The Talking Plank - Week 3

The Talking Plank - Week 3: Vs. Carolina:




Well, the start of the season has seen a QB regress, a RB grounded, and a defense that looked slow and undisciplined. Will this week continue this trend? With injuries piling up, will the Bucs be in big trouble this week?

On Offense, the Bucs will try to get things going against a Panthers defense that is banged up, but has a healthy front 4. With MLB Morgan out, and SS Williams doubtful, the Panthers' defensive woes may lead to some fruitful offense by the Bucs. The two biggest keys are: 1) Caddy, or someone, getting 25+ runs and 2) Simms not being asked to run too many 3 step drops. If both of those happen, I think the Bucs will be able to move the ball on the Panthers. They have the talent to do it, and not putting Simms in the position of having nearly every other pass batted down early would be big. It would be even bigger if the offense can get the running game going against the Panthers. If they can, that will open the intermediate routes and allow someone like Alex Smith to make some big plays in the middle of the field. This may also be a good game for Clayton to make some key plays. What it will ultimately come down to is whether or not the offensive line can handle the Panthers' front four. If they can, the Bucs offense will have success. If not, it could get ugly. I think the offense will have some success. Whether or not it will be enough...

On Defense, the Bucs will be trying to recover from what appeared to be a game in which the defense looked slow, confused, and out of position. Of course, the Falcons threw a lot of completely new looks and took advantage of some over pursuit. If the Bucs defense can get back to the fundamentals, they should be able to limit the Panthers' success on the ground, and get after Delhomme on pass plays. With their Center, Hartwig, suffering from a groin injury, the Bucs should be able to take advantage of him, or his replacement. The big problem will be just how healthy the Bucs' defensive line is going into this game. McFarland is still a question mark, but Hovan and Rice both practiced, and I think they will be fine and ready to go. On guy that might not is Nece, whose knee injury kept him out of practice. This might not be a big loss as the Bucs can either put Winborn in there at the Sam, or move Quarles over and bring Rudd in at the Mike. One injury that may be very difficult to overcome, however, is Kelly, who appears to have been ruled out for the game with a recurring turf toe injury. This may not be to big of a loss if Smith can't go, or if his hamstring is still bothering him during the game, reducing his speed. A healthy Smith, however, would make it really tough on the Bucs. Keyshawn will be a short to intermediate threat, but the Bucs' defense will likely be looking to put the hurt on him. The Bucs really need to get the pressure up front and stop DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Hall from getting things going on the ground. If the Bucs can stop the run and put the pressure on Delhomme, then the Bucs should be able to pull this game out with any decent semblance of an offense. But I'm not convinced that the defense can really bring it, especially with all of the injuries.

On Special Teams, both teams are roughly even in the return and coverage games, though I expect the Bucs to have better success returning kicks than last week. Punting games are about the same, but the Bucs aren't showing as well in the field goal department, and that could be the portion of this team that bites us in the end of this game. Of course, the Bucs have blocked 2 field goal attempts, so you can never discount that possibility. Overall, though, I think the only area to be concerned with is the field goal kicking. Bryant needs to nail any kicks he gets, because points may be hard to come by. If he misses a kick or two, it will cost the Bucs this game.

To be honest, with the state of these two teams, I can easily see the Bucs come out and get something going to win this game. In fact, I think that's a good possibility, and is why I will be there rooting them on. However, I just haven't seen enough from this team to be confident of that. I think this is a tight game that could easily go either way. In the end, I still see Carolina getting the best of us, though barely.

Panthers 16 Bucs 13