The Packers would love to make the Bucs get involved with a shootout with them.  The Packers will likely come out throwing the ball against a Bucs’ defense that is allowing 237.7 yards passing per game.  The Packers want to jump out to a lead to protect their run defense which has been porous this season.  Aaron Rodgers has been great this season and the Bucs better get a good pass rush on him or he will pick apart their secondary with WRs Donald Driver and Greg Jennings.  RBs Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson should also find some running room against the Bucs’ defense that is allowing 121.3 yards rushing per game and 4.0 ypc. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be smart to shift gears on offense this week and run the football.  The Bucs can’t win this game if Brian Griese has to outplay Aaron Rodgers throwing the ball.  The Packers are allowing 151.0 yards rushing per game this season and 5.7 yards per carry.  With that in mind the Bucs should just feed the rock to Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn all day long.  When the Bucs do throw the football they will likely keep it short to Ike Hilliard, Antonio Bryant and the TEs as the Packers already have 9 sacks this season.

PREDICTION:  GREEN BAY PACKERS 21, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 20

The Buccaneers’ win was a shocker.  Not that the Bucs won the game but the way they did it.  Brian Griese led the Bucs on back to back long drives to win this game.  The first drive was 11 plays for 79 yards which resulted in a game tying 1-yard TD pass to TE Jerramy Stevens with 7 seconds left to send the game into OT.  In OT, Griese led the Bucs on a 12-play, 90-yard drive that resulted in the game winning 21-yard FG from Matt Bryant.  The Bucs couldn’t run the football so it was QB Brian Griese that picked up the slack.  Griese completed 38 of 67 passes for 407 yards with 2 TD passes and 3 interceptions.  Warrick Dunn led the Bucs in rushing with 31 yards on 5 carries (6.2 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 27 yards (6.8 avg).  Earnest Graham only rushed for 16 yards on 12 carries (1.3 ypc) as the Bears’ defense was all over him.  Antonio Bryant was the man on this day as he led the Bucs with 10 receptions for 138 yards (13.8 avg).  Ike Hilliard (6 rec, 57 yards, TD) and TE Jerramy Stevens (5 rec, 61 yards, TD) also had big contributions to the passing game for the Bucs.  The Bucs finished up with 47 yards rushing on 17 carries (2.8 ypc) and they also completed 38 of 67 passes for 407 yards.

The Bucs’ defense gave up a lot of yards but they also made some huge plays to give the offense the chance to win this football game.  Linebacker Barrett Ruud led the way for the Bucs with 7 tackles and a interceptions against the Bears.  CB Ronde Barber also had a solid game with 6 tackles and a sack.  DE Gaines Adams returned a interception 45 yards for a TD against Kyle Orton.  The Bears finished up with 158 yards rushing on 37 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 39 passes for 262 yards.  The Bucs improved to 2-1 on the season with this win.

This game has the looks of a defensive slugfest.  The Buccaneers will be given Brian Griese his 2nd start of the season against the team he played for last season.  Without WR Joey Galloway playing tomorrow the Bucs will likely lean more on the running game which would be smart on there part as they are averaging 155.0 yards rushing and 6.5 ypc this season.  Earnest Graham has been an absolute beast this season rushing for 207 yards on 25 carries (8.3 ypc) and Warrick Dunn seems to have found the Fountain of Youth (103 yards rushing, 4.9 ypc) but yards won’t come easy against Brian Urlacher and his buddies who are only allowing 83.5 yards rushing per game and 3.6 ypc.  Look for the Bucs to use their TEs and RBs a lot more in this game when throwing the ball than usual as they don’t have a legit deep threat playing in this game.

The Bears are going to do what they always do and that’s run the football.  Rookie Matt Forte has been excellent this season (215 yards rushing, 4.7 ypc) but he will have a tough task finding yards against a defense that is only allowing 103.0 yards rushing per game and 3.7 ypc.  The Bears will likely be without KR/WR Devin Hester in this game so don’t expect the Bears to get many big plays off special teams.  That means that they will have to take the training wheels off of QB Kyle Orton and let him throw the ball downfield against a Bucs’ defense that is allowing 250.5 yards passing per game this season.

PREDICTION:  TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 17, CHICAGO BEARS 16

The Bucs have cut TE Ben Troupe and have activated Jerramy Stevens.  Troupe didn’t catch any passes for the Bucs in his very short stay with the team.  He had fallen behind Alex Smith and John Gilmore who combined for 6 catches for 80 yards (13.3 avg) and a TD in the Bucs’ first two games of the season.  Jerramy Stevens played in 15 games (3 starts) for the Bucs last season and he caught 18 passes for 189 yards (10.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  It will be interesting to see how Jon Gruden uses his talented trio of tight ends.

The Bucs will be without their best WR on Sunday against the Bears.  Joey Galloway will miss the game with a foot sprain and he will likely be replaced by Michael Clayton in the starting lineup….and that’s not a good thing.  Galloway has started both games this season for the Bucs and he has caught 8 passes for 74 yards (9.3 avg).  Galloway is the only legit deep threat on the Bucs’ roster.  Clayton has struggled since shining as a rookie.  He has played in 1 game this season and he has caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  The Bucs can’t afford to be without Galloway too much.