That’s right, the Seattle Seahawks at 6-8 have just as much of a shot at the playoffs as the 8-6 Bucs! Thats because the ‘Hawks are tied for first place in the inferior NFC West, where if the 49ers can beat the Rams today, and If our Bucs beat the Seahawks, it will guarantee that the NFC West will be won by a team with a 7-9 record, because the Rams play the Seahawks in week 17. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay can go 9-7 and miss the playoffs. The Bucs will be eliminated today if they lose, and they will also be eliminated if the Giants and Saints win this week. New Orleans plays Atlanta Monday Night. The Falcons QB Matt Ryan hasn’t lost in two years in Atlanta, and if the Falcons can beat the Saints, while the Bucs beat Seattle, that will set up a one game virtual playoff in week 17 as the Bucs will travel to New Orleans, where the winner would advance to the playoffs. Tampa Bay would win out over the Saints due to common opponents tie breaker. The Saints lost to Cleveland and Arizona, while the Bucs beat those teams. Considering both of these teams came into the league at the same time, they have only played each other 10 times in 35 seasons. Seattle has the advantage 7-3, but the Bucs have actually won the last two meetings, in 2008 and last year. The win over the Seahawks last year was a pivotal one, with it beginning the turnaround for Raheem Morris. The Bucs have had 8 Head Coaches, and only Tony Dungy had a non losing season in his second year; that is, and now Raheem Morris. If the Bucs win today, they will make 2010 a successful winning season for the 2nd year coach with the NFL’s youngest team. STATS STATS STATS!- When the Bucs take the field, they will have the league’s 20th ranked offense (9th rushing, 19th passing) go up against the Seahawks 29th ranked Defense (21st Rush D, 29th pass D). When Seattle has the ball, their 27th offense (31st rushing attack, 16th passing) will go up against the Bucs 20th Defense (29th rush D, T11 Pass D). These teams score about the same amount of points, Bucs 20.0 per game, Seattle with 19.9! However points allowed is in the Bucs favor, as they give up only 20.7 points per game, while Seattle gives up 25.9 or 26 if you round up. The Seahawks sack the QB better, with 32 on the year to the Bucs meager 20. But the Bucs only give up 25 sacks so far, to Seattle’s 32. You wont find a bigger discrepancy between these two teams than with the way they turn the ball over. Seattle DOES it alot, ranking 30th with a -9 differential, to the Bucs +8 which is 6th in the NFL. Some other quick stats for the Bucs, where they rank the best in the NFC, rushing yards per attempt 4.5 (3rd), Passing offense % of passes intercepted 1.4% (1st), 3rd down efficiency 42.1(4th), 4th down efficiency 69.2% (4th). Special Teams are in the Bucs favor too, with a punt return average against the Bucs only 7.6 yards, 8th in the league, and Kick Off Returns against 6th in the NFL. Josh Freeman is 5th with only 6 interceptions, 17th in TDs thrown, 11th with his 4th qtr passing rating of 94.5, and tied for first place with 3rd and 1 rushing, going 6 of 6. Some other players; Adam Hayward is tied for 11th in defensive fumble recoveries, Mike Williams is 18th in receiving yards, and needs only 120 yards to eclipse 1,000 on the year. LeGarrett Blount needs 224 yards for a 1,000 rushing season even though he did not become a regular back until week 6. KEEP AN EYE OUT ON- Ronde Barber who needs one more sack to pass Broderick Thomas for 7th on Bucs sack list (By a corner back)! LeGarrett Blount needs one more rushing TD to tie Lars Tate and Errict Rhett for most rushing TDs by a rookie. He also needs 202 yards to pass pass Warrick Dunn in 1997 for 3rd most rushing yards by a rookie. Blount needs 31 more carries to pass Jerry Eckwood for 4th most carries by a rookie. Eckwood was a rookie in 1979 and complimented the late Ricky Bell. Josh Freeman needs, and will get, 41 more yards to get his first 3,000 yard passing season. Josh has 28 passing TDs with the Bucs, and needs 4 more to pass Brian Griese for no.7 on the Bucs all time list. Mike Williams needs 8 more receptions to pass Mike Alstott for second most receptions by a rookie. Williams needs one more TD to pass Lars Tate for most TDs by a rookie. K2 needs 5 more receptions to pass Jackie Harris for 4th place, and needs 147 more yards to also pass Harris for 4th place in that category too. If Winslow gets 3 more TDs, he will tie the late Ron Hall for 5th. You can read more info like this by downloading the full game program PDF just by clicking on the photo up top of this page. SPEWING ON THE SIDELINE– will be Seahawks Offensive Line Coach Art Valero who blasted former Bucs HC Jon Gruden after he left the Bucs. Here are some other connections between the two teams/areas… DIRECT CONNECTIONS- • Seahawks Vice President of Football Administration John Idzik spent 11 seasons (1993-03) with the Buccaneers, joining the organization in 1993 as pro personnel assistant. He was elevated to Director of Football Administration in 1996 and later Assistant General Manager in 2001. • Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris coached defensive backs at Hofstra (2000-01) while Seahawks Defensive Line Coach Dan Quinn was the defensive coordinator (2000). • Seattle Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Bates began his coaching career with the Buccaneers, serving as the offensive quality control coach from 2002-03, helping the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXVII, and then worked as the Buccaneers assistant quarterbacks coach in 2004. • Buccaneers Defensive Backs Coach Jimmy Lake played collegiately at Eastern Washington University, and was a four-year letterman from 1995-98. Lake worked as an undergraduate assistant at EWU in 1999, then as a secondary coach from 2000-03, before moving on to become the University of Washington’s cornerbacks and nickelbacks coach for the 2004 season. • Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson is a Richland, Washington native, and played quarterback at Spokane Falls Junior College from 1981-82, and at Central Washington University from 1983-84. Olson got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Washington State University from 1987-89, and later returned to Central Washington as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 1990-93. Seahawks Defensive Coordinator Casey “Gus” Bradley served as defensive quality control coach in 2006 before being promoted to the Buccaneers linebackers coach from 2007-08. • Buccaneers Eastern Region Director of College Scouting Mike Yowarsky spent four seasons in the same capacity with the Seahawks from 2006- 09. • Buccaneers Combine Scout Tony Kinkela is a native of Graham, Washington, and attended Washington State University, graduating in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. • Seahawks Defensive Assistant Mike Phair spent three years in the Buccaneers’ scouting department from 2002-04. • Buccaneers Wide Receivers Coach Eric Yarber served as the offensive quality control coach for the Seahawks in 1998, and worked as the wide receivers coach for the University of Washington from 2005-06. • Seahawks Assistant Offensive Line Coach Art Valero spent six seasons (2002-07) with the Buccaneers as tight ends coach from 2002-03, running backs coach from 2004-07 and assistant head coach from 2006-07, helping Tampa Bay capture Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002. • Seahawks Wide Recievers Coach Kippy Brown spent one season as the Buccaneers running backs coach in 1995. • Seahawks Quarterbacks Coach Jed Fisch worked as a graduate assistant for the University of Florida from 1999-2000. • Seahawks LB Matt McCo
y played for the Buccaneers from 2008-09. • Buccaneers LB Niko Koutouvides played for the Seahawks from 2004-07. • Buccaneers DL Michael Bennett was a member of the Seahawks in 2009. • Buccaneers DT Frank Okam was a member of the Seahawks earlier this year, before being signed by the Buccaneers. • Seahawks DT Colin Cole is a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, native, and attended South Plantation High School. • Seahawks CB Kennard Cox is a Miami, Florida, native, and attended Miami Killian High School. • Seahawks CB Kelly Jennings played collegiately at the University of Miami from 2001-05, and is a Live Oak, Florida native. • Seahawks RB Leon Washington played collegiately at Florida State University from 2002- 05, and is a Jacksonville, Florida, native. If you want to download the whole pdf program where all this info and more comes from, just click the photo up top! GO BUCS!
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