The talk of the week before the game was all about Keyshawn Johnson and the Bucs' decision to deactivate him for the remainder of the season. Whichever side you take whether it is Gruden or Keyshawn in this matter, the simple fact is that Keyshawn didn't want to play for Gruden. So I agree, and the rest of the Bucs players all seem to agree, that for the sake of the team it was better to deactivate Keyshawn. It was now Charles Lee's turn to fill the position that was vacated by Keyshawn. Lee had a great game catching 5 balls for 91 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown reception was on a short crossing pattern, which he took 53 yards for the score. He showed good speed and vision as he out ran the Giant defender for the touchdown. Not a bad showing for his first start in front of a national audience. I am not saying that Lee is ready to take over all of Keyshawn's old duties, but the kid has a good upside. For starters, he has good size and as he showed on the 53 yard touchdown, he has good speed. This is something that Keyshawn was lacking. I don't think he will be the possession receiver that catches the ball over the middle. I believe those duties will fall more to Joe Jurevicius, but the Bucs may have finally found that deep threat at wide receiver that they have been looking for. It's way too early to say that Lee is able to replace Keyshawn, but with a few more performances like this one, people will start to believe. Brad Johnson had a good game completing 22 of 32 passes attempted for 269 yards and 1 touchdown. He had a 68.8 completion rate and a quarterback rating of 91.8. Brad did, however, throw 1 interception that was taken back 56 yards by Frank Walker for the Giants only touchdown of the game. Keenan McCardell had a good game catching 9 passes for 83 yards and Joe Jurevicius is looking stronger each week catching 3 passes for 43 yards. Michael Pittman was the leading rusher on 19 carries for 55 yards. Thomas Jones is starting to see his playing time increase rushing for 27 yards on 10 carries. Jones is seeing more action in short yardage situations and scored a touchdown by diving over the line on a goal line play. If Jones wants to continue to see playing time, he needs to stop making foolish penalties and make sure he doesn't drop the rock. The Bucs defense played well and is starting to get healthy and you can see some of the dominance they had last year. The Bucs recorded three sacks, all of which caused the Giants' quarterback, Collins, to fumble the ball. Sapp had two of those sacks and Simeon Rice accounted for the other. Tim Wansley led the team in tackles with 9. Shelton Quarrels also had a good game, recording 8 tackles and 1 fumble. Dwight Smith made a key interception and had 7 tackles. John Lynch was all over the field, recording 6 tackles, recovering 1 fumble and recording 1 interception. These are the types of performances that made the Bucs a very dominating defense last year. If they continue to play this well, the Bucs will have a good chance to win the rest of their games this season. The Bucs go on the road this week to play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday night. This is another team the Bucs should beat and will need a strong defensive performance to accomplish this. I look for Keenan McCardell to have a big game as he returns to his old stomping grounds. My prediction is Bucs 24, Jaguars 9. |
