Last year Josh Freeman went from a quarterback with a number of question marks to an NFL elite.

Freeman had an astounding touchdown-to-pickoff ratio of 25-6, which is mind-boggling for any quarterback much less one who was in his first full season as an NFL starter.

Freeman came within a whisker of guiding the Bucs to the playoffs as the team lost a tiebreaker to the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.

Freeeman — as Joe’s good friends at WTSP-TV Channel 10 like to refer to him as “Starship” — established himself as the king of comebacks, rallying the Bucs to fourth quarter wins. That continued this season when Freeman and the Bucs came back from a 17-0 deficit to beat Minnesota on the road.

But Freeman hasn’t been as accurate this season and even Bucs coach Raheem Morris noted this in an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio earlier this week, which Joe is transcribing for publication later today. Freeman’s two interceptions in the red zone in the past two games demonstrate he’s not yet locked in.

This, per Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, moonlighting for SportingNews.com, has “Bucs brass is a little concerned.”

Freeman did a superb job of recognizing opportunities and risks a year ago when he threw for 25 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. He has not been as sharp this year, and the Bucs aren’t sure why.

It could be that Freeman is simply not picking up lurking defenders as well as he did last year or it could be that his confidence in his ability to make a play is so high that he’s simply taking more chances.

Either way, the team needs to Freeman to play a little smarter. The Bucs are ranked 31st in the league in red-zone efficiency and Freeman’s picks are a big part of the reason for that.

Naturally, if your starting quarterback is not accurate that’s going to be an issue, no question. Joe’s going to go out on a limb and suggest that Freeman is seeing all sorts of different looks and defenses flashed at him that he’s never seen before.

Think about it. During the asinine lockout, coaches throughout the NFL had little to do but break down tape, both of NFL players and college prospects. Perhaps Freeman not just surprised NFL fans last year, but NFL coaches too?

It stands to reason that NFL defensive coordinators pored over Freeman’s tape in the offseason to devise looks and schemes that would confuse the Bucs young leader, and his early-season struggles are part of that.

Though their head coach says “stats are for losers” several times a week, it seems the Bucs may be a little hung up on one statistic coming out of Sunday’s Bucs-Falcons game.

The powers at One Buc Palace are pondering getting official half-credit to Gerald McCoy for Adrian Clayborn’s bone-crushing sack of Matt Ryan, so Twittered esteemed beat writer Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune.

@TBO_Buccaneers: Roy: The Bucs are thinking of giving Gerald McCoy half a sack as he had Matt Ryan by the ankles when Adrian Clayborn took him down Sunday.

 

For the second time in his short two seasons in the NFL, Bucs safety Cody Grimm was placed on the injured reserve list by the Bucs, effectively ending his 2011 season.

Grimm suffered a right knee injury in the third quarter of the Bucs win over the Dixie Chicks and, thus, his season is over, so reports Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times.

The Bucs placed Grimm on injured reserve Tuesday with a right knee injury he sustained in the third quarter of Sunday’s 16-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Grimm was injured making a tackle of Falcons running back Michael Turner. It appeared that Grimm’s right knee may have struck the helmet of linebacker Geno Hayes, who suffered a concussion on the play.

This is sad for Grimm. Not just for the obvious reasons but one has to wonder about his future in the NFL. In less than a year he’s had a broken left leg and now a blown right knee.

And no, the NFL has not released any update on Tanard Jackson’s application for reinstatement, provided he has applied for reinstatement.

"Let me tell you, Tirico. I'm glad all of Tampa's going to see this game. That's my coaching tree out there with Raheem and Olson. And that's my freakin' offensive line. Bill Muir and I molded those hogs. And this team runs through them. Jimminy Christmas, if I had Josh Freeman I'd be lighting this place up like Rudolph's damn nose."

Update 3:57 p.m.: Joe has learned that Team Glazer has made a donation of 250 tickets to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, details of which appear to be a late push to make sure the Monday night game is televised.

Joe’s hearing from the Bucs that Roy Cummings’ latest Tweet about ticket sales for Monday night is legitimate.

Not that Cummings would make something up. But word of only 2,000 or so tickets remaining for Monday night’s matchup against Indianapolis forced Joe to make a phone call to confirm a miracle had indeed occurred.

@TBO_Buccaneers: Roy: Word from the Bucs is that there are only about 2,000 tickets remaining for the MNF game against the Colts. A sellout is very possible.

Joe has been peppered with questions since the Bucs beat the Dixie Chicks about the Monday Night game with the Colts.

“Will the game be sold out?” is common denominator question Joe gets. By the jist of it, many of the queries are from people to cheap/lazy to go to a game so they can sponge at home and watch the game on TV.

Word from Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, via the TBO Bucs Twitter feed, is that ticket sales are close to selling out.

Word from the Bucs is that there are only about 2,000 tickets remaining for the MNF game against the Colts. A sellout is very possible.

If this actually happens, it would break a string of 10 straight home game blackouts.

But Joe must emphasize this is not a sold out game. Tickets need to be sold by Friday night, which is the NFL mandate of selling out a game 72 hours prior to kickoff.

Joe has to admit he is very surprised by this. Coming strictly from a football mentality, why in the world would anyone want to drop cash to see the Peyton Manning-less Dolts and if lucky, you may get home by midnight instead of watching Matty Ice and the Dixie Chicks, a game which wasn’t sold out? To Joe, there’s not even a comparison which game he would prefer to spend cash to watch.

Yet the Dixie Chicks game was not sold out. Joe doesn’t get it but Joe’s not a marketing dude.

Quick question? If the Rays make the playoffs and have a game Monday night, will that prevent a Bucs sellout?

It was just one game of greatness from the defensive line against Atlanta, but it’s certainly fun to dream about what could be coming next.

Raheem Morris is among those fired up. And he’s high on the leader of nasty along the D-line, Adrian Clayborn, so he explained on The Raheem Morris Show last night on WDAE-AM 620.

“We’re talking about developing that meanness and toughness up front, playing hard, physical, borderline illegal. That’s what [Adrian] Clayborn brings to us,” Raheem said. “He brings a nastiness that’s only been around with those old school Buccaneers, taking about Sapp. He certainly brings that to the table. And he’s developing his room. That’s why I call him the Boy Dog. He’s a one-man wrecking crew. And I love everything he’s doing up there up front.”

Joe assumes a Boy Dog means some sort of relentess animal-like, half-man-half-dog beast of a football player.

With Brian Price and Clayborn, the Bucs have a couple of guys on the line that can really lead by example. Clayborn’s motor is extraordinary, and Price’s work ethic off his injury almost has him in Cadillac Williams territory.

FOX Sports came calling for the Bucs head coach to examine some of the methods to his madness.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=86cbd60c-5813-4d21-856c-774b8e8d7bb0" target="_new" title="">Coach Speak: Raheem the iCoach</a>

As Joe has stated before, he likes monitoring media outlets that cover Bucs opponents.

Browsing through the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it’s pretty clear that the Dixie Chicks losing was bad enough, but losing to the Bucs, in the minds of the Atlanta Pen & Mic club is simply inexcusable if not embarrassing.

Consider the musings of Dawson Devitt, in particular of how he roasts the Dixie Chicks defense for not being able to contain Josh Freeman or LeGarrette Blount.

I guess Brian Van Gorder doesn’t have the excuse of not having a true training camp to blame this time around on the missed tackles. This defense has a serious issue, and has for some time now, on tackling and wrapping up. They made Legarette Blount look like The Bus Jerome Bettis out there. How many times did Blount get hit and then gain at least another 5-8 yards? On the last series of the game, the Falcons had the Bucs at 2nd and 9 and hit Blount in the backfield which should have been maybe a 2-3 yard gain and set up a reasonable 3rd and 6 or so. Nope. Blount broke several tackles on his way to making it a 3rd and 2.

They seem to stop the run well if they hit the back in the backfield and gang tackle, but one-on-one, they have major issues. Several times the Falcons defenders had Josh Freeman wrapped up only to see him break free and make a first down with his arm or his legs. How many times did the Bucs players on offense get the ball and keep going for a 1st down? When Van Gorder gave the excuse of “not having enough time” as the reason for missed tackles, we knew we were in a heap of trouble. Not trying to denigrate the talent of the Bucs, but we’ll be seeing more talented offenses along the way (Saints, Packers, Texans) and it doesn’t get any easier.

Talk about head-in-the-sand. Joe will venture to guess that Blount is better than any back on the Saints, Packers or Texans. Yeah, Adrian Foster may be better but he’s banged up; hardly healthy. And with the exception of Michael Vick, will the Dixie Chicks face a quarterback more difficult to bring down the rest of the season than Freeman?

Put away the violins guys.

There’s no question that the University of South Florida football team playing up and down the Bucs’ home turf a matter of hours before a Bucs game turns the field into a mess when the pros kick off.

That was the situation against Atlanta, and on opening day against Detroit.

Raheem Morris knows the home turf can be ugly, so he said on The Raheem Morris Show last night on WDAE-AM 620. Raheem responded to praise for Connor Barth nailing a 49-yard field goal on a wet field in a little wind and rain.

“Our field is not exactly the best playing conditions in the National Football League, actually, we need to get that fixed,” Raheem said. “Those conditions weren’t great. They never are. But our guys are used to it. It’s gray matter for us.

Now Joe knows that back when the Community Investment Tax Stadium was being designed, there was a lot of boasting about how it would have a state-of-the-art drainage system. And, as fans have noticed over the years from Bucs games to soccer games, the turf doesn’t puddle up and dries quickly.

So Joe thinks it’s a pretty safe bet that Raheem is referring to playing on a chopped up field. That can be dangerous, and Joe hopes it hasn’t led to any injuries.

But seemingly tough turf could be a home field advantage of sorts, especially against division rivals New Orleans and Atlanta, which play in domes. Throughout NFL history some great teams have thrived in similar situations. The legendary 49ers teams come to mind.

Not one to buy into the “stats are for losers” line, Joe’s got a telling number to report. The Bucs lead the NFL in forcing opponents into poor field position after a kickoff.

The average start against the Bucs following a kickoff is the 16.8 yard line. Departed Rich Bisaccia’s Chargers rank 31st (29.4). The Detroit Lions, where Maurice Stovall is covering kicks, including a missed tackle on Sammie Stroughter’s long return on opening day, are 28th (25.4).

Big money kickoff specialist Michael Koenan is paying off. And so far the Bucs’ special teams have been nearly flawless in all phases. Special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes deserves a standing ovation.

More room to work is a blessing for a very young defense.

"I still hate Sean Jones, but I love Ronde."

Nickname-happy Raheem Morris brought us “The Wolfs” last week. (No. Not wolves. Wolfs.)

And now, channeling Muhammed Ali and/or perhaps a twisted memory of Sabby Piscitelli, Raheem has bestowed a new nickname upon Ronde Barber.

Around One Buc Palace, Raheem says Ronde Barber is known as “The G.O.A.T.” Speaking on The Raheem Morris Show last night on WDAE-AM 620, Raheem explained that Barber’s nickname stands for Greatest Of All Time.

Joe has to tip his cap to the head coach. Raheem The Dream is pretty darn good at this nickname stuff.

Beating up a quarterback from the very beginning and a smothering rush defense is a winning formula in the NFL.

How did the Bucs beat the Dixie Chicks Sunday? Simple: defense.

The Bucs entered the game with the 31st ranked rush defense in the league. They played like the No. 1 ranked.

Consider that Michael Turner only racked up 30 is no less than remarkable.

But following the game, it wasn’t so much the Bucs bragging about stopping Turner — the inference was there — but how the defense didn’t twiddle its collective thumbs for 30 minutes only to realize they were in a regular season game.

No, the defense came out pounding the Dixie Chicks and specifically Matt Ice. Joe is confident the pounding Matty Ice took he will not soon forget.

That is directly because the Bucs took it to the Dixie Chicks from the first play of scrimmage.

“The past two weeks, we came out and started slow,” inside linebacker Mason Foster said. “This time we were ready to go and we were on top of everything, playing hard, fired up for the entire game and I think it showed.”

There was no doubt for Dekoda Watson what the difference in the game was: the quick start by the defense.

“I think we came out pretty strong in the first half and that was the biggest thing,” Watson said. “We came out firing. That is how we should play every week. I feel like the defense was fired up all game and that’s what we need.”

Safety Corey Lynch agreed.

“We were ready to go right from the very beginning,” Lynch said.

Even though he has just three games under his belt, even rookie defensive end Adrian Clayborn knew sleepwalking through the first half of games is playing with fire.

“Coming out [down] 17-0 [like the Bucs did in Minnesota a week ago], that’s not what we want,” Clayborn said. “That will bite us in the butt. We wanted to come out strong and let the defense grow.”

Joe has no clue how an NFL defense can start a game not motivated or ready to rock and roll, especially the season opener. But it’s a good thing Bucs coach Raheem Morris recognized this and has corrected the problem.

Nothing takes the will away from an opponent quicker than getting punched in the mouth on the first snap.

Gerald McCoy and the Bucs defense putting heat on Matty Ice was a big reason the Bucs finally snapped the Dixie Chicks win streak.

Joe was as giddy as the next guy that the Bucs took down the Dixie Chicks, finally, Sunday night. The reason is simple: defense.

To read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the crying has consumed Atlanta (combined with the Braves swallowing the tailpipe as well). It’s not bad enough that the Dixie Chicks lost. It’s not bad enough that Matty Ice got beaten to a pulp . It’s that these actions came at the hands of the Bucs, documents Mark Bradley.

The Falcons spent three quarters letting an OK Tampa Bay team get ahead and stay there, and it wasn’t as if the Bucs seized every moment. They netted three points from two sacks-and-recovered-fumbles inside the Falcons’ 20. They had a chance to pull ahead by three scores but threw an interception on the first play of the fourth quarter, whereupon a mystery guest appeared.

Yet is is this same “OK” Bucs team that had the Dixie Chicks on the ropes at the GeorgiaDome last year but couldn’t convert a fourth-and-one for a first down inside the five in the waning minutes of the game. Yet it’s this same “OK” Tampa Bay squad which forgot how to tackle against the Dixie Chicks on a kickoff, thereby letting them back in the game.

So which is is? Are the Bucs better than OK? Or is it simply that the Dixie Chicks aren’t Super Bowl-ready?

Joe has yet to watch the full report from WTSP-TV, Ch. 10, but this video gives you an idea what you’ll see on 10 News tonight at 11.

"You see that touchdown pass to Mike Williams, Jaws? That's Greg Olson takin' one right out of my old fuc*n playbook. Did I mention Tampa's running my plays? Earnest Graham will tell you. We called that Z-major cannon gully white zip-tie x-box roger nickel doosh zizz. Olson calls it 94Z, but it's the same damn play."

Everyone’s fired up to see the Bucs next week on Monday Night Football.

Why Joe’s even heard of fans running out to Best Buy to buy screen cleaner to catch every inch of the game online.

The excitement of the national stage isn’t lost on Raheem Morris, Ronde Barber and Donald Penn.

Barber on Monday night being special: It absolutely is. It’s the only game in town that day. It’s a big game. You know everybody’s watching. You get all day to sit around and think about it. You know what else has happened on every other game across the schedule. … You gotta treat it like every other game. You can’t treat it like something special. And that’ll be my message to the young guys.

Penn on Monday night: It’s the ultimate high. You’ve got to be ready for the moment, man. You’ve got to grasp that moment. Everybody in the world is going to be watching. You gotta grasp that moment. That’s the game you love to play in. That’s the games you love to play in. It’s a big difference. A lot of people don’t know about Buc football. We’re going to try and show them next week. I’ll be hear to answer questions from the younger guys.  We haven’t done well on Monday night, so hopefully we can turn that around. 

Raheem on his old boss in the house: You love the stage. Yeah it matters, man. You’re the one team playing and everybody else is watching. We end early on Mondays so we can watch Monday Night Football. We got Jon Gruden coming back to town. We got the old boss comin’ to town, man, we gotta have have a good showing. He’s watching me. He’ll be up in that box. I gotta make him proud. Monday Night Football is huge. It’s big. It always has been.

Joe wrote about Cody Grimm’s injury last night, but the latest update today from Raheem Morris sounds ominous.

“We don’t know the extent of that yet,” Morris said, referring to Grimm tearing his ACL and being out for the season. “He’s definitely getting an MRI. I know his MCL is messed up, and he’s got some other stuff that we’re checking on right now. So it may not be for the year. We’re not sure of that yet.”

Regardless, this is a huge loss for the Bucs, especially in the revived run defense. Raheem said he was the “lead dog down in the box” yesterday.

“It’ll be a battle this week” between Larry Asante and Corey Lynch to start at free safety,” Raheem said. The head coach explained that Asante has been inactive because of the special teams prowess of Devin Holland.

So it’ll be next man up for the Bucs. Joe’s counting his blessings that the next man up isn’t a safety currently playing for the Chiefs.

Brian Weber, Willie McGinest and Erik Kramer of FoxSports.com discuss the Bucs win over the Dixie Chicks Sunday.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=dd69572f-234e-473c-b464-7c6d49076a47" target="_new" title="">Online OT: ATL/TB</a>

Finally, LeGarrette Blount got his touches yesterday, but for Joe it could have been a lot more, especially on first down.

Leading 16-3 entering the fourth quarter, immediately after Blount dragged tacklers for an eight-yard run on first down and moved the chains with a four-yard run to the Atlanta 44 yard line, Josh Freeman came out of the quarter break and thew an interception downfield. Why not keep pounding Blount, eating clock and driving to make it a three-score lead?

Then the Bucs get the ball back still leading 16-13 and hand it off on first down to Earnest Graham?

Atlanta then scores a touchdown on a two-play drive and the Bucs respond throwing on first down in a drive in which Blount never saw the ball.

Thankfully, Roddy White went on to drop balls, the Bucs defense held tough and Blount was given the rock in the final drive.

Joe’s not sure what Greg Olson was thinking, especially considering Josh Freeman wasn’t playing his best game.