2007-10-14

Gameday: Titans @ Bucs

Sticks preview can be found here.

Despite the commonly held belief I'm not a big fan of Vince Young, he's not nearly developed enough as a quarterback to pick apart defenses with his arm. What I would be worried about if I was Jon Gruden is the Titans defense, which is vicious, like sid vicious. I think the Titans have the better defense and what with the all the backs Gruden has been losing Jeff Garcia will have to carry the offense.

INJURIES
Bucs
Brian Kelly is doubtful to play. Kelly has been struggling with injuries all season, but thankfully Phillip Buchanon has been a diamond in the rough for the Bucs.

HALF TIME REPORT
It doesn't show up in the stats but Earnest Grahams having a really good game. On the last drive before half time he did a good job of reaching behind him to grab a bad pitch by Garcia when the play could have easily been a turnover in the Titans favor. He also made a very nice catch where he got hit as soon as he caught the ball. The Titans defense has done a great job of getting to Graham at the goal line which has limited his rushing yards but if Graham plays like this the rest of the season the Bucs will be in good shape.

Where has Joey Galloway gone? He has only two catches for 14 yards, and has disappeared from the offense the last few weeks.

FINAL SCORE
Bucs 13, Titans 10
Today's game was a great rebound win for the Bucs, especially considering how close it was the entire time. Credit the Titans defense for limiting a tough running Earnest Graham while constantly putting pressure on Jeff Garcia. But today's game is why Gruden wanted Garcia so badly in the offseason, if that had been Chris Simms or Bruce Gradkowski back there the Bucs would have lost today's game.

POSITIVES
+ Jeff Garcia w/ season high 274 passing yards & a HUGE game winning drive at the end
+ Matt Bryant, who has quietly been making game winning field goals
+ Bucs defense which swarmed a Titans team which loves to run the ball
+ Tanard Jackson doing his best John Lynch impression
+ Joey Galloway making the Titans secondary his bitch
+ Phillip Buchanon making people forget about Brian Kelly
+ Ronde Barber putting himself in position to make plays

NEGATIVES
- Ronde Barber THRICE failing to make the above mentioned plays
- Alex Smith's ankle injury on an offense which was already injury plagued
- Bucs defense on the Titans last touchdown drive
- Pass rush is a STILL a mess, Bucs sacks have all been coverage sacks

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