The Talking Plank - Week 6

The Talking Plank - Week 6: Vs. Cincinnati:




After nearly winning against the Panthers, then nearly beating the Saints, the Bucs appear ready to take the next step and actually post a win. While the Bucs' defense played poorly in the first half of the Saints game, they finally stepped it up a notch and limited the Saints in the second half. With so much heat now being placed on the key area, the defensive line, it's possible that we may finally see this team put enough effort on both sides of the ball to win a game. The Bengals are coming in off a BYE, however, and have had two weeks to prepare for the Bucs. But the Bengals aren't playing as well as last year, and the Bucs might have the right recipe for beating them. Are do they?

On Offense, the Bucs will, once again, go into battle with young Bruce Gradkowski at the helm. In the last two games, the Bucs' offense has put up 45 points and 615 yards. The Bucs also managed to get Cadillac going last week against a so-so run defense. This week they face another bottom of the pack run defense. With Daven Joseph likely to start at RG, the Bucs should now be able to run at any gap on the offensive line, and that should make it much harder for the Bengals to stop Williams. And with the running game likely to get going again, the Bucs' pass offense should follow. With Gradkowski showing his ability to hit passes at every level (though not the deepest of deep balls that Simms could hit), the passing game now has the capability of getting going at all three levels. That means the short passes will be there, somthing Simms was struggling with, mainly due to the blocked passes. With Bruce's ability to run, the Bengals will have a tough time really shutting down the Bucs offense as a whole. Gradkowski seems able to really take advantage of Smith at TE, and that really gives the Bucs the offensive package they need to consistently move the ball. If not for a BS pass interference late in the Saints game, the Bucs might have won, and posted another 7 points and another 30+ yards of offense. I'm expecting good things on this front, especially with so several important Bengals defenders banged up. As a result, expect the Bucs to move the ball quite well and score in the high 20's in this game.

On Defense, the Bucs got gashed early last week as they continued to do the things that caused them to lose in their prior 3 games. That includes missing tackles and assignments, and failing to provide the pressure and containment up front by the defensive line. In the second half of the Saints game, the defense appeared to have turned their play around and started tackling much better, allowing only 100 yards of offense, after giving up 214 in the first half. That leaves us with some hope that the defense will step up and start making a lot more plays. I believe they will, but no enough to keep the Bengals from scoring more than I'd like to see. With Rudi Johnson running the ball, the Bucs will have to gang tackle, and explode into their gaps to try and stop the big back before he gets a full head of steam. The Bucs will also have to deal with the Bengals talented receiver duo, Chad Johnson and that guy who's name is so long it may violate my bandwidth limits. In any case, Palmer, who isn't producing as great as he did last year, has been sacked 15 times in just 4 games. This is an opportunity for the Bucs to get it going up front and put the pressure on Palmer and keep him from comfortably delivering the ball to his receivers. Whether or not the defense will show up to do this is hard to say. I think they will, at least at times. In the end, I think the defense will play it's best game of this short season, but it still isn't likely to be a top 5 defensive performance.

On Special Teams, the Bucs are generally getting decent starting position so far this year. Pittman has been solid, but can't seem to get it going in high gear this year. Punt returns have been solid, and should continue in this game. The punt coverage has been a little weak, but the Bengals punt return teams have been poor as well, so I'll give the notch to the Bucs here. The Bengals have the better field goal kicker right now, so hopefully the Bucs will continue to put the ball in the end zone. Overall, it's hard to see one of these two groups having a real advantage. The Bengals don't have Reggie Bush to return punts and save the day. I think this game likely will come down primarily to the play of the offense and defense.

This is one of those games where you can easily look and say the Bucs will lose. The fact is, you could say that last week, and the Bucs should have won. This week will be similar, but I think the Bucs will come out on top. Why? They'll be able to run, pass, and the defense will look much better, even if not as good as we expected coming into the season. In the end, it will be just enough in something of a shootout.

Bucs 28 Bengals 21