The Buccaneers are 4-2 on the season which has been a huge surprise but they haven’t played too well on the road this season as they are 1-2 there.  The Lions are also off to a surprising 3-2 start and they are a solid 2-0 at home this season.

The Bucs would be best served to try to run the ball with Ernest Graham and Michael Bennett (if he’s ready) against a Lions defense that is allowing 115.0 yards rushing per game an 3.9 yards per carry so far this season.  The Bucs need to keep the ball away from the Lions offense because they don’t want to get into a shootout with them.  Still, the Bucs have to feel good about Jeff Garcia (103.6 QB Rating) throwing the football against a Lions defense that is allowing a whopping 263.6 yards passing per game so far this season. 

The Lions will come off of the bus passing in this football game.  Jon Kitna (1,333 yards passing) will have his full complement of receivers with Calvin Johnson back from a bruised back and that could be trouble for the Bucs defense.  The Bucs don’t have a good pass rushing team so it will be interesting to see if Kitna who has been sacked 25 times this season already has time to throw the football.

PREDICTION:  There will be no secrets on the football field as Rod Marinelli used to coach under Jon Gruden for the Bucs.  With that in mind I will go with the home team by a field goal.  Lions 31, Bucs 28.

The Buccaneers have acquired running back Michael Bennett from the Chiefs in return for a conditional draft pick in each the 2008 and 2009 NFL Draft.  The Bucs really needed to make a move with Cadillac Williams out for the season and Michael Pittman out for the next few weeks and Bennett has starting experience.  Look for him to push Ernest Graham for carries and to eventually pass him up and be the feature back.  Bennett has played in 6 games this season and he has carried the ball 20 times for 52 yards (2.6 ypc) and he also has caught 10 passes for 47 yards (4.7 avg).  Bennett has now played in 81 games in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 769 times for 3,426 yards (4.5 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also has caught 145 passes for 1,164 yards (8.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Bennett has been a tad injury prone in his career but he’s really fast so he should give the Bucs offense a boost as long as he can stay healthy.

The Buccaneers probably shouldn’t have won this football game considering that they only had the ball for 22:23 of the game…..but they did!  Jeff Garcia led a last minute drive to set up the game winning 43-yard field goal by Matt Bryant with 11 seconds left in the game.  Garcia was the star of the offense today as he completed 20 of 31 passes for 274 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.  Ernest Graham couldn’t get anything going on the ground for the Bucs as he carried the ball 13 times for 29 yards (2.2 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 17 yards (2.8 avg).  WRs Joey Galloway (4 rec, 97 yards, TD) and Ike Hilliard (4 rec, 59 yards) each gave Garcia the support he needed to win this game.  The Bucs finished up with only 30 yards rushing on 15 carries (2.0 ypc) but they completed 20 of 31 passes for 274 yards.

The defense was excellent as they were bending but not breaking all game long.  LB Barrett Ruud led the Bucs in tackles again with 11.  DE Jovan Hoye (10 tackles, sack) and LB Cato June (10 tackles) also were excellent for the defense.  The Titans rushed for 96 yards on 33 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 34 passes for 221 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271014027

The Bucs have signed fullback Zack Crockett.  The 34-year old is a big, power back at 6’2″, 240 pounds and he will likely get a lot of goal line and short yardage carries for the Bucs.  He played in 16 games (9 starts) last season for the Raiders and he carried the football 39 times for 163 yards (4.2 ypc) and he also caught 10 passes for 53 yards (5.3 avg).  Crockett has played in 174 games (59 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 509 times for 1,701 yards (3.3 ypc) with 36 TD runs.  He also has caught 96 passes for 680 yards (7.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  With the signing of Crockett the Bucs plan to move B.J. Askew to halfback due to injuries. 

The Titans (3-1) and the Buccaneers (3-2) are both off to good starts this season.  The Titans are doing it by running the football and playing outstanding defense.  The Bucs are doing it with a solid bend but don’t break defense.

The Titans will come out running the football like they always do as they are averaging 153.3 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry so far this season.  Chris Brown (273 yards), LenDale White (212 yards) and Vince Young (123 yards) will be a serious test for the Front 7 of the Bucs defense that got gashed on the ground by the Colts last week who were using a backup running back.  Don’t expect a big air attack out of the Titans as Vince Young is not a great passer and when they do pass they will likely keep the patterns short.

Look for the Buccaneers to go to the air early in this football game to attempt to take the Titans out of their running game and force Vince Young to beat them thru the air.  With all of the injuries to the running backs on the Bucs look for Jeff Garcia to try to throw the ball down the field to Joey Galloway (18 rec, 306 yards) and Ike Hilliard (23 rec, 304 yards) but he better be careful against the Titans D which already has 7 sacks this season.  It will be up to Ernest Graham (147 yards, 4.1 ypc) and rookie Kenneth Darby to give the Bucs some balance but the Titans only allow 72.3 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry so far this season.

PREDICITON:  The Titans are one of the best kept secrets in all of football and they will beat the Bucs in Tampa on Sunday.  They will do it by punching the Bucs in the mouth early and often as they are one of the most physical teams in all of the NFL.

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The Bucs have placed QB Chris Simms on the Injured Reserve List ending his season.  Simms didn’t play a down this season and it appears that the Bucs were foolish to give him a nice contract in the off-season.  They paid a lot of money for a player with sub par stats in his NFL career to this point.  Simms has played in 19 games (15 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 291 of 492 passes (59.1%) for 3,087 yards with 12 TD passes and 17 INTs (71.2 QB Rating).

Michael Pittman will miss the next 6-8 weeks due to a high ankle sprain.  This really hurts the Bucs as they were depending Pittman to replace the injured Cadillac Williams.  Pittman has carried the football 35 times for 169 yards (4.8 ypc) and he also has caught 11 passes for 94 yards (8.5 avg).  Look for Ernest Graham to take over as the Bucs feature back unless they acquire another back through trade.  Graham has carried the ball 36 times for 147 yards (4.1 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he also has caught 4 passes for 35 yards (8.8 avg).  Look for rookie Kenneth Darby to get some work behind Graham.

The Buccaneers got outclassed by the undermanned Colts on Sunday.  The Bucs on had possession of the football for 21:45 of the football game and it’s hard to win a game that way.  Jeff Garcia completed 18 of 23 passes for 143 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Bruce Gradkowski finished up the game by completing 3 of 4 passes for 22 yards with 1 interception.  Michael Pittman carried the ball 5 times for -1 yard (-0.2 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 16 yards (8.0 avg) before leaving the game with a severe high ankle sprain.  Ernest Graham followed Pittman and he carried the ball 6 times for 11 yards (1.8 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 18 yards (9.0 avg).  Ike Hilliard (8 rec, 58 yards) and Joey Galloway (4 rec, 50 yards) got most of the yards in the passing game.  But, it was TE Alex Smith who kept hitting paydirt as he caught 2 passes for 6 yards with 2 TD grabs.  The Bucs finished up with 17 yards rushing on 12 carries (1.4 ypc) and they completed 21 of 27 passes for 160 yards.

LBs Derrick Brooks (12 tackles) and Barrett Ruud (11 tackles) led the way on defense for the Bucs.  The Colts finished up with 147 yards rushing on 40 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 37 passes for 253 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271007011

The Bucs are getting outstanding field position for the offense because of return man Mark Jones.  Jones has returned 9 punts for 131 yards (14.6 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 72 yards (36.0 avg) so far this season.  It’s only a matter of time until he takes a kick to the house.  Ernest Graham returned 4 kickoffs for 90 yards (22.5 avg) but the Bucs need him more on offense with Cadillac Williams down for the count.

The Tampa Bay Bucs have gotten off to an impressive 3-1 start which has them on top of the NFL South Division which is a huge surprise.  They have achieved that record by running the football and playing good defense.  The Colts are now 4-0 on the season but they have suffered a lot of injuries as of late that will effect them in this ball game.

The Colts will likely be without strong safety Bob Sanders and that is a huge blow to their run defense.  The Colts have allowed 127.5 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry so the Bucs will likely try to take advantage of that weakness.  Michael Pittman (170 yards rushing, 78 yards receiving) and Ernest Graham (136 yards rushing, 4.5 ypc, 3 TDs) will attack the Colts defense early and often.  After the Bucs establish their running game look for Jeff Garcia to run some play action passes and attack the Colts secondary deep with Ike Hilliard (15 rec, 246 yards) and Joey Galloway (14 rec, 256 yards).

The Colts will likely go to the air more than they have so far this season.  Peyton Manning has been outstanding as usual as he has completed 86 of 128 (67.2%) passes for 1,066 yards with 8 TD passes and 1 interception (110.4 QB Rating).  The Colts will likely be without Joseph Addai and Marvin Harrison so they need other players to step up.  RB Kenton Keith has played well as a reserve this season as he has carried the ball 23 times for 134 yards (5.8 ypc) so he should be able to find some running room against a Bucs defense that is allowing 118.3 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  Reggie Wayne (21 rec, 307 yards) and tight end Dallas Clark (19 rec, 251 yards) will likely be Manning’s main targets.  But, keep your eyes on first round pick Anthony Gonzalez who could have his best game as a pro.

PREDICTION:  This game will be much closer than the 11 point spread.  The Bucs will make a game of this but I like the Colts to win by a field goal.

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