans Day, Dominik and several Bucs players went to a local veterans hospital to try to brighten up a day for men who sacrificed so much to help protect us from animals who fly planes into buildings.

In honor of Friday’s Veterans Day, Freeman and fellow Bucs Quincy Black, Gerald McCoy and Kellen Winslow spent time with servicemen and women recovering from injury and illness at the veterans’ hospital. Behind the lead of General Manager Mark Dominik, and with Buccaneers cheerleaders also on hand, the group hosted an ice cream social for patients in the facility’s Spinal Cord Injury Center.

“This was a great opportunity,” Freeman said. “I was thrilled with the chance to come here because these guys are out risking their lives and serving our country. There’s nothing better than coming out and honoring these guys and spending some time with them.”

Dominik joined the visiting players in presenting the hospital with a financial donation to help fund special outings and experiences for local veterans as part of their recreation therapy.

“Spinal Cord injury Center.” Joe doesn’t think he has to spell out what that means.

This was a generous move by the Bucs and Joe salutes the players that showed up, and of course, the vets themselves.

Well done.

Veteran WTSP-TV, Ch. 10 sportscaster Dave Wirth lays out his keys to the Bucs-Texans game in his usual smooth style.

Among the gobs of statistical gibberish out there for fantasy football players and degenerate gamblers to wolf down, Joe found this somewhat interesting nugget from Paul Kuharsky on BSPN’s AFC South blog.

It seems play-action doesn’t phase the Texans’ defense, and Josh Freeman’s has tossed more picks on play-action than any other QB.

Tampa Bay’s play-action: The Texans have intercepted the most passes (five) and allowed the fewest yards per attempt (5.0) on play-action passes this season. That tells me guys have been disciplined about not biting on fakes. Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman has thrown the most interceptions (five) on play fakes this season. So this could be a nice match for Houston in that department. The pass rush could be limited, though, because the Buccaneers have protected Freeman rather well.

Now Joe’s not about to say this data means much, but Joe will say Freeman isn’t exactly known for selling the play-action fake very well. Joe thinks he could really improve in that area. Watching hours of film on Peyton Manning or Boomer Esiason might go a long way toward helping Freeman. 

Joe once had a college English professor who bragged he had only given out three “A’s” in his career in education.

Joe can’t remember what grade he got from this guy, but Joe does remember he passed — that’s what counts, after all. The biggest thing Joe remembers from this class was a drop-dead gorgeous, leggy blonde who used to sit next to Joe (poor girl).

Joe was reminded of this old professor when he was reading the grades dished out by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune for a mid-season report.

Cummings gave the Bucs offensive line a “C.”

Offensive line: This group has been solid, but the Bucs need more from its most veteran unit. Grade: C.

Whew. If anything, Joe believes this has been the strongest unit on the team. Davin Joseph should be in the Pro Bowl this year, provided he stays healthy. Donald Penn has simply locked up opposing right defensive ends, Jeff Faine has been solid when he has played, and Jeremy Zuttah has been strong.

Joe would likely give these guys an “A-” if he had to grade. Considering these guys had to deal with injuries and there hasn’t been much of a drop off, that’s big.