Game 17 Preview: Giants

Ok, no bullshit jokes this week. Just lists of positives and negatives.

Positives

• Arron Sears and Joey Galloway are healthy and will play
• The Bucs pass defense matches up well against the Giants passing game
• Jeff Garcia's scrambling on a heavy blitz team is a good formula for completing passes down the field
• Kevin Dockery, who is injured and does not have an interception this year, will probably be covering Galloway
• Josh Bidwell should help keep the Giants pinned back pretty far
• The Giants have weak kickoff coverage; Micheal Spurlock may fine some nice lanes
• Ronde was right; Eli is inconsistent
• The Bucs have a +15 turnover differential compared to the Giants -9
• The Giants running backs are all injured to a degree
• It's pretty hard to get emotionally charged for a second game after a big loss against New England

Negatives

• Cato June has missed two days of practice and may not be able to play with an ankle sprain
• Bucs seem to fall apart in the red zone on both sides of the ball
• The Giants physical running game goes at the heart of Bucs biggest weakness; Bucs defense may wear out in fourth quarter
• The Giants are 7-1 on the road this year
• The Giants are #1 in sacking the quarterback this year. I fear an Umenyiora or Strahan twist to expose John Wade
• Plaxico was right; Ronde needs to watch out for him. Burress is a touchdown machine

After looking at it and seeing just how crappy the Giants are in some areas, I feel better about the game than I did at the beginning of the week. I am no longer going to watch the game between my fingers as they shield my eyes like an Amish girl watching her first horror movie. No, I'm cautiously optimistic that the Bucs can advance to the divisional round where their reward for winning the wildcard will be a trip to either Dallas or Green Bay.