The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4) are on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) this week and are looking to make it four straight wins against the Eagles.  That is not likely though, as the Bucs have yet to get a win this year and the Eagles are getting their starting quarterback Donovan McNabb back from a rib injury.  McNabb wont have to do much against the Bucs though, as the running game will do plenty of damage agains the Bucs’ defense.  The Buccaneers are giving up a 172 rushing yards per game, so the Eagles’ running duo of LeSean McCoy and Brian Westbrook will run all over them as they average 4.4 yards per carry.

The Buccaneers quarterback situation has not been very good.  Byron Leftwich is now the third string QB for the Bucs, and Josh Johnson will continue to be the starter.  The 23-year-old Johnson threw 106 yards on 13 of 22 passes and had one touchdown and one interception in the first start of his career last week.  He will have his hands full in only his second start, as the Eagles defense will attack the inexperienced QB.  Their defense is only giving up 156 passing yards per game, so it looks like the Bucs offense is in big trouble.  They will need a huge game from Cadillac Williams if they want a chance in this one, as the running back is averaging 5.0 yards per carry and has been a threat as a receiver too.  The Eagles are just way too much for the Bucs to handles though, and they should not have any problem winning this game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10, Philadelphia Eagles 34

The Tampa Bay Bucs have changed the QB but the team still stinks.  To protect Josh Johnson in his first NFL start look for the Bucs to try to run the ball early and often against the Redskins.  Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham will likely split the carries against the Redskins’ D that is allowing 127.7 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry.  To be effective running the ball against the Redskins the O-Line must do a good job of blocking DT Albert Haynesworth and MLB London Fletcher.  The Bucs will likely use a lot of play action and rollouts to help buy Johnson some time to throw the ball.  Look for a lot of passes to the TEs in this game as Kellen Winslow and Jerramy Stevens have combined to catch 23 passes for 205 yards (8.9 avg) with 3 TDs. 

The Redskins have only scored 40 points this season despite averaging 341.3 yards passing per game.  The Redskins should attack the Bucs in the deep passing game as they continue to have issues in the secondary.  This is the game that Jason Campbell will break out and he will get the ball to Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El deep.  Opposing QBs have a rating of 113.6 against the Bucs this season and they have already allowed 7 TD passes this season.  The Bucs also allow 187.3 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry so the Redskins will test them on the ground.  Clinton Portis is a little gimpy and he is 50/50 to play in this game but Ladell Betts is more than capable of handling a heavy workload if Portis can’t go.

PREDICTION:  REDSKINS 30, BUCCANEERS 13

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

This game could wind up being a shootout based on both teams’ first game of the year.  The Bucs gave up 462 yards to the Cowboys while the Bills allowed 441 yards to the Patriots.  The Buccaneers would prefer to run the ball to control the clock and keep the ball away from the Bucs.  The Bills did well against the run last week holding the Patriots to 73 yards rushing and 3.2 yards per carry, so it won’t be easy for the Bucs to run the ball.  Cadillac Williams (97 yards) and Derrick Ward (62 yards) led the way for the Bucs on the ground and they will likely split carries against the Bucs.  Kellen Winslow could be in for a huge game for the Bucs this week as Ben Watson of the Patriots tore up the Bills last week.  The Bills only had 1 sack last week so Byron Leftwich should have the time needed to throw the football when he wants to.

The Bills played o.k. on offense last week despite only having possession of the football for 22:52 of the game.  The Bills will likely get the ball into Fred Jackson’s hands quite a bit in this game against a Bucs’ D that allowed 119 yards rushing and 4.9 ypc last week.  With this matchup though the Bills will likely turn Trent Edwards loose.  WRs Terrell Owens and Lee Evans could be in line for huge games against the Bucs’ D.

PREDICTION:  BILLS 31, BUCS 27

The Cowboys have a new look and they have a good team to try it out on tomorrow in the Tampa Bay Bucs.  With T.O. not in Dallas anymore look for Tony Romo to spread the football around more.  His favorite target will be his pal TE Jason Witten who should have a good game tomorrow against the LBs and safeties of the Bucs.  But Romo will also have to get the football to Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd and Miles Austin in the passing game.  The Bucs could blitz a lot tomorrow to try to rush Romo into some mistakes.  The Cowboys will also run the ball a lot tomorrow with Felix Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice who will all be a pain for the Bucs’ D.

The Bucs gameplan should revolve around running the football tomorrow, period.  Derrick Ward, Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams should get a lot of carries right up the middle to negate the speed of the Cowboys D.  Byron Leftwich probably won’t have a lot of time to throw against the Cowboys especially with OLB DeMarcus Ware chasing him around.  With that in mind look for Kellen Winslow to get targeted a lot.

PREDICTION:  DALLAS COWBOYS 23, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 13