Now, that’s really the best way to get even Martin Fennelly, The Tampa Tribune, published 23 November 2015 As promised: Who’s the idiot who wrote that the Bucs would never get back to .500 with Lovie Smith at head coach? I’ll have more reasons why I’m an idiot later, but first: Lovie, we’re even. Actually, the Bucs are even. And how. What a remarkable performance. Sunday’s resounding 45-17 blowout of the Eagles suggested that anything is possible the rest of this season — and the rest of Jameis Winston’s NFL career. Has 5-5 ever looked so sweet? Have two wins in a row, for the first time in forever, ever seemed as promising? Sunday said that if Smith’s Bucs play like this, they can play with anybody. They can win at Indianapolis next Sunday, and against the Falcons after that, and the Saints after that. Heck, if they play like Sunday, they can hang with the Patriots (for a half). Not even Kwon Alexander’s possible PED suspension could ruin this day. Anywhere you looked, it was the city of brotherly Bucs. Whether is was Doug Martin’s 235 rushing yards grinding Philly into cheesesteak or Winston celebrating his first trip to the cradle of American independence with a truly democratic display (five touchdown passes, five different receivers) or Lavonte David taking back an interception for one final score, this was a team win, complete, dominant. It was enough to make you wonder what Eagles coach Chip Kelly was thinking a few years back when he stiffed the Bucs. I could just hear the Glazers ... Hey, you don’t jilt us, we jilt you. The Bucs dropped 45 points and 521 yards on Kelly. By the way, who’s the idiot who wrote that he’d take Kelly over Lovie on game days? Sunday came and suddenly the Bucs seemed a long way from that opening debacle against Tennessee and epic fold at Washington. Suddenly they’re only a game behind Atlanta in the NFC South. Suddenly they’re on the outskirts of the playoff hunt, or at least close enough they can discuss it without the rest of us completely upchucking. At least this week. True, there are clouds, like Alexander’s possible suspension. Here’s another disturbing item: Jameis can’t throw left-handed. It’s true. Winston tried to throw southpaw on the opening drive of the third quarter, when most of his body, including his right arm, was in the clutches of a Philadelphia pass rusher. Jameis was 0-for-1 lefty. He went 19-for-28 righty, with those five TDs, tied for most ever by an NFL rookie, and as many as Cam Newton threw for undefeated Carolina on Sunday. By the way, that drive to launch the third quarter defined Sunday’s effort. It was an exclamation point. The Bucs already led 28-14. But they took the second-half kickoff, perhaps with visions of the Washington collapse in their heads ... and ran and passed 9 minutes, 47 seconds off the clock before Winston threw his fifth touchdown of the game, this time to Harvard man Cameron Brate. Education complete. This would be no Washington. It was a relentless drive, albeit a Bucs relentless, pocked as it was with penalties, but also chocked with money moments. The Bucs brilliantly mixed and matched play calls all day. It’s official: Dirk Koetter, Coach of the Year. The up-tempo Eagles were swallowed by Buc-tempo. It was the Bucs who ran as many plays as the Eagles. It was the Bucs who wore Philadelphia down with those 283 rushing yards, including Martin bursts of 58 and a franchise-record 84 yards. It was Eagles defenders who were sucking wind, not the Bucs. The Bucs defense again made a back-up quarterback look like ... a back-up quarterback, a historic departure from recent Buc ball. The runaway winners left Mark Sanchez and the 4-6 Eagles to their carnivore fans, who got their hate on long before David’s second interception of the day became a pick-six, the first of his NFL career. No one crossed the Delaware here. Nothing so dramatic. But after all the staring at the other shore without it ever getting closer, this was a cut above dog paddling. The Bucs are 5-5, and who knows what the trip to Indianapolis will bring. But they can play with most anybody if they bring what they brought Sunday. And bring it they did.