Despite catching passes from three different QBs this season 26-year old TE Kellen Winslow has played well all year.  Winslow has played in 14 games this season for the Buccaneers and he has caught 68 passes for 752 yards (11.1 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Winslow has played in every game this season which dispels the thoughts that he was a injury prone player.  He leads the Bucs in catches, receiving yards and receiving TDs this season.

I hope the Buccaneers had fun winning on the road last week because they won’t have that feeling Sunday afternoon.  The first time the Bucs played the Saints in Tampa they got destroyed 38-7 and I have to reason to think this Sunday it will be any closer.  It’s really too bad that the Bucs don’t run the ball too well because the Saints are giving up 114.4 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry.  The Saints already have 24 interceptions this season so if the Bucs get behind look for Josh Freeman to start throwing the ball to them.

I have a feeling that the Saints will come out more balanced than normal this week.  That means the Bucs will have to defend the run and the pass and they just don’t have the manpower to match up with the Saints’ O.  The Bucs will have to try to slow down Drew Brees who is one of the best QBs in the NFL, but, even if they have some success doing it then the Saints will just unleash Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell and Reggie Bush on them.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 38, BUCCANEERS 0

The Buccaneers have claimed 27-year old WR Mark Bradley off waivers from the Chiefs.  Bradley has played in 13 games this season for the Chiefs and he caught 24 passes for 320 yards (13.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he also carried the ball 2 times for 20 yards (10.0 ypc).  Bradley also returned 7 kickoffs for 123 yards (17.6 avg) and he has completed a pass for 26 yards this season.  Bradley has now played in 57 games in his NFL career and he has caught 92 passes for 1,283 yards (13.9 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  He has also returned 11 kickoffs for 193 yards (17.6 avg) in his career.  Bradley will likely replace Stroughter on kickoff returns and in the offense.

The Buccaneers have lost 23-year old WR/KR/PR Sammie Stroughter for the rest of the season due to a broken foot.  Stroughter was a 7th round pick out of Oregon State last April and he looks like a keeper for the Bucs.  He played in 13 games for the Buccaneers this year and he caught 31 passes for 334 yards (10.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Stroughter was also a huge help on special teams this season.  He returned 11 kickoffs for 324 yards (29.5 avg) with 1 TD return and he also returned 12 punts for 119 yards (9.9 avg) this year.  He pitched in with 3 tackles on the year too.  This injury will really hurt the Bucs as Stroughter is a player who was wearing many hats on the team.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-12) forced 5 turnovers on their way to a nice win over the Seattle Seahawks (5-9).  Josh Freeman really stepped up in this game, as the rookie quarterback bounced back in the second half very nicely after a slow first half.  He threw one pick in the first half, but came out in the second half and took care of the ball on his way to two touchdown passes.  He finished with the 2 touchdowns and 1 interception for 205 yards on 16/26 passes.  Freeman also got a lot of help from his running backs, with Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward combining for 133 yards on 31 carries and each catching a touchdown pass.  They Bucs may only have two games left, but their offense is finally showing signs of life.

The Bucs’ defense, particularly the secondary, played very well.  They took advantage of Seahawks’ quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and his erratic throws.  They picked off Hasselbeck four times and also forced and recovered a fumble on the former Pro Bowl quarterback.  They didn’t do great against the run, giving up 128 rushing yards, but the Bucs defense did not look like a 1-12 team.  It looks like the Bucs finally have some positive things to build on for next year.