Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below It's tough to make any kind of prediction between these 2 teams, since niether of them has really seen anything like the other this season. I think Gruden's knowledge of the Raiders personnel could be an advantage for the Bucs. The Raiders offense looks like machine at times, and it is very hard to get pressure on Gannon. The Bucs speed at linebacker will be a big help in containing the short passing game and swing passes to Garner out of the backfield. the bucs and Eagles are better at defending those plays than anyone. The Raiders have 5 legitimate recieving threats on anydown, so Tampa's nickel backs will have to step up as well. Jerry Porter has a size advantage on Tampa's corners, which I think the raiders will have to exploit for a big play or 2. Garner is the X-factor out of the back field, and Gannon scrambling on 3rd down. The Raiders are good against the run, suspect against the pass, which suits the Bucs, since they can't run but throw well. The Bucs need to expoilt Charles Woodson. He simply can't come out of his breaks fast enough with his foot injury. They need to get at least one big play against him. Nither team will be able to run with much success so there well be a lot of oppurtunities for turnovers with that many balls in the air. The team that capitalizes on the turnovers with Touchdowns, not field goals will probably win. My gut tells me Tampa Bay, but then again I picked the Eagles this past weekend...
Bucs/Raiders pregame thoughts
- Thread starter Thick dog
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the nature boy
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ronde barber is going to have to play the game of his life again for the bucs to win.
Barber came up big, he is a very good corner. it shoul dbe interesting to see how well the Bucs corner blitzes work against the Raiders, with all the no-back sets the Raiders run, Gannon may be vulnerable on some of them. You have to figure the Raiders will have some sort of safety valve, probably Charlie Garner, to go to when they see the corner blitz coming. The Bucs ability to tackle Garner in the open field will also be a big key, as will their ability to get to Gannon while only blitzing 4 people...
the nature boy
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not to mention, Gannon can still scramble.
Alstott is a very good short yardage runner and great at picking up 3rd and 1's. His career rushing average is under 4 yards per carry, which is low by NFL standards he is good for 1-2 100 yard games per year. He is pretty much a situational short yardage back. He can occasionally be used to move the chains at the end of games but key fumbles have hurt his team and his team's confidanc ein him over the years. While he it is very impressive to watch him pound run through tackles and run over people from time to time, he is not enough of a factor to say that the Bucs have anything better than an average running game.
the nature boy
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agreed. their running game doesn't really scare very many defenses. it's a good compliment to their passing game, especially when they have the lead going into the 4th quarter.
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