Week 14 Scouting Report: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Roster, Analysis, Injuries)

[KDawg]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5) @ Washington Redskins (5-7)

FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland

1 PM

FOX

Bucs Coaching Staff:

Head Coach: Raheem Morris

Offensive Coordinator: None listed… Tim Holt is listed as “Offensive Assistant”

Defensive Coordinator: Raheem Morris

Special Teams Coordinator: Richard Bisaccia

Team Stats:

Skins:

Offensive 3rd down Conversions: 28.5%

Defensive 3rd down Conversions: 33.9%

Yards Per Play: 5.4

Yards Per Rush: 4.1

Yards Per Pass: 7.2

Sacks Allowed: 36

Sacks by Team: 22

Field Goals: 21/29

ToP: 29:00

Turnover Ratio: +/- 0

Bucs:

Offensive 3rd down Conversions: 42.1%

Defensive 3rd down Conversions: 43.5%

Yards Per Play: 5.3

Yards Per Rush: 4.4

Yards Per Pass: 6.7

Sacks Allowed: 21

Sacks by Team: 18

Field Goals: 14/18

ToP: 30:58

Turnover Ratio: +9

Statistical Leaders:

Passing

Skins:

Donovan McNabb: 253/437, 3149 yards, 12 TD, 15 INT

Bucs:

Josh Freeman: 213/365, 2442 Yards, 16 TD, 6 INT

Rushing:

Skins:

Ryan Torain: 91 carries, 391 yards, 3 TD

Bucs:

LeGarrette Blount: 134 carries, 599 yards, 5 TD

Receiving:

Skins:

Santana Moss: 64 receptions, 802 yards, 3 TD

Chris Cooley: 60 receptions, 664 yards, 2 TD

Anthony Armstrong: 231 receptions, 642 yards, 2 TD

Bucs:

Mike Williams: 51 receptions, 769 yards, 7 TD

Kellen Winslow: 50 receptions, 506 yards, 2 TD

Cadillac Williams: 37 receptions, 273 yards, 1 TD

Tackles:

Skins:

LaRon Landry: 85 tackles (19 assists)

London Fletcher: 102 tackles (37 assists)

Rocky McIntosh: 83 tackles (29 sassists)

Bucs:

Barrett Ruud: 87 tackles (23 assists)

Geno Hayes: 58 tackles (5 assists)

Ronde Barber: 58 tackles (11 assists)

Sacks:

Skins:

Brian Orakpo: 8.5 sacks

Bucs:

Stylez White: 4.5 sacks

Interceptions:

Skins:

DeAngelo Hall: 6 picks, 1 TD

Bucs:

Aqib Talib: 6 picks

Bucs Key Players:

Ronde Barber, CB: Barber is a wiley veteran who still has plenty of gas in the tank. He’ll likely be matched up with Santana Moss all game long. Expect Santana to be limited.

LeGarrette Blount, RB: Blount is a rookie who has played extremely well for Tampa Bay. He’s taken touches away from veteran running back Cadillac Williams and looks to have supplanted him long term. Blount is a hard runner who gets downhill. Exactly the type of runner the Redskins defense struggles with.

Josh Freeman, QB: Freeman has thrown 16 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. His yard numbers aren’t ridiculous, but he’s carrying an 86.4 rating into the game. Only averaging 6.7 yards per attempt, but he doesn’t make many mistakes. Quality young quarterback.

Gerald McCoy, DT: McCoy has 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. He was an early pick for Tampa Bay and while he’s not putting put Suh-like numbers, he’s playing solid football. Will demand respect inside versus our weak interior.

Barrett Ruud, LB: Ruud is a guy that Raheem Morris seems high on. Makes good reads and gets to the football. He’s got a forced fumble a pick and a sack to go along with his high tackle numbers. Underrated linebacker.

Mike Williams, WR: Williams and receiver Aurelious Benn are both rookies and help to form a young nucleus on the offense with Blount and Freeman. Williams has put up extremely solid numbers and is a major threat inside the red zone.

Kellen Winslow, TE: Winslow is a reliable tight end for Freeman to find. He can make plays given the opportunity. Definitely used as a safety net.

Bucs Injury Report:

per rotoworld.com:

Aqib Talib, CB (hip) {Out for Season}

Jeff Faine, C (trcieps) {Out for Season}

Davin Joseph, G (foot) {Out for Season}

Cody Grimm, FS (leg) {Out for Season}

Analysis:

Tampa Bay is an intriguing team. Their turnover ratio being +9 is in large part due to quarterback Josh Freeman and his ability to limit mistakes. Our turnover ratio falling to 0 is in large part due to our defense’s inabilities to force turnovers at this point in the year and our offense’s inability to hold onto the football. This is a major concern going into this game with Tampa. If we continue with our struggles with getting or holding the football, Tampa Bay will have a very good shot at winning this football game.

Tampa is in the thick of the playoff race, although they are trailing two extremely good football teams in Atlanta and New Orleans and probably won’t make the playoffs this year, they have a very good foundation to build off of. As a whole, their roster is extremely young. They have just three players born in the 70’s (CB Ronde Barber, DE Stylez White {who is their sack leader} and TE John Gilmore). They have 46 players born in 1984 or later. Forty-six. They are VERY young.

The injury that put Aqib Talib on injured reserve is a major blow to the team. He’s their interception leader. McNabb needs to find a way to get the ball to Anthony Armstrong early and often. I believe Moss is going to be matched up with Barber for a good portion of the game, and while Barber isn’t a shut down corner at this point in his career he can capitalize on mistakes.

Chris Cooley and Fred Davis need to play major roles in our gameplan this week. I believe we can get the ball to them in the middle of the field and towards the flats. But that’s one issue McNabb had last week. Several times we had receivers running wide open in the flats and they weren’t targeted and instead a poor pass was thrown into double coverage. He needs to hit the check downs this week.

Our running game is going to most likely have to be a mix of off tackle runs combined with misdirection. I’m not sold on our ability to go up the middle with a gap stuffer like McCoy in there. Whether it’s Davis, Torain or Williams we will need to find a way to get a running game going. Davis may fit best for the off tackle stuff. If Torain is healthy, I like our chances of running up the gut a bit more. His powerful style aids in that aspect. That said, our leading rusher is still Ryan Torain with just 391 yards. We need to find a rushing attack.

Defensively, Mike Williams is going to give us problems. I’m imagining DeAngelo Hall will be matched up with him, but Williams height is an issue and Freeman doesn’t have any kind of tendency to force the ball into a receiver. Aurelious Benn, who isn’t putting up the numbers Williams is, and Sammie Strougther could have a field day against our number two corner if Rogers doesn’t play. If we play off coverage like we have been, the Bucs passing game is going to be difficult to stop.

But, they may not need to pass the football. Their offensive line isn’t the greatest, but the brute power of Blount attacking our weak rush defense is going to be a major problem. We must stop the run and force them to throw the football. It’s a necessity. Cadillac Williams is no slouch at all, either, and Earnest Graham who is their starting fullback can run the ball effectively as well. Cadillac is also one of their top three leading receivers, so look for the Bucs to try to get him involved in the offensive game plan.

The best way for us to win this game is ball control. The Bucs are not a lot better than us. They do however have a much more cohesive team, and they are using their pieces very well. Stop the run and force them to pass defensively, be effective running the football offensively are the keys to this game. If we can do both, we can win this game. If not, expect a close game in which Tampa has the advantage.

[KDawg]

Note to self: Stop doing these

[authentic]

Note to self: Stop doing these

don't take it personal bro....Everyone is still caught up in the Fat Al fiasco.

-In short, i think if we are going to win this game we will need to take advantage of the injuries to thier secondary. Unfortunately, they can say the exact samething about us....But for some reason i see this as a winnable game. The Bucs are a nice, young team, but they aren't as overwhelming as some of the other teams we've faced.

[KDawg]

don't take it personal bro....Everyone is still caught up in the Fat Al fiasco.

Nothing was taken personally. I can save a lot of time by not doing these. So if no one is going to reply, I assume no one is reading No biggie either way.

[Dukes and Skins]

Nothing was taken personally. I can save a lot of time by not doing these. So if no one is going to reply, I assume no one is reading No biggie either way.

Trust me people are reading. I personally wait for these every week KDawg keep it up man

As for your scouting report I think you make a valid point at the end we need to beat them on ball control, almost similar to the Tennessee game where we ran 90 something offensive plays and found a way to control the ball through running and were able to come out with a win. We need to play a game like that to keep Freeman and that young offense off the field

[Travdaskin]

We can beat them but we gotta establish a running game early and often. McNabb having to pass recently has been disaster. Hopefully Torain plays this game...

[youngestson]

Nothing was taken personally. I can save a lot of time by not doing these. So if no one is going to reply, I assume no one is reading No biggie either way.

Sorry, I should have offered my thanks long before.

I read them every week, but seldom have anything constructive to add so I keep it zipped.

[MusicCitySkin]

This game is a true test of young versus old. We're the oldest team, and they're the youngest. Unfortunately, we probably get crushed. I don't see this team competing with any team not named the Cardinals or Panthers.

[skinsfan4life7]

This game is a true test of young versus old. We're the oldest team, and they're the youngest. Unfortunately, we probably get crushed. I don't see this team competing with any team not named the Cardinals or Panthers.

Are you kidding me? The cardinals would roll our asses with Skelton as the QB as bad as our defense is playing.

As for this week, we will not be having a very good home field advantage, not a lot of people are expected to be at the game. I agree we do need to establish a running game, it has hurt us that we fall behind teams so quickly that we are not able to stick with the run and therefore must have McNabb pass 45 times a game. I believe we should pick to receive this week if we win the toss. Get our offense going and set the tempo of the game that we want to play. We can't fall behind and play catch-up. McNabb will get killed and that's not what our team is built for.

I look for the Skins to keep it close on Sunday but to lose 17-13

[visionary]

I see the Bucs have signed a center.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81cb7fa5/article/bucs-sign-c-raiola-to-boost-injurydepleted-offensive-line?module=HP_headlines

Yay for them.

[darrelgreenie]

Chris Cooley and Fred Davis need to play major roles in our gameplan this week. I believe we can get the ball to them in the middle of the field and towards the flats. But that’s one issue McNabb had last week. Several times we had receivers running wide open in the flats and they weren’t targeted and instead a poor pass was thrown into double coverage. He needs to hit the check downs this week.

Fred Davis should be a big part of the gameplan every week but rarely plays after the start of the game.

But, the TE should be open against the Cover 2.

I wouldn't hold your breath on McNabb throwing to the flat, i've noticed his aversion to that route all season.

He's always seems to turn down the slant portion of the slant-flant or curl-flat route combo to the extent that i'm surprised when teams even bother to cover it.

I'm convinced the reason why Armstrong dropped it 2 weeks ago against the Vikings was because he was in shock that McNabb threw it.

I know people may not understand where i'm coming from but it bothers me that Kyle hasn't been to make McNabb throw that pass.

Our running game is going to most likely have to be a mix of off tackle runs combined with misdirection. I’m not sold on our ability to go up the middle with a gap stuffer like McCoy in there. Whether it’s Davis, Torain or Williams we will need to find a way to get a running game going. Davis may fit best for the off tackle stuff. If Torain is healthy, I like our chances of running up the gut a bit more. His powerful style aids in that aspect. That said, our leading rusher is still Ryan Torain with just 391 yards. We need to find a rushing attack.

I would rather see Keiland as Mr.Inside and Davis as Mr.Outside i hope that Mike makes Torain earn his by waiting and only if Kei and Davis aren't effective.

You're running gameplan sounds like what we should have been doing all seasonm, but alas we need to actually try to run the ball for that to happen.

If we don't have 25+ carries this week i'll be convinced that Mike and Kyle realtionship is stopping Mike from putting his foot in.....