"Damn right I want to coach in the NFL next year. I'm already sick of Jaws passing gas in the booth."

Like most red-blooded American men, Joe was watching the preamble to Monday Night Football earlier this week when he saw Chucky claim the only team he will coach next fall will be his son’s flag football team.

Color Joe skeptical.

Mind you, this came from the same man who, among other fibs, just months ago bragged how much he didn’t watch BSPN and thought employees of the network were full of human fertilizer.

Oh, look. Chucky’s working for BSPN. How quaint.

One reason Chucky was so adamant that he’s not coaching the Redskins is that he was never offered the job (if reports are accurate). Pretty damn easy to brag you aren’t going to work for a company if you were never offered a gig.

The Dallass Cowboys job could still open up. It’s ripe for Chucky. Jerry Jones loves splash and has seemingly a bottomless checking account for players, something Chucky covets.

If Jones were to lop the head off of Lumpy next month and offer Chucky the gig, Joe would be flabbergasted if Chucky turned him down. Coaching the Cowboys is a once in a lifetime opportunity and Joe simply cannot believe Chucky’s ego wouldn’t get the best of him.

If Chucky was so set in his ways not to coach next year, how come he was talking with Buffalo last month?

No surprise that Chucky’s old mentor during his days as an assistant with the 49ers and Packers, Mike Holmgren, would want his former student to coach the Cleveland Browns.

Holmgren accepted the Grand Wizard position with the Browns on Monday, and most observers assume he will swiftly replace Eric Mangini as head coach.

NFL.com insider Jason LaCanfora is claiming Chucky would be Holmgren’s first choice. But LaCanfora explains that it’s unclear whether Chucky can get out of his cushy Monday Night Football gig.

Jimminy Christmas, Joe is confident that’s a load of hooey. Joe would bet his house that Chucky can get out of his deal with ESPN and coach the Browns. He’s too smart to have given Disney an iron clad leash around his coaching future.

Joe does wonder whether Team Glazer might entice Chucky with a little under-the-table incentive to take the Browns job and subsequently take himself off the Bucs payroll.

Might be a wise move.

Hands down, Raheem The Dream has to be one of the most entertaining coaches in the NFL.

The things he says, the intense, rambling answers to the media and fans, Coach Rah has a style all his own.

Some fans, like Joe, laugh. Some fans cry. Others are left scratching their heads. 

Yesterday, in an exchange with a caller on his weekly radio show on 620 WDAE-AM, Raheem The Dream hinted that he can’t always comfortably show his face around town. And the head coach implied the Rams might be faking their flu woes before qualifiying his statement on that.

(For the record, it was JoeBucsFan.com that suggested the Rams were going overboard with their flu precautions last week, not the radio show caller the coach was responding to. Could it be Raheem The Dream reads Joe? Or might he have pondered whether the Rams were playing games?)

Here is the transcript of the Monday phone call to Raheem The Dream on 620 WDAE-AM.

Caller  “Aussie D”: The Rams have got the swine flu virus. And why the hell can’t we pick up a bit of it? Do we want to win or don’t we? I know guys want to win and you want to win, but me, from a fan, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, God. Don’t win. Because we want to get this guy [Ndamukong] Suh.’ Is a win more important than the focus on the draft?

Raheem The Dream: For the draft, as far as that is concerned, just to hear your voice and to hear how excited you are and how excited people are around town today. Today is the day I can actually go outside and get lunch.

And seeing how excited people are about one win let’s me know what our objective is, what we need to do, and to me it’s to finish as strong as we can, to finish as strong as we possibly can because winning is a habit. And once you form that habit, your team gets used to it. You build a certain morale. You build a certain thing around it.

You can’t focus yourself on getting one person to think that’s going to change your fortunes. What changes your fortunes is everybody in this building, and adding people to the people in this building and going out and being your very best self. And that’s always going to be my focus. That’s always going to be this buidling’s focus. We’ll never come down with any form of swine flu in order to fake things to, and I’m not saying the Rams are faking, but we’re never going to come up with anything to fake any motives that we have to better our draft status. That’s just not our focus.

Again, Joe thanks the head coach for the laughs. His answers to media and fans questions have been the only consistent form of entertainment from the Bucs in this 2-12 season.

A Bucs fan calling to Sirius NFL Radio is hoping former Steelers coach and Super Bowl winner Bill Cowher prowls the Bucs sidelines next season.

This morning on “The Blitz” heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio, a desperate Bucs fan called in to get some feedback on the state of the Bucs from co-hosts Adam Schein and Rich Gannon.

The Bucs fan admitted he was bummed out with the Bucs win Sunday as it likely was an NFL version of a kiss goodbye to Nebraska defensive tackle/manbeast Ndamukong Suh.

This prompted Schein to joke, “How do you win that game and screw up your draft?”

The Bucs fan asked Schein if he thought there was any way the Lambs, who unless they shock everyone and win their final two games, will draft offense and pass on Suh.

Schein was adamant in his theory.

“The first pick in this draft will be Suh. I don’t care who it is. It will be Suh. If not, somebody will get fired for it.”

The Bucs fan then asked if there was any way the Bucs would hire Bill Cowher as the Bucs head coach and keep Raheem the Dream as the Bucs defensive coordinator.

Rich Gannon, a Chucky acolyte, dodged the question but explained his version of why the Bucs suck.

“I just think there was too much change too soon,” Gannon said. “You start with [firing] Bruce Allen and you bring in Mark Dominik who may be three or four years away from being ready. Then you whack Jon Gruden and promote Raheem Morris who is 33 and has never been a coordinator. He is eight or 10 years away [from being ready].

“Then you hire Jeff Jagodzinski and fire him before the season. You hire Jim Bates and you fire him. Then you go through three starting quarterbacks and one is a rookie.

“It was too much change too soon. You have a young staff with young players with not a lot of direction and that is why you are 2-12.”

Add Raheem The Dream to the list of Bucs (Antonio Bryant and Donald Penn) who like to refer to themselves in the third person.

Joe can relate. A little odd coming from a head coach in the NFL. But still, Joe finds it very entertaining.

Last night, during Raheem The Dream’s weekly show on 620 WDAE-AM, the head coach was asked about going for the two-point converstion late in the third quarter leading 19-7.

Raheem The Dream said the recommendation comes from pre-determined scenarios managed by running backs coach Steve Logan.

Host T.J. Rives asked Raheem The Dream why there was a such a “helter skelter” scene on the field when the Bucs decided to go for it. The head coach confessed he was the cause.

“It was a bad communication by Raheem. I didn’t tell my special teams coach I was going for two,” Raheem The Dream said. “We knew we were going to go for two on offense, and I got to get into Rich Bisaccia sooner. He doesn’t have the headset on … and I was assuming that. It was a bad job by the head coach.”

Joe’s not going to clobber Raheem The Dream for being unprepared on this one. It’s inexcusable, but stuff happens.

There are a few things that Joe actually will look forward to when the season ends. Very few.

One of which is the strain each Sunday is for Joe to not pound Caybrews during each Bucs game.

The second is no more posting anything from The Football Moron for the foreseeable future.

In his second-last appearance this year for Joe, The Football Moron tries to enlighten Bucs fans with his lack of wit and his shallow insight.

Former Bucs DE Steve White

By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Steve White spent every season of the Tony Dungy era playing defensive end for the Bucs. He’s spent countless hours in the film room with the likes of Warren Sapp, Rod Marinelli and more. Joe is humbled to now have White, also a published author and blogger, as part of the JoeBucsFan.com team. Below is White’s weekly Bull Rush column that breaks down all things defensive line. It’s simply a can’t-miss read for the hardcore Bucs fan.

Great win Sunday by the Bucs. Our defense went out there and played their best game of the year against a team that we have had a hard time beating at their place.

 The first half was kind of shaky, but in the second half the whole team dominated en route to our second victory of the season in decisive fashion.  Our offense got the running game going and possessed the ball, and our defense hit them in the mouth and got off on third downs.

That was Buc Ball!

As a unit, the defensive line played well. Good, but not great. As happy as I was that we won, I still see areas of improvement. Areas that will need to improve if we want to have a chance in hell of beating the Saints on Sunday. I don’t want to rain on our second win of the season, but I do want to make note of several points where we can get better.

The Seahawks were able to double team our nose tackle and then have the guard come off up to the linebacker and run in the nose tackle’s expanded A-gap. The guy who had the biggest problem with this — and for most of this year — was Ryan Sims. That’s not to call him out because otherwise he played a pretty good game, but you had better believe that the Saints will try the same thing.

The problem as I see it is when Sims feels the double team he plays heavy into the center, which makes it easier for the guard to push him inside. If he could instead put pressure back into the guard, then when the guard comes off he would be in better position to make a play.

That would also make it easier for him to split those double teams and keep the O-lineman from going up to the linebacker. Now believe me, I know it’s easier said than done. That’s over 600 pounds of pressure hitting Sims all at once. Still, its what he and the rest of the defensive tackles are going to have to do going up against this week to keep the Saints from trying to hit the run up inside the A-gaps.

Oh, and someone should get to Dre Moore and tell him to change his stance when he is the weak tackle. If he continues to line up straight ahead instead of cocking his stance, the Saints are going to maul him on double teams because he is giving them too much of a surface to hit.

The second thing that has to get better in a hurry is our pass rush on play-action pass. Now when we are in an over defense, shifted strong to the tight end side, it’s harder to get a rush on play-action pass because of our run fits, but when we are in an under defense, shifted away from the tight end, we should be getting more out of our 3-technique and weak defensive end.

In our under defense, the defensive tackle away from the tight end side is in a 3-technique in the B-gap between the guard and offensive tackle. The defensive end to that side is in a wide-5 technique outside of the offensive tackle. Because there is no tight end there, and because the gap inside of him is covered by the defensive tackle, the defensive end should be getting upfield hard at the snap of the ball. If it is a running play, then this will help him keep everything contained inside of him. But if it is a pass play then getting upfield should help him get into a pass rush move almost immediately.

In fact, when playing under defense, I would tell the defensive end to that side to play pass first and think about pass rush moves pre-snap and then adjust if it is a run. The defensive tackle can also get up field hard, although they have to be more prepared to play the run because the guard and offensive tackle could still combo block him. But if it is a pass, then the D-tackle should be getting into a move on his second step and getting upfield also. Those two guys should be getting after the quarterback on every play action pass.

One of the things I think all of our defensive linemen could improve is getting off on the ball in early downs.

Too many times Sunday I saw the ball being snapped and guys still being in their stance for half a count. I think some of that probably goes back to how we were playing Jim Bates’ scheme earlier in the year which was more of a read and react. Well, those days are over. And it’s time for guys to get off the ball and put pressure on the offensive linemen rather than allowing them to kick-step back and wait on them.

In conclusion, there are two other specific pass rush issues I want to address.

The first deals with our defensive tackles. Our guys are giving up their chest too much and aren’t making enough moves.

The reason for this is that most of them, but especially Roy Miller, are starting off their rushes by reaching out wide for the offensive guards. When they do this, they end up giving up their chest for the offensive linemen to punch.

Even on a bull rush the guy with inside hands wins. So what Miller and the other guys need to do is work on keeping their hands closer together and when they want to work a move, instead of reaching out for the offensive lineman’s shoulder pads, anticipate where their hands are going and knock them down right in front of them.

An offensive lineman is usually taught to punch with both hands to a defensive lineman’s chest. Because of that, if a defensive lineman anticipates this and targets those hands and wrists where they know they are going to be, right in front of their chest, then they have a greater chance of knocking them down than if they are reaching out for them. Chris Hovan is usually really good at this but even he has started reaching out a little too much.

The other issue is with the TEX game (tackle penetrates, defensive end loops inside to A gap). Now if it seems like I am obsessed with this pass rush game, then perhaps I am a little.

Back in the day we made this game one of the most successful around the league and we put fear in the opposing offensive linemen with it. It got to the point where we could fake the game and have the offensive linemen looking like fools. But there is a right way to run a TEX game and a wrong way, and our defensive ends still haven’t figured that out.

Here is the deal: you can’t be late looping inside if you are a defensive end running a TEX game. No matter how far you get upfield and how late you wait, if the defensive tackle gets to the offensive tackle’s back, you win. The ONLY way to screw this game up is if the defensive end loops inside too fast. When you do that then you ruin not only your own rush, but also that of the defensive tackle.

And the result is you have a quarterback back there with time to bake cookies before he throws while both of our guys are blocked up. So please, pretty please somebody get Greg (Stylez) White, Jimmy Wilkerson, and Tim Crowder to get their asses upfield to set up the TEX game and give themselves and their defensive tackles a chance to make a play.

Again, I want to congratulate our guys on a great game and a hard fought victory. But it’s a fact of life in the NFL that you have to go out and prove it every week. Nobody is going to give a damn about this game if we go out and get embarrassed in New Orleans next week.

So celebrate the win and the victory Monday, and then let’s get better this week before we take the Saints to war on Sunday.

Joe is a bit late in getting this out but better late than not.

In a recent Buccaneers Total Access, heard weeknights locally on WDAE-AM 620 at 6 p.m., Bucs defensive tackle Chris Hovan was a guest. He touched upon a number of issues, including the abortion that was the two-gap scheme that defrocked defensive coordinator Jim Bates tried to force his players to play.

“It was very different to put on weight and then play two-gap,” Hovan said. “It was difficult but Coach Morris asked me. So to be 320 again in my career is not going to happen again.

“I go home sick every night because I want to win.

“I disrupt and I fly from sideline to sideline. I tried something else this year but it was not me. It’s not the way I play. I’m better off playing in the Tampa-2.

“[The change back to the Tampa-2] is about establishing our identity again.”

Naturally, Hovan lauded Raheem the Dream and told a caller that Raheem the Dream reminds him of a hybrid of coaches.

“I see a lot of Coach Kiffin in Raheem but he breaks down situational football like Coach Gruden, he sees the big picture.”

Playing a two-gap system was not the only thing that made Hovan feel uneasy. To begin the season Hovan’s locker was moved and he was assigned the locker that was vacated by Derrick Brooks. Hovan didn’t like it.

“They moved my locker and it was uneasy for me [because Brooks’ locker was a shrine]. I was grateful to have the three years I had with Derrick Brooks. The man did so many great things on and off the field, and still does. I’m learning how to be a leader and set an example like he did. It wasn’t just on the field or away from the team but how he was a leader in the meetings.”

Hovan considers himself very fortunate and is reminded of his luck often. One Buc Palace is not far from where Bayflight flies in critical care patients to a hospital.

“This is a bad year professionally but once in a while in practice I see that Bayflight chopper and it gives me a chance to thank God that I play football.”

Hovan also talked about how football is becoming over-regulated. He understood why but he said not only will it be hard for players to play within the tightening rules, but the hits the NFL are trying to regulate out of play are also what draws fans. In particular, he did not like the Tom Brady Rule where players are fined for lunging at quarterbacks below the knees.

“If a playoff game is on the line and that quarterback is there and you are on the ground, you just might eat that $15-grand. The reason people love this game is the violence. We still want to keep the violence in the game.”

Uh, oh. There’s that word “violence” again.

Raheem the Dream may have saved his job Sunday. It’s still anyone’s guess if that happens or not.

Many insiders, including eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, flat out say there will be a housecleaning of the coaching staff even if Raheem the Dream stays.

His former colleague at the Tampa Tribune, current BSPN.com NFC South blogger Vacation Man seems to disagree. He believes Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson is doing a fine job and if there’s any coach that needs to stay, it is Olson, not Raheem the Dream.

Let’s say Morris stays. I think part of the deal might be that he strengthens his coaching staff. But I wouldn’t touch coordinator Greg Olson. He’s the one who works with Freeman, and clearly good things are going on there. Besides that, I thought Olson’s play calling was very good Sunday.

Joe sort of sees where Vacation Man is coming from. Joe would not be opposed to keeping him, but strictly as a quarterback’s coach. It’s possible that Olson too is growing into the position.

Thus far, Joe has only been impressed with one half of Olson’s reign.

The Bucs win over Seattle likely ruins the hope the Bucs draft Nebraska defensive tackle/manbeast Ndamakong Suh.

In a lot of Bucs fans eyes, Sunday’s win over Seattle wasn’t totally worthless, but not for the good reasons.

The same Bucs fans are upset that Tampa Bay is likely not going to be able to draft Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamakong Suh, a true terror on the football field.

Backwards Hat of the Lakeland Ledger, better known as Rick Brown, understands those grips but he makes the case that the win was not worthless, and possibly more important than drafting Suh.

It was more important for this staff to show that they do have direction and that the team had not quit on the season like that Jets game may have suggested.

It was important for the team to see Freeman start another game with an interception but finish the game 11-of-14 for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

It was important for the defense, which had played decently, to play the old bend-but-not-break style that made it famous.

Brown goes into further detail that Suh is not a sure thing and that it’s still possible the St. Louis Lambs draft a quarterback, which would still allow the Bucs to get their mitts on Suh.

Geno Hayes makes plays.

The second-year man is not 22 1/2 years old and is enjoying his first season as a Bucs starting weakside linebacker.

Now Joe is not insane and does not think Hayes is the second coming of Derrick Brooks just because he did some great things this season, including yesterday in Seattle.

Hayes clearly has a lot to learn about the position and all but said as much weeks ago on his defunct radio show.

But Brooks didn’t even start his first game in Bucs orange until he was about 22 1/2 years old like Hayes is now.

There’s a world of potential there for Hayes.

Brooks and Hayes are often compared because they both went to Florida State and have brought lightning speed to the field.

Joe is excited about what Hayes could become if he puts in the work. Hopefully, Brooks will continue to mentor him.

How much of a bombshell was the Bucs racking up 20 points in the third quarter?

It was such a shock, Joe nearly forgot he had Caybrew to drink.

The third quarter outburst may have been the biggest stunner of the Bucs season as eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune points out on TBO.com’s Bucs Twitter feed.

The Bucs had scored 20 third-quarter points all season. Then they dropped 18 on the listless Seahawks during those pivotal 15 minutes.

Just the fact that through 13 games the Bucs had only scored 20 points speaks volumes. That the Bucs essentially blew out the Seahawks in the third quarter may suggest the Bucs coaching staff has turned things around.

Perhaps.

Fox broadcasters Ron Pitts and John Lynch break down the Bucs win over the Seahawks.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=69a33000-e3eb-418c-8476-22f382a420ce&#038;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral" target="_new" title="NFL on FOX: Buccaneers/Seahawks">Video: NFL on FOX: Buccaneers/Seahawks</a>

Tampa Tribune scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman was warning Bucs fans today during an interview on 1040 AM.

Asked a myriad of questions about the 2010 Bucs, Kaufman advised Bucs nation to expect a heftier invoice in the mail.

“Don’t be shocked if they raise ticket prices,” Kaufman said of the Glazer clan. Kaufman also went on to say that Bucs fans should look for the announcement late on a Friday night to avoid media attention to the increase.

Joe’s all in favor of higher ticket prices, if ownership can justify it by becoming a player in free agency and becoming at least a mid-level spender in the NFL year after year. Joe’s also in favor of the Glazers issuing some partial refunds for this season’s debacle.

Raheem The Dream announced today that his other prized 2009 draft pick, Sammie Stroughter, was placed on injured reserve with a broken foot.

His excellent rookie season is over with 31 catches and a kick return for a touchdown.

“I’m not really into the medical field thing,” Raheem The Dream said at his Monday news conference. “I’m sure we’ll have him back for some point for OTA days. …I don’t think it’s career threatening.”

Joe has stated this over and over this season: Stroughter was an absolute steal in the seventh round. Had he not been injured, Joe believes there was no valid excuse for keeping him out of the starting lineup.

As a kick returner, Stroughter nearly made people forget Peanut Smith.

The loss of Stroughter also is a big one for those who want the Bucs to play well in their final two games. With Maurice Stovall playing like Michael Clayton, Stroughter’s loss is a huge for Josh Freeman and the offense.

Someone who glosses themselves as “Bucs Chick” on a site Joe was previously unfamiliar with, “ChicksInTheHuddle.com,” writes a rambling, wordy piece where she tries to make an analogy between the TV show Lost and Raheem the Dream.

As in Lost, the longer the Bucs season lasts, the more muddled it gets. At first we were going to be a power running team, with a strong offensive line and the addition of Giants’ running back Derrick Ward. Well, that didn’t work. And the new man-defense that Jim Bates tried to implement put the team in so many big holes early, that the Bucs became a pass-first team. Speaking of which, Byron Leftwich was supposed to get us through the year so that rookie Josh Freeman could sit on the bench. But Leftwich left early, followed by Josh Johnson, and then, halfway through the season… rookie Josh Freeman. Oh yeah, and the Bucs dropped the man-defense, too. If there was a master plan in the beginning of the season, you’d never know it looking at the current team.

But the great thing about both Lost and the Bucs is this: They can both be redeemed with a good ending. If Raheem can rally his team to win one or two of the three remaining games, he can likely save himself a job. After all, he and his team seem to have done a good job drafting Josh Freeman and a couple of other promising young players. And if Lost can come up with a whiz bang series ender this spring, all doubts and worries and quantum physics-induced headaches will be forgotten.

But if not, of course, I do believe that all is completely Lost.

Joe will be upfront: Joe is lost on Lost. Never got it. Hey, if ain’t 24 and it ain’t football or hockey or baseball or college basketball, some TV show has to go a long way to capture Joe’s attention.

So it’s understandable that since Joe is lost on Lost, Joe is also lost on this Lost = Raheem the Dream.

Joe’s beginning to believe that not even Jack Bauer and his cell phone can save the Bucs.

The once proud Bucs defense earlier this season was horrid. There is no disputing this.

Watching the Bucs pathetic defense so depressed Joe he had a hard time fantasizing about Rachel Watson. Joe didn’t even feel like drinking Caybrew.

It has been no coincidence to Joe that since Raheem the Dream defrocked defensive coordinator Jim Bates, the Bucs defense has steadily improved.

Yesterday it returned, as documented by Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune.

Against Seattle, Tampa Bay held Seahawks running back Julius Jones to 65 yards on 12 attempts. In addition, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was intercepted four times and finished with a passer rating of 45.2. Hasselbeck completed 27 of 46 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown.

“We can still get better,” Bucs defensive end Stylez G. White said. “I still think they had 300 yards of offense (339). We’re still getting better. Right now, it’s a progression.

“People were throwing us under the bus because we didn’t perform right out of the gate, but you can see constant improvement.”

Yeah, the improvement began after the Saints loss when Raheem the Dream took over the defense.

No coincidence.

Fox Sports has a few highlights of the Bucs win over Seattle.

Maybe Raheem the Dream is really starting to feel the heat about his job security?

Last week the local pen and mic club began pressing Raheem the Dream about the mistakes the Bucs have made the past year — too numerous to count.

As the Mad Twitterer of the St. Petersburg Times documents, Raheem the Dream all but threw general manager Mark Dominik under the bus, possibly in a desperate effort to save himself.

Morris made it clear the hirings of Jagodzinski and Jim Bates were made in concert with Dominik. “I do everything with everybody, every decision I make,” Morris said when asked if he alone made the decision to hire Jagodzinski and Bates. “I’m not sitting here and trying to blame anybody. We make decisions together, and we live with those, and we have to react off those.”

Wait a minute: If Raheem the Dream is not trying to blame anyone, why even bring that up? That reminds Joe of some clown that calls talk radio and prefaces his/her comments with, “I’m not a racist, but… “

Dominik may have been involved with the hiring of Bates, but it appears from all indications Dominik simply rubber-stamped Raheem the Dream’s hire. Raheem the Dream is very close with the Bates family.

To Raheem the Dream’s (and Dominik’s) defense, since Raheem the Dream was such a late hire, the pickings were slim. All the top candidates had already been hired by other teams. Both Dominik and Raheem the Dream were behind the eight-ball in hiring assistants from the start.

Bucs defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson and the Bucs defense were winners Sunday.

Just a few short weeks ago, most Bucs fans were not just ashamed at how the Bucs defense had sunk under now defrocked defensive coordinator, they were aghast.

Under Bates’ watch, the Bucs set a heinous franchise record for consecutive games allowing 25 or more points. Not long ago, the Bucs defense was a stone wall. Under Bates, the defense looked like a track meet with linebackers and defensive backs racing to chase down ballcarriers galloping toward the end zone.

Since Raheem the Dream took over the defense, there has been significant improvement. So much so that now the Bucs defensive players are winners.

That’s the summation of Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports. In his wrap up of Sunday’s games, he ranks the Bucs defense yesterday as winners.

For a week, the unit looked like the late-1990s edition, forcing five turnovers and consistently keeping Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeckoff balance. It was a ray of light in a three-week run that has been more competitive than any other stretch this season. That’s the good news. The bad news is Tampa Bay is going to have to finish the season against New Orleans and Atlanta, so we’ll find out if the recent grit is legitimate.

If Raheem the Dream is able to save his job and return next season, it will be because of the job he has done in turning around the Bucs defense.

Back in August, if someone told Joe that Earnest Graham would make it through 14 games this season with just a minor hamstring tweak and only have 13 carries and 10 receptions, Joe would have laughed at the suggestion.

After all, 29-year-old Graham is a powerful running back with very low mileage, and he can catch the ball.

The Bucs also are paying him a pretty handsome bit of money on the heels of the new contract he signed after his breakout 2007 season.

On top of that, the Bucs have struggled to run the ball, save a few games.

Joe would have liked to see Graham used in the rushing attack against Seattle, especially late in the game when the Bucs were grinding out a victory. Although it was understandable to keep using Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward, who were performing and deserving of those carries.

Joe just thinks Greg Olson needs to find a way to use all his weapons. It’s in the best interest of Josh Freeman.