"Hey Coach, remember me?"

The Bucs are the youngest team in the NFL. Rarely do teams with a roster full of young talent do much unless they have a quarterback that is the new standard of excellence, such as an Aaron Rodgers.

So it stands to reason the young Bucs are still learning the ropes. That’s what Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik suggested yesterday while chatting with Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

“We are going through some growing pains, obviously, with this football team right now,” Dominik said while watching a workout at One Buc Place. “But in terms of being panicked or desperate or worried, I’m not at that point.”

Tampa Bay is coming off a 37-9 loss to the Houston Texans in which players’ effort was called into question by head coach Raheem Morris.

“We have a high standard around here in terms of what a loaf is in terms of Buccaneers history,” Dominik said. “So, when an effort is questioned, it is because we hold guys to a very high standard.”

Why are the Bucs struggling this year? Well, Dominik is on to something, of course. But there are other factors as well; it’s not just one element fans can point a finger at.

There is a much tougher schedule, certainly, and injuries have played a smaller role. When your stud running back has a hurt knee and your franchise quarterback has a bum thumb, it sort of limits your options.

No offseason for the Bucs to gel also likely hurt the team worse than anyone cares to admit.

"Olie, you can still be your best self and dial up a first quarter touchdown."

Joe’s fascinated by new media and all it’s done for sports coverage. Especially the way leagues like the NFL allow biting commentary on their official websites. That’s fun stuff.

Though Joe wonders how much fun the folks at One Buc Palace are having with former NFL executive Mike Lombardi’s latest blast on NFL.com. Lombardi also doubles as a frequent analyst on NFL Network. He penned an I-told-you-so piece on the Bucs today, essentially saying his fears after the Bucs were torched in the preseason by the Patriots have led to the sad state of the Bucs today.

Here’s a snippet: 

My premise this summer was that the Bucs were a young team that could be molded the right way. They were like a college team that craved leadership and needed to learn how to be a pro, and Morris had their full attention. But Morris chose not to put the hammer on them and made excuses for their poor play. Now, Morris has been making excuses for them all season. The Bucs are young as babies, but Morris does not have to baby them. He should lead them.

When the Bucs came from behind at Minnesota to win their first game in Week 2 and followed it up with a home victory against the Falcons, everything seemed fine — the young Bucs were getting it. But then they got blown out in San Francisco — no problem, just a bad day, because the next week they beat the Saints. These inconsistent patterns are typical of a young team.

But that way of thinking is very dangerous. Being inconsistent shouldn’t be blamed on youth. There is an old saying in football, “You are either coaching it, or allowing it to happen.” Being inconsistent happens. It happens because there is not a high level of competition at practice, bad practices are tolerated and there is no attention to detail. And all this occurs because no one is accountable.

You can click above to read the entire column.

Man, the heat is cranking up under Raheem Morris. And as Joe has written numerous times, that’s where the heat belongs, versus being directed at the front office. Joe might feel differently if the coaching staff was getting the most out of its roster, but that’s nowhere near the case.

Earlier this week, former Super Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon, who co-hosts “The Blitz” with popular sports radio personality Adam Schein, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, stated after watching the Bucs lose to Houston, “I’m convinced Josh Freeman is not 100 percent,” referring to Freeman’s sprained thumb.

Gannon was correct, so Freeman told Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times, though Freeman insists his thumb is improving.

Freeman was asked if the injury has had any effect on how he can throw or grip the football: “Maybe a little bit,” Freeman said. “But at the same time, being out there, you can’t really make excuses for anything. If you’re going to be out there playing, you’ve got to go out and prepare to play well.

“The Bears game, I kind of strained it. Then, right out of the gate in the Saints game, it gets hit again. Then it gets hit again and again. I’m feeling really good about it because this past week, Houston, I didn’t get it hit at all. I mean it feels good. Maybe the Saints were going for it, maybe not. I don’t know.”

Since injuring his thumb, Freeman has a unnerving Trent Dilfer-like touchdown-to-interception ratio of two touchdowns and seven interceptions.

It’s a good thing Freeman’s thumb is improving. If the Bucs have a prayer of beating the Packers in Green Bay Sunday, Freeman will have to play like the stud quarterback he showed last season, given the fact that the Bucs simply refuse to use LeGarrette Blount.

Bucs icon Ronde Barber seems to epitomize leadership.

He plays at a high level and hasn’t missed a game since 1997, evidence of an extraordinary work ethic. He’s never in trouble off the field, and he’s known for being eager to teach young players in the film room and on the field.

However, ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas isn’t sold on Barber’s leadership. Speaking Monday on The Fabulous Sports Babe Show on WHBO-AM 1040, Yasinskas clearly questioned whether Barber is a strong force in the Bucs locker room.

“Ronde, I don’t know that people around here truly understand Ronde,” Yasinskas said. “They just automatically assume that he’s this team leader. I don’t know that Ronde is really that. You know, Ronde’s been a nice player. Ronde’s taking care of his own business but I’m not sure that he’s the guy leading this team. This team clearly needs some leadership right now and you would expect a guy like Ronde, if he truly is a big time leader, to step up and provide that.”

Whoa! Somewhat harsh commentary there from Yasinskas, who also added that the Bucs are going “down the tubes.”

Joe can’t put the leadership weight of the Bucs on Barber. What more is Barber supposed to do?

Derrick Brooks clearly was a once-in-a-generation type of team leader, a guy that owned a locker room, worked hard on his leadership craft, and essentilly operated on a significantly higher plane. Joe thinks Yasinskas might be holding Barber to Brooks’ unattainable standard. 

Joe knows big No. 95 is a character new to Bucs fans. And you can catch postgame audio from Albert Haynesworth here to get to know him better.

Many thought Haynesworth was a “butthole” when he got to Tampa, so Brian Price stated Sunday. You can add Joe to that group. But having heard him speak several times, Joe thinks Haynesworth sounds like a decent guy. Haynesworth did an excellent pregame sit-down with Justin Pawlowski, of the Buccaneers Radio Network, in which Haynes explained, “I love to dominiate.” Hopefully the Bucs will make that audio available to fans.

In the postgame audio linked above, Haynesworth explained that he picked up his role in the Bucs’ system very quickly but switching sides on the line with his fellow defensive tackle was new for him.

“I never really played left,” Haynesworth said. “That’s a new thing that I gotta get used to and better at, for sure.”

This surprised Joe a bit. Joe’s hardly versed in ever intricacy of the Bucs’ defensive line schemes, but it seems odd that they would play Haynesworth where he’s not comfortable given he only got on the Bucs’ practice field on Thursday.

Something to keep an eye on in Green Bay.

Last year Joe vividly remembers how Bucs fans would angrily slam down their bottle of beer on the bar whenever someone mentioned the Bucs had not beaten a team with a winning record.

It was true, an ugly fact that didn’t change until the final week of the season when the Bucs beat Drew Brees and the Saints in the Superdome in the final week of the season.

Well, the opposite is true this year. Opposite meaning the Bucs 4-5 record is, in part, due to the fact the Bucs schedule has been down right tough.

ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas documents just how tough.

Tampa Bay’s opponents are a combined 48-37 (.565 winning percentage). No other NFC South team is even in the top 12. The Seattle Seahawks have had the league’s most difficult schedule so far. Seattle’s opponents are 49-33 (.598). Minnesota and Denver are the only other teams that have played more difficult schedules than Tampa Bay’s.

The Carolina Panthers are No. 13. Their opponents are 43-39 (.524). The Atlanta Falcons are No. 21. Their opponents are 40-43 (.482). The New Orleans Saints are No. 25. Their opponents are 42-50 (.457).

The Bucs are the only team in the NFL who have played their last five games against teams who now currently have six wins (New Orleans twice). Things do get a little easier for the Bucs going forward. Their remaining opponents are a combined 31-32 (.492).

Now does this excuse some of the Bucs play? No. Does this mean the Bucs haven’t painted themselves in a corner in trying to reach a playoff berth? No.

But, just like last year’s record, the strength of schedule sheds some light as to why the Bucs are 4-5.

Playoff chances aren’t dead yet, though are a reach.

If somehow the Bucs can beat the Packers — unlikely, but hey, who thought the Rays, 12 games out in September, would be in the playoffs? — the season suddenly has a new outlook.

The Bucs are on a losing streak. Sooner or later it has to snap. The team has gone through rigorous practices this week to try to sharpen its edge.

The Packers are rolling. History suggests they will lose sometime. They had a laugher of a win Monday night and have a short week of work this week.

One of the teams the Bucs will have to beat out for a wild card, the Lions, have a brutal schedule the rest of the way.

Just saying.

Joe’s heard some fans and media squawking about how rockstar general manager Mark Dominik miscalculated the ability of the Bucs roster and, per these folks, fans are now seeing on the field what a talent-poor roster delivers.

Joe thinks this is a garbage take. And Joe’s prompted to write about it now because St. Pete Times Bucs beat writer Stephen Holder is saying just the opposite in a long analysis of the state of the Bucs penned today for TampaBay.com.

“Right now, it is hard not to think the front office overestimated the talent level of this team,” Holder writes.

Joe’s not about to believe that Josh Freeman isn’t as talented as he was last year, and that this offensive line isn’t as talented as the one that won games last year without the services of Davin Joseph, Jeff Faine and Jeremy Trueblood. Joe’s also not buying that LeGarrette Blount has lost anything to his game. And please don’t tell Joe that Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn aren’t capable of catching more than four passes combined like they did Sunday, during a game that had the Bucs trailing and taking to the air.

On the defensive side of the ball, the poor tackling exhibition in the secondary surely isn’t related to talent. Aqib Talib, Tanard Jackson and Sean Jones have gotten it done in past years.

Everyone knew going in that the defensive line was young and likely a liability, so surely it can’t qualify as overestimated. That said, Adrian Clayborn has been a significant upgrade. Brian Price is overachieving, and Michael Bennett also is an upgrade over sackless Kyle Moore. Gerald McCoy was giving the Bucs what they expected.

Joe will say that Quincy Black falls in the mythical overestimated talent category. Geno Hayes also hasn’t made the leap in his fourth season to a level of consistency that will keep him around. So add him in. But Mason Foster has been as advertised. Even Hardy Nickerson sees it.

Obviously, Joe could break this down in more detail. But the point is Joe’s not buying that all of a sudden a bunch of players have lost their gifts. These same guys beat the Falcons and Saints this season, and those wins were no fluke.

If Joe were to point fingers of blame, it’s far more reasonable to hang what the Bucs have become on the coaching staff. At the end of the day, a coach’s job, on any level, is to get the most out of his players consistently. The Bucs staff has had far too many failures in that area.

So what are the tangible consequences for Buccaneers players after the shameful home-field beating at the hands of the Texans on Sunday?

The answer is two practices in pads this week, rarely allowed under the new labor agreement, and a head coach that expects to hear collisions. Raheem Morris explained his changed mentality on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620 last night.

“I’ll take these guys into the woodshed, so to speak, this week,” Raheem said. “We’ll go to practice and we’ll put our pads on, and we’ll compete in practice and get these guys to play a simulated game. … Obviously you’ve got to change some of your preparation when that happens. … 

“Before, you know, everybody’s trying to worry about preservation and keeping your team healthy. This week we’re going to go more with a physical mentality. We’re going to work on the physicality of our football team.

“Gotta clean up your sense of urgency. And you gotta somehow simulate it in practice. The only way to simulate sense of urgency in practice is to put the pads on and go out there and do some things a little bit different, and play a little bit harder and make it a little bit tougher to make people concentrate more.”

Joe can only hope the Bucs figure out how to tackle by actually doing it during these physical practices. Things surely coudn’t get much worse in that area.

And receivers and cornerbacks holding on to balls would be a good thing, too. Watching the Bucs-Texans game again, Joe saw the lost interception by Aqib Talib and the clear drop in the end zone by Dezmon Brizcoe, and knows the Texans should have led only 13-7 at halftime.

Regardless, something has to get through to the Bucs. If they can’t at least play sound football in Green Bay, Joe’s going to have to wonder if they’ve given up on their coaches.

Reports from various national media say Albert Haynesworth’s 2012 contract is for $7 million.

One might assume the Bucs would have no interest in that kind of salary for a backup defensive tackle, but it seems Haynesworth may be having a legitimate audition for a 2012 starting role in place of injured Gerald McCoy.

Per a Q & A on TBO.com, Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings reveals that the powers that be at One Buc Palace aren’t yet counting on McCoy being ready for next season’s opening kickoff.

Q: I like the Bucs’ move for Albert Haynesworth but after this year, McCoy will be back. Does the team just plan on using albert for this season and then just dumping him next season or do they have plans on keeping him for the long term? I still feel that he can be the same player that he was as a Titan, and he is a better player than Roy Miller, who has been invisible for most of his career.

A: I think the decision to pick up Haynesworth was done in part because there is concern inside the organization that McCoy won’t be back for the start of the season next year. His injury takes anywhere from six months to a year to recover from. He recovered from the same injury in six months last year, but that may not be the case this time. …

Click through the link above to read beat writer Cummings’ complete response.

Frankly, Joe hadn’t even considered that McCoy wouldn’t be healthy and ready to go come training camp for next season. Joe knows many fans already use  the “bust” word for McCoy. Joe’s not there yet, but if McCoy can’t start 2012 on the field, Joe’s not sure how to avoid giving him the label.

Rich Gannon on Josh Freeman: "I'm convinced he's not 100 percent."

Monday, former Super Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon, who co-hosts “The Blitz” with popular sports radio personality Adam Schein, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, broke down what he thought was wrong with the Bucs.

Naturally, Joe transcribed the discussion.

Gannon had a first-hand look at the Bucs over the weekend. He worked the game as an analyst for CBS-TV, and Friday he spent time at One Buc Palace talking to coaches and watching practice.

“After watching practice and the game Sunday, I’m convinced Josh Freeman is not 100 percent. He has a sprained thumb in his throwing hand. Last year he started the season with the same injured thumb and he struggled the first few weeks.

“They are not winning at the wide receiver position. Mike Williams I think has taken a step back. Arrelious Benn, they are not speed demons where they can just run by you. they have to have creative ways to get open and get separation and right now they are not doing that.

“[Freeman’s] favorite target is his tight end, he wants to throw to Kellen Winslow. If LeGarrette Blount can’t have a big day running the football, this is an offense that is going to struggle. LeGarrette Blount was a non-factor [Sunday]. Turnovers are a big story and penalties continue to haunt the Buccaneers.”

Later in the show Gannon said he was skeptical of Bucs coaches claiming they had a plan on how to negate Texas linebacker Brian Cushing and Gannon said, in a discussion about the Redskins invoked the Bucs, “If they can’t run the football the game’s over.”

Joe came across this little nugget from his good friend Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620. Many of you enjoy Justin’s work as well during Bucs pregame and postgame shows heard on the Bucs radio network.

Per a post by Justin on WDAE-AM’s website, via FOX 8 in New Orleans, Tulane University is preparing to break ground on a new football stadium. The New Orleans institution of higher learning (which also produced among others, Shaun King, Peter Brown and Gregg Rosenthal), has played football games in the Superdome for decades.

Now, the school is building an on-campus stadium and two NFL families are helping finance the new stadium, so FOX 8 reports: Tom Benson’s family and the Glazer family.

FOX 8 has also learned that the Benson family and the Glazer family, which owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will largely fund the new stadium.

“I want to give a huge thank you to them. I mean that’s putting us on the map,” says student Efren Lopez.

The old Tulane Stadium was demolished in 1980. Back in the 60’s, Tulane advertised it’s stadium in football programs as the ‘world’s largest steel stadium.’

It seems, per Justin, that Avi Glazer’s wife attended Tulane and she currently sits on the school’s board of trustees.

Joe thinks this is a wonderful gesture by Team Glazer. Now the first thing Joe thought of when he learned the Glazer family would help fund a college football stadium, maybe Stu Sternberg should attend a Bucs game and talk turkey to see if Team Glazer would want to help build a sorely-needed new Rays stadium in downtown Tampa.

Defensive coordinator/head coach Raheem Morris faced the media this afternoon and Joe’s got your need-to-know.

Raheem didn’t use the “quit” word but explained that “we had some issues with effort” on the two big plays allowed for Texans touchdowns. He then called them “uncharacteristic loafs.” He also said the Bucs were not physical “as far as competing for the football.”

Raheem promised a week of practice as physical as he can make it and emphasized that his wide receiving corps, especially, needs that kind of work.

The head coach said Jeff Faine, Kellen Winslow and Ronde Barber came to speak to him 1-on-1 after the game re-pledge their allegiance. “They didn’t like the fact that I tried to take [the blame] on myself,” Raheem said.

On the upside, Raheem said Albert Haynesworth “played well” in his “47 snaps” and was communicative about his on-field mistakes. Raheem also praised Michael Bennett and Geno Hayes.

Joe agrees with Raheem’s take on the Packers being the best possible next opponent for the Bucs.

There are no moral victories, but if the Bucs can’t at least play decent football against the Packers, regardless of the result, than the season hanging by a thread is completely shot.

Longtime St. Pete Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud fired a whole lot of darts at the Buccaneers this morning on The Dan Sileo Show on WDAE-AM 620.

Even noted Bucs-basher host Dan Sileo (though he has softened on the Bucs a bit) seemed a bit taken back, saying after Stroud got off the phone that Stroud “dumped on” the Bucs and he had hoped the interview wouldn’t have gone there.

Among Stroud’s highlights/lowlights:

“You got a lot of guys that are happy to be in the NFL that don’t understand that your job is to win.”
“They’re also not real talented.”
“A lot of this goes on Mark Dominik, you know, the free agency situation where they wanted to go young and that means that you have no depth.”
“It’s an organizational failure.”
“The pressure will be ratched up next year because you’ll now be going into Year 4 with no playoff appearances.”
“It’ll be difficult to survive as decision-makers if things don’t turn around quickly.”
“They’re not going to make the playoffs.”
“I saw some efforts yesterday that in a youth football league team you would pull that player out of the game. … I’m talking about effort.”

Don’t get Joe wrong, Joe knows the Bucs are playing heinous football on both sides of the ball, but Joe’s not about to say the Bucs are lacking talent. Young guys and guys in their prime that got it done last year are regressing. That’s not because of a lack of talent.

The Bucs offense is essentially the same as it was last year, when it was ranked about 10th in the league over the second half of the season. The team was good enough to knock off the Saints and Falcons this season without needing any fancy miracles in those games.

For some reason players here have stopped performing, and Joe can’t hang that on talent.

A great offer from Joe’s friends at Ed Morse Auto Plaza, Brandon Auto Mall and Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa.

Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune and Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV discuss the Bucs loss to the Texans in this TBO.com video.

Now Joe is not about to call NFL players “quitters.” To do so is to suggest an NFL player has no soul and is more morally bankrupt than Tim Curley.

Watching yesterday’s, um, exhibition on the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway, it sure didn’t look anything like the team that beat both the Dixie Chicks and the Saints at home earlier this season.

During a live chat in the midst of Sunday’s exhibition against the Texans, St. Petersburg Times reporter Stephen Holder suggested the Bucs defense has accepted the depressing realization that the team cannot stop a cool breeze.

Stephen F. Holder: I don’t even see a sense of urgency from this defense. I think they have resolved themselves to conceding that they cannot stop the run. This is an embarrassing effort.

At this point in the season, the Bucs’ secondary is average. The defensive front, largely because they are so young, is a work in progress (though Joe is very geeked over the play of Adrian Clayborn).

Simply put, the Bucs have no play from their linebacker corps. Rookie Mason Foster looked like a stud early this season, but hasn’t played to that level of late, probably because there may be a book out on him from opposing NFL offensive coordinators.

To be fair, Foster is a one-man linebacker unit. Joe has to be reminded when Quincy Black is on the field and when Geno Hayes doesn’t play, well, there’s a massive void.

No, this defense isn’t very good. Not now. It was getting the job done earlier in the season.

What happened in the past month?

Sunday’s Bucs loss to the Texans was a game Team Glazer is probably grateful many in the Tampa Bay area couldn’t watch.

One local TV sports anchor suggested the game was over after the first play, a Texans touchdown. Well, that’s not quite accurate but pretty close.

There are a lot of fingers to point, so many targets one doesn’t have enough digits on his hands. Veteran St. Petersburg Times sports columnist Gary Shelton is of the mind the humiliating loss was a total team effort.

The team is slow, but it makes up for it by not playing smart. The only thing worse than the offense might be the defense. Who knows when it will win again?

You wonder: Did last year fool the front office, too? Did the team think it was better than it has turned out to be?

Joe strongly suggests clicking on the link above as it is one of Shelton’s better works: funny, smart and informative.

About the best thing Joe can say about yesterday’s ugly game is that the quicker it is forgotten, the better the Bucs can prepare for the world champs and Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews.

Watching the Bucs tackle today made Joe shake his head in disbelief several times.

That was bad enough, but Joe didn’t expect to be shaking his head the same way after the game. That came when Bucs postgame radio personality and former linebacker Ryan Nece said many Bucs fans need to show more loyalty to their team.

His take came after a caller said he left the Bucs-Texans debacle early.

Nece called today’s game “frustrating and disgusting” but chastised fans for leaving early, saying that if fans want players playing to the final whistle, then they should stay ’til the final whistle.

Joe’s not sure what could prompt the usually thoughtful Nece to have such an outlandish opinion. Fans pay cold, hard-earned cash for their tickets. If they only want to sit through 45 minutes of embarrassing Bucs football, then so be it.

Nece should be thankful the home crowd thinned out fast and early, rather than the Bucs being serenaded with a chorus of boos as they turned in a fourth-quarter effort worthy of words that rhyme with duck and spit.