The Buccaneers scored first in this game and that seemed to piss off the Steelers who punished them the rest of the game.  Josh Freeman completed 20 of 31 passes for 184 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 15 yards (2.5 ypc) yesterday.  Josh Johnson replaced Freeman in garbage time and he went 6 for 6 passing for 67 yards.  LeGarrett Blount led the way on the ground in this game for the Bucs with 6 carries for 27 yards (4.5 ypc) with a TD run.  Cadiallac Williams finished up with 6 carries for 13 yards (2.2 ypc) but he also caught 5 passes for 33 yards (6.6 avg).  Earnest Graham carried the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 57 yards (14.3 avg) yesterday.  Maybe the Bucs should have gotten him the ball more.  Rookie WR Mike Williams led the way in the passing game for the Bucs in this game with 5 grabs for 55 yards (11.0 avg).  The Buccaneers finished up with 75 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 37 passes for 228 yards.

CB Ronde Barber (9 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss) and LB Barrett Ruud (9 tackles) led the way for the Bucs’ D in this game.  Quincy Black pitched in with interception and so did Aqib Talib but he also gave up a TD on another pass that he should have picked off.  The Steelers finished up with 201 yards rushing on 32 carries (6.3 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 17 passes for 186 yards.  The Buccaneers are now 2-1 on the year.

Both of these teams are winning with defense as the Steelers are only allowing 10.0 points per game and the Buccaneers are only allowing 10.5 points per game.  So the first team to 11 wins….right?  I wouldn’t be surprised if neither team scored that many points this weekend.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Buccaneers have the ball:  First off, they must account for the whereabouts of strong safety Troy Polamalu on every play as he could really hurt the Bucs.  The Buccaneers must remain balanced this week even if Cadillac Williams has another rough day which is likely against a Steelers D only allowing 52.0 yards rushing and 2.2 yards per carry so far this year.  The Steelers are a blitz heavy team so the way to beat them is with the short pass.  The Bucs need Kellen Winslow to have a big game if they are going to sustain any long drives in this football game.  If the Bucs’ O-Line gives Freeman time to throw the ball there are plays to be made down the field with Mike Williams against a sub par set of corners on the Steelers.

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to run the ball as many times as Rashard Mendenhall can handle.  He does put the ball on the ground sometimes so the Bucs D will need to try to strip him on the ball.  The Bucs should go all out to stop the running game because their corners should be able to contain Mike Wallace and Hines Ward in the passing game.  Charlie Batch is drawing the start at QB for the Steelers and the O-Line has already given up 7 sacks this year so the Bucs need to blitz a lot more than usual in this game.  TE Heath Miller could be a problem for the Bucs in this game.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 9, BUCCANEERS 6

22-year old QB Josh Freeman has really played well this year for the Bucs.  He has completed 29 of 52 passes (55.8%) for 360 yards with 4 TD passes and 1 INT (95.0 QB Rating) in the first two games of the year for the Bucs.  He has also carried the ball 6 times for 77 yards (12.8 ypc) so far this year.  Freeman turned the ball over a lot last season as he took too many chances.  This year though has has been playing under control.  He will need to keep up the good work this week as the Steelers have a very aggressive defense. 

27-year old safety Sabby Piscitelli must officially still be in Raheem Morris’ dog house.  He has been passed up on the depth chart by rookie 7th round pick Cody Grimm out of Virginia Tech who has been named as Tanard Jackson’s replacement.  Piscitelli has played in 2 games so far for the Bucs this year and he has 2 tackles.  He has now played in 36 games in his four years with the Bucs and he has 133 tackles, 13 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions (113 return yards).  I thought for sure that the Bucs would turn to Piscitelli with Jackson out of action for the rest of the year.

The NFL has suspended 25-year old safety Tanard Jackson of the Buccaneers indefinitely for violating the league’s substance abuse policy once again.  He missed four games in 2009 for the same thing.  Jackson will likely miss at least one year this time.  He played in 2 games for the Bucs this year and he had 8 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  He has played in 4 years in his NFL career appearing in 46 games in which he has 204 tackles, 24 passes defensed, 6 forced fumbles and 8 interceptions (2 TD returns).  I’m not so sure that the Bucs are going to stick behind him this time around.  Bucs’ head coach Raheem Morris has named 23-year old rookie Cody Grimm to replace Jackson this weekend.  Grimm was a 7th round pick out of Virginia Tech last April.  He has played in both of the Buccaneers first two games and he has 2 tackles.

The Buccaneers turned up the D while playing efficient offense in beating the Panthers yesterday.  Josh Freeman was very solid in this game as he completed 12 of 24 passes for 178 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 43 yards (10.8 ypc) yesterday.  Cadillac Williams rushed for 51 yards on 27 carries (1.9 ypc) in this game.  Earnest Graham only carried the ball 3 times for 1 yard (0.3 ypc) but he also caught 5 passes for 33 yards (6.6 avg) with a TD grab.  TE Kellen Winslow (4 rec, 83 yards) and rookie WR Mike Williams (2 rec, 54 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Buccaneers yesterday.  The Buccaneers finished up with 95 yards rushing on 34 carries (2.8 ypc) and they completed 12 of 25 passes for 178 yards in this game.

LBs Barrett Ruud (9 tackles) and Quincy Black (8 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Bucs on D in this game.  Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib both picked off passes against the Panthers and DE Kyle Moore recovered a fumble which were all HUGE plays for the Bucs in this game.  The Panthers finished up with 119 yards rushing on 33 carries (3.6 ypc) and they completed 13 of 29 passes for 159 yards.  The Buccaneers are off to a very surprising 2-0 start to the 2010 season.

The Buccaneers are feeling good right now after beating the Browns 17-14 in the season opener.  But now they face a measuring stick game at Carolina this weekend.  The Panthers swept the Bucs last season by a combined score of 44-27.  Here is a close look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Buccaneers have the ball:  The Buccaneers should try to run a balanced offense like they did against the Browns last week.  Cadillac Williams carried the ball 33 times for 169 yards (5.1 ypc) with 1 TD run in the two games against the Panthers last year.  The Bucs will likely feed him the ball quite often in this game.  But, the Giants passed for 258 yards against the Panthers last week so the Bucs might be tempted to go to the air more than usual.  They need to be careful though as Freeman threw 5 pickoffs in his only start against the Panthers last year and the Panthers swiped three passes off Eli Manning last week.

When the Panthers have the football:  QB Matt Moore is iffy for this game due to a concussion.  That could mean that Jimmy Clausen could be starting against the Bucs this week.  It doesn’t really matter who is handing off to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart though.  The Panthers rushed for 424 yards on 81 carries (5.2 ypc) with 4 TD runs against the Buccaneers last season.  The Buccaneers gave up 104 yards on 23 carries (4.5 ypc) against the Browns last week so look for the Panthers to pound at the D with the running game.  The Bucs would also be very smart to have safety help on whichever side of the field Steve Smith is on because he can make plays no matter who is throwing to him.

PREDICTION:  PANTHERS 20, BUCCANEERS 10

Josh Freeman probably still sees Panthers’ defenders in his sleep after his only start against them last year.  He completed 23 of 44 passes for 321 yards which doesn’t look too shabby.  But, he didn’t throw a TD pass while completing 5 passes to Panthers!  Hopefully Freeman will be able to build on his solid season opening game against the Browns.  He completed 17 of 28 passes (60.7%) for 182 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT (88.7 QB Rating) despite throwing the ball with a broken right thumb.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 34 yards (17.0 ypc) against the Browns.  For Freeman to continue to improve he needs to play a good game against the Panthers this week.

The Buccaneers made a couple of big plays on both offense and defense yesterday and that was good enough to beat the Browns.  Josh Freeman, playing with a broken thumb on his right hand, completed 17 of 28 passes for 182 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 34 yards (17.0 ypc) in this game.  Cadillac Williams led the way on the ground for the Bucs in this game with 22 carries for 75 yards (3.4 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 23 yards (11.5 avg).  WRs Mike Williams (5 rec, 30 yards, TD) and Michael Spurlock (2 rec, 49 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Bucs yesterday.  The Buccaneers finished up with 119 yards rushing on 30 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 28 passes for 169 yards in this game.

The defense gave up a lot of yards to the Browns but they also had three huge turnovers that changed the outcome of this game.  LBs Geno Hayes (8 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss) and Barrett Ruud (8 tackles) led the way for the Bucs on D in this game.  CB E.J. Biggers had a solid game for the Bucs yesterday with 6 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception.  CB Ronde Barber made a huge impact win this game for the Buccaneers.  He had 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 passes defensed and a 64-yard interception return that set up the Bucs first TD yesterday.  The Browns finished up with 104 yards rushing on 23 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 38 passes for 236 yards.  The Bucs still have improvement to make on both sides of the ball but to get a win like this will give them a huge boost of confidence.

The Buccaneers didn’t do anything to make the personnel better in the off-season besides the NFL Draft.  They are the cheapest team in the NFL as they are taking full advantage of having no salary cap in 2010.  Call them the Pittsburgh Pirates of the NFL.  The Browns come into this game on a 4-game winning streak while the Bucs won 2 of their last 3 games to end 2009.  Here is a close look at the match-ups this weekend against the Browns:

When the Buccaneers have the ball:  The Buccaneers would prefer to run the ball to protect QB Josh Freeman who will be playing this game with a broke right thumb.  The means that Cadillac Williams could get a lot of work in this game.  The O-Line will have to be on it’s game as the Browns look like they will be improved against the run in 2010.  When throwing the ball, look for Freeman to throw to TE Kellen Winslow a lot as the Browns’ safeties lack size.  The WRs are really young but look for rookie Mike Williams to also get quite a few looks.

When the Browns have the ball:  The Buccaneers will have to go all out to stop Browns’ RB Jerome Harrison who was running wild at the end of last season.  That means that DTs Gerald McCoy, Roy Miller, Brian Price and middle linebacker Barrett Ruud better be ready for the attack.  The Bucs also better give help to CB E.J. Biggers who will be starting in Aqib Talib’s place as he serves a 1-game suspension.  The Bucs also better blitz a lot because of Jake Delhomme is comfortable in the pocket, they are going to pay for it.

PREDICTION:  BROWNS 17, BUCCANEERS 13