kleese Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 The Redskins are a better team than the Bucs. I am sure of that. But that really doesn't mean much this week. I base my opinion on TWO factors: 1. I think the Redskins are slightly more talented than Tampa across the board. 2. I think we're more battle-tested and more dangerous to the better teams in the league. I guarantee you if you hooked up Mike Holmgren and Lovie Smith to lie detector test, they'd BOTH say they'd rather play the Bucs than the Redskins. So, I truly believe we're the better team w/ the brighter future in this match-up. HOWEVER, the Bucs earned their division title and they earned this game at home. If this game was in Washington, I'd say we have a 75% chance to win. Because it's in Tampa, it's much closer to 50%. We're on fire right now-- this team is rockin' and rollin', the chemistry is fantastic, and the Williams re-signing only galvanizes the team further. The last three wild card games Joe Gibbs coached (albeit a long time ago) were all easy wins, two of which came on the road. I am VERY confident about our team this week, but something is keeping me from thinking we have more than a 50/50 shot. Jon Gruden and Monte Kiffin. As good a combo as Gibbs/Williams is, Gruden/Kiffin is probably their equal-- and of course, they have won a Super Bowl together in the very recent past-- Gibbs and Williams have experience, but Gruden and Kiffin have more RECENT experience. Will Williams probably have our defense prepared to bounce back after Tampa trounced us the first time? You bet. We were w/o Griffin AND Taylor in the first game and there is NO WAY Simms and the Bucs move the ball on us like they did the first time around. By the same token, Bucs fans can feel the EXACT same way about Kiffin and their defense. We moved the ball with ease in the second half of that game-- but since then, the Bucs have locked it down, and I expect a much better effort from them this Saturday-- Kiffin will make sure of it. I am still waiting for Chris Simms to implode.... and waiting.....and waiting....the longer I wait, the more I start to believe that Gruden has found a magic touch and that Simms will only IMPROVE rather than regress. Give the kid credit-- he's played quite well down the stretch in pressure situations-- aided in no small part by the intelligence and creativity of his head coach. The Redskins are an extremely well-coached team riding a hot streak. But what people tend to forget is that the Bucs are also an extremely well-coached team riding a pretty hot streak of their own. I'm not posting this to be pessimistic, and I am in 100% agreement that the Redskins are a dangerous team right now. I think we have a GREAT chance to win this game. But I do think people around here are glossing over the Bucs a bit much. Some of their talent may be underwhelming, but those coaches are magnificent and they'll have their boys ready to go in front of a rowdy crowd this weekend. I fully expect the Tampa D to come out and slam the door shut on Portis early, and make Brunell beat them. Simeon Rice has destroyed us in the past, and you better believe Brunell will be under intense pressure--much more so than the first time we played. I see our offense struggling mightily early in the game behind a great shceme from Kiffin. On the reverse side, I do think our defense will do much of the same to Tampa. I think this could be on of those high intensity games where everyone is waiting for the one or two big plays to open the gates. Punting may not be a bad thing this Saturday, but turnovers could be disasterous. I see this game as a true slugfest: The Redskins have the slight edge in talent. Advantage, Skins The Bucs have the homefield edge. Advantage, Bucs The coaching staffs are equal: Advantage, push It's a dead even game in my mind. Just please remember who we're facing this Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gortiz Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I think a lot of you points are warrented, but I do question a few things. "The Bucs are on a hot streak" I really wouldn't consider their streak hot. They didn 't do great against a weak New Orleans team at home, they barely beat an Atlanta team that missed the playoffs, and they got shut out by New England 28-0. The skins are on a hot streak, the bucs are on a good run. "As good a combo as Gibbs/Williams is, Gruden/Kiffin is probably their equal" I don't think so, close in the match up, yes, equal? NO. Give Gregg Wiliams a perinianl pro bowl LB, Brooks, and CB Barber, and see what he does. Gruden still has a ways before he is considered equal with Joe. "I see this game as a true slugfest" I thought the same would be true of the last five games for the skins...I was wrong. My point, don't be surprised if we beat the bucs - convincingly. "I fully expect the Tampa D to come out and slam the door shut on Portis early, and make Brunell beat them." I'm sure that you and the bucs thought the same would happen the first game, 144 yards later portis had his best game. "It's a dead even game in my mind. Just please remember who we're facing this Saturday." This I do agree with, only because you really never know what is going to happen and who is going to show up ... Brunell can come out flat, Galloway could drop balls, I have theories and expectations for this game, but in the end? Who knows ... I don't know man, my take is Joe is playing this team for the second time, and that never bodes well for the opponent ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkowi Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Will Williams probably have our defense prepared to bounce back after Tampa trounced us the first time? You bet. We were w/o Griffin AND Taylor in the first game and there is NO WAY Simms and the Bucs move the ball on us like they did the first time around. By the same token, Bucs fans can feel the EXACT same way about Kiffin and their defense. We moved the ball with ease in the second half of that game-- but since then, the Bucs have locked it down, and I expect a much better effort from them this Saturday-- Kiffin will make sure of it. I am going to disagree with you there... from ESPN yesterday: http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=2278780&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3djoyner_kc%26id%3d2278780 "Most people believe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense is back to its old form. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's group finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in overall defense and No. 6 in rushing defense, but a closer look shows that this unit has some significant issues. The Buccaneers are allowing only 95 rushing yards per game, but there was a clear shift in their defensive performance after their Week 7 bye. In the six games preceding the bye, Tampa allowed only 62 rushing yards per game. A big part of this had to do with the competition, as Tampa didn't face a 2005 playoff team in those first six weeks. Over the course of the next 10 weeks, the Bucs allowed 113 rushing yards per game, a figure that would have ranked 18th in the league. It isn't just the overall yardage in these last 10 games that is disturbing. The Buccaneers allowed more than 140 yards in four of the games, and two of the sub 100-yard rushing games during this stretch came against the exhausted and injury-depleted New Orleans Saints." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gortiz Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Over the course of the next 10 weeks, the Bucs allowed 113 rushing yards per game, a figure that would have ranked 18th in the league. It isn't just the overall yardage in these last 10 games that is disturbing. The Buccaneers allowed more than 140 yards in four of the games, and two of the sub 100-yard rushing games during this stretch came against the exhausted and injury-depleted New Orleans Saints." that is huge, what a nice little nugget ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I am more worried about Brunell's health than TB's coaching staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkowi Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I am more worried about Brunell's health than TB's coaching staff. i agree...he didn't complete a pass in the last quarter and a half of the eagles game. granted we were grinding it out quite a bit... however, i am pretty confident that if brunell goes down ramsey can handle things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntotoro Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 The Bucs should be more worried about Joe Gibbs and Gregg Williams than the 'Skins about Gruden and Kiffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 How do you think they feel about facing Gibbs and Williams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig19406 Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I am going to disagree with you there...from ESPN yesterday: http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=2278780&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3djoyner_kc%26id%3d2278780 "Most people believe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense is back to its old form. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's group finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in overall defense and No. 6 in rushing defense, but a closer look shows that this unit has some significant issues. The Buccaneers are allowing only 95 rushing yards per game, but there was a clear shift in their defensive performance after their Week 7 bye. In the six games preceding the bye, Tampa allowed only 62 rushing yards per game. A big part of this had to do with the competition, as Tampa didn't face a 2005 playoff team in those first six weeks. Over the course of the next 10 weeks, the Bucs allowed 113 rushing yards per game, a figure that would have ranked 18th in the league. It isn't just the overall yardage in these last 10 games that is disturbing. The Buccaneers allowed more than 140 yards in four of the games, and two of the sub 100-yard rushing games during this stretch came against the exhausted and injury-depleted New Orleans Saints." Great post arkowi. I was thinking of this article as I read kleese's post. I went to pull the same article and saw that you had already done so. Kleese, I hear what you're saying (any given Sunday), but I just can't see this game being close. As long as we don't turn the ball over, I think we will win pretty convincingly. Who would you rather face on Saturday if not the Bucs? Of the teams that made the playoffs, I actually think they are the ideal team for us to face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Who would you rather face on Saturday if not the Bucs? Of the teams that made the playoffs, I actually think they are the ideal team for us to face. If we win, we're headed to Seattle. Not scary. We've played and beaten every team in the playoffs except Carolina. The Redskins have no team to fear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRS Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 yeah I had Bucs DST in my Fatasy team - first several weeks they did REALLY well for me. I started 5-0. Then I lost like 9 in a row... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Al Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I think that the real difference in this game will not happen as a result of Xs or Os. The coaches may make good calls and negate each other's strategy, but the desire of the players will make the difference. Has anyone else noticed that this team is WILLING itself to win games. We're watching a special team. Talent-wise, the Redskins may have a slight edge, but desire and heart give us a clear advantage. The worst thing that could have happened to the Bucs was to have pulled out that miracle victory during week 10. I watched the game again on Comcast and we actually gave the game to Tmpa. Walt Harris got burned as usual and the defense was subpar without ST in the defensive backfield. With Griffen and Taylor back in the lineup, this is an entirely different defense. On offense, the Redskins have a slightly different posture than from week 10. This team is extremely confident. The Skins will run first and pass second. During week 10, we hadn't yet found our true identity. It took that three game losing streak for the Skins to find themselves. This is the real difference. TB is in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 What worries me is Mark's health and the state of our cornerbacks. Rogers may be rusty and is still hurt. Springs is questionable and Harris has been uneven all year. Last game they torched us. We played them completely even last time. For some reason I think this game will be like the Chicago/Skins playoff game. Hopefully, we'll find someone to be DG for us again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenster95 Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 The one thing I really like is that, at the one key position in this game, QB, we've got someone playoff-tested, whereas the Bucs don't . . . that may turn out to be huge in the end . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkowi Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 The one thing I really like is that, at the one key position in this game, QB, we've got someone playoff-tested, whereas the Bucs don't . . . that may turn out to be huge in the end . . . dude, chris simms is a weapon, didn't you see their website intro!? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 In order to be the best we have to beat the best. I am not saying that TB is the best, but they were good enough to make the playoffs. They need to be just as worried, if not more, about facing us..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiswadeness Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 This is my super bowl. I've been hoping for this since we got robbed the first time. TB is over rated. They will taste our fury. GO SKINS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ComebackKing Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I think we have them beat in coaching staff. I love having Gibbs in the postseason this is what we were all hoping for when Gibbs came back... Let's enjoy every minute! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Kiffin may equal Williams but Gruden does not equal Gibbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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