One would think a wide receiver who has a nasty habit of dropping balls might just be a bit humbled, a bit ashamed, motivated to let his catches, not drops, do the talking.

Nope. Not with Michael Clayton. In an apparent ode to Meshawn Johnson when he played for the New Jersey Kotites, Clayton yesterday said, in so many words, “Give me the damned ball,” so wrote Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Apparently, Clayton failed to mention how he plans to stop laying the ball on the ground.

“I’ve got to get more opportunities,” Bucs wide receiver Michael Clayton said. “I’m a guy that can help this team win. We’ve got to get our players the ball. Everybody needs more opportunities.

“(Tight end) Jerramy Stevens needs more opportunities. (Antonio Bryant) needs more. You’re gonna drop some balls, but you also need an opportunity to make up and redeem yourself. We haven’t quite been able to get to that step.”

Yeah, some balls.

To be fair, Clayton has a nugget of truth to what he says. But this is like which came first, the chicken or the egg? Confidence works both ways. Why should Greg Olson or any of the Bucs quarterbacks get you the ball when, more often than not in the past, you have pulled a Roberto Duran?

Look, Clayton’s play against Dallass was spectacular. What Bucs coaches and quarterbacks need to see is Clayton doing that more often. You know, like maybe twice every four games?

And while Joe recognizes that Clayton is a dominant blocker, he is a wide receiver whose primary responsibility is to catch the damned ball. Blocking, no matter how coveted, is a secondary responsibility for a receiver.

Does anyone think Himes Ward would have started so many years for the Steelers if he couldn’t catch, no matter how crushing of a blocker he is? Of course not.

Oh, and good luck getting more “opportunities” with Johnson as the quarterback, who doesn’t have much more of a stronger arm than Joe with only slightly more NFL experience.

So the Bucs signed someone named Shane Andrus to replace Mike Nugent who was largely responsible for the Bucs loss to the Redskins. Word is he went home to take a shower, fell in the bathtub but remainded dry as toast.

So this Andrus has an interesting resume. For the past three years he’s been trying to latch on with the Indianapolis Colts. Some guy by the name of Adam Vinatieri always seemed to get in Andrus’ way.

Why he never hooked up with another team the past there years is beyond Joe. Andrus got all of a one-day tryout with the Bucs which is just a shade less than Nugent and his $2 million salary were afforded.

Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune documents that Andrus led the Colts in scoring this preseason and is coveted as a kickoff specialist.

Andrus entered the league as a free agent with the Indianapolis Colts in 2006. He played in one game for the Colts in 2009, handling kickoff duties in their season opener against Jacksonville.

Andrus led Indianapolis with 19 points during the 2009 preseason, connecting on 5-of-6 field goal attempts and all four PATs.

Joe has to calm himself with the fact that kickers are just about a dime a dozen. The Bucs likely could have found some kid on the soccer teams at Jesuit or Palm Harbor high schools to kick just as awfully as Nugent did.

Doesn’t take a whole lot of talent to choke the way Nugent gagged this season.

It was the summer of 2008. Chucky, as usual, was in heat over a quarterback. Chucky never seemed to meet a quarterback he didn’t lust over.

This particular quarterback this particular July was none other than Brett Favre. Soon to be Hall of Famer and recently retired. Chucky went to bed with the blissful dreams of a lover in passion believing he would soon consummate his relationship with his bride: Favre.

But the Packers, who held the rights to Farve, did not hold their piece… eeerr, peace. They broke up the would-be matrimony. Chucky became an unrequited lover.

The only matrimony that would take place would be some months later between Raheem the Dream and Josh Freeman.

The Bucs, who got off to a great start last season, tanked in the end, which was something of a Chucky tradition, sans the year he got the Bucs over the hump with a Super Bowl ring.

One of the criticisms of Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia (no, Joe could never criticize him for Carmella) was that he never noticed open receivers downfield and as a result, the Bucs missed countless opportunities, specifically in the December collapse that eventually sank Chucky’s coaching days with the Bucs.

Had Farve, who apparently has good genes, come to Tampa Bay, the Bucs would likely be a far-different looking team today. Watching last night’s Minnesota win over Green Bay, it’s pretty clear that Favre still has it. And it looks as though he’s going to lead the Vikings deep into January if not a February Super Bowl.

Joe’s going to take a look at how the Bucs would be a far cry from what they are today.

* Chucky would still be here.

* So too would Bruce Almighty.

* Rather than Freeman on the sideline, Favre would be barking signals. Freeman would have been a third round pick elsewhere.

* Raheem the Dream would be the Bucs defensive coordinator; Monte Kiffin still would have gone to Tennessee to be with his son Lane (and daughter-in-law Layla).

* Who knows about Mark Domink? The Bucs general manager was interviewing elsewhere, including Kansas City.

* Derrick Brooks would still be prowling the CITS sidelines wearing his menacing red No. 55.

* Cato June, Warrick Dunn and possibly Kevin Carter, all currently unemployed, would also possibly still be with the Bucs.

* Maybe even Rachel Watson would have stuck around?

One thing is for sure: If Farve was here, the Bucs wouldn’t be 0-4.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Mike Nugent, the former horrendous Bucs kicked, was given the boot tonight by Raheem the Dream and Mark Dominik, so says Joe’s good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig.

Per Mike Florio, the curator, creator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, Nugent gets to keep his base salary of $2 million.

Must be real nice to suck at your job, keep it for, what, three months, and then get to sit on our ass for the next nine months collecting $2 million.

Though the Bucs have not replaced Nugent yet, immortals Brandon Coutu and Shane Andrus were at One Buc Palace today trying out for the opening.

Joe trusts Dominik won’t drop $2 million on either one.

There’s a reason why Raheem the Dream scoffed openly when he was asked about Nugent.

In Raheem the Dream’s weekly Monday afternoon press conference, he let it slip the Bucs are trying out new kickers this afternoon because Mike Nugent is stinking the joint out worse than a portapotty that hasn’t been cleaned in the middle of the Florida summer.

When Raheem the Dream was asked about Mike Nugent he let out a loud, frustrated, disgruntled, “Ha!” He then quicky said not only do the Bucs evaluate players “every day” but that the Bucs had invited kickers in for tryouts today.

Raheem the Dream wouldn’t release any names nor would he deny one of the kickers called in for a tryout was former Bucs kicker Matt Bryant, who was released at the end of training camp. Raheem , however, didn’t say Bryant was called in either.

“The only thing that really matters about kickers is the result,” Raheem the Dream said. “Either you make it or you miss it.

“The operation looked good. The snap looked good. I’m not making any excuses for him.”

Asked in his Monday news conference about how he would coach Josh Johnson to be more aggressive downfield rather than abandon the deep ball for his checkdown options, Raheem The Dream offered up some confusing perspective.

His answer to the questioning reporter was to explain a Bucs team philosophy.

“We’re always going to play not cautious. We’re always going to play, you know, fearless, you know, not cautious,” Raheem The Dream said.

Joe finds this approach fascinating from a head coach who was afraid to have is winless team go for the victory on the road on 4th-and-goal with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Where was “fearless” then?

Aqib Talib did his best to get Raheem the Dream his first win as an NFL head coach. Rick Brown points out several other Bucs who dropped the ball.

Good guy Backwards Hat, otherwise known as Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger, doesn’t hold back in his critique of the Bucs’ loss to the Redskins.

Brown points to a number of players and plays early in the game that cost the Bucs points that would have put the Redskins in such a hole they may not have been able to climb out.

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers watches tape of their 16-13 loss to the Washington Redskins, many of the players are going to be sick. They’re going to be sick because they’re going to see the golden opportunity Washington gave them Sunday only to see them give it right back.

It should have been Raheem Morris’ first victory. Instead, it is his fourth loss to start the season.

Many fans will point to Clifton Smith’s fumble close to the end of the day as the reason why Tampa Bay lost.

Some may blame Aqib Talib, who despite tying a franchise mark with three interceptions, was beaten on what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown to Santana Moss.

While both of those plays had an impact on the game, Tampa Bay actually lost this game in the first half.

Slug kicker Mike Nugent is too obvious, as Brown explains. Instead, Brown calls out Davin Joseph and the King of Turds as two examples of the Bucs leaving critical points on the field.

Joe is not a big fan of journalism that includes unnamed sources. Anonymous sources are sort of like filthy, skanky whores. You try to stear far clear of them, but sometimes you can’t help but look.

Here’s one to look at, courtesy of Pro Football Weekly in a story published by Yahoo Sports:

 The report talks about poor league opinion of Raheem The Dream and more on the Bucs quarterback situation, including an assertion that offensive coordinator Greg Olson wanted to name Luke McCown the Bucs’ No. 1 quarterback.

Our sources tell us the quarterback Olson actually preferred to run the offense was Luke McCown, who was traded because Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik said he could not afford to give backup reps to McCown and needed to get Freeman groomed. We hear Olson absolutely loved McCown but was overruled by the three people who have the most authority in personnel moves at present — Dominik, Morris and coordinator of pro scouting and former Bucs QB Doug Williams, who jointly decided that Leftwich’s leadership was the key point in his favor.

 “They had a statue back there and they knew it,” one league insider told PFW. “If you took every quarterback in the league, Josh Johnson might be in the bottom 10, and he was one of the starting 32 this week. They screwed it up. They just gave McCown $2.5 million to start, and now he is somewhere else.

 “It’s a mess.”

Joe wouldn’t be surprised if this report is 100 percent true. But you never know.

What certainly is accurate though is the final quote: “It’s a mess.”

Fans comforted by Gaines Adams making impact plays Sunday and looking more like a real football player had their warm feelings stomped on by former Bucs offensive lineman Ian Beckles this morning, co-host of The Ron and Ian Show on 620 WDAE-AM.

Beckles, a critic of Adams since he played his first game in a Bucs uniform, was explaining that the former fourth overall pick showing up on the stat sheet with a sack and a fumble recovery and a batted down pass is practically meaningless because he looks terrible through the majority of the game.

“He has to do it for 60 minutes. … He plays part-time and he made two plays. … He’s a bad football player. I’m sorry. But he’s a bad football player,” Beckles said. “He looks so lost sometimes. He’s a very awkward football player.”

Joe can’t disagree completely with Beckles. However, if Adams plays every Sunday like he did against Washington, Joe imagines nearly every team in the NFL would be happy to have him.

Raheem The Dream’s postgame evaluation of Josh Johnson’s play was incomplete, as the media peppered him with questions about whether Johnson was missing open receivers downfield and opting for checkdowns and to run for his life. 

The head coach said he’d have to look at the game film before rendering a real opinion on that aspect of Johnson’s game.

“Everybody’s open on Sunday. …Everybody comes back to the huddle and says they’re open,” Raheem The Dream said in his postgame news conference. “We’ll go back and evaluate that on tape.”

Joe hopes Johnson shows up well on tape. But Joe can’t imagine the Redskins were that stellar in coverage.

Raheem The Dream’s evaluation should come at his Monday news conference.

Josh Johnson was quick to credit the Redskins’ secondary after the game.

“Most of the time when I took off it was because they had great coverage. I mean. They did. They had great coverage. So I was trying to do what I can possibly to move the chains,” Johnson said. “And hopefully they can start respecting the fact that I can run and we can get those guys on the edge open even more so we can make more plays. They played a great defensive game. You’ve got to give them credit.”

Alex Loeb and Cris Carter of BSPN take a look at the Bucs loss to the Redskins.

Bucs kicker Mike Nugent had a rotten day. It wasn’t his first in his short stint with the Bucs. He missed two field goals and damned near had a third blocked. In short, the Bucs would have won if he just did his job.

He didn’t and neither did the Bucs.

Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times caught up with Nugent after the Bucs loss and he admitted the obvious.

“I thought everything was fine,” Nugent said. “I didn’t walk off the field thinking something went wrong. I just walked off the field thinking I just didn’t do my job.” 

In short, enough is enough. Nugent has stunk this season and is a good reason why the Bucs are still looking for a win. If the Bucs don’t bring in kickers Tuesday at the very least for a look-see, there a whole lot more wrong with that organization than just Nugent.

Anwar Richardson and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune discuss the Bucs loss to the Redskins in this video.

Richardson takes indirect shots at offensive coordinator Greg Olson for questionable moves and decisions, specifically late in the game.

Cummings seems to think that the Bucs were actually too conservative with Josh Johnson which bogged down the Bucs offense.

While there were a lot of positives to take away from yesterday’s loss to the Redskins, let’s face it: The Bucs lost. No way to sugarcoat it.

Joe places a lot of blame on slug kicker Mike Nugent. Ted Nugent would do just as well.

But as Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc., via BSPN.com points out, the Bucs have a lot more problems than just Nugent.

The defense held Campbell to only 60 passing yards in the first half. It would be great to give the Bucs’ defense the majority of credit for those paltry results, but the fact is that Campbell played horribly and forced the ball into coverage. He did make a few big throws, but for the most part, his play was inexcusable.

Generally, if you jump out to a 10-0 lead and force the opposition to commit four turnovers and hold that team’s best running back to 60 yards, that should be the ballgame.

Unless you suck.

As you can expect from Joe, he brings you loads of NFL Network video on the Bucs loss (again), this time to the Redskins.

There’s absolutely no need to stay up late to get scant highlights on local TV when Joe’s looking out for you.

First up are clips replete with Gene Deckerhoff.

Aqib Talib is highlighted with his first, second and third picks.

Ronde Barber is not overlooked with his blocked extra point.

Josh Johnson’s first NFL touchdown pass is of course worth another look. Also, there are other good plays Johnson made.

The NFL Network also has a collection of Cadillac Williams highlights.

Of course, Joe cannot forget the play that lost the game for the Bucs, Clifton Smith’s fumble.

Lastly, the NFL Network has Raheem the Dream’s postgame news conference.

The Michael Clayton saga is getting beyond ridiculous. The guy can’t catch the ball for yet another season.

Barring an epic turnaround, Clayton is officially another failure by the Raheem The Dream and Mark Dominik regime. What an offseason free-agent signing, $10 million guaranteed for a guy who hasn’t caught the ball regularly since 2004.

Clayton dropped a critical third down pass on his hands in the second quarter against Washington. Mike Nugent then missed from 48 yards. Thanks, Mike. At least you’re consistent.

The Bucs’ No. 2 receiver has seven catches, two dropped touchdown passes and zero TDs through four games. Looks like he’s on pace for another Michael Clayton season.

Perhaps the Bucs can put some weight on him and turn Clayton into a blocking tight end.

All he does is block anyway, and surely Jerramy Stevens isn’t proving to be much of a weapon. And he’s clearly allergic to blocking.

Joe has some quotes from Raheem The Dream after the Bucs loss to the Redskins.

“This was a tough one. When you put yourself in position to win and don’t, it’s not easy. They fought. They did what we asked them to do. We need to go back in the lab and work. If we don’t stop the big play, we will continue to struggle. We will continue to lose these types of games.

“I’m not sure how we could get a better start than we received. The defense started fast and we got a fumble. We get it and the offense sticks it right in there. That’s how you want to start a football game. We have to figure out how to start more like that.”

On Aqib Talib’s play:

“He had three picks but I bet he feels awful about the [Santana Moss] touchdown. But that’s the life of a corner. He’ll be fine.”

On Josh Johnson:

“He did a nice job of managing the football game. We just have to get him better and more comfortable on third down. Failure on third down are the things that hurt you. He can make the plays when they are there. He just has to be more consistent and he will be fine.”

On the critical third down call deep in Redskins territory late in the game that failed.

“The third down call was a quarterback couble-option type of ploay. It was a great call. It was the stuff we wanted. The Redskins just made a great play to force us to kick a field goal.

“We got the ball back with two minutes left and had a chance to win it or tie it. We didn’t get it done.”

On the loss:

“I am disappointed in this team. We didn’t show the killer instinct. We have improved but we are not where we want to be. They gave themselves a chance but we have to go back to the drawing board and find a way to win a football game.”

Maybe for the first time in his NFL career, Gaines Adams played like an NFL player. Oh, sure, he’s had a decent if not good play here or there.

But this season, the guy has been worthless, invisible. That is, until Sunday at Washington. The guy didn’t just play like an NFL player, he played like an animal, even bulldogging Clinton Portis down for a solo tackle for a loss. He also had a fumble recovery.

Joe had to check if someone slipped Stoli in his ice tea (nope).

Adams had four tackles and three assists and a sack. Clearly his best day of the season and possibly best day of his career.

Even through his frustration after the game, Raheem The Dream spoke highly of Adams on the Buccaneers Radio Network but quickly admitted the Gaines Adams project isn’t over.

“No. 90 was struggling with a groin injury and he is doing what we wanted him to do,” Raheem the Dream said. “He came out today and played his heart out and played hard and when you can do that you can play football.

“He needs to do more. Hopefully he can come back and play a second game like that.”

Joe has to give Adams major props for being humble after the game if not bummed out that the Bucs lost. He wouldn’t gloss himself at all, instead talking about the team. “We,” not “me.”

“I have to give it to the secondary and the linebackers,” Adams said of his solid play. “They had good coverage” which allowed Adams to get to the quarterback.

“We were just swaming to the ball,” Adams said. “We were just trying to make the best of it.”

Quarterback Josh Johnson rolled left and looked more part of a desperate, broken play than anything scripted on 3rd-and-goal.

Raheem The Dream claimed on the Buccaneers Radio Network it was a good call: it was a double-option, so Raheem The Dream said.

What were the two options, fail or mistake?

Johnson took the blame for the play, as he said on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game.

“On the roll to the left, I tried to throw a pass to Jerramy Stevens hoping they would bite on the run,” Johnson said. But the Redskins didn’t.

“I had no one open,” Johnson said. “I was just trying to run one in if I could.”

On the fumble that ended the game, Johnson credited the Redskins.

“Their defense just made a good play,” Johnson said. “It happens. It happens. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. We all take responsibility for that. It’s a team game.”

You could hear the pain in Cadillac Williams’ voice after the game talking on the Buccaneers Radio Network. He confirmed the pain when he said over and over, “Man, this hurts. This hurts. For us to play that hard and to dominate the game and lose it… (hard sigh) it’s tough.”

Part of his pain was frustration. Frustration at his teammates, in particular at his offensive teammates. The Bucs clearly wasted the best defensive game of the season by throwing away a 10-point lead with a not quite as putrid offensive effort as last week.

For roughly three quarters, the emphasis was on “offensive.”

If the Bucs couldn’t convert a third down they shot themselves in the foot with moronic penalties. And then there was the stiff known in some circles as Mike Nugent. He pissed away six points and almost nine.

And this aggravated Caddy to no end.

“We have to score points!” Caddy said. “We have to reward the defense for playing so tough.”

Or at least find a freaking kicker to kick field goals. Granted the Bucs didn’t do Nugent any favors with bad penalties at bad times that pushed him back. Still, decent to average kickers make those field goals.

Stiffs who belong behind the bar don’t.

Nugent didn’t. So Joe can easily deduce where Nugent belongs.

An historic day for helmet-wielding Aqib Talib with three interceptions, including some of the acrobatic variety.

Joe tips his Caybrew to Talib, even though he was beaten soundly and deep by Santana Moss for the game-winning score. Joe now hopes Talib isn’t too fired up in the unhappy cab ride back to the hotel. Those can get a little sticky for him.

Talib’s been beaten deep week after week, but without his play today the Bucs might never have been in the game.

Ronde Barber had a strong game and Sabby Piscitelli didn’t get torched. Tanard Jackson returns next week. The Bucs’ secondary looks to be returning to last year’s form.