Hey, remember me, Lou? Yeah, I know, it’s been a while since I stuck my snout and my wet nose around here. Long time, no smell.

Things have been up and down between me and Joe lately. When the Bolts lost to the Devils, Joe was mad at me because I kept barking at the idiot referees. I don’t watch the Bolts just to see those damned zebras.

Joe was upset with me that night because I wanted to bite Matthew Corrente so bad I was snapping at the TV screen. Joe doesn’t like it when I fog up his HDTV flatscreen.

Saturday night was way cool watching Smitty get a shutout and Victor Hedman get his first NHL goal. Joe was so happy with the win he took me out for a late night walk that got ugly.

Joe forgot to take off my Bolts sweater. So when I went to fertilize a tree, I wet all over myself. What am I supposed to do, I don’t have arms and hands? I can’t pull the sweater up so I can take care of my business!

Joe can be such a dumbass at times! Well, I got him back. He’s still looking for one of his dress shoes!

Anyway, if you want to read my barks about the Bolts game tonight, and the rest of the season, you can find me on Twitter at ThunderPuppyLou.

Well, time to take my afternoon nap. I have to be rested to watch the Bolts tonight take on Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. I hope the Bolts can prevent Ovechkin from pulling another Jimi Hendrix stunt like he did last spring. So make sure to visit JoeBoltsFan.com for your Bolts coverage

See ya!

Joe remembers Jon Gruden’s numerous Monday news conferences when he, in a phony way, would take blame for losses. Usually, Chucky would say something like, “That’s on me. I’ve got to get better as a head coach.”

Chucky’s protege Raheem The Dream didn’t use that kind of coachspeak today at One Buc Palace. 

In a very matter-of-fact way, Raheem The Dream was quick to agree with a reporter’s premise that the Sunday’s loss in Carolina was simply a rookie quarterback making some very bad plays.

“That’s what it boils down to yesterday,” Raheem The Dream said in agreement. “[The Bucs had] the fifth best total of offense around here in history and six points to show for it. …Three critical mistakes in the red zone, you just can’t do that.”

Joe’s not a big fan of coaches putting a loss on one player. Maybe a screwed up play or two, or calling a guy out, but certainly not a whole game.

C’mon, Rah. Take some responsibility. Maybe hang a little on your offensive coordinator for putting Freeman in too many tough spots that he wasn’t prepared for yesterday.

Just last week Raheem The Dream proclaimed at his Monday news conference that “Stats are really for losers. I don’t like to talk about stats.” 

Yet today Raheem The Dream is quoting yardage totals when his team scored just six points.

Joe agrees, Rah. To use your words, “Stats are really for losers.”

So many players check in and out on each and every play, Joe can understand how players might make a mistake and be in the game at the wrong time.

But for a coach to call a specific play for a specific player and that player is on the sidelines, that’s borderline inexcusable for Joe.

Yet that’s exactly what happened with Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson yesterday, reports Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.

Seems as though with the Bucs having a third-and-one situation on the Panthers-3, Olson called for an Earnest Graham dive at fullback.

Problem was, Graham was on the sidelines.

If you were wondering who in the world Chris Pressley is and why he got a handoff on third and 1 at the Carolina 3 in the second quarter, you weren’t alone.

The play, a fullback dive, was intended to be run with Earnest Graham, who has undertaken fullback duties since B.J. Askew was lost for the season to a car accident. But because the ball was at the 3, an assistant who wasn’t identified went with the “heavy” personnel grouping. Olson was unaware until just before the ball was snapped.

“When we realized it was (Pressley), it was too late. That shouldn’t happen because it was Earnest Graham’s play. When we realized, ‘Hey, this isn’t the personnel we wanted in the game,’ we probably should’ve called timeout.”

Bad enough that Olson forced his rookie quarterback to keep throwing when he was having a bad day, and abandoned the run too quick (damn that Chucky playbook!).

Even worse that Olson didn’t know Graham was on the field when a critical run was called for him.

Lost in the fog of five interceptions and despite the glaring fact that Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman was struggling in the red zone, offensive coordinator Greg Olson continued to call for passes, is that the Bucs offense had it’s best day of the season.

Stephen Holder of the St. Petesburg Times documents how, aside from the interceptions, the Bucs offense was solid.

The Bucs’ 469 yards of total offense marked the most by the team his season. The previous high was in their season opener against the Cowboys (450). They set a season high with 315 net yards passing, and their 154 rushing yards were second best this year.

Yeah, except for the interceptions…

This reminds Joe of one of his favorite Bobby Bowden lines: “If we don’t get penalities, and we don’t get fumbles, and we don’t get interceptions, we can win this daggum ballgame.”

Alex Loeb and Cris Carter break down the Bucs loss to the Panthers. In detail, Carter looks at what’s gone wrong with Josh Freeman, who has thrown eight interceptiions in his last three games.

Like any Bucs fan, Joe is willing to look the other way on Josh Freeman’s five interceptions.

Look, Joe knows the kid is a rookie, still pretty much wet behind the ears. Joe blames offensive coordinator Greg Olson for continuing to throw the ball when it was clear Freeman was having a rough day. In short, Olson set up Freeman to implode.

It was an arrogant move: “I’m going to call my gameplan even though a guy with a white cane can see it’s not working.” Truly a page from the Chucky playbook. Nothing like trying to rattle the confidence of your first-round draft pick, rookie quarterback.

Joe also will overlook the interception in the end zone by Jon Beason. Antonio Bryant, who was Freeman’s target, was open and Beason made a fantastic play by hiding behind a defensive tackle and popping loose just as Freeman released the ball.

It was a tremendous play by Beason and sometimes Joe has to tip his cap to the opposition. 

Peter King of SI.com, writing in his must-start-your-week-with column, Monday Morning Quarterback, wondered aloud if Freeman’s terrible day may be a harbinger of things to come.

The Bucs running up 469 yards and scoring six points. Six! They’d better hope the 16-6 loss at Carolina was a growing-pains game for Josh Freeman and not a precursor of the future — because he threw five interceptions.

It is mindblowing that an offense can rack up well over 400 yards of offense and have just two field goals to show for its effort.

It’s pretty obvious who the goat will be this week for the Bucs, aside from the brilliant play-calling of offensive (keyword there) coordinator Greg Olson.

Joe already brought you the story of Jeremy “Dunderhead” Trueblood.

Now prepare for “Block of Wood” Trueblood.

That’s the moniker Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly planted on Trueblood for pretty much the same reason Raheem the Dream briefly benched him: For moronic plays.

That’s why Trueblood should drive people crazy.

It’s not as if he’s a rookie, not anymore.

He has yet to put away childish things.

He always seems to be in the middle of something, though he did try to break up a fight at one point after teammate and Bucs tight end Jerramy Stevens got into it with the Panthers. Next stop for Trueblood: Camp David, to find a true, lasting Mideast peace.

Joe will repeat what he wrote yesterday: For a guy who graduated from Boston College, Trueblood sure pulls some stupid stunts.

Under the tutelage of now-defrocked Bucs defensive coordinator Jim Bates, the Bucs set a heinous franchise record of six straight games giving up 25 or more points.

That streak ended when Raheem the Dream showed Bates the door.

Oddly enough, another streak of sorts began. In the first game Raheem the Dream took over as the Bucs defensive coordinator, the Bucs held the Dixie Chicks to 20 points.

Yesterday, the Bucs held the Panthers to 16 points.

What sticks out for Joe is the Bucs held the Panthers to just two field goals in the second half. Even more eye-opening for Joe was that the Bucs held the Panthers to a lone field goal in the third quarter.

Under Bates, the Bucs got absolutely roasted in the third quarter.

Yeah, sure the Bucs faced two backup quarterbacks the past two weeks. Still, baby steps are progress. Notice Jonathan Stewart, who usually crushes the Bucs, was pretty much a non-factor in the second half?

The play of the defense under Raheem the Dream is giving Joe hope.

It’s not often that one can glean biting analyis from a URL address. But Tom Balog, Bucs beat writer for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, is setting new trends.

In a hard-hitting, postgame piece today about Jeremy Trueblood’s history of costly penalties, including a personal foul that hurt the Bucs in their 16-6 loss to Carolina, Balog — or an editor at the Herald-Tribune — let readers know what he really thinks of Trueblood.

You’ll have to look closely at the URL link below.

http://bucshots.blogs.heraldtribune.com/11845/jeremy-trueblood-team-dunderhead/

So there you have it, Trueblood is the Bucs official “team dunderhead,” per the Herald Tribune. 

Joe’s dictionary defines dunderhead as “dunce” or “blockhead.”

And all this time Joe thought Jim Bates Greg Olson was the team dunderhead for repeatedly throwing on first down while Josh Freeman struggled.

No need to stay up until the middle of the night to catch maybe a handful of lowlights from a Bucs game when Joe gives you more far earlier, courtesy of the good people of the NFL Network.

As always, real men have the NFL Network.

As usual, Joe leads off with Bucs plays replete with the voice of the Bucs, Gene Deckerhoff.

The NFL Network has a package of plays from Josh Freeman as well as Antonio Bryant.

Geno Hayes’ interception is featured in this clip. There’s also a clip of a Bucs fumble recovery.

Buccaneers.com has the postgame press conference of Raheem the Dream and Freeman.

Perhaps someone can explain to Joe why Pro Bowl returner Clifton Smith, who is having an excellent season returning punts and kicks, is throwing his body around covering kicks?

Do the Bucs not have guys on the roster to put their bodies on the line other than a pint-sized, speedster who recently had a serious concussion?

Joe has seen Smith covering kicks through much of the season, but Joe was sure that part of his game was over after his concussion against Carolina in October.

Yet there was Smith out there on Sunday knocked out of the game with a concussion on the opening kickoff — to Carolina.

It was a needless risk by the Bucs’ coaching staff, and Smith paid the price.

After the game, Smith updated his condition, per Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

”I’m fine,” Smith said, while getting a soft drink, on his way out of the team’s dressing room at Bank of America Stadium. “It wasn’t as bad as the last one.”

Joe loves watching great players make great plays. It’s what makes football Sundays absolutely fabulous.

Antonio Bryant is one of those great players.

Two weeks in a row now, Bryant has shown why he’s a true No. 1 receiver in the NFL. The guy’s got sick body control, good hands and route running skills to make any head coach salivate.

Sure, he’s not perfect, and he’s dropped his share. But the Bucs don’t have another receiver like Bryant.

Michael Clayton stinks, and Maurice Stovall and Sammie Stroughter aren’t anywhere near same class. Plus Bryant seems to be clicking with Josh Freeman now that they’ve had more time together.

If Bryant continues to play well over the final four games, Mark Dominik will be painted into a corner by his “franchise” player, who becomes a free agent after the season. If Dominik doesn’t put a competitive offer out to Bryant, then what would that say to fans?

If Dominik passes on Bryant and targets another No. 1 receiver in free agency, then he leaves himself open to not getting said player or said player becoming a bust in Tampa.

As for the draft, if the Bucs don’t trade down, it’ll be hard for Dominik to justify drafting a stud wideout with a top-5 pick, given all the other needs on the team.

Bryant seems determined to give Dominik a tough call.

Joe’s going to line up some evidence for you.

First, Cadillac Williams told Joe exclusively in training camp that he wasn’t so sure the 2009 Bucs offense would be better than Chucky’s.

Second, Raheem The Dream told the Dallas media how Derrick Ward was selling the three-back rotation earlier this season. At that time, Joe speculated it was Cadillac who needed to be convinced, since Earnest Graham is the ultimate team guy and Ward was coming from a share-the-load system.

Today, Bucs icon John Lynch, the FOX color analyst for the Bucs-Panthers game, told viewers that he met with Cadillac and the tailback is “not liking” the running back rotation and feels like he “can’t get a rhythm.”

Joe loves Cadillac and respects him immensely, and he was pleased to see him today have his best game since opening day against Dallas. But Cadillac hasn’t been happy all season.

And it’s not like Antonio Bryant’s give-me-the-damn-ball unhappy. Cadillac just isn’t buying into the system and now he’s talking about it in broadcast briefing meetings.

The guy wants to carry the load when he hasn’t produced much and has a history of injury. Joe’s not sure where the Bucs running game goes from here.

Last week in Atlanta, when Josh Freeman played well, Greg Olson and Raheem The Dream took the ball out of his hands TWICE when he could have possibly won the game.

This week in Carolina, when Freeman wasn’t having his best game, Olson repeatedly dropped Freeman back to pass on first down.

Joe just can’t grasp why Olson is so averse to running the ball on first down, which would potentially help his young quarterback immensely.

Is it an ego thing? To Joe it’s overcoaching.

• 1st-and-goal during the first drive of the third quarter and Olson sends Freeman back to pass — interception in the end zone.
• 1st-and-10 on the Carolina 20 after a Panthers’ third-quarter turnover and the Bucs trailing 13-6  — Olson passes on the run, which was effective on the previous two drives, and Freeman throws another interception over the middle.

And these calls came after the Bucs’ running game seemed to be reviving. Cadillac Williams opened the Bucs’ first drive of the third quarter with a 19-yard run, and before the second interception Derrick Ward had broken off an 18-yarder on first down.

You can hang the Carolina loss on a lot of factors, but front and center for Joe is the unwillingness to run the ball on first down with a young QB who’s not at his best.

There is no excuse.

Olson put Freeman in spots he didn’t need to be in and clearly wasn’t ready to handle — at least on this day.

By Joe’s tally, coaching, not a lack of talent, has cost the Bucs wins in Miami, Atlanta and Carolina.

Joe is fond of Stylez G. White. Thinks he’s a great guy.

Must be a good teammate, too, as evidenced by a crazy suggestion he had after the Bucs loss to the Panthers while speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Ther’s no question interceptions weres to blame for the loss, specifically the interceptions thrown in the end zone.

White doesn’t see it that way. He claims the loss is on the defense.

“Turnovers? [Sigh]. Not much you can do about that,” White said. “We as a defense have to put our offense in a better position. There are no excuses for our defense. We have to get better.”

WHAT??!! Stylez, buddy, the defense only gave up 16 points, and only two field goals in the final three quarters. Joe’s not sure how much better defense you can play, especially when we are talking about a defense that, under the tutelage of defrocked defensive coordinator Jim Bates was one of the worst Joe has ever laid eyes on.

Joe appreciates Stylez falling on the sword, but man, there’s no need to go to ridiculous lengths in order to gain street cred in the locker room.

Here are the rest of White’s quotes:

“We didn’t make any adjustments [by the defense]. We weren’t tackling well. Once we started making tackles, we were OK. We came in with a good gameplan. Once we calmed down we were OK.

“We played good defense and it gave us a chance to win. When we make plays we have a chance to win. [Mistackles early in the game], that was on us.”

A subdued Raheem the Dream spoke after the game on the Buccaneers Radio Network and, frankly, honestly, refreshingly, didn’t mince words.

In particular, Raheem the Dream made a strange statement where he seems to suggest his players don’t want to win.

“We had a young man who played like a rookie in the red zone,” Raheem the Dream said of quarterback Josh Freeman, a rookie. “He didn’t make good decisions but he will bounce back.

“In the first quarter, they get the ball and they ran the ball due to mistackles. They were able to move the ball early. After that we started to settle down and make tackles. It wasn’t the same type of game after that.

“We’ve gotta make better plays. [Panthers linebacker Jon] Beason had a heck of a day. You have to make better decisions down there. We allowed [Beason] to have a good day.

“We made bad decisions in the red zone by the quarterback. We made bad plays on special teams with the missed field goals. We made mistackles early.

“These guys have to learn how to win and want to win.”

Bucs linebacker Geno Hayes, who had another good game in another loss today, had a few things to say after the game on the Bucs radio network.

“It was tough. We started off missing tackles but we calmed down and started making plays. The adjustments came from the sidelines. We knew we could do it. [The gameplan] was just what we are at One Buccaneer Place. That’s what we do: gang tackle.

“On the interception, it was [Tanard Jackson] that caught it and knocked it into the air so I could catch it.

[Panthers linebacker Jon] Beason came through for them. When you win the turnover battle, you usually win the game.”

Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman spoke on the Bucs radio network just after the game and didn’t duck any questions or responsibility.

“It was difficult, not getting touchdowns in the end zone. We have to find ways to throw touchdowns, not interceptions. We gave some (plays) away.

“I didn’t even see Beason (on the first-and-goal from the five interception). He was behind a d-lineman.

“The first interception was a bad throw. I had to throw it hard or it would have gone into the ground and it just sailed.

“[The last interception] I first looked for AB [Antonio Bryant] and then Kellen and then Stovall. Beason was basically tackling Kellen. Sammie wasn’t there. Thought Mo was coming across and I went to Mo but the defensive player also came across.

“I’ve got to give credit to the defense. We gave away so much it shouldn’t have been close. You always have hope when the defense plays that well.”

Panthers 16, Bucs 6

* Good. Maybe Olson has finally figured out running Caddy is the way to go.

* The watering hold Joe is at just erupted when the zebras threw the flag for interference when Sammie Stroughter was mugged.

* King of Turds with a nice catch. Good thing King of Turds is 6-7.

* Keep running!

* First and goal. Run!

* Hey, jackass Olson, if you are going to pass the ball down there, how about in the end zone, huh?

* Anyone have the cell phone number of Charlie Weis?

* It was just a matter of time before Steve Smith got lose. He absolutely blew by Elbert Mack. Roasted him.

* Joe has to give the Bucs defense credit by manning up and forcing the Panthers to a field goal after that huge catch by Smith.

* Kellen Winslow is coming up big in the clutch.

* Well, that’s six points Connor Barth left on the field. Combined with the interceptions, the Bucs have given this game away.

* Simply put, this loss in on Greg Olson.

* YOU PLAY TILL YOU HEAR THE WHISTLE!!! My God, that’s terrible. That’s the first thing a little kid learns in pee wee football. The Bucs could have run that fumble (incompletion?) in for a touchdown.

* That’s a horrible call. Freeman’s arm didn’t even get to his head. That’s a fumble. How is it Joe can see that in a bar and these zebras have their own TV to look at and can’t see it. There’s no way in hell there is “indisputable” evidence that was not a fumble. What the hell was being replayed, a peep show of the lesbian Panthers cheerleaders?

* Nice heads up play by Freeman to dump the pass off to Ward right before he got sacked. That’s the first time Joe can remember that Donald Penn got burned for a near sack. Everette Brown has some quicks.

* Kellen Winslow, Jr. is single-handedly keeping the Bucs in the game.

* Mo Stovall with another good catch.

* How appropriate? A fifth interception.

* Great run by Freeman but son, learn to slide, please.

* After watching Bryant make yet another great catch, Joe can’t help but think of that abject moron on WQYK-AM 1010 who has some two-bit Bucs pregame show who last week swore up and down that Bryant was the worst receiver in the NFL.

* Bucs are having good fortune with the replays today.

* First down on the five and you don’t try to run the ball? Pound the ball! Granted Bryant was open but the Jon Beason made a helluva play.

* About freaking time someone (Ronde Barber) stops Stewart. Joe’s to the point if they could trade a second round pick for him just so he doesn’t kill the Bucs any longer, it’s a good trade. Dude murders the Bucs.

* That’s it! Pound the ball!

* Dave Moore on the Bucs radio network just said when the Bucs have a two-back set, Carolina is not blitzing. When the Bucs are in the shotgun, they blitz each time.

* Huge, huge, huge play on the fumble recovery. Now please pound the ball Olson.

* G-DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Greg Olson why are you not running the freaking ball? WHY???????????? That’s it! Joe’s had it with Olson. Enough is enough. Go hire that jackass Charlie Weis. Shove that Chucky playbook up your arse Olson. DAMNIT!

* Gene Deckerhoff nearly fell out of the booth on Tanard Jackson’s hit. He tried to say both “slobber” and “snot” at the same time but was so excited he said “snobber knocker.”

* Now run the g-damned ball Olson!!

* What’s with burning a timeout with one second left?

* Run Cadillac Williams… run Cadillac Williams… RUN CADILLAC WILLIAMS!