ESPN can’t be happy with this match-up on Monday Night Football.  Maybe they will be surprised and these two teams will play like they did the first time they played each other this year (26-24 Carolina win).  The Bucs are 2-3 with Gradkowski at QB, but only 2-6 overall.  The Panthers are coming off of their bye week sitting at 4-4 which has been disappointing to them. 

Look for the Bucs to try to get Cadillac Williams (453 rushing yards) going.  Williams has been a little bit of a disappointment, as has the whole offense of the Bucs.  But Williams could have a good game against a Panthers defense that allows 119.8 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  If the Bucs get the ground game going, look for Gradkowski to take some shots down the field to his favorite receiver Joey Galloway (29 rec, 475 yards).

The Panthers would like to run the ball more and the Bucs will probably let them as they allow 133.9 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  DeShaun Foster (540 yards rushing) will probably get most of the carries, but DeAngelo Williams will be back on Monday and should get some carries.  Jake Delhomme (1,730 yards passing) should have time to throw the ball and Steve Smith (45 rec, 631 yards) + Keyshawn Johnson (37 rec, 479 yards) should have good games if they catch the darn ball.

The Panthers just have too much fire-power for the Bucs to keep up with.

Rookie 6th round pick Bruce Gradkowski has played better than anyone could have expected him to after the injury to Chris Simms.  Gradkowski has completed 52.7% of his passes for 857 yards with 6 TDs and only 1 INT.  Gradkowski has a QB rating of 73.7, which isn’t too good but he’s a tough leader of the offense.  Gradkowski also has the toughness to take of running when the protection breaks done.  Gradkowski has carried the ball 18 times for 79 yards (4.4 ypc). 

Chris Simms was awful before he got injured and might never suit up as a Buc again as he is a free-agent after the season.  Simms completed 54.7% of his passes for 585 yards with 1 TD and 7 INTs!  Simms had a pitiful QB rating of 46.3. Simms led the way for the Bucs to have a poor start, and he should be elsewhere next season!

The Bucs couldn’t really get anything going on offense against the Bucs.  Bruce Gradkowski completed 18 of 31 passes for 185 yards and 2 TD passes.  Cadillac Williams never got going, carrying the ball 12 times for 39 yards (3.3 ypc).  Joey Galloway caught 4 passes for 97 yards and 2 TDs.  Michael Clayton caught 4 passes for 38 yards.  RB Michael Pittman caught 6 passes for 27 yards.

The Bucs played good run defense for once, but they couldn’t stop Drew Brees!  The Saints ran the ball 35 times for only 49 yards (1.4 ypc)!  The Saints completed 24 of 32 passes for 314 net yards. passing.  LB Derrick Brooks had a good game with 13 tackles.

 

This could be an interesting game as these teams played a great game just four weeks ago.  The Bucs had the Saints beat until Reggie Bush returned a late 4th quarter punt 65 yards for a TD.  The Saints are coming off of a tough loss in which nothing went right against the Ravens.  Even though the Bucs have won 2 of their last 3 games, rookie QB Bruce Gradkowski has gotten progressively worse in each game.

Look for the Saints to run the ball and throw deep.  They should be able to run the ball well against a Bucs run defense that is allowing 146.0 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry.  Deuce McAllister (455 yards rushing, 4.7 ypc) ran for 123 yards on 15 carries in the first match-up with the Bucs.  The Bucs LB’s had better be ready for covering Reggie Bush out of the backfield as he caught 11 passes in their first meeting.  Brees won’t be messing around with short passes to his WRs, he’s going deep!  Marques Colston (33 rec, 577 yards) and Joe Horn (30 rec, 507 yards) should have a lot of success against the weak Bucs secondary.

The Bucs should come out running the ball against the Saints.  They should give the ball to Cadillac Williams (414 yards rushing) until he gets tired and then give it to Michael Pittman, as the Saints defense allows 122.1 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry!  The Bucs need to stick to the run and keep the ball away from the Saints offense, while building confidence in their young offensive line.  Gradkowski should take some shots downfield to Joey Galloway (25 rec, 378 yards) and Michael Clayton.

If the Saints are serious players in the NFC, they will blow the Bucs out.  The thinking here is that the Bucs will give them another tough game and maybe even beat them, as they should have done in the first meeting.

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