Tampa Bay v. Kansas City

by John Michael

1-3. A quarter of the way through the NFL season, this is where the Buccaneers stand. Despite the change in leadership under Greg Schiano, despite a promising showing by the defense against Carolina in Week One, and despite keeping every game within one score so far, the Buccaneers have only managed to win one game. This week, with the Kansas City Chiefs coming into town, presents the best opportunity for the Bucs to end their losing streak and possibly right the ship for the remainder of the season. But like any week in the NFL, victory does not come easy.

The best looking backup QB this side of Tim Tebow

Kansas City (1-4) limps into Raymond James today after suffering the loss of their starting quarterback, Matt Cassell, to a concussion, handing over the offense to former Notre Dame star, Brady Quinn. Quinn has not started a game in the NFL since the 2009 season with the Cleveland Browns, and had not played a down since until Cassell went down last week.


With Quinn at the helm, the Chiefs will look to rely heavily running attack behind running back Jamaal Charles, a solid player who is having quite an insurgence after suffering a season-ending injury last year. Charles is averaging 5.4 yards per carry on 103 touches, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and one in the air. Kansas City is second in the NFL in rushing yards averaging 180.8 yards, largely due to the attack of Charles.

Kansas City’s defense is nothing to ignore either. Though they have allowed a lot of points in the early weeks, the Chiefs’ defense only let up 9 points last week to a Baltimore offense that many are considering as Super Bowl contenders. They are a top 10 team in passing yards against (205.8 yards) and have combined for 12 sacks.

Adderall... He was suspended for adderall
like some sort of college junkie.

Tampa Bay enters this game with problems of their own, however. The secondary has been awful, surrendering a league worst 345.3 yards per game in the air. With Aquib Talib out for four weeks with a suspension, and being replaced by E.J. Biggers, this secondary situation could possibly become worse. The Josh Freeman led offense has largely struggled to produce positive results, letting opportunities slip right through their fingers (literally, at times) to find victories. Perhaps the only slimmer of hope has been the run defense, ranked fourth in the league at 73.8 yards per game, but with such a horrible secondary, teams aren’t wasting their time with the run game.


Keys to Victory:


Shut down Jamaal Charles. Today matches up one of the top running backs against one of the top run defenses. Something’s gotta give. The Chiefs will try to establish their run game early with Quinn under center, so it’s important for the Bucs to prove early on in the game that Charles will have a difficult time running at his will. Shutting down the run game will cause a switch to passing the ball, which brings us to the next key.


Attack Brady Quinn. Quinn is starting for the first time in 3 years, so unless he has a heart of stone (he doesn’t) he will be nervous. Mistakes by Quinn are what caused him to be benched for all these years. Apply pressure, knock him down, cause Quinn to make throws he doesn’t want to make, create turnovers. Taking away any confidence that Quinn may have early on will give the Bucs an advantage if they execute the final key.


Take advantage of mistakes. Quinn will make mistakes, as well as the rest of the Chiefs’offense. Part of the Chiefs demise this season has been their turnovers, which sits at +12 going into their match-up with the Bucs. The Bucs must use these opportunities to get into
the end zone and put points on the board, which rests in the hands of Josh Freeman.



The Buccaneers have grown drastically since last years’ debacle, but still have not had much success in clinching victories. Today’s game is as close to a must-win game as the Buccaneers have faced. A victory against the Chiefs could provide that boost of confidence the Bucs need for the rest of the season - a loss could be detrimental. I believe the Buccaneers get that must-needed win today in a close game against a Chiefs team weakened by the loss of their starting quarterback. Whether the Bucs build upon it or not will remain to be seen.


John Michael's prediction: 

Tampa Bay wins 24 - 21