FanHouse Raheem Morris

Tampa Bay rookie head coach Raheem Morris has been unhappy with the performance of his team's defense, so he's decided to deal with the situation head-on. Morris removed Jim Bates from his role as defensive coordinator Monday, according to the St. Petersburg Times, and will take over the position himself. Bates will remain with the team as a consultant.

Tampa Bay, 1-9 on the season, ranks 31st in the NFL in average points allowed at 29.4 per game -- ahead of only Detroit. The Buccaneers are last in the league against the run.

Morris will reportedly return the Bucs to a Tampa-2 defense, a scheme that became prominent during Tony Dungy's days as the Bucs' head coach.

Though most had the Minnesota Vikings as the favorites to win the NFC North heading into the season, nearly everyone agreed that either the Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers -- or both -- would at least pose a challenge to the Vikes' second straight division crown. Instead, we're taking this division race off life support and putting it to rest after Week 9. The 2009 NFC North champions will be the Vikings. They can now focus on securing home-field advantage in the playoffs.

The reason for the above sentiment is that both the Bears and Packers were abysmal, in different circumstances, Sunday afternoon. The Pack went into Tampa Bay and lost to the formerly winless Buccaneers, while the Bears were absolutely manhandled for the majority of the afternoon by a fickle Arizona squad.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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It was only a matter of time, really. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going nowhere this season. They are 0-7 and have been outscored 203-96 in the process. They drafted Josh Freeman in the first round (17th overall pick) of the draft this past April to be their quarterback of the future. You aren't going anywhere in 2009, so it's time to start playing for the future. Thus, it makes sense to hand him the keys at this point.

The Bucs are going to do exactly that when they head to Green Bay for Week 9's game (after a bye this week). Head coach Raheem Morris announced Wednesday that Freeman will be the team's starting quarterback moving forward.

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

Steve Smith is frustrated and it's not just the 2-3 start by the Carolina Panthers. Some of the problem may be that the Panthers' Smith is now "the other Steve Smith" as Steve Smith of the Giants has four touchdowns and 525 yards receiving, dwarfing the numbers of his counterpart in Carolina. But, the brunt of the frustration comes from his role in the Carolina offense and the fact that he no longer want to be a decoy.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

Consider this hypothetical: what if two coaches met in a dark alley and threw down in a no-holds-barred brawl? Who would emerge victorious?

First, some background: back when I was in high school, when my friends and I were pretty creative in finding ways to avoid actually paying attention in class, we'd create brackets (think NCAA Tournament) where we'd pit our teachers against each other**. Whoever we thought would win in a fight advanced to the next round. It always ended with our offensive line coach against our wrestling coach in the finals and a huge argument as to who would come out on top.

Anyway, last week, the Back Porch staff somehow ended up discussing whether Rex Ryan or Tom Cable would win in a old school playground scrap. I passed along the above information, and shortly after that, an idea was born -- NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament.

It's often said that a team with two quarterbacks really doesn't have any. With that spirit in mind, FanHouse will keep you updated weekly on NFL teams facing potential quarterback controversies.

We're here every week, hoping to make some sense of quarterback issues facing teams in the NFL. Sometimes, it feels like we're picking on Eric Mangini and the Cleveland Browns. However, at 0-3, and with little reason to think the problems in the passing game are just going to disappear, the Browns again find themselves at the top of the heap.

For an NFL coach, the final week of the preseason is a time to tinker. To take care of your nagging little housekeeping items. You watch the borderline guys battle it out on special teams and you make your final roster decisions. You pick a No. 3 quarterback. You catch up on the last couple of episodes of "Hard Knocks." You fire your offensive coordinator.

Wait. What?