First of all it's just one game, remember last year's team lost their first game to New Orleans and we all know what that team accomplished. That's right they were the Super Bowl Champs. What's most important is that we learn from this loss and become a better team. I admit the game was hard to watch. We really had a hard time establishing a running game. Not establishing the running game forced us to throw the ball 74% of the time, which made us very one-dimensional. The Panthers' defense is too good for us to expect a win with that kind of game plan. Once that happened the Panthers' defensive lineman Michael Rucker and Julius Peppers had free reign to rush the quarterback. Needless to say they made Roman Oben and Kenyatta Walker look very bad. The 15 penalties on offense and three blocked kicks didn't make things any easier. These kinds of mental mistakes can't happen if we expect to win the game. Jon Gruden will iron out these problems and you can rest assured you will not see a similar performance this week. It's a good sign when you have players like Cosey Coleman say that it was his fault on the blocked extra point. He took total responsibility for that play and vowed to improve his performance. Say what you want but that shows the type of character the Buccaneer players possess. The Buccaneer defense shut down the Panthers passing attack only allowing 87 yards on 9 of 23 attempts passing with 2 interceptions. The Panthers had most of their success on the ground rushing for 171 yards. Stephen Davis accounted for the majority of those yards, rushing 33 times for 142 yards. If the Buccaneer's defense has one weakness, it is defending against big running backs. They still held the Panthers to only 9 points during regulation. For the year, teams are averaging only 6 points a game against the Buccaneers and the defense has yet to give up a touchdown. We currently have the league's 3rd ranked defense and 5th ranked offense. So far this year we have passed the ball more than any other team in the NFL with 97 passes. Let's give our line some credit Brad Johnson has only been sacked once this year. It's very important this week in Atlanta to establish the running game. The Buccaneers may have the league's 5th ranked offense, but they also have the league's 25th ranked rushing attack. This should be a very physical game. I am looking for the Buccaneers defense to have a big game and maybe even score a touchdown. My prediction Buccaneers 24 and Falcons 3. |
