It’s safe to say Raheem Morris and Shaun King are on different pages when it comes to Earnest Graham.

This afternoon, King said he doesn’t want to see Graham on third down, but hours later on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620, Raheem called Graham a big-time stud.

“Earnest Graham, just to touch on him again, he is situational football at its finest,” Graham said. “You know, he knows situations. He knows what he wants to do. He’s got the trust factor to go out there and execute anything in the gameplan. He’s a phenomenal football player and I’m glad we have him.”

For a while during the preseason, Joe thought Raheem was falling deep into Chucky mode, meaning he loved everyone on his roster and everything about said players. But Raheem snapped out of that and back into his trademark real-talk mode after opening day. (Thank goodness.) So it’s clear he’s high on Graham and isn’t just blowing smoke.

Joe knows the Bucs aren’t going to faze out Graham anytime soon. And they shouldn’t, especially if they’re going to rightfully pound LeGarrette Blount early and often.

Anwar Richardson and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune discuss the Bucs’ inability to play well in the first half in this TBO.com video.

Joe loves to read papers from opponents’ towns to get a vibe on how the other side views games.

By reading between the lines from a column typed by Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Bucs beat the Vikings because the Bucs punched the Vikings in the mouth and the Vikings responded by curling up in a fetal position.

Here’s the other shocker: The Vikings didn’t commit a turnover Sunday. They did have a couple of bad penalties, but overall they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot. Their collapse came totally as a result of their deteriorating play. They didn’t give Tampa Bay anything. The Bucs just took it.

“They were getting pressure up front. We basically just made a couple of adjustments,” Freeman said. Where were the Vikings’ counter-adjustments? The Bucs went into a no-huddle offense and the Vikings’ defense acted as if a spaceship had just landed at midfield. I thought they all were going to run to the sideline to ask for special suits to protect them against radioactivity.

The best analysis I heard came from Allen: “They kicked the crap out of us in the second half.”

The Bucs did it with a no-huddle. They did it by pounding LeGarrette Blount. They did it by Davin Joseph, Jeremy Trueblood and Erik Lorig bruising the Vikings defense so much they didn’t want to attempt a tackle.

Veteran sports columnist Gary Shelton discusses the Bucs win over the Vikings with colleague Tom Jones in this St. Petersburg Times video.

Joe’s quite confident the Ted Larsen era officially has ended, at least until Jeff Faine gets hurt.

Back to his 2009 home at left guard, Jeremy Zuttah started against Minnesota and was a huge factor in the revived running game. Joe’s watched the game again, and Zuttah surely was no liability out there was a big part of several key plays, including a block on LeGarrette Blount’s game-winning score.

Raheem Morris jumped head first on the Zuttah love train at his Monday news conference.

“Zuttah really stood out. You know, he was a game-changer. You know, he went up there in the run game and played really physical and played tough, played nasty,” Raheem said. “He had the one penalty, the holding. You just can’t throw a guy to the ground. But you got to like the physicality of Zuttah going up there and throwing a guy to the ground. It’s illegal, but you’ve got to like his effort, everything he gave us in the run game, everything he gave us in pass pro. I don’t think he gave up a quarterback hit or quarterback pressure or anything of that nature. He went out and played well, played nasty, played physical. Those guys up front played like a core. I like that when they do that.”

Now the Bucs truly have a veteran offensive line that showed it can be dominant, as it was in the second half yesterday.

It’s time the Bucs do what they were built to do in 2010. Pound LeGarrette Blount and let Josh Freeman work off all the glory that should bring.

Joe never thought he’d hear someone call for Kregg Lumpkin to hit the field, but former Bucs quarterback Shaun King says he wouldn’t mind that happening if it means fewer reps for Earnest Graham.

Speaking today on The King David Show on WQYK-AM 1010, King said “please don’t put Earnest Graham on the field anymore” on third down.

King says Graham is a prime example of the Bucs’ shortage of explosive playmakers.

“When you run that check-down, you need someone that can make you miss,” King said.

King went on to say he’d be more than happy to give Lumpkin his looks if the Bucs aren’t going to use LeGarrette Blount on third down.

Joe’s not that far down on Graham, but Joe is concerned about his fumbling, as Joe referenced yesterday. And, of course, Graham will not be confused with Saints playmaker Darren Sproles anytime soon. 

Many fans, including Joe, hoped the Bucs would go after a scatback/change-of-pace type in the offseason — draft or free agency — and re-sign Cadillac Williams. Time will tell if those are important missing pieces.

Chip Scoggins, Mark Craig and Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune have some interesting takes on why the Bucs roared back to beat the Vikings in this Star-Tribune video.

So two games into the season the Bucs defense isn’t exactly reminding anyone of the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers much less the 2002 Bucs.

Two weeks ago Matthew Stafford sliced up the Bucs defense like a butcher at Publix and yesterday Adrian Peterson, for one half, looked as though he was playing against a college team.

Granted, the Bucs were able to right the ship in the second half of both games, which has been a trademark of the squad under Raheem Morris. But stopping a team in the first half would sure be nice once in a while.

Enter Tanard Jackson, perhaps. The gifted Bucs safety, who can’t seem to put the bong down (allegedly) despite sacrificing tens of millions of dollars, is serving a one-year suspension for getting busted a fourth time for a banned substance (under the old CBA the NFL did nothing to punish a player for a first offense, other than to warn the player). Jackson’s sentence ends this week.

This does not mean Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik won’t cut Jackson. Let’s be blunt: It’s hard to count on a guy who thinks so much of his teammates that he risked being suspended three times (that we know of). “Dependable” and “Tanard Jackson” do not belong in the same sentence.

But former Pewter Report Bucs beat writer Charlie Campbell, who continues to work in football and monitors the Bucs closely, Twittered that he believes not only will Dominik keep Jackson, Campbell is of the mind that Morris should start Jackson in place of Cody Grimm in due time.

@DraftCampbell: Bucs safety Cody Grimm has been struggling all year. If Tanard Jackson gets reinstated, its a matter of time before the Bucs start him.

It’s an interesting thought. Now the first question Joe would ask is whether Jackson is physically fit enough to start? He hasn’t practiced with the team in a year, not counting Josh Freeman’s minicamp in Bradenton this summer.

Joe would be shocked if Jackson started against the Falcons, the Bucs next opponent. Jackson first must be reinstated by the NFL. But Joe could perhaps see Jackson getting some reps.

Whatever it takes to get the Bucs to play some defense in a first half of games, Joe will accept right now.

Joe’s not sure how the Bucs still can’t complete a slant pass to Mike Williams or get him in a position to run after the catch.

Should it be this challenging?

Williams had one catch yesterday, an ill-called wide receiver screen that blew up and lost four yards, though he caught a gorgeous touchdown just prior, which was negated by Arrelious Benn’s illegal shift.

Joe doesn’t have access to coach’s tape, but Joe would be interested to see what kind of double teams, if any, are coming Williams’ way. Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan of NFL Radio talked a lot during the preseason about how much attention Williams would get this season and how other guys would have to step up as a result.

There’s a reason Williams’ NFL peers voted him the 80th best player in the league via the NFL Network Top-100 feature. The Bucs have to make sure gets touches.

Joe never would have believed the Bucs could score 24 second-half points yesterday — all on offense — without Williams making a play.

There was no question, just like last year, without having LeGarrette Blount tote the rock multiple times the Bucs offense can look stagnant.

Look at the first half of yesterday’s win over the Vikings. The offense had but three first downs and that was mainly because Blount had just five carries in the first half.

That all changed when the Bucs decided to feed Blount the ball and he began to make Minnesota’s defense play.

All the while, Blount was not upset about not being used enough, so writes Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune.

It went beyond those 67 second-half yards and scores. Blount was a one-man momentum machine, and he insisted he did not run angry or out of frustration or a need to prove a thing to his coaches.

“I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t frustrated. I just wanted to get something going,” Blount said. “I don’t get frustrated. Last year, I didn’t play until the third game.”

Still, some of us were starting to wonder if the Bucs staff remembered that Blount was in fact the featured back, or realized that if they couldn’t run against Minnesota’s defensive line, well, the Bucs had serious issues.

Just like last year, when Blount showed up and got enough carries, the Bucs offense changed almost overnight. It’s a simple formula yet effective.

Feed Blount the ball. He’s youngry!

Alex Loeb and Cris Carter break down the Bucs win over the Vikings in this BSPN video.

As Joe prepares to watch the Free Agency Bowl — Atlanta vs. Philadelphia — Joe wants to toss in his two cents about the Bucs-Falcons game next Sunday on the Bucs home turf.

Inevitably, this week columnists and talking heads are going to talk about the Bucs needing a W on Sunday to finally achieve the “signature win” that was yammered about endlessly last year as the Bucs rolled to a 9-6 record without beating a stud opponent. Then the Bucs went to New Orleans and won on Week 17, but the negaholics discounted the win since Drew Brees was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter to rest for the playoffs.

So for legions of Bucs fans and followers, the young Bucs have yet to rack up an impressive win.

That can change Sunday.

And while Joe doesn’t buy into the “signature win” theory at all, it’s still out there and means a lot to a lot of people. Joe will even go on a limb and say attendance could improve quite quickly if the Bucs were to knock off a team like Atlanta. Even if Atlanta falls to 0-2 tonight, they’re still a top flight club.

So prepare yourself for the signature-win chatter. If the Bucs want to end it for good, all they have to do is beat Atlanta.

Is Earnest Graham really “Insurance Graham” if he’s got a fumbling problem?

Today, Graham fumbled and turned the ball over on a critical play that was called back for a Vikings offsides. Last week, he coughed up the rock on a 4th-and-1 and recovered himself but didn’t get the first down. Graham also fumbed on opening day against Cleveland in 2010, which cost him his job at the time as the Bucs’ short-yardage back. And he only had 20 carries in 2010.

Graham was money today late in the game chewing up yards on draw plays, and he caught the five balls thrown his way. Joe likes Graham, but would have preferred Cadillac Williams as Mr. Third Down.

Regardless, Joe can’t wait to see Blount work his way into more third-down action.

Not that he’ll be missed by Joe or many other Bucs fans, but Quincy Black hurt his ankle against Minnesota and was removed from Sunday’s game because of it.

Raheem Morris said during his news conference that Black wasn’t producing and Dakoda Watson was inserted, careful to say that Blacked wasn’t punished.

“Quincy had an injury. He went down with the ankle deal. He was limping. I got him out of the game. He wasn’t productive for us today. Hopefully we can get him back next week and see where he is. I didn’t bench him.”

As Joe wrote earlier, the Bucs need to see a whole lot more of Watson.

"Old man, you are washed up. I don't need your bad luck."

Joe’s good friends at WTSP-TV Channel 10 like to refer to Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman as “Starship.” The thought being the Bucs will soar into the heavens as far as Freeman will carry them.

That, once again, was evident today when Josh Freeman engineered his eighth comeback victory as a Bucs starter. Joe scribbled down Freeman’s thoughts on the game as he spoke after the game on the Bucs radio network.

“Overall this was a team effort. The guys stayed focused. Down like that at halftime, teams don’t usually come back from that in the NFL but as a collective group of players, we all said, ‘We have to.’

“It was a mentality thing. We played the best half of football [in the second half]. The game was not perfect but we got the win.”

On the game-winning touchdown by LeGarrette Blount:

“We had to get LeGarrette going. Davin and True and Lorig blew open a hole for him and the safeties didn’t want any contact with him.”

On the touchdown pass to Arrelious Benn:

“It was a naked play. We had been running the ball so well I knew we would get something from the safety. So I told Rege to run a go route.”

On the game-winning drive:

“Time wouldn’t be an issue. We had a timeout.”

On his fourth-quarter comebacks and the team’s success in the second half:

“I hate to go out not knowing you gave a full effort. We found a way to rally at the end. There is no better feeling than a win. I can’t tell you how emotional I am to find a way to win a game like that.”

Speaking on the FOX-13 local postgame show, Josh Freeman said the halftime chatter among the offense was simple following a dreadful first half. Freeman said he and his offensive teammates told each other,”This is not how we play football.”

Joe’s glad the pep talk seemed to have an impact. Though ironically this is how the Bucs play football when it comes to the first 30 minutes of play.

LeGarrette Blount’s take on halftime changes were that there were none. The Bucs simply excuted the pound-Blount-and-work play-action plan.

Also speaking on FOX-13, Donald Penn said Blount’s 27-yard touchdown run changed the offense’s mentality. “We’ve been running this play and now we finally ron it right and look what happened,” Penn said.

Penn explained his bitterness over Jared Allen’s sack to open the game. Penn cut Allen successfully, but he bounced up and sacked Josh Freeman. Penn said it was supposed to be quick throw but Freeman held on.

Penn said he let the sack get to him a bit but he bounced back quickly and “got into my motion” with his renowned footwork as the game pressed on.

Penn also said he singled out Arrellious Benn after Benn’s bad drop on third down of the Bucs’ third possession.

“I told Benn to make up for it,” Penn said. “After his [second half] touchdown he came back to me and said, “Penn, I made up for it.’ 

So what did Raheem Morris say to the team after the first half?

“Stick to the gameplan. Go out and play football. That’s it,” said Gerald McCoy.

Just after the asinine lockout was over this summer, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik signed linebacker Quincy Black to a five-year, $29 million contract, of which $11.5 million is guaranteed.

This perplexed Joe. Now in his third season as a Bucs starting linebacker, Joe rarely remembers a linebacker more invisible than Black. Bucs fans used to howl at the moon over the alleged subpar play of Barrett Ruud, despite Ruud being a strong pass defender who collected 100+ tackles a year.

Since Black was named a starter to begin the 2009 season, the only splash plays Joe remembers seeing Black make were intercepting a deflected pass at Miami two years ago and a sack against Carolina in 2010.

Well, except for one play today. Black did make a splash play in the first half, getting a tackle for a loss. That very well have been the only play Black had.

It has long stumped Joe why Black is a starting linebacker. It puzzled Joe why Dominik threw such a was of cash at the guy. After today’s game, Joe is of the mind Dekoda Watson should be the Bucs starting outside linebacker opposite of Geno Hayes.

Think about it: In just his second game after signing a windfall contract, Black was benched in the second half after Vikings running back Adrian Peterson made Black look like a statue in a park time and again.

It was no coincidence that when Watson came in, the defense changed and suddenly, the Bucs were able to stop the Vikings and get off the field.

In Joe’s eyes, Black’s position should be open for competition right now, contract not withstanding. If Watson plays better, he should be starting.

At this point, there is no justification for Black’s contract.