To get you ready for Week 14, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is your Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Houston Texans preview.
2007 Records:
Tampa Bay: 8-4 (1st in the NFC South-Last Week a Freakish Win Over the Saints)
Houston: 5-7 (4th in the AFC South-Last Week Yet Another Loss to the Titans)
This week, I asked George Billingsley Jr. (aka Crunkbuc4d1) writer and moderator from The Captain's Deck website to give some thoughts on the upcoming Bucs-Texans game, and I did the same for him. Here's our conversation:
What might casual NFL fans not know about the Bucs as of Week 14?
They are resilient. You always hear these so called NFL analysts praise the Colts for their ability to have success despite missing a few injured players. What do they think the Bucs have done? The Buccaneers have been playing shorthanded since before the season began. Do they remember who Mike Alstott is? How about Carnell Williams, Luke Petitgout, or even Chris Simms? This past Sunday in New Orleans, they started their third string quarterback and he was handing the ball off to the original third string running back.
Despite having twelve players on injured reserve, the Buccaneers have battled their way to an undefeated record in their division and the fourth best record in the conference. That's a feat that deserves some praise.
What has Bucs fans worried the most going into the game against the Texans?
Without question, it's the health of Jeff Garcia. Garcia has been such a great leader for this team all season. He has consistently made plays with his arm, feet, and mind. With the pass rushers that the Texans possess, there is concern that when one of our blockers misses his assignment, just how will Garcia's back react to taking a hit. I'm pretty sure that every Bucs' fan is wondering that in the back of their mind.
What question did I not ask you that I should have regarding the Bucs, and what is is the answer to that question?
This question and response came from Dan, our captain on the Captain's Deck.
Are the Buccaneers capable of beating the Cowboys or Packers in the playoffs?
The Buccaneers defense is capable of holding most offenses in check on a weekly basis, and is only getting better as the younger players (Ruud, Jackson, and Adams) are learning more and more.
The Green Bay Packers, are kind of unknown especially with Favre not at 100%, if Favre is healthy this is a damn good team. If we play them in Green Bay I think we would struggle to win.
Dallas' offense is scary, they have a two headed monster at RB. Not to mention Jason Witten and Terrell Owens. T.O. would be getting a lot more hype if the New England offense with Randy Moss' stats weren't in the league at the moment.
If either team can score more then 17 points, I think they will be able to win, so it is up to our defense to stop the likes of Favre and Romo.
If Garcia isn't available due to injury then I think either game would be a lost cause.
....
I'd like to thank George and Dan for their thoughtful answers and kind hospitality at The Captain's Deck. They asked me many fun questions at their Bucs fan website, and I think I gave a bit of a state of the Texans address over there. Please check out the continuation of our conversation in that segment entitled "Rep Your Squad: Texans_Chick" and a "Bucs@Texans Preview."
If you want to hear me talk Texans with the kind folks from WhatTheBuc.net internet fan radio, check out their Saints Post Game and Texans Pregame broadcast. It's a little later in the program, but there's lots of general NFL content before that part.
But enough of us, what do you think about this matchup? I know what I think, but I'm interested in your thoughts. What have we left out? What are your concerns with this game? I want to hear from both fanbases.
(Photo credits: bubble wrap arm, Jamie Squire; both QB pictures, Al Messerschmidt, all Getty Images)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-07-2007 @ 1:46PM
creekchub00 said...
First off thanks for all the love Steph! I think our starting QB will play a major factor if Garcia starts I think we win without much of a fight. If McCown starts the Texans could give us a bit of a fight, he will give your defense some opportunities to make plays and turn the game around IMO.
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12-07-2007 @ 5:39PM
scott crews said...
I know listening to these espn know it alls.talk about us loosing Carnell & Pittman,But they never say anything about Alstot.They also mentioned the stuggling Mcown at QB but if i saw the game right,he played pretty damn good.yeah he had a couple plays he wish he had back.But if i remember it right most every QB in the league says that after every game including there beloved Brady,Manning,& Farve.Espn needs to know also yeah the Saints got the division last year but they had soon forgot about the year before when Tampa went 11-4 and lost by a fumble returned for a TD by Washington towards the end of the game.and last year we had a lot of close games and we had many injuries but no depth the differance is this year is some depth a revamped Defense and a good QB that makes smart choices
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