There’s a bit of disagreement around the JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters about Maurice Stovall. Hardly a classic debate like the one over Rachel Watson and Carmella Garcia, but conflict nonetheless.

Some see Stovall as an oft-injured career stiff who choked on special teams against the Falcons and cost the Bucs a shot in the playoffs. Others see him as a talented, dedicated 25-year-old that has a lot of value as a backup.

Stovall caught more balls from Josh Freeman last year than any other Bucs wide receiver. He was slated as a starter in August but missed most of the preseason with an ankle injury. He never got his job back.

Against Seattle, Stovall saw time filling in for Arrelious Benn and caught the Bucs’ fifth touchdown of the day. It was a tender moment for Raheem Morris, per his comments on WDAE-AM 620 on Monday night.

“It was great seeing Maurice Stovall getting into it,” Raheem said. “I don’t think people understand how much these guys care about their teammates. You know, it’s kind of hard to see because we look like these shallow, you know, hardened athletes. But when you see a guy like Maurice Stovall get out there and you know how hard he’s worked overcoming injury, overcoming losing his starting position, becoming a playmaker for us on special teams, and then going out there and having an opportunity to play again and catching a touchdown, it’s special for me at least.”

Raheem also praised Stovall for “sealing the edge” blocking on LeGarrette Blount’s hurdling breakout run.

With Sammie Stroughter banged up, Joe suspects Stovall will play an awful lot in New Orleans on Sunday. If any Buccaneer is playing for his job next season, it’s Stovall.

What a great opportunity this evening for the loudmouth Bucs fans.

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik will take to the airwaves on WDAE-AM 620 at 6 p.m. and take phone calls from fans.

It’s a Buccaneers Radio Network production, and Joe assumes callers will be free to pepper Dominik with questions as soon as host Scott Ledger is finished praising him.

Joe thinks this is pretty cool of Dominik to embrace fans on live radio. Of course, Joe will bring you highlights if you can’t tune in.

Brian Billick discusses Josh Freeman, Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn with Raheem Morris in this FoxSports.com video.

Video: Coach Speak: Freeman’s For Real

To nobody’s surprise no Buccaneers were named to the Pro Bowl squad, which was unveiled last night. But that doesn’t mean you won’t see any of them playing meaningless football a week before the Super Bowl.

Donald Penn, Kellen Winslow and Josh Freeman were named alternates for the NFC team. So if one of the Pro Bowlers bails on the game, then they’ll fill in at the respective position.

Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Michael Vick made the NFC squad in front of Freeman, so it’s a good chance Freeman will go to Hawaii. It’s likely that one of the quarterbacks will be going to the Super Bowl, which means they’ll skip Pro Bowl.

While Joe wouldn’t want to see Freeman get hurt, playing in the Pro Bowl can only help his confidence and maturation, and earn him even more respect from his teammates. 

Joe, who hasn’t watched a Pro Bowl in ages, might even tune in for that.

Now since just about this time last year Joe has been preaching that the Bucs running backs — not the offensive line — was what was holding the Bucs rushing attack back.

This was met with claims of heresy by many Bucs fans. In some ways, the reaction from Bucs fans couldn’t have been worse if Joe admitted to walking into the cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg and urinating during high mass.

Of course this all changed when LeGarrette Blount hit the scene. The Bucs’ offense, for the better, changed dramatically.

Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620, who hosts the critically-acclaimed “Blitz” heard sometimes on Saturday, has seen the light as well. But Justin take Joe’s premise a step further.

Justin, who you can hear substituting for “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, this afternoon from 3-6 p.m., believes the Bucs rushing game is better off without Earnest Graham, so he wrote on his blog found on the WDAE-AM website.

Let me start by saying that I am a big Earnest Graham fan. With that being said, I’m just not sold on him as a fullback. It would only help the Bucs to find a fullback this offseason that is a good run blocker to help open holes for Blount. Graham is the type of fullback that gets in the way of defenders, not blow defenders out of the hole. I still feel Graham has a place on this team, but I’m not sure it’s as the starting fullback.

Joe always thought Earnest Graham was pretty good as a blocker but it is interesting that when Graham did go down, Blount blew up. Joe’s not sure that was a coincidence or not.

Manly men will enjoy tonight’s Pro Bowl selection show exclusively on NFL Network. The curtain comes off on the NFC and AFC Pro Bowl rosters sometime after 7 p.m.

Joe’s not expecting any Bucs to make it, although Donald Penn and Ronde Barber have outside shots.

While it feels nice to have Pro Bowlers, what the hell is it really worth if a healthy Derrick Brooks made the Pro Bowl after the 2008 season and then was unemployed the following season?

NFL.com analyst and former player personnel executive Pat Kirwan revealed and explained his 2010 votes on NFL.com. One Bucs player got Kirwan’s nod: Aqib Talib.

Kirwan also voted for Packers cornerback Tramon Williams and Eagles CB Asante Samuel.

Maybe Talib has a shot after all? Joe would be stunned, since Talib will have missed a third of the season.

Another new Buccaneer made an impact Sunday in the blowout of the Seahawks.

Does the parade of young players stepping up ever end?

This time it was Tyrone McKenzie, the former South Florida linebacker the Bucs signed a few weeks ago. He was a third round pick of the Patriots in 2009 but missed that entire season after a knee injury shortly after being drafted.

McKenzie even did enough to become the proud owner of a customized sledgehammer.

Speaking on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620, the Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach explained that a new bludgeoning tool is awarded weekly.

“Tyrone McKenzie went out and got a pretty high award given to him this week. For his play on special teams he received The Hammer, which is really like the game ball for us on special teams. He had one tackle, two assists, and he made that great block on that one big long kickoff return we had. He plays on my goal line defense and played a bunch and made some big time plays for us.”

“… I remember when we activated Tyrone McKenzie and he looked me right in the face and said, ‘My objective is to go get the hammer. I’m going to win that thing.’ That was two weeks ago. For him to get it [now] means a lot to me and to him and what he wants to do.”

McKenzie’s reputation is that of a physical middle linebacker. He was working inside with the Patriots. Perhaps the Bucs want him to compete for a certain linebacker spot that’s been held by a dude with no contract in a matter of days?

Regarding The Hammer, Joe sincerely hopes no Buccaneers decide to show it off in the local nightclubs. Not a good idea.

Huddled around the NFL Network set, watched daily by real men, Warren Sapp joined Mike Lombardi and Charles Davis for an NFL Coach of the Year debate.

Sapp’s ballot goes to the guy he “raised from Day 1.” You can watch the interaction here. 

Lombardi says “this is Bill Belichick’s finest hour.”

Davis says he likes “Lovie Smith because all year long it’s been ‘they’re not that good.'”

Sapp goes on to say Andy Reid is out of the running because he doesn’t get credit for thinking Kevin Kolb was a better choice than Michael Vick.

Oh, the drama.

As Joe has written countless times, anyone can make a phenomenal argument for Raheem Morris. A win Sunday has to make him the favorite.

If he does snag the award, that also has to jack up has value on the coaching market. Raheem’s not going anywhere now, but this is a business. And those awards look awfully sexy at the negotiating table.

"Let Chucky have my award. He's the one who needs a coaching gig."

From Adam Schein to video star Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune to the drunk sitting in the corner at the neighborhood bar, the masses are suggesting if not demanding that Raheem Morris be anointed as the NFL coach of the year.

Hold up, says Raheem himself. Per good guy Stephen Holder’s typed missive, Raheem brushes off individual awards as meaningless, documented in the St. Petersburg Times.

“I hate to brush that aside, but those are all accolades you don’t care about until you retire, and hopefully I’m far away from that,” Morris said. “I’ve been in the league a long time. . . but those accolades mean nothing. I’m more interested in what our team can do if we can qualify and get into this playoff to try and see what we can do from there.”

That’s the attitude Joe loves to hear. Personally, and Joe is in the minority on this, who makes the Pro Bowl means squat to Joe. Would Bucs fans rather see Josh Freeman takes snaps in a Pro Bowl or a playoff game?

Joe would choose the latter.

Still, Joe too has been jocking Raheem Morris as coach of the year some weeks. But Joe understands if not admires Raheem’s distaste for the award.

The human mountain the Bucs played at defensive tackle in Gerald McCoy’s 3-technique position, Frank Okam, showed up big on Sunday against Seattle.

Well, at 350+ pounds Okam always shows up big, but Joe mean that he had a stellar game.

Raheem Morris went out his way to praise Okam during The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620 on Monday.

“I just want to give Okam a quality shout at what he was able to do [Sunday]. You’re talking about seven tackles, two assists, an against all odds mentality. He got tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He was a disruptive force. He was. He played well,” Raheem said.

“He’s one of the guys that got a game ball from his teammates. And got it from the organization. He played well yesterday. Really well.”

Joe chatted with Okam about his great day and much more after the game Sunday. If you missed that interview, you can read it here.

Of cours, Okam has a lot to prove, but what a find Okam could be as a d-tackle to work into the rotation. Joe suspects nobody will be yearning for Ryan Sims.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik graced the airwaves of “The Blitz” Monday afternoon for an extensive interview with co-hosts Adam Schein and Rich Gannon heard exclusively of Sirius NFL Radio. Of course Joe transcribed the interview. Regular readers would expect no less.

Adam Schein: Mark, welcome to the program, this is Adam Schein along with Rich Gannon.

Mark Dominik: Oh, I wouldn’t miss that voice from anywhere Adam.

Rich Gannon: Mark, you have to be proud and happy today the way your team has played this season.

Dominik: We really are. To think of where we are at Week 17 and to still be in the playoff hunt, it speaks volumes about what our coaches have done. I think you have seen it Rich. You’ve been around practices.

Schein: Mark, I want to get your take. When did you know this was going to be a successful season?

Dominik: There were two moments Adam. The first was in the offseason to see Josh Freeman’s work habits and how he worked with the coaches and being a strong leader on the field and then it was the draft. We felt we had a good collective draft. We all worked together in the draft, myself, coach Morris and Dennis Hickey and his scouting staff. We thought we had this going in the right direction. Now, we just have to grow.

Gannon: You talk about growing up quickly. You’ve had a lot of injuries. Seven starters are on the injured reserve list in the last month alone I think. You are the first team since the 1970 merger to have 10 rookies start and still having a winning record. You have had smart, young players really come on.

Dominik: I have to pat the players on the back. For the coaches to get these guys prepared and still have a chance to get to 10 wins is fantastic. We now can get Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount a chance at history. I’m excited.

Schein: Mark you hit on two gems. Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount who, I liked him on the college level. You guys did your diligence following him with the Titans. Did you ever know, ever dream he would be this intriguing?

Dominik: We all felt he had a ton of talent. What’s so great about Blount here, is that Steve Logan, our running backs coach, got him up to speed in our offense. Rich knows this system. It’s a lot of work for a young back to be successful. That was what was most impressive was Blount’s worth ethic and the work coach Logan did with him. Then, his talent took over on the field.

Gannon: Tell us about Josh Freeman. He’s only thrown six interceptions. For a second-year player, that’s incredible in this football league. What is it with his decision-making?

Dominik: He has phenomenal pocket presence when the rush is coming at him. Plus, he has the ability and the size to see downfield and deliver the ball when the pressure is on him. He has the size and ability to keep an eye downfield and run through his progressions. That’s phenomenal for a young player.

Schein: Mark, you deserve a lot of credit for choosing Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount. A lot of teams weren’t going to touch either. Take us through how you decided to choose these young men and about how they exceeded all expectations.

Dominik: With Mike, we spent a lot of time on the phone with his head coach. That guy, Doug Marrone, knows him well. We scouted him well and brought him into the building and spent an entire day with him. We spent as much time with him as we could at the combine. We talked to his high school teachers and his high school coaches and he again proved it [Sunday] what a dedicated player and a hard worker he is. On one of LeGarrette Blount’s runs, you see Mike 50 yards downfield blocking a safety. There’s no quit with this guy. Same with LeGarrette. We brought him in, did our homework where he grew up, talked to [Oregon head coach Chip Kelly] and his high school coaches who spoke highly of him and his play speaks volumes.

Gannon: What you guys have done is impressive just on the offensive line alone. The only starter still there is Donald Penn. Yet you can still protect your quarterback and still run the ball.

Dominik: Yeah, we have had so many injured players, something like 15, and the young guys have really stepped up. It’s next man up. When players see a new guy coming in, the mentality is, “Hey, this guy can help us.” It’s a special mentality.

Schein: You have referenced Raheem throughout the interview. Right now, he has done a great job. How has he done so well this year and should he be the coach of the year?

Dominik: I firmly believe it but I am with him each day. He has had a lot to work through. He had the youngest team in the league. He’s had to deal with adversity in injuries. He’s had to deal with a second-year quarterback and being able to keep the guys motivated. Last year was very hard, frustrating. But the thing was, [the players] still played hard. That was very important because I thought that would carry over. What he has done, with that roster, tells me he’s the right guy for this job.

Gannon: Mike Williams is such a great guy. He received some criticism but you did a good job developing him. If Mike goes to a different team, he may not have the same results.

Dominik: Eric Yarber is our wide receivers coach and we brought him in this year. We knew he was a good receivers coach. He worked with Chad Johnson before he was OchoCinco. He worked with T.J. Houshmandzadeh. He knew how to grab Mike Williams’ and Arrelious Benn’s attention. The big thing we do here is fundamentals and coach Yarber is a huge reason why we have had success.

Schein: I love how you talk about the draft. When we spoke after the draft, as a GM and an executive, this has to be an outstanding feeling. You are building through the draft and it has shown through practices and games.

Dominik: I agree but you have to credit Dennis Hickey. We saw how talented the draft class was last year and that was our philosophy: Let’s use this draft class, as talented as it was, throughout the season. Then our second draft was picking up guys that were cut. Our scouting department should get the credit.

Gannon: Who do you pull for Monday night? When is the last time you pulled so hard for the Falcons?

Dominik: My wife doesn’t know what jersey to wear, Matt Ryan or Drew Brees. I’m just glad the NFC South is on TV tonight. For whatever reason, we don’t get on TV too much. No matter the outcome, we have something to play for next week at New Orleans.

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Chatting on The Raheem Morris Show yesterday on WDAE-AM 620, the Bucs’ head coach didn’t spare any love for his new beast of a running back.

Raheem, the defensive coordinator, said he watched tape of the offense first after the game and Blount’s “superhero” antics were a reason why.

“I don’t know if it’s the first time [he hurdled a tackler] at home. It’s the first time he cleared the guy. You know, he had the flying whatever you call it thing against Carolina. He had the jump-over-guy against Pittsburgh early.

“He’s astonishing now. He gets to the second level of the defense. You got to make a decision whether you’re going to cut him, whether you’re going to wrap-tackle him, whether you’re going to take him on with Blount force, no pun intended. You got to make a decision. Those decisions become harder has he’s running down the field free.

“I can guarantee you he’s not thinking about [hurdling guys] when he’s jumping over people. He’s just reacting. You know, he’s a good runner. When he gets in the open field he’s big, he’s fast, he has all types of unique superhero type traits.”

Blount has seen significant action in 10 games, and the only team that could honestly say they stuffed him would be Atlanta. He broke a 21 yard run there but finished with 46 yards on 13 carries.

Joe hopes the Bucs make the Saints prove they can stop Blount on Sunday.

Yes, Arrelious Benn is a strong, young workout warrior type.

And maybe he’ll be 100 percent ready after surgery for his torn ACL come the start of training camp in July — just seven months away. But surely the Bucs can’t count on the Benn of the past two months showing up on opening day for of 2011?

This next man up stuff is a great, and it’s been working miraculously — hopefully again on Sunday — but Joe thinks the Bucs have to look to free agency for the right versatile guy to sign in case Benn isn’t 100 percent.

One could even make a case that it’s a major priority in the offseason. They need plenty of weapons for Josh Freeman. Depriving him would be criminal.

Well, it has come down to this: For the Bucs to have any shot at making the playoffs, they must (finally) beat a team with a winning record.

It’s a feat the Bucs have not been able to pull off, which, though many Bucs fans were sent into orbit at the mere thought of it and tried to make excuses to how trivial it is, that nasty little fact is the singular reason why the Bucs are on the outside of the postseason looking in.

To finally break that ugly streak may mean a playoff berth. Not breaking the streak, no playoffs. Very simple.

It seems as if Donald Penn had a premonition. Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune noted that Penn has already done his part to prepare the Bucs for this critical showdown.

The Bucs left tackle called out the Saints after the chain-whipping the Bucs received from the Saints earlier this season.

Now, comes the rematch next Sunday, which will take place in the cage known as the New Orleans Superdome.

Two teams enter, only one, possibly, comes out with an NFC playoff berth.

”I told the Saints when we played them the first time, I said, ‘We owe you one, and we’re going to see you again, and it’s going to be worth a lot,’ ” Penn said in the Buccaneers’ victorious locker room after Tampa Bay’s 38-15 blowout victory over the uninspired Seattle Seahawks. “I told a lot of them that. This is what it is.”

The gauntlet has been thrown down. The match in the octagon has been set.

Either the Bucs beat a team with a winning record, or they start preparing for the draft.

Last night’s painful choke job by the Falcons against the Saints left Joe miserable.

What a blow to the Bucs’ playoff chances. Now the good guys have to win in New Orleans and have Green Bay lose at home to Chicago (very possible) and have the Giants lose in Washington (somewhere between maybe and doubtful) in order to get into the playoffs.

The Bucs have a prayer. Hopefully the same prayer the Raiders and JaMarcus Russell had coming into Tampa two years ago.

Joe’s glad the Giants and Packers play at 4:15 on Sunday, while the Bucs game is at 1 p.m. At least the Bucs will have no distractions. Barrett Ruud told Joe after the Seahawks game that he is always scoreboard watching during games. (Joe assumed he meant he does that while he’s on the sidelines.)

Joe really can’t fathom having the Bucs going 10-6 and watching the postseason on their couches. As Joe has written before, Joe sincerely hopes the Bucs take a win-now mindset in the offseason.

Young, winning teams shouldn’t sit around waiting for the right time to give it their best run.

It will be a brutal feeling to know that a garbage NFC West team will be in the playoffs — have a home game no less! — if the Bucs somehow miss the postseason.

Watching St. Louis, or worse, Seattle hosting a playoff game will be enough for Joe to swear off a beer for a few hours.

Joe hopes somehow the Bucs can play the NFC West next year, though Joe’s pretty sure that won’t happen. Why play the NFC West again? Because Josh Freeman owns that division.

Consider the numbers Freeman has put up against NFC West foes:

In his five career games against NFC West teams, Josh Freeman has 11 touchdowns and one interception. That one interception came last year on the road against Seattle where Freeman threw for two touchdowns.

So yes, if there’s any way the Bucs can somehow squeeze an NFC West team onto the schedule next year, Joe’s reaction is the more the merrier.

The worst but feared news about Arrelious Benn’s left knee was confirmed Monday evening by Benn himself.

Twittering with an update as he promised his followers he would, Benn confirmed what Raheem Morris nor Bucs officials knew for sure Monday morning.

Torn ACL. It’s all good road to recovery. Never gonna stop me! Bite down time.

Joe loves Benn’s attitude. As Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski told Joe Monday evening while watching Monday Night Football, the worst thing about this is that Benn, who made great strides his rookie year, won’t be able to continue to develop in the offseason.