Let's talk Tampa Bay and how they compare to us

[Gallagher]

As others have stated, their run D's stats were inflated by how bad their pass D was. With that said though, the additions of Goldson and Revis will make their secondary better. To move the chains against them, we're going to have to utilize play action and hit Olsen and Lafell over the middle of their defense. Smith will catch some balls against Revis, but he's not going to carry the team because both are elite players and are going to make plays. The more interesting battle will be Wright vs Gettis/Hixon/Ginn.(Assuming Lafell moves inside when we bring these guys in) If their secondary is as improved as people expect then these might be games where we have to lean on our running backs, which I think benefits us.

 

Our D vs. their O is pretty much the exact opposite situation. They won't be able to run up or pass over the middle on us, so if they beat us, it'll be on the outside. I'm not sure Davis or Beason have the speed to catch Martin on the edge, so a lot will rest on the tackling of our corners. How much we improve at the safety position will determine how much of a shootout this game will be. Vincent Jackson will get open on us, but if our pass rush is harassing Freeman as I'm sure they will be, I'm not sure that it will matter.

 

If you look at last year we were just not ready 1) for the season in general or 2) for their new play style the first time we played them, and choked in the end the second time we played them. We're both improved this year, but I predict that we sweep them this year, if for no other reason than because we have the better quarterback.

[MasterAwesome]

To be fair, although the Bucs having the #1 ranked run defense CAN in part be attributed to teams opting to pass all over them, they did technically also allow the fewest yards per ATTEMPT as well (3.5), which means they really did have a stout run defense.  You could see how good that run D was against us in both games, although obviously part of that was due to the dumb excessive read-option.

[SCP]

Im actually an ECU fan (from New Bern) and a Bucs fan as well.

Weird combo. I sense a pirate theme. Are you a swashbuckling pirate IRL?

I can't wait to play the Bucs this year. Should be good physical games. Muscle Hamster vs. Clark Kent is gonna be awesome.

[Beast_3000]

I think Tampa has drafted ok over the past 5 years but they have done a tremendous job managing their salary cap. In terms of roster superiority I would rate them a smidge above us with the exception of quaterback. The problem is quarterback is a huge part of team success. Freeman makes boneheaded mistakes over small stretches of the season. This will be Freeman's fifth season, 4th as a starter. In my opinion he is who he is at this point. He isn't going to show this huge jump in talent.

As long as Tampa has Freeman they will be mediocre at best.

[BigSombrero]

Weird combo. I sense a pirate theme. Are you a swashbuckling pirate IRL?

Haha nah, just coincidence.  Long story short, moved to NC when I was 8 during, Carolina's first season in the league, and started watching football.  Had no particular allegiance to NC so I went with the pirate team.  ECU was only 20 minutes from where I lived so I could go to there games.

 

I did spend a lot of time watching Carolina though due to friends.  I still remember watching Mark Bulger throw the Panthers into the Conf. Championship game in 2003 and how wild the celebration was.

[PiratePanther189]

Bucs series is definitely what I'm looking most forward to this year. That an Pats at home on MNF

[CRA]

Tampa D > our D

Our O > Tampa O

[BigSombrero]

I think Tampa has drafted ok over the past 5 years but they have done a tremendous job managing their salary cap. In terms of roster superiority I would rate them a smidge above us with the exception of quaterback. The problem is quarterback is a huge part of team success. Freeman makes boneheaded mistakes over small stretches of the season. This will be Freeman's fifth season, 4th as a starter. In my opinion he is who he is at this point. He isn't going to show this huge jump in talent.

As long as Tampa has Freeman they will be mediocre at best.

Mostly agree with this.  I am not a Free hater but by year 5, if you haven't realized your potential, you proobably won't.  I still hold out hope though because just when you're cussing Free out, he throws a laser between 3 defenders and blows your mind.  That's how he has lasted this long, flashes of brilliance.  If he got it together, we would be playoff contenders.  If the D line could stay healthy, we would be playoff contenders.  If Darrelle Revis can return to form, we would be playoff contenders.  If the o-line can go a season without half of them blowing out their knees, we would be playoff contenders.

 

A ton of potential on this team, more than most teams actually.  We potentially have the best secondary, we potentially have the best o-line.  We potentially have a top tier QB.  We potentially have a top 3 running back.  We potentially have a legitimately stingy front 7.  The problem is as it has been for the past few years with this team, potential doesn't mean anything in the NFL, only wins and loses.  And in that category, we haven't made the grade.

[vorbis]

i was very surprised to learn that tampa has not drafted ANY OL in the last 4 years. holy ****!  you don't see that often.  

[BigSombrero]

i was very surprised to learn that tampa has not drafted ANY OL in the last 4 years. holy ****!  you don't see that often.  

We have been lucky.  2 of our starters are UDFA (Donald Penn and Demar Dotson).  It looks like that is part of Mark Dominik's plan because I think we found another diamond in the rough this off season in Jace Daniels (OT from Northern Michigan).  Its hard to know how an UDR will pan out this early especially since he played against weaker college opponents but the tape on him is impressive.  Athletic tackle with a mean streak.  He's my call this year to be the guy to go from tryout to 53 man roster.

 

I believe we will go O-line early in the draft next season though depending on where we pick.

[Beast_3000]

We have been lucky. 2 of our starters are UDFA (Donald Penn and Demar Dotson). It looks like that is part of Mark Dominik's plan because I think we found another diamond in the rough this off season in Jace Daniels (OT from Northern Michigan). Its hard to know how an UDR will pan out this early especially since he played against weaker college opponents but the tape on him is impressive. Athletic tackle with a mean streak. He's my call this year to be the guy to go from tryout to 53 man roster.

I believe we will go O-line early in the draft next season though depending on where we pick.

Yeah I think the Bucs offensive line is the best in the division with your IR guys returning. It would be scary to see how many yards Doug Martin would have had with the two all pro guards in there last year.. New Orleans and Atlanta shouldn't have much of a chance against the Bucs run game. Hopefully our newly built front 7 will plug those holes and force Freeman to beat us....

[Beast_3000]

Yeah I think the Bucs offensive line is the best in the division with your IR guys returning. It would be scary to see how many yards Doug Martin would have had with the two all pro guards in there last year.. New Orleans and Atlanta shouldn't have much of a chance against the Bucs run game. Hopefully our newly built front 7 will plug those holes and force Freeman to beat us....

I'm not sold on Freeman doing that now that we have a season of game tape on him. Should be a tough series but I think we will win both games against the Bucs this year.

[weymouthst]

I think it all comes down to Josh Freeman. He just hasn't been able to break out and wow people yet, and I don't know if he ever will. He needs to step up. I look at the weapons he has, and they look like enough to get the job done.

 

Freeman seems like the 1 NFL guy that would come out as gay (not that there is anything wrong with that). Just throwing that out there. Something about his demeanor that doesn't scream leader, and I think he is soft. But hey, prove me wrong.

[Gallagher]

Tampa D > our D

 

I don't know about that. I think it's better to have a pass rush without a secondary than a secondary without a pass rush.