At first glance, this game looks like a mis-match….but when you look a little closer it looks like this could be a good football game.  The Bengals had their bye last week, and need it after the Patriots destroyed them 38-13 on their home field.   The Bengals also need it to give some key players time to heal.  The Bucs should have won last week, if not for Reggie Bush’s 65 yard TD return of a punt in the 4th quarter.

The Bengals are the kind of team that gives the Bucs defense a hard time.  The Bucs are the small and fast kind of defense, while the Bengals are bullies that try to beat you up.  The Bucs are gonna have a hard time dealing with big Rudi Johnson who is averaging 88.3 yards rushing per game this season.  The Bucs defense is softer than a roll of Charmin against the run, allowing 163.3 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry.  The Bengals will definately come out running on Sunday, and they’ll do it until the Bucs prove they can stop it.  The Bengals have problems in their pass protection as Carson Palmer has been sacked 15 times and that has led to five fumbles (3 of which he lost), so look for the Bucs to blitz a little more than usual.  They must get to Palmer because he has an excellent receiving crew led by Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh.

The Cadillac (Carnell Williams) finally got into gear last week, as he rushed for 111 yards against the Saints.  Williams should get a chance to carry the load against a Bengals run defense that is allowing 144.0 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  Look for the Bucs to throw the ball a little bit after the run is established.  Bruce Gradkowski played well last week, but the Bengals secondary is much better than the one the Saints have.  The Bengals have held opposing QBs to a 62.5 Qb rating so far this season.  The Bengals have 10 sacks and 7 interceptions this season, so Gradkowski will have to be careful throwing the ball.  I’m pretty sure the Bengals will be double-covering Joey Galloway the whole game and force Gradkowski to throw to someone else.

Their is a slight chance here for an upset, but I’m going with the Bengals in this football game.  It could be closer than most people think because both teams should be running the ball.

Rookie 1st round pick Davin Joseph will start on Sunday after missing almost all of the season to date.  This should help the running game and Cadillac Williams because Joseph is known as a run blocker with a nasty attitude.

The Bucs have had some problems on special teams, as they have already gave up a TD on a punt return that cost them  a game.  The Bucs are allowing 12.9 yards per punt return and that is not good at all.  What’s weird about the Bucs is that they have problems on punt coverage but only allow 19.4 yards per kick-off return which is outstanding.

Matt Bryant is having his problems as he has converted only 2 of 4 FGs and all 6 XPTs.  Punter Josh Bidwell is doing ok.  Bidwell is averaging 43.7 yards per punt for a net gain of 35.3 yards.  Bidwell has done a great job on punt placement, as 33.3% of his punts are downed inside the 20 yard line.

Mark Jones has done a decent job returning punts as he is averaging 8.4 yards per return.  Michael Pittman is averaging 21.6 yards per kick-off return.

Bruce Gradkowski played good enough to win his first start, but in the 4th quarter Reggie Bush showed why he was the best player in college football last season.  The Bucs punted late in the 4th quarter with a 21-17 lead, when Reggie Bush caught a punt at his own 35 yard-line and took it to the house to beat the Bucs.  Gradkowski played real well, completing 20 of 31 passes for 225 yards and 2 TDs.  Cadillac Williams finally had a good game, carrying the ball 20 times for 111 yards (5.6 ypc).  Mike Alstott scored a TD rushing, even though he only had 3 yards on 4 carries.  Joey Galloway had a great game catching 5 passes for 118 yards (23.6 avg) and a TD.  Galloway did however get called for a pick play late in the game that negated a long completion to Ike Hilliard.  TE Alex Smith caught 5 passes for 16 yards and a TD.

The defense had a rough time stopping the Saints offense.  The Saints pushed them around in the running game, carrying the ball 25 times for 143 yards (5.7 ypc).  The Saints completed 21 of 33 passes for 171 net yards passing.

The Bucs played a pretty good game, but close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. 

 

Starting offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker is out for the season with knee surgery.  Rookie Jeremy Trueblood will start for the remainder of the season.  This will hurt the offense as Walker was their best offensive lineman.