The win-less Tampa Bay Buccaneers demoted their starting quarterback Byron Leftwich to the third string quarterback and Josh Johnson is now the starter.  Johnson replaced Leftwich in yesterday’s 24-0 loss to the New York Giants, after Leftwich failed to get anything going.  The Buccaneers’ first round draft pick this year, Josh Freeman, will be Johnsons’ backup.  Johnson is in his second year and will be making his first career start next week in Washington against the Washington Redskins.

The Buccaneers failed to show up for the game yesterday in Tampa.  The Bucs only could muster 86 total yards of offense in this game (28 rushing, 58 passing) as they only had possession of the football for 16:22!  Byron Leftwich started this game and he completed 7 of 16 passes for 22 yards with 1 interception before he got yanked from the game.  Josh Johnson finished up by completing 4 of 10 passes for 36 yards and he also led the Bucs in rushing with 15 yards on 1 carry.  This was one of the worst displays of offensive football I have ever seen, period!

LB Barrett Ruud (14 tackles) and safety Will Allen (10 tackles) were very busy yesterday.  The Giants rolled up 397 total yards on offense (226 rushing, 171 passing) in this game. The Bucs are now 0-3 on the season and they appear to be getting worse.

The only way the Bucs have a chance to beat the Giants this week is if the Giants overlook them.  That is not likely with Tom Coughlin as the head coach.  The Giants can pick what they want to do on offense this week as the Bucs allow 168.0 yards rushing per game (5.7 ypc) and they also allow 282.0 yards passing per game (118.7 QB Rating against).  The Giants will likely try to run the ball with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw first against the soft front seven of the Bucs.  That will set up play action passing with Eli Manning looking for WRs Steve Smith and Mario Manningham down the field.  The Giants will also likely try to get TE Kevin Boss more involved in the passing game this week due to the injuries the Bucs have at safety.

The Buccaneers should try to eat the clock with the running game.  Derrick Ward will start against his old team this week and that could motivate him to have a big game.  The Giants are allowing 168.0 yards rushing per game (6.7 ypc) so far this season and that’s what the Bucs should try to exploit.  Cadillac Williams and Ernest Graham should also get into the action with Ward against the Giants on the ground.  The Giants have issues at strong safety so the Bucs will likely attack them there with Kellen Winslow (12 rec, 120 yards, TD). 

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 31, BUCS 21

The Buccaneers have signed 25-year old CB Marcus Hamilton and 24-year old safety Corey Lynch from the Bengals’ practice squad.  Hamilton played in 9 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Bears and Bucs and he made 7 tackles and defensed 2 passes.  Lynch played in 7 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Bengals last season and he made 9 tackles, defensed 1 pass and he had 1 interception.  Lynch could help out the Bucs at safety due to the injury problems they have there.  The Bucs should have signed some veterans to help out in the secondary seeing how they are $30 million bucks under the salary cap.

The Buccaneers have lost starting free safety Jermaine Phillips for the season due to a broken left thumb.  He has made 11 tackles in the Bucs first two games of the season.  Will Allen will replace Phillips in the starting lineup and he has 4 tackles this season.  There is no doubt that the Giants will be attacking Allen in the passing game this week and the results will not look to pretty for the Bucs who already had serious issues with pass defense.   Tanard Jackson will return in week #5 and will bump Allen from the starting lineup.