The Talking Plank - Week 2

The Talking Plank -





Saints At Bucs:

After a solid start, but a rough second half, the Bucs lost to the Seahawks, going 0-1. Now they face the 0-1 Saints, who just had there rears handed to them on national TV. The Saints will be mad, and have a couple of extra days to prepare. The Bucs will be without Kelly, and will likely have to see if Caddy can go, though I believe he will. Who will win this battle and avoid the 0-2 start?

On offense, the Bucs come in ranked 17th in yards, but 29th in points due to failing to put the ball in the endzone. Last week the Bucs had chances and opportunities, but a combination of fumbles, penalties, and a "still getting to know the offense" effort by Garcia, made it difficult for them to put points up, despite moving the ball well. This week they will face the 30th ranked defense, one which gave up 164 yards on the ground to the Colts. The Saints secondary is suspect, and their linebackers are so-so. The strength in the Saints defense is at the Defensive End spots where Smith and Grant will be trying to duplicate last year's success against the Bucs. However, the Bucs offensive line is much more experienced and just overall better than last year. Yes, it's still not consistent, but that will come with more game-time as a unit. The Saints aren't very big up the middle, so the Bucs' guards should be able to get some movement on the inside. I'm personally expecting Caddy to play, and I think, barring a setback with the ribs, that he'll have a pretty strong game, which he'll need to take some of the pressure off the line during pass pro. Without the intensely loud crowd to deal with, the Garcia and the line should both be able to play much more settled and the results should be readily apparent. I expect Garcia to make plays he missed last week, and I believe the result will be a number of touchdowns. If the Bucs can pass protect with the 5 linemen and just the occasional use of a single tight end or running back, then they'll be able to move the ball on this secondary. I think the offense will surprise some this week.

On defense, the Bucs are coming in ranked 21st overall in yards and points. Nearly a third of Seattle's offense came on three big plays. Overall, in a hostile stadium on the west coast, the defense played pretty well. Better than I thought they would, making it tough for the Seahawks to move the ball with any consistency. This week the Bucs will face the 16th ranked offense (just one yard better than the Bucs) and will do so here at home. Not only that, but the Bucs will be playing this game at 1:00 in the stifling heat, and they will likely make the Saints where black. The key will be how the Bucs play at the line of scrimmage and if they can limit Bush and McAllister. The Saints have pretty good size up front, so the Bucs' defensive line will need to use their speed to disrupt things at the line and let the linebackers clean up. I like the ability of Ruud and June to deal with the speed of Bush, and for Ruud to handle the power of McAllister running up the middle. I'm still not sure about Brooks though, and that will be the wild card. Kelly was downgraded to doubtful, so, barring a miracle, he'll be out and Buchannon will step into his place. Davis will play the nickel when needed. With Horn gone, the Saints really aren't nearly as explosive or capable at the receiver position, having to rely heavily on Colston, and TE Johnson. This is likely the primary reason why the Colts defense had a good game against them, and it should help the Bucs focus more on stopping the run and blitzing Brees to keep him uncomfortable. I think the defense will do well, but they will still have some problems at times, allowing the Saints to put up some points.

On Special Teams, the Bucs will be looking to rebound from the effort they put forth in Seattle. They allowed some big returns, including one that allowed the Seahawks excellent field position before the half, from which they scored a TD to go ahead in the game. Without that return, the Bucs may have held the lead longer and might have changed the outcome of the game. There were some good punt returns that got called back by stupid penalties, so the team will need to eliminate those And someone else needs to return kicks. I like Graham, but he's not fast enough for kick returns. We need someone back there that can get vertical quickly and apply pressure to the cover team. The kicking and punting games are in good hands, though, and shouldn't be a problem. The Saints have an excellent punter and kicker as well. Mare has a strong leg, and Weatherford's averaging 48 yards a punt. The Saints also have an excellent punt return team. Their kick return game isn't a whole lot better than ours, though. The Bucs will need to keep the Saints from getting any big returns, and need to get some of their own to give the Bucs' offense a chance with a shorter field. I think we'll see better coverage and return units this week, as the rookies now have a game under their belts.

Overall, this is a game I initially pegged as being a loss following a win at Seattle. After watching the Bucs come out nearly good enough to put 14 points up on Seattle early, but watching the Saints get blasted, and considering how important this game is, I've changed my mind on this one. This game is too important. While the season isn't over if the Bucs lose, it will get tougher and tougher each week as the sharks continue to circle. This is why I think the Bucs will come out and use the home field advantage to take it to the Saints.

Bucs 24 Saints 20