The Jacksonville Jaguars are on pace to have their season opener against the Tennessee Titans blacked out. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, despite going 10-6 last season, are still having the same old problems selling tickets, so their games are going to be blacked out this season. And now fans of the Miami Dolphins, after almost 40 years of disappointment and two decades of playing without a quarterback, are staying home, too.

The Dolphins also plan to make it clear to their fans that tickets sales for regular-season games are not going as well as the team would like and that could mean blackouts of several meaningful regular-season games are about to happen.

Several home games on the regular-season schedule — starting with the Week 2 game against Houston — are so far from being sold out that the club is warning fans the only way to see them might be to buy tickets. (Via The Miami Herald)

But wait a second guys, can’t the Dolphins at least come up with some terrible gimmick ideas to try to sell some extra tickets? You know, something that will completely backfire and piss off even their most loyal fans?

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As we climb deeper into this recess that is the 2011 NFL Lockout, I worry for our future. Sure, I worry that I won’t deal with the stress of setting 8 fantasy football lineups, but I also worry that I’m running out of cheerleaders. Thankfully, blessed angels like Bianca LaRussa exist to fill my time and make me wonder why the hell I never knew that St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has a smoking hot daughter. As a Cardinals fan, I’m generally regarded as wiser and more virile than other baseball fans, so it would seemingly make sense that I would have fresh ink on a restraining order from Bianca by now. I feel so dirty, having wasted my time and effort on Alexa Flutie.

Alas, we live and learn. Bianca has fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming an Oakland Raiderette and we couldn’t be happier for her. That’s why we’re dedicating this third installment of the NFL’s Bravest Faces to Bianca and her new sorority of Oakland cheerleaders, as well as the newest and brightest spirit from the by-God New York Jets and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose cheerleader tryouts appear to have been an homage to the movie The Replacements. Come on, Bucs, you have Mons Venus and 2001 within walking distance of Raymond James. I expect better from you.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Aqib Talib is on the run from local Texas police. Good to see that the NFL’s players are finding their own special ways to keep busy during the NFL lockout.

Talib is scheduled to turn himself in later this week on a warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bail will be set at $25,000, police said.

Okolo Talib, turned herself in to police [today].

The investigation began when police were called at 7:30 p.m. March 21 to a disturbance where people were fighting and gun shots had been heard.

–Tampa Bay Online.

Talib sat out the first game of 2010 for allegedly assaulting a cab driver. Expect Roger Goodell to try and suspend Talib and his mother, because that’s just how Goodell rolls.

As we approach Sunday’s Week 3 NFL action, we certainly have a fair share of teams that we never would have imagined would be 2-0 at this point in the season. Jay Cutler is currently the league’s best passer for the 2-0 Chicago Bears, the defense has been strangely great for the 2-0 Miami Dolphins, the Pittsburgh Steelers are rapey-free for two more games and are still 2-0, and 2-0 Kansas City is making the best of being the best of the AFC West worst. Houston’s strong start is arguable and everyone expected New Orleans and Green Bay to be sitting pretty. And then there’s Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers are tied with the Saints at 2-0 in the NFC South after opening with wins over Cleveland and Carolina. And while those are two pretty awful teams, you’d think that people in Tampa would be able to get behind their Bucs after a very surprising start. Especially when the 2-0 Steelers are being led into town by Chaz Batch. But nope, the Bucs-Steelers game will be Braylon-Edwardsed blacked out in Florida (Ed. – Hooray!) because Tampa fans simply aren’t buying the hype. Somewhere Josh Freeman and… um… I don’t know, someone else who plays for the Bucs are crying.

Paint loser Bucs fans in a shade of orange and cream, USA Today:

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Carolina Panthers special teamer Dante Wesley was suspended by the NFL for one game after this hit on Tampa Bay Buccaneers punt returner Clifton Smith. Wesley was on punt return coverage in Carolina’s game with the Bucs Sunday when he left his feet to strike Clinton Smith in the neck. Wesley was at least one whole second ahead of the ball. Smith did not signal for a fair catch.

“I was just trying to make a play,” Wesley said after the game, a 28-21 Carolina victory. “You can check my record. … I’ve never really tried to hurt anybody.”

Coach John Fox said after watching the film Monday he didn’t believe Wesley was trying to injure Smith, who did not return to the game. via.

Whether it was intentional or not, one game seems a bit light to me. Even in the NFL, an entity renown for its regular showcasing of terrific athletes colliding into one another, this hit has a unique resonance with me, and a disturbing one. This wasn’t a lineman getting blocked on an interception or a receiver getting laid out over the middle. This was one guy using his body as a bomb to attack someone as defenseless as someone in an NFL game can be.

This cannot happen again. That needed to be the message sent by the NFL in dealing with Dante Wesley, who seems to have no problem fining the hell out of anyone on plays from scrimmage. Instead, it’s “Hey, this will look great on our highlight reel. Think you could try again on the Dolphins in Week 11?” vid.

The second offensive coordinator firing happened within the last 24 hours–and we’re still a week away from starting the GD season. Jeff Jagodzinski was relieved of command of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense earlier today–less than eight months after his original hiring.

“I’m not here to bash Jeff Jagodzinski. What he did, coming in here and implementing the plan and having an idea … was good,” Morris said. “We’re just at a different state right now. We need to be more direct. We need to have more precision. We need to know where we’re going.”

Jagodzinski was offered a demotion to quarterbacks coach, but declined. via.

Jagodzinski was fired from Boston College after the school issued him an ultimatum regarding the New York Jets’ coaching vacancy. So it seems apparent that Jagodzinski has a bit of a hearing problem. Maybe he can catch a break and cite the Americans with Disabilities Act to get his job back. Wow, even Boston College is looking pretty good after this. At least you’ll have the holidays off this year, Jeff.