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The Buccaneers have lost backup safety Will Allen for the year due to a broken thumb. Allen played in 8 games this season for the Buccaneers and he made 20 tackles and defensed 1 pass. Corey Lynch will replace Allen on the second team. He has played in 5 games for the Bucs this season and he has 1 tackle and he has defensed 1 pass. Lynch will likely at least be an equal to Allen who just isn’t that much of a player.
28-year old DT/DE Jimmy Wilkerson is really stepping up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so far this season. He has played in 8 games for the Bucs this season and he has 33 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and he has defensed 1 pass. The Buccaneers need Wilkerson to keep up the good work rushing the passer because opposing QBs have been having a lot of fun playing against the Bucs this year.
The Bucs will be without 27-year old linebacker Rod Wilson for the rest of the season as he has been placed on Injured Reserve. He played in 8 games this season and he racked up 3 whole tackles. You now it’s not looking too good for your NFL career when a team like the Bucs won’t miss you at all but that is the case with Wilson.
The Buccaneers pretty much had everything go right in this football game and the result was their first win of the season. Josh Freeman was outstanding in his first NFL start his career. He completed 14 of 31 passes for 205 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT. He also carried the football 4 times for 20 yards (5.0 ypc) in this game. Cadillac Williams led the way on the ground in this game with 56 yards on 16 carries (3.5 ypc). Derrick Ward only rushed for 5 yards on 4 carries (1.3 ypc) in this game but he also caught 3 passes for 54 yards (18.0 avg) with a TD grab. TE Kellen Winslow (4 rec, 57 yards, TD), WR Maurice Stovall (3 rec, 46 yards) and WR Sammie Stroughter (3 rec, 19 yards, TD) all pitched in to help Freeman in the passing game in his first NFL start. The Buccaneers finished up with 279 total yards on offense (81 rushing, 198 passing) in this game despite only having possession of the ball for 24:43.
The Bucs’ D gave up a ton of yards in this game giving up 404 total yards (170 rushing, 234 passing) but they made a lot of big game changing plays. CB Elbert Mack made the first big play of this game for the Bucs on D as he intercepted a Aaron Rodgers pass in the first quarter and he returned it 36 yards to set up a very short field for the offense. The Bucs scored a TD on that drive. Safety Tanard Jackson finished up with 6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and a pass defensed but Jackson’s biggest play was a interception late in the 4th quarter that he returned 35 yards for the game sealing TD. CB Aqib Talib (3 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) and LB Geno Hayes (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) also pitched in on the defense. The Buccaneers also had six sacks which got Rodgers nervous in the pocket getting him to make some big mistakes.
The special teams also played a huge role in this win for the Bucs. CB Ronde Barber returned a blocked punt 31 yards for a TD. Clifton Smith also was giving the offense short fields to work with as he returned 4 punts for 54 yards (13.5 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 107 yards (53.5 avg). The Buccaneers are now 1-7 on the year with this outstanding win over a decent Packers’ football team.
The Packers really need this game on Sunday and they are mad after getting dumped on for the second time by Brett Favre. They will likely take out their frustrations on the poor Tampa Bay Buccaneers and this game won’t likely be too pretty. Like they did against the Browns they will likely lean on the running game a little bit more than usual. Ryan Grant will be taking aim at a Bucs’ D that is allowing 162.4 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry. The Bucs don’t have the pass rush to likely bother Aaron Rodgers much despite the fact that he has been sacked 31 times already this season. Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and newly found TE Spencer Havner could all have big games against the Bucs on Sunday.
This game could get ugly quick as Josh Freeman is making his first start of his NFL career this Sunday. The Bucs should try to lean on the running game against the Packers on Sunday. Cadillac Williams should get a lot of work in this game in an attempt to protect Freeman. But the Packers have a good run defense as they have only allowed 99.4 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry so it won’t be easy for Williams. Look for Freeman to lean on Kellen Winslow in the passing game as he should avoid taking on Al Harris and Charles Woodson.
PREDICTION: PACKERS 38, BUCCANEERS 7
The Bucs have signed 23-year old kicker Connor Barth. Barth played in 10 games last season for the Chiefs as a rookie and he made 10 of 12 field goals (83.3%) and all 24 of his extra point attempts. He averaged 5.4 points per game as a rookie. Barth doesn’t get great length on his kickoffs so they better make sure that they tackle well.
The Bucs have released kicker Shane Andrus and CB Marcus McCauley. Andrus played in 3 games for the Bucs this season and he was 0 for 1 on field goals while making all 6 of his extra point attempts. The Buccaneers just didn’t feel that Andrus was the right guy for the job as the Bucs just can’t afford to leave points on the field. McCauley didn’t get in any games for the Bucs. They won’t miss either of these guys.