Morris' rah-rah talk keeps young Bucs motivated

The Rah expedition sails on. Bucs coach Raheem Morris, king of the super-sized statements in 2010, has another statement he'd like to make:Today's game in the Georgia Dome against the Falcons is not a statement game.

"The only statement game you have is in Dallas," he said.

That would be the Super Bowl.

The Rah is feelin' it. He insists this is not a statement game, no matter that it's for the NFC South lead and 6-2, no matter what Falcons wide receiver Roddy White says, and White said a lot this week, telling Chris Harry of AOL Fanhouse that Morris was digging "a big hole" by raving about his baby Bucs, best team in the NFC and all.

"We got a little trash talking among both sides this week," Morris said. "It's beautiful, that atmosphere, that playoff-like mentality."

The Bucs have beaten five teams, but swung and missed badly against the two toughest clubs on their schedule to this point, Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Here's another chance to truly crash the national conversation. To this point, Morris' delightful motor mouth has charged and motivated this young club, while firing up a few other people, like rowdy Roddy.

"There have been a lot of laughable statements I've made," Morris said. "I said Josh Freeman is comparable to Ben Roethlisberger when he first got drafted. I said 'Race to 10' this year, 'best team in the NFC' this year. But if they're worried about Raheem and the statements he makes, that's a little less tape they watch maybe."

A win today and maybe people around the nation start to catch on to the Bucs.

"They're starting to know them," Morris said. "They know Ronde (Barber). The more we start to show up on ESPN and NFL Network, those sort of places, they'll know us better. But if you're out of Tampa Bay, out of Florida, not an NFC South fan, it's easy not to know who the Buccaneers are."

They're the youngest team in the league, with the youngest head coach, with what seems like the youngest everything else.

They're 8-8 under quarterback Josh Freeman. And they're 7-6 since Morris became a defensive coordinator. He took over for Jim Bates almost exactly a year ago, against these very same Falcons in this very same Georgia Dome, a 20-17 loss on a touchdown catch in the closing seconds by: Roddy White.

"I remember the pass interference they called on Derrick Roberson to give them four more shots from the 5," Morris said. "It still burns me. Then they throw one dagger in there to Roddy White and they walk off and celebrate in their place."

Morris is making his kiddy corps burn bright. They play their butts off for him. They are lapping up what he says with a spoon, even if folks are cackling at Race to 10 or Best in the NFC. Maybe Morris wouldn't be doing this if he was coaching a veteran team.

"I don't know - I haven't coached a veteran team," he said with a smile.

But you can already see and hear the man beginning to apply the brakes. He doesn't want this bunch getting out over its skis. He deftly tried to shift the pressure today to the Falcons.

"You've got two 5-2 teams in the same division, two young teams," Morris said. "One's a little bit older, more on cusp of winning right now. Here's one that's starting to bear its fruits a little bit early, starting to make everybody a little angry because they're telling people about it. You've got a controversial coach saying they're the best team in the NFC, just creating a little environment for our football team."

Morris added. "I grew up watching those young Cowboys teams, Aikman, Irvin and those guys, and they came into games and they weren't fearful of anyone."

Rave on.

If the Bucs win today, why not go for best in the NFL? Hey, New England is the only one-loss team and ...Raheem Morris laughed.

"We need the Patriots to lose."