Greg Schiano talks about Michael Smith

M.I.A. running back/returner Michael Smith is a “Buccaneer Man,” Greg Schiano said a month ago.

And Schiano heaped even more love on the captain of the inactive list last night, during The Greg Schiano Show via the Buccaneers Radio Network. A fan called in to ask the leader of the New Schiano Order “what happened” to the speedy rookie, who hasn’t been seen since opening day.

“I was very impressed and am still very impressed,” Schiano said of Smith. “You should see the way he practices and the way that he works at it. He’s a great guy to have on this football team. And I do think his time’s coming. I do think that Mike’s a guy that’s going to help us down the road, and is helping us now in practice, but is going to help us down the road in games. So just hang on. I think we’re going to get to see him one of these days.”

Schiano stopped well short of calling Smith “the driving force of our football team,” but it’s clear Schiano likes and respects the kid.

As little as D.J. Ware and LeGarrette Blount were used Sunday (no carries combined), maybe it is time to give Smith a shot to return kicks and play third-string running back for a game.

Lord knows there will be plenty of kicks to return in Denver, and Smith (out of Utah State) is no stranger to cold weather.

The 2011 Bucs didn’t win a game after Kregg Lumpkin replaced Earnest Graham

In what feels like a cruel joke on Giants fans (which is a good thing), the Super Bowl champs signed former Bucs running back Kregg “The Great” Lumpkin off the street today.

Per The Star-Ledger, Lumpkin beat out some big yet over-the-hill names looking for work.

The Giants selected Lumpkin after working out a handful of veteran running backs today, including Ryan Grant, Cadillac Williams and Ryan Torain. They needed to bolster the position since Brown’s injury left the Giants with just two running backs on their roster, Ahmad Bradshaw and rookie David Wilson, plus fullback Henry Hynoski.

Lumpkin, 5-foot-11 and 228 pounds, was waived by Seattle in September. He’s played in 29 NFL games in his career

Joe thought it was cool that Cadillac Williams is still seeking employment, but it’s got to be a bummer for Cadillac to lose out to Lumpkin two seasons in a row. Raheem Morris said he wanted Cadillac back last season, but instead it appeared Raheem was overruled by rockstar general manager Mark Dominik, who made Lumpkin the Bucs’ No. 3 back. Cadillac went on to back up Stephen Jackson in St. Louis.

Joe suspects Lumpkin found a new home, in part, for his ability on special teams.

Who says you have to cry in your beer because there’s no football on a Tuesday night?

In fact, there is football. And it’s the Bucs-Falcons replay on NFL Network at 8 p.m.

These replays are pretty cool. The game is condensed into 90 minutes, and sometimes includes some cool angles and audio not found anywhere else.

It looks like the Bucs definitely will dance the rest of the season with the Fearsome Foursome at cornerback, aka “E.J., Leonard, Danny and LeQuan,” as Greg Schiano referred to his often overmatched CBs.

It’s not “in the cards” for Ronde Barber to play cornerback this season and help fill the void left by pill-poppers Eric Wright and Aqib Talib, so Schiano said during his WDAE-AM 620 radio show yesterday.

“I’d rather not,” Schiano said of Barber playing corner. “I think Ronde’s doing a great job at safety and one that we really need him there. I don’t think that’s in the cards. But the nice thing is you have a guy that’s capable if you ever had to as an emergency corner.”

First, Joe must say that Barber is, at times, on the field with Mark Barron and Ahmad Black. Barber’s definitely in a cornerback role when that happens. But the message from Schiano is clear: Barber’s staying put.

Joe’s unsure whether this is knock on Black.

Schiano often has talked about putting the best 11 men on the field. And Joe would venture to say that trading Black for Barber at safety and moving Barber to cornerback to replace, for example, Danny Gorrer, would put more talent in the defensive backfield for the Bucs.

The leader of the New Schiano Order seemingly leaves no stone unturned in his preparation for victory.

The more Joe talks to players, and listens to coaches and players, the more Joe learns about how Greg Schiano has nearly every potential detail covered, if not all of them.

On Schiano’s radio show last night, the head coach talked about E.J. Biggers’ sack and forced fumble Sunday and explained that there’s no such thing as a “sack” under the New Schiano Order. It’s known as a “sack-fumble.” The concept is that if you’re going to sack the quarterback, your goal is to strip a likely vulnerable football.

The replay (and photo here) of Biggers’ sack shows he went into Matt Ryan rather high but right at the football, likely the result of his coaching.

Joe likes the concept. If the sack focus is on the strip as much as the tackle, that could cost the Bucs a sack or two over the course of a season, but it’s also likely going to generate an extra turnover or two. And Joe suspects any coach would take the trade-off.

Also on the detail front, last night on the Buccaneers Radio Network, Williams explained how intricately the team plans for the Hail Mary pass and how much practice went into the pass to Dallas Clark with eight seconds left Sunday to set up the Hail Mary try to end the game. Williams said the team specifically practices the scenario “eight seconds left” with no timeouts from their own territory and it popped up Sunday.

Yeah, Joe knows the Bucs are 6-5 and don’t execute flawlessly. But Joe has no doubt the team is well coached and derives confidence from its preparation. Those are great things moving forward.

Joe saw Roddy White beat little-known Bucs cornerback Danny Gorrer on a slant pass for the Falcons’ critical third-down conversion inside of two minutes remaining Sunday, and Joe knew he had seen that dagger before.

It was three years ago, also in late November, when Falcons QB Chris Redman had a 4th-and-goal with 26 seconds left at the Bucs’ 5 yard line and threw a nearly identical slant to White to beat another little-known Bucs cornerback, Derrick Roberson. Here’s the video. It was the game-winning touchdown.

Now rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has said multiple times that a team can never have too many cornerbacks. It’s a pretty common take around the NFL. And this Bucs season is exhibit A as to why teams need legitimate cornerback depth.

You just can’t have C-list corners covering A-list receivers and expect success, especially when a game is on the line.

Eric Wright and Aqib Talib screwed the Bucs this season with their pill-popping ways. One could say that was neither expected nor predictable. But given their personal histories, one also could make the argument it was totally predictable.

Regardless, the Bucs didn’t have what they needed at cornerback this season. Blame whatever/whoever you want, but the Bucs are paying a huge price for their lack of quality at the position. Yesterday afternoon, Greg Schiano reffered to “E.J., Leonard, Danny and LeQuan;” That really drove it home for Joe.

At this point, Joe easily could see Leonard Johnson as the only cornerback returning in 2013. The Bucs could ditch Eric Wright without financial consequences and use that cash for a premier free agent corner, plus grab a veteran second-tier, free-agent CB, and draft a first-rounder at the position.

Booger McFarland

Former defensive tackle Booger McFarland was a member of the greatest Bucs team in franchise history, the lone Bucs team to hold the Vince Lombardi Trophy in victory. It was a team bursting with Pro Bowlers, studs and future Hall of Famers, and almost without exception, it was a team-first mentality.

So Joe totally understands what fueled McFarland’s angst yesterday. Now a co-host with Rich Herrera on WHFS-FM 98.7, McFarland lashed out at troubled Bucs cornerback Eric Wright for putting himself before the team, fighting for its playoff life, when he was popped and suspended four games by the NFL for doing Adderall.

“If you are Eric Wright, you are selfish, son. You let your team down. A secondary that needs you. A team that needs you. A pass defense that needs you. A team trying to make a playoff run and its high-priced corner is not going to be there. Shame on you Eric Wright,” McFarland said.

Bravo, Booger. Bravo. Joe couldn’t have said it better. Wright absolutely was not thinking of the team when he was popping Adderall. If, as he claims, it was for a medical condition, then get the paperwork, real simple. Apparently, he didn’t have the paperwork (or his, cough, doctor).

Booger went on to hammer Wright for not just manning up and taking the suspension right away which would have been over by now, therefore being eligible to play for the Bucs in their most important four-game stretch of the season.

Eric Wright’s career with the Bucs could be turned upside down after being slapped with a four-game suspension by the NFL.

It’s is very possible that troubled Bucs cornerback Eric Wright has played his last game with the Bucs.

It seems that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has a nice little clause written in wright’s contract, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com that if Wright was popped for PED’s — he was nailed for taking Adderall — the Bucs could release him after the 2012 season and his two-year contract with the Bucs would be null and void.

In short, the Bucs would be released from owing Wright some $7.75 million next year that was previously guaranteed.

Wright, per Schefter, appealed his positive test for Adderall claiming he had misplaced the medical paperwork. Joe calls that nonsense. Doctors — at least those practicing with a license — keep accurate records of everything they give to patients. Everything.

If Wright misplaced the paperwork, all he had to do was get another copy of said paperwork from his doctor’s office, simple as that. Unless said (ahem) doctor doesn’t have a license to distribute prescription medications.

Granted, Wright’s suspension is four games, four crucial games, and he is eligible to return for the Bucs season finale against Atlanta. But if the Bucs are out of the playoffs at that time, what’s the point?

Below is Wright’s written statement concerning the suspension released by the Bucs, via TBO.com.

“This is a result of taking Adderall at the end of July for health issues I was experiencing,” Wright said in written statement released by the team. “I am extremely disappointed that the suspension was upheld at my appeal.”

“I apologize to the Glazer family, General Manager Mark Dominik, Coach Schiano and the entire Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, my teammates, our great fans and my family, who have stood by me through this entire process. I will continue to prepare myself and look forward to rejoining the team.”

Lots of Bucs fans, not Joe, had issues with the Bucs attempting a 56 yard field goal on 4th-and-7 at the Falcons 38-yard line trailing by one point with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the game yesterday.

Joe’s read lots of comments — and heard the sports radio chatter — saying that the Bucs should have gone for the first down rather than kick.

Well, it turns out, going for it on fourth down was Greg Schiano’s third option, so the coach strongly implied on The Greg Schiano Show tonight on WDAE-AM 620.

Schiano was asked about the decision-making by a caller, and Schiano responded by only talking about the option to punt or kick the field goal on that play and then Schiano was finished with the caller. Host TJ Rives followed up by asking Schiano about whether he considered going for the first down.

“You know, what I try to do is look at all the options, so certainly it was considered, but (laughs) not for very long. I didn’t think that was one of the better ones,” Schiano said of potentially going for it on that fourth down.

This answer by Schiano was surprising, especially the little chuckle from the head coach at the idea of going for the first down.

Joe was all on board with the field goal attempt in that spot, but a punt from the 38 yard line? That would not have been playing to the Bucs’ strengths or playing to win. How punting could have been the second option ahead of Freeman dropping back to pass, Joe will never know.

Thankfully, that punt never happened and Joe was spared a Maalox moment.

Ronde Barber also was guilty on the same play

Joe hates loafs, especially after serial loafer Sean Jones treated Bucs fans to far too many.

So since last year’s heinous 10-game losing streak, Joe has been particular sensitive to loafing. And, through Joe’s eyes, there was an ugly one committed yesterday by Leonard Johnson. (Here’s the video.) The loaf was clear as day in person but less so on the video.

Johnson was beaten deep by Julio Jones and then Jones broke Johnson’s attempted tackle en route to the end zone. OK, stuff happens. However, Johnson gets up after the missed tackle and doesn’t hustle after Jones streaking for the end zone.

In Joe’s mind, not only should Johnson have finished the play hard. He especially should be doing that after getting beaten — twice. Joe’s confident Johnson heard about it during film sessions at One Buc Palace today.

Yeah, Joe knows some fans will think Joe’s an ass for writing about this, but Joe’s all on board with the New Schiano Order. Joe’s not tolerating any loafs.

*Update: Upon further review, Ronde Barber also loafs badly on this play. Joe hadn’t noticed previously since Joe was dialed in on Johnson’s effort after first noticing Johnson’s loaf while viewing the game from the press box.

Wait a minute. Last week Eric Wright said he had no idea why he might not be available to play for the Bucs this season.

Well, it seems Wright either was in need of an Adderall or a shot of espresso when he commented on his availability before Joe and Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune. Or Wright just wasn’t up to speed on the happenings at Roger Goodell’s New York palace.

Today the Bucs announced that Wright will be suspended for four games. It’s presumably for violating the NFL substance abuse policy. Jay Glazer of FOX reported several weeks ago that Wright would be suspended for testing positive for the stimulant without league permission for using the drug. 

Joe actually wouldn’t be surprised if Wright was somewhat clueless on his pending trouble with the NFL. Joe’s known plenty of southern California types like Wright that are so laid back they don’t care about what’s going on if it’s not right in front of them.

There were times yesterday Matty Ice could have finished a crossword puzzle before a Bucs defensive lineman laid a finger on him.

There were a lot of things to point to for the Bucs dropping a completely winnable game against the Dixie Chicks yesterday. Leaving points on the field, missing receivers who stood alone in their own zip codes, missed field goals… Joe could go on.

But what is developing on this sad Monday is the narrative that the Bucs’ defensive line hung the Bucs’ subpar corners out to dry.

We’ve heard this from two prominent sports voices in the area and now columnists are picking up the mantle such as Alan Dell.

The Bradenton Herald scribe takes the defensive line out for a verbal lashing of sorts, claiming when the Bucs needed the defensive front perhaps more than in any other game this season, they were ghosts.

The Bucs can talk all day about how they are the better team and the Falcons made one or two plays more, but that was not the case. When three of your four leading tacklers are defensive backs — as it was for Tampa Bay on this day — that’s a problem.

The Bucs front four did a disappearing act. Gerald McCoy didn’t have a tackle, and Michael Bennett, who has been their best in the trenches this year, had one.

Dell has a point. A team can get away with having undrafted free agents and guys off the street (Danny Gorrer?) guarding the likes of Julio Jones and Roddy White so long as your defensive front is bruising Matty Ice regularly.

If your defensive line is playing patty-cake with the Dixie Chicks offensive line, and you are scraping the NFL barrel for warm bodies to play corner, then you are basically turning the game into a glorified, high-paid seven-on-seven flag football track meet that rarely ends in your favor.

In one of the rare times Matty Ice felt the breath of a Bucs defender, it came from a blitzing corner. The Bucs must have better results from the defensive line for any postseason dreams to come true.

The Bucs are in a battle for their playoff lives after giving a game away yesterday to the Dixie Chicks. Joe wondered if Bucs coach Greg Schiano did his best Dennis Green impersonation inside the walls of the Bucs locker room prior to the doors being flung open for the pen and mic club?

Well, this morning, college football-ignorant, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, seemed to have conflicting thoughts in his must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback.”

In one element of his column, King believes the Bucs will be squeezed out of a Wild Card berth by the Packers and Redskins, and on the very same page he writes how he senses the Bucs are on the cusp of beginning a roll that may just end in New Orleans in February as he ranked the Bucs the ninth-best team in the NFL.

9. Tampa Bay (6-5). The more I see the Bucs, the more I think they might do what the Giants of 2007 or 2011 did — get hot late and get on a January run that could take them very far. Not saying I think this will happen. Just saying it wouldn’t surprise me if the Bucs were the NFC’s sixth seed and made some big noise.

Joe sort of gets where King is coming from, but there’s a big difference.

Sure, in recent history, teams have gone to the Super Bowl with woeful secondaries. While the Bucs are average to solid with safeties (Mark Barron still struggles in pass defense and Ronde Barber is playing at a Pro Bowl-level in his first year as a safety), without Eric Wright the cornerback position is frightful (though E.J. Biggers may have had his best game yesterday).

Also, said teams which have gone far in the postseason with weak secondaries usually had a scary front line. The Bucs do not have that. There were only a few times yesterday where Matty Ice, not fleet of foot, heard footsteps from the Bucs and one of those few times those footsteps came from a blitzing corner (Biggers).

That’s borderline unacceptable.

If the Bucs are going to make a postseason run to the French Quarter, the Bucs’ defensive line is going to have to transform, and transform in a hurry.

There’s just no way to believe the Bucs will make a January run for the ages if the defensive line lets the Bucs’ depleted corners hang out to dry like yesterday.

Times columinst and 98.7 FM co-host Gary Shelton fired a sharp arrow at the Bucs’ defensive ends

Veteran Tampa Bay Times scribe Gary Shelton, also of Gary and The Commish on 98.7 FM, sang a sky-is-falling, unrehearsed duet this morning with former Bucs guard Ian Beckles. 

Both voiced over-the-top radio shots at the Bucs’ defensive line. Shelton targeted the defensive ends, saying, “It’s a tough question when you ask whether your DE’s are worse than your corners.”

Considering the Bucs’ healthy cornerbacks yesterday are clearly a bottom-tier NFL bunch, Joe calls that comment a sharp dagger. And Shelton followed up to clarify his position on the DEs, “They’re that bad.”

Hmmm, Joe suspects Shelton will be quite stunned when he sees the money Michael Bennett commands in free agency this offseason, money the Bucs would be wise to shell out.

Yes, the Bucs’ defensive line didn’t get the greatest grades yesterday, but Joe thinks Shelton and Beckles are going way overboard.

In addition to his first rant Joe referenced earlier, Beckles went on to hammer Gerald McCoy. Beckles is appalled that McCoy has only 20 tackles in 11 games, “You’re the leader of the team. Got hit the quarterback,” Beckles bellowed.

Beckles also went on to say former Bucs defensive end “Steve White was better than Gerald McCoy.” The take was not a knock on White, just a comment that guys drafted far below McCoy with far smaller salaries were more valuable that McCoy. Of course, this is bizarre consdering White was a DE and McCoy is a DT.

Joe finds the Shelton and Beckles takes completely wacky in this case, and Joe finds himself saddened that tens of thousands of their listeners surely took it as gospel.

Prim Siripipat and Cris Carter take a closer look at the Bucs’ one-point loss to the Dixie Chicks in this ESPN video.

The forked tongue of former Bucs guard Ian Beckles began jabbing the Bucs defensive line this morning during the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620.

Beckles called Matt Ryan “the most comfortable quarterback of the weekend,” and Beckles remains perplexed as to why Gerald McCoy and friends can’t generate more pressure.

Beckles used hyperbole (or he missed parts of the game) saying not one defensive linemen upset Falcons QB Matt Ryan all day yesterday. But inaccuracy aside, his point was clear and accurate; the Bucs D-line had a substandard day.

Joe dove into the same point yesterday. Despite all the wacky line stunts and the unthinkable two-man rush on third down that aren’t their fault, the Bucs defensive line didn’t win overall in the trenches. Michael Bennett wasn’t very much contained, and McCoy and Roy Miller are playing at least a quarter-notch below what they were earlier in the 2012 season.

Regardless, the Bucs defense did enough to win yesterday against the high-powered Falcons. It was the Bucs offense that left an awful lot of points on the field.

Joe’s posting this photo because it gives a good look at the crowd in the upper decks.

Joe thought there might be a bigger crowd yesterday for the Bucs-Falcons game. And Joe’s logic was simple. On Dec. 5, 2010, when the two teams squared off for a game in Tampa with similar playoff implications and team records, attendance was 53,955.

Yesterday’s number was announced at only 85 more fans, 54,440. Joe supposes that could be considered progress, but it’s certainly not much. For Joe, that shows there are bigger factors at play than fans not believing in a head coach (Raheem Morris) or the economy (it’s better now than in 2010).

Yeah, the Bucs (6-5) lost yesterday, but so did the Seahawks and Vikings, the teams that were tied with the Bucs for the final NFC Wild Card spot entering the weekend.

And the Saints (5-6) were clobbered, another key result for Tampa Bay, as New Orleans was a game behind the Bucs and owns the tiebreaker advantage with Tampa Bay.

Washington, and its 31st ranked pass defense coached by Raheem Morris, also is a game back of the Bucs with the tiebreaker edge and a stronger conference record. Sorryass Dallas also is 5-6. Green Bay owns the top Wild Card spot. The Packers are alone with a 7-4 record.

As Joe’s written earlier, the Bucs likely have one game of wiggle room, meaning they have to go 4-1 the rest of the way to finish 10-6 and make the playoffs. Given the Bucs’ tiebreaker issues with other teams in the playoff, it’s highly doubtful a 9-7 record will be enough. 

One possible bonus for the Bucs, they finish the regular season in Atlanta. By that time, the Falcons likely will have home field advantage in hand and will be resting starters.