Bucs at Saints: Fighting for Control of the (Mediocre) Division

To get you ready for week 13, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers/New Orleans Saints preview.

2007 Records:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-4 (1st in NFC South)
New Orleans Saints 5-6 (2nd in NFC South)

Last Game:

Bucs 19, Redskins 13
Saints 31, Panthers 6

When the Bucs have the ball: Or, shall I say, when Joey Galloway has the ball. If the Bucs want to win, they don't have to study a whole lot of game tape or devise a brilliant strategy. All they have to do is throw to Galloway. The ageless one has nine touchdowns in his last six games in New Orleans, and victimizes the New Orleans secondary more than maybe any other receiver in the league (considering how many receivers have victimized the Saints secondary, this is saying something).

Whether it's Jeff Garcia, Bruce Gradkowski, or whichever one of those McCowns plays for Tampa, it really doesn't matter. As long as they've got the cognizant skills to identify the large red "84" on the field, and the motor skills necessary to throw the ball within a 20-yard radius of that number, the Bucs should be OK. I mean, yeah, whoever's under center can turn around and hand the ball to Earnest Graham. But why mess with a proven formula?

When the Saints have the ball: The x-factor here. The rankings -- 15th in points, eighth in yards, fifth in passing offense -- look great on the surface, but the Saints' Jekyll-and-Hyde routine on offense has cost them a handful of games this year. They might be facing a depleted Bucs defense that could be missing Greg Spires, Brian Kelly, and Kevin Carter.

No matter what offense shows up, the Saints' run game is just bad. For all the talk about the playcalling, the lack of run-blocking, etc. (and those all play a part, don't get me wrong), Reggie Bush just doesn't seem to get it. He shows flashes of excellence but more often than not sequences of frustrating inability. Some believe he buys into the superstar talk without actually having earned it -- he's certainly got the most endorsements for any 500-yard back I've ever seen.

Marques Colston has really turned it on in his second year, he's proven himself legitimately as a top receiver in the NFL, and he gets his yards no matter. Whether the rest of the offense can keep up is something we won't know until gametime.

The Edge: The Saints need a sense of urgency. After starting out the season 0-4, with their backs to the wall, they responded by rattling off four wins in a row. Then everyone hopped back on the wagon and the Saints began to believe too much in themselves again. There was even talk about going 12-4. And then they faltered again. But this is their last chance. If they don't play with that do-or-die attitude, their season will be over. This is a playoff game for New Orleans, they're the desperate squad, and they need to play as such to make Tampa keep pace with them.