Buccaneers look to Top Titans

This Sunday, the Buccaneers return home after a tough loss to the Indianapolis Colts to welcome their next AFC South opponent, the Tennessee Titans and their outstanding defense.

That is exactly the type of game this is going to be, a defensive struggle. Tampa Bay and Tennessee have both dominated defensively this year, of course Tampa have had a few minor setbacks (see Indianapolis) while the Titans really haven’t loss big yet this year. This game is going to come down to who can force the more turnovers and more importantly for Tampa, stopping Vince Young from making plays. This game is going to showcase two very good quarterbacks who can move the pocket and make plays on the run.

 The big question for Tampa Bay is will their front four be able to apply pressure to Vince Young and force him to make bad decisions? I think they can and if they force Young to pull down the ball and run, they need to take advantage and hit him, make him think twice about running.  Tampa Bay has always had great success against Quarterbacks who scramble, look what they have done to Vick over the last couple of years.

 Another key is stopping that two headed monster at running back in Brown and White as they really make this offense tick.

 Not only does Tampa need to stop the run, but on offense they need to get their running game going. With Williams and Pittman gone, it falls on the shoulders of Earnest Graham and rookie Kenneth Darby and newly signed Zack Crockett, can Tampa make a running back by committee work? We will find out this weekend.

Jeff Garcia has done what the Buccaneers have needed to do, make good decisions, not turning the ball over, and managing the game. He and David Garrard are the only two quarterbacks left in the league who have not thrown an interception this year and I’m hoping he keeps that streak alive this week against the Titans. With all that said, I think this game could very well be the game of the week. Granted, Dallas vs. New England is a huge offensive game, this game is going to be a huge defensive game.

 Prediciton: Buccaneers 14, Titans 7.