The Football Moron of BSPN talks about the critical key for the Bucs to beat the Panthers this week. You’ll never guess what he claims is the key.

"All these empty seats add up to a lot of lost revenue. We'll have to cut back on payroll."

Back on October 18, the local and national media were all buzzing about the Bucs’ actual in-stadium attendance against the Carolina Panthers. The total was a mere 42,847, about 20,000 less than the announced “sold out” attendance of 62,422.

Official stadium capacity is 65,857.

Part of the buzz that day was the Bucs falling short of the in-stadium attendance of a University of South Florida football game just three days earlier, which drew 55,073 fannies in the seats.

So what happened next? The answer isn’t a pretty one for the Glazer Boys.

The Bucs have played two home games since.

On the heralded Lee Roy Selmon/Ring of Honor day against the Green Bay Packers, the actual attendance was just 53,599, per the Tampa Stadium Authority, the public entity that manages Raymond James Stadium.

The mark was still shy of the USF game total, despite massive hype, a gorgeous day, and a historic moment for the franchise.

Next up was the undefeated Saints facing the emerging Josh Freeman and the Bucs. Actual attendance: 49,542.

Now Joe firmly believes attendance is a factor in the Glazers decision making process when it comes to keeping Raheem The Dream for the 2010 season.

Bryan Glazer, in one of his rare public appearances in January, said he and his brothers consulted with fans on whether to retain Jon Gruden, reported the St. Pete Times.

Asked further about the community feedback, Glazer said, “Our fans are our stockholders. They’re what we play for — the people in our stadium and the ones that watch on TV. That’s what it’s all about: winning and how they feel about the team. If they don’t feel good about the team, then there’s something wrong. . . I think you all know the sense that’s out there. It was time for a change.”

In the quote above, Glazer specifically mentioned the “people in the stadium.” Why wouldn’t the Glazers use attendance as a referendum on the head coach over the final two home games? It’s very reasonable to assume they will.

If Bucs fans are excited by what Raheem The Dream is doing with the team down the stretch, it’s fair to assume actual attendance will increase. Especially considering it’s common knowledge that a good pair of Bucs tickets can be had these days outside the stadium for a mere $35.

"Man, I hate when the media calls head coach's liars. Jimminy Christmas, that's just wrong."

Joe too tires of coachspeak. Only rarely — and Raheem the Dream is a refreshing exception — do coaches say anything worth two bits.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to Joe to read Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution call Dixie Chicks coach Mike Smith a liar when Smith gave praise to the Bucs for taking the Dixie Chicks to the limit Sunday.

The locker room was full of happy talk afterward — beat the Bugtussle Bovines on fourth-and-goal and you’re excited — but there was  reality interspersed. The Falcons were outgained and largely outplayed by a Tampa Bay team working behind a rookie quarterback. Their only touchdown in the first 59 minutes and 37 seconds came on a gimmick play. Their quarterbacks were sacked six times. They missed (another!) field goal. They had a punt blocked. They lost a fumble. They were lucky as heck to win.

“That was a good football team we played today,” said Smith, lying.

Whoa! So what is Bradley suggesting, that in private moments, Smith openly mocks the Bucs?

CBSSports.com columnist Pete Prisco hands out his weekly grades for each NFL team’s performance over the weekend and he hands the Bucs a C-.

Josh Freeman moved the ball through the air and had no help from the running game. The defense played a good game and pressured the quarterback all day long. This was a stinging loss.

Joe tends to agree with this assessment. There wasn’t much of a running game and the defense played its heart out.

And yes, Joe is still stinging from the loss.

It’s sad that a coach’s career could come down to one play. But that may be the case if for some reason Raheem the Dream doesn’t return next season.

A lot of fans have come down hard on Raheem the Dream for a few calls Sunday. Pat Kirwan of NFL.com, though he admits he likes aggressive play calling, suggests Raheem the Dream may not be able to live down his fake punt that failed.

I love coaching decisions that catch an opponent off guard, especially when a team knows it needs to take a risk to win. But there are times that we all can outguess ourselves, and NFL coaches are as guilty as the rest of us.

The fake punt by the Tampa Bay Bucs when they had a 17-13 lead in the fourth quarter backfired, and it may be a while before the Bucs try it again.

As I have said, I really like aggressive play-calling, but these were three calls that we may not see again in 2009.

If there was a play that Joe had a problem with, it was this fake punt. The Bucs should have attempted a field goal instead. Fortunately, the fake punt did not cost the Bucs any points.

Former Bucs DE Steve White

By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

I wish I could muster up the will today to say, ‘I told you so.’ To point out how right I was about how the defense would play and about how wrong most other folks were in their assessments.

But there is just one problem.

We lost.

I don’t do moral victories. I can’t just appreciate that we played better. Playing football is about winning and losing — play in and play out and game in and game out. And we simply could not find a way to get the job done at the end yesterday.

And that was a damn shame because we kicked the living shit out of the Falcons up front yesterday.

Oh, I have no problem saying that at all. Our defensive tackles knocked their guards and center into the backfield on a consistent basis. Our defensive ends, when they weren’t rag-dolling the Atlanta tight ends, were all over their quarterbacks. This was as dominant a game we have played up front since sometime in the middle of the year last year.

But I keep coming back to the fact that we lost.

See, I don’t criticize the Bucs because I like beating my chest. I criticize the Bucs because I want the team to win. To at the very least do better than the low expectations people have now.
‘
But a game like yesterday is a game we have to win. It’s too hard to win in the NFL to let one like that slip through our fingers.

Was it all the defense’s fault or all the defensive line’s fault? Of course not. But at some point in a game like that our will to win has to take over and somebody just has to do more than what is expected of them. We definitely came after Chris Redman up front on that last drive but we just couldn’t make that one play to put the nail in the coffin.

I will say this though, the guys on our defensive line showed they belong in the NFL yesterday, despite what some of the chattering classes have been saying for weeks. Greg (Stylez) White put on a pass rushing show with 2.5 sacks a hurry and three other tackles by my count. Tim Crowder also had a helluva game with 1.5 sacks a fumble recovery and a pass deflection. Ryan Sims started showing up in the backfield with a tackle for loss and a hurry. Jimmy Wilkerson was all over the field with five tackles, half a sack and two hurries. Hell, rookie Roy Miller probably played the best game of his career so far with three tackles and three hurries.

And I don’t wanna hear a damn thing about the Falcons being banged up. That is the same offensive line that held the vaunted NY Giants defensive line with all those Pro Bowlers and big name guys to just one sack the previous week. As a team, the Falcons had only allowed 20 sacks all year. Our defensive line was in on five of the six sacks we picked up as a team yesterday.

And it wasn’t just what we did in getting after the quarterback. We held the Falcons to 64 yards rushing on 23 carries from their running backs for a 2.8 yard average. That’s a Falcons running game that had their top two runners back yesterday, too, after being out with injuries. You would have to be a blind man not to see the improvement yesterday. So for me that is not even a debate worth having.

But the conversation that IS worth having is, “What do we do now?” How do you bounce back from playing your best game of the year on defense only to lose on essentially the last play of the game?

Its real simple, those guys get paid to play this game. And no matter what they felt yesterday now they have to suck it up and keep it moving. Because I can promise you one thing the Panthers won’t be showing us any mercy when we go up to Carolina this Sunday. And if we go out there still sweating this game we will definitely get embarrassed.

I will say this much, regardless of the outcome, it did do my heart some good to see us playing defense again yesterday the way the standard had been set for the previous 12 years. Buc Ball is back in Tampa and now its time to go out there and get some wins by any means necessary.

I hope every guy on defense takes that loss to heart over the next two days and that it makes them want to puke.

Then I hope every one of those guys gets ready on Wednesday to go out and show the world that yesterday was no fluke. Nothing we can really do about the loss yesterday at this point anyway so after today and tomorrow, it’s Panthers week and it has to be on to the next one….

Cris Carter and Jon Anik of BSPN break down the Bucs loss to the Falcons.

After a strong road performance in Atlanta from Josh Freeman, Joe thought it was timely to bring you this nugget he saw Sunday morning from Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.  

Balog talked to Freeman about the recent advice from one of his mentors.

Freeman said that he talked recently to former Bucs head coach Tony Dungy, who advised him to treat this final stretch as a playoff scenario.

“Because (Dungy said) next year you may be in the hunt for the playoffs,” Freeman said. “We just have to look at each week at a time and it’s a must-win situation to get in the playoffs.”

Father Dungy told Sports Illustrated this spring that he promised Freeman’s father that he’d keep an eye on his son.

Joe likes Father Dungy’s advice to the Bucs’ rookie QB.

Perhaps Father Dungy could start advising Raheem The Dream. He’s another kid with a lot to learn.

Joe’s a little down after hearing word that guard Arron Sears won’t suit up this season or practice with the team, despite returning to the Bucs two weeks ago following his mysterious absence.

Sears knows much of the playbook — after all, a lot of it is Chucky’s — and he had plenty of weeks to get into at least preseason football shape.

Joe thought getting Sears on the field to a big ovation in the final game of the season in January would have been uplifting for Sears and let Mark Dominik and Co. see if he was up to getting smacked around in the trenches.

But the Bucs have placed Sears on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. He can do just about everything with the team except practice, reported the Bucs.

Considering the Bucs paying him, Joe’s not so sure this is the best thing for Sears and the team.  He’s a potentially critical piece of the puzzle for 2010 and beyond, especially considering the Bucs can’t run the ball this season worth a darn.

Wouldn’t it have been a positive for the whole organization to get him on the practice field?

Joe wishes Sears well.

The Falcons lost their starting quarterback. Their starting tailback. And as Dixie Chicks tight end Tony Gonzalez points out, two starting offensive linemen. Yet they were still able to drive from a short field to win.

Gonzalez explains how.

The scoreboard told the story yesterday: Dixie Chicks 20, Bucs 17.

It also told the story of the Bucs’ hideous franchise record six-game streak of the defense — Jim Bates’ defense — allowing 25 or more points a game coming to an end.

Woody Cummings and Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune tag-teamed on a notebook where the Bucs defenders claim Bates’ exit and the end to the horrid defensive slide was no coincidence.

“It was different schemes and the way (Morris) presents those schemes,” Talib said. “It makes you believe in both.”

Even with the last-minute loss to the Falcons, Talib said there is reason to think better days are ahead.

“We definitely took a step forward,” he said. “We did a pretty good job on the run, pretty good job on the pass. We just have to make that last play.”

If the Bucs defense holds the quarterback-less Panthers to under 25 points, then Joe will be a believer. Right now, Joe’s happy and sees progress. Let’s just hope it continues.

"Don't worry Rah, you're still a PTPer to this bald, one-eyed whacko... bay-BEE! You're a diaper dandy!"

Former Bucs beat writer and current SI.com columnist Don Banks pulled no punches in placing blame for the Bucs loss.

No, it wasn’t the defense giving up the final scoring drive by the Dixie Chicks.

No, it was not a missed field goal.

It was Raheem the Dream.

Bucs head coach Raheem Morris deserves some credit for Tampa Bay’s improved defensive showing against Atlanta. But his questionable decision-making undid much of the good that apparently came from Morris taking over as the defensive play-caller for the demoted Jim Bates. The Bucs sacked Falcons quarterbacks six times on Sunday, and played with an aggressiveness that has been rare this season.

But Morris looked like a rookie head coach when he called for a fake punt that went awry, wasted a late timeout that gave Atlanta a breather near the goal line, and went for an ill-advised 51-yard field goal attempt that gave the Falcons great field position for their game-winning drive.

Joe was beyond frustrated at the loss. The Falcons owe the Bucs a Christmas present because the Bucs sure played Santa Claus yesterday.

Dick Stockton and Charles Davis discuss how the Bucs tanked the game yesterday.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&#038;brand=foxsports&#038;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:3351a6a6-ffd8-4068-a148-02327a7b8b02&#038;showPlaylist=true&#038;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videosearch&#038;fg=everyzing" target="_new" title="NFL on FOX: No Ryan, no problem">Video: NFL on FOX: No Ryan, no problem</a>

"Come on Ronde, we've got to get a win. My new mortgage payments are ridiculous."

Though Joe knows that Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune was being sarcastic in his column about the Bucs loss to the Dixie Chicks yesterday, an otherwise throwaway line rang a bell with Joe.

In explaining (sarcastically) the reasons Raheem the Dream made a number of questionable decisions yesterday, Henderson wrote the following:

Choose your favorite invective: Raheem Morris is a) an idiot; b) clueless; c) cost the Bucs a 20-17 loss Sunday to Atlanta and should be fired without delay.

He did so with a couple of coaching decisions that were a) imported from the planet Zortron; b) not something anyone would try playing the Madden video game, let alone a real NFL contest; c) anyone got a phone number for Bill Cowher?

Interesting. Could Raheem the Dream have been motivated to pull some risky calls because, possibly, he thought his job may be on the line? That by beating the Falcons on the road it may have secured Raheem the Dream another season as the Bucs coach?

Joe wonders…

Last week Vacation Man of BSPN.com laid out his premise of why he thinks Raheem the Dream will be one-and-done as the Bucs head coach.

It seems Raheem the Dream gave Vacation Man more ammunition yesterday as Vacation Man claimed he was the reason the Bucs lost.

It was all looking so good and, then, Morris got in the way. Instead of playing by the book, he signed off on a fake punt that resulted in punter Dirk Johnson looking like Garo Yepremian. Morris signed off on attempting a long field goal that missed and gave the Falcons good field position.

And he called a timeout that he didn’t need to call. That might have helped Atlanta’s coaches and players a little more time to think as Redman threw a touchdown pass to Roddy White with 23 seconds left.

Maybe Morris did the right thing in taking the defense out of Bates’ hands. Maybe Morris will make another move this week and make himself into a head coach — one that doesn’t make huge mistakes when his team pretty much has a game won.

It’s hard for Joe to disagree with any of that. But to be fair, had now-defrocked defensive coordinator Jim Bates still been in charge, would the Bucs defense had held the Dixie Chicks to under 25 points?

Under the sharp eye of now defrocked defensive coordinator Jim Bates, his defense set standards that will make football fans sick to their stomach for decades.

In the mostly sordid history of the Bucs, never had the team allowed opponents in six straight games to score 25 or more points until Bates came aboard.

The first game Bates is gone and Raheem the Dream takes over the defense, scrapping the futile two-gap system Bates demanded his front seven to play, the Bucs hold the Dixie Chicks to less than 25 points.

It was a loss but it was also a win. Having just hours to practice a system they hadn’t used all season, progress was made.

Joe is heartened to see this. With a bad team, sometimes progress has to come in baby steps.

If it works, stick it in the playbook vault and never do it again. 

It seems Antonio Bryant believes this is the Greg Olson school of play calling.

Bryant, who made two great catches on Josh Freeman bombs in the first half against Atlanta, told Stephen Holder, of the St. Pete Times, that he doesn’t understand why the Bucs didn’t look for him again deep in the second half.

“Last year, I came out here (in Atlanta) and had 100 yards in the first half,” Bryant said. “This year, two catches, 80 yards in the first half. In the second half, it’s like, ‘Come on!’

“Look, man, when you get the ball, those are the results you get. Look, Roddy White dropped balls, (Michael Jenkins) dropped balls. I got four attempts and still came up big. I have to make everything count because obviously, something ain’t right.”

Bryant suggested in no uncertain terms that offensive coordinator Greg Olson should trust QB Josh Freeman to make more downfield plays in a game like today’s, when the lead was never more than seven points.

“We have to go and trust our guy a little more,” Bryant said. “He has the talent. On a 1-10 team, you’ve got to go. . . You’ve sat here and seen this man make every throw an NFL quarterback could possibly make the first time he got in against Green Bay.

“When you have guys there, you have to put your foot on their neck and just stomp.”

Bryant makes a lot of sense.

And that’s twice in two weeks he’s come after Olson in the media. Either nobody told him to clam up at One Buc Place, or Bryant cares so deeply he can’t control himself.

No need to stay up until the middle of the night to get scant highlights when Joe brings much more to you much earlier, compliments of the good people of the NFL Network.

First are the game lowlights replete with the voice of Gene Deckerhoff. Second, NFL Network’s Jamie Dukes and Tom Waddle break down the key plays of the game.

Josh Freeman’s top plays are highlighted along with Antonio Bryant as well as Cadillac Williams.

The Bucs blocked punt is featured.

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

THE PESSIMIST is a diehard Bucs fan whose negative writings appear occasionally on JoeBucsFan.com. His views surely do not necessarily reflect those of Joe. However, Joe sure gets a kick out of them.

THE PESSIMIST is here to hang this loss squarely on the Glazers.

Now THE PESSIMIST knows Brian and Joel don’t call the plays, but they do call the shots in the offseason.

Thanks for investing in your team, fellas. Your frugal asses — when it comes to the Bucs — forced your overmatched head coach to run cornerback Derrick Roberson out on the Georgia Dome turf to replace Aqib Talib late in the game.

That’s the kind of depth you get when you’re about five miles under the salary cap: Derrick Roberson.

Derrick freaking Roberson, a guy with just a few plays of experience in his second season as an undrafted free agent out of Rutgers.

Nice. Thanks a lot. Thanks for caring.

So that’s the depth at cornerback you paid for, Glazers. And sure enough the guy makes a key holding penalty to set up Atlanta for the win.

Maybe Phillip Buchanon doesn’t make that play. But we’ll never now, will we.

Can’t wait for the offseason.

As mad as any Bucs fan may be at their head coach right now, Joe has to give Raheem The Dream credit for reviving the Bucs defense from the depths of the NFL against Atlanta’s strong offensive line.

Somewhere, Jim Bates is embarrassed that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him and couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag.

Forget for a moment (if you can) that Raheem The Dream hired Jim Bates and his two-gap, defense to begin with — a collossal mistake — the Bucs new defensive coordinator knew what the hell he was doing entering this Atlanta game and for much of it.

Joe will let former Bucs defensive end and JoeBucsFan.com analyst Steve White break down the defensive line play in his can’t-miss Bull Rush column tomorrow.

As for the linebackers, it was obvious Barrett Ruud, Quincy Black and Geno Hayes are built for Raheem The Dream’s new Monte Kiffin hybrid system. Ruud made the splash plays he’s been missing all season, and Quincy Black (no Joe doesn’t forgive his offside on a Falcons’ punt) and Geno Hayes’ speed was used effectively throughout the game.

 The secondary, minus Sabby Piscitelli’s putrid angles, missed tackles and lost opportunities, was sound.

Joe couldn’t help but think for a moment in the third quarter that Raheem The Dream and Chucky would probably have been a good match.

Perhaps they can reunite next season.  

This arena league reject slicing apart the Bucs defense is all you need to know about the brutal Bucs.

Unless it was a freak, the change from Jim Bates’ profoundly incompetent (for this personnel) two-gap defensive front flipping to a one-gap scheme was a very good move.

That’s about the only thing Joe can gleam from this miserable loss.

Think about it: the Bucs faced a team fighting for their playoff lives, in other words, an average team, and the front seven knocked out its starting quarterback and put its starting tailback on the bench.

And still the defense couldn’t stop the Falcons offense when they needed a stop the most.

Chris Redman, who was rescued from the arena league only because ex-Dixie Chicks coach Bobby Petrino knew him, was signed by the Falcons to back up dogfightng Mike Vick.

Chris Freaking Redman… the stiff hadn’t thrown a pass in the NFL in almost two years! This guy comes off the bench cold, not really knowing what defense he was going against, took five sacks, and the SOB still picked apart the Bucs like he was Roger Staubach.

How can this be???

Joe hit his head on the bar so hard after the loss, he nearly got thrown out before he paid his bill. Give Joe a freaking break, CHRIS REDMAN???

These guys should be absolutely ashamed they wear an NFL uniform to let Chris Redman of all people carve them up like a roasted turkey three days ago.

Joe is so disgusted he doesn’t know if Pepto Bismol will work.