Panthers Preview: Back in the Bay edition

The nice thing about being back in the bay is that it's a good ten degrees warmer and I'm surrounding by beautiful women. The down side is that my dad wants to go mountain biking with me.

If we can get over the whole oxymoron that is mountain biking in Florida, there are actually some really good trails in the bay area, and for those familiar with some of them I spent the day out at Boyette which is out by the lovely town of Wimauma (aka Little Mexico).

Problem with mountain biking is that I'm in the worst shape of my life. Been working a lot of nights with the new job which means not a whole of free time to exercise and be healthy. Throw in the Florida sun at 2 in the afternoon and there was a good chance I would have to been airlifted out of Boyette.

Fortunately, no helicopters were called in to save my useless ass, but unfortunately my mind and body have sapped of any energy or creativity. This means you are left with a bland and dull preview of tomorrow's game that is only fit to be read by Bolsheviks.

• Bucs defense will bring their big sticks tommorow afternoon. Sure, Carolina has traditionally had Tampa Bay's number, but playing at home should motivate the defense. If you like a lot of defense and little scoring (and who doesn't like 9 to 6 games?) this will be the game for you.

• The Panthers quarterback, Jake Delhomme can be forced into throwing interceptions. Delhomme is like Aaron Brooks sans the famous cousins, both NFC South QBs play Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to throwing interceptions. (the more I think about it the previous sentence made no sense but let's just move on shall we?)

• Steve Smith has been obscene this season, but he's also the only receiver Delhomme throws to so let's look forward to double coverage on Smith all day.

• Stats say the Bucs should shut down the Panther's ground game. By most statistical rankings the Bucs have the first or second rated rushing defense. Personally, I think their rushing defense is much worse than the stats show, and a good rushing team should be able to dominate the Bucs. Are the Panthers a good rushing team? They certainly have the talent for it although they have yet to run the ball consistently.

• The Panthers do have a good rushing defense with the front seven to back it up. They should have little trouble shutting down Pittman and a hobbled Carnell Williams.

• Which essentially puts the game on Simms' broad shoulders and narrow urethra. The Panther's weakness on defense is their secondary, so if the Bucs are going to win they need to be effective passing the ball. The easiest way to do this would be to establish the run, and then move the chains through the air. But as last week proves the Bucs are not about doing things the easy way.

Should be an exciting game tomorrow no matter which way you cut it. Bucs are the home underdogs in a divisional matchup. So as much as it looks like odds are stacked in Carolina's favor, the Bucs have the 12th man behind them and a chip on their shoulder.

And if you have any complaints about the little effort put into this post, remember the Bucs play the Panthers one more time this season, so I have one more opportunity to do a half assed preview.