A Tanard Jackson INT would have gone a long way in Lambeau, but he’s likely unavailable.WEATHER ALERT:
The Weather in Green Bay, WI will be 36 degrees and sunny on Sunday, with a low the night before of 32, it should not be frozen. It was originally scheduled to rain, but current reports from yahoo weather show the rain hitting tomorrow with today an overcast day today and high of 46 low of 30. Saturday is 45 high, 32 low. Bucs should get out of town Sunday, because it turns to 27 at night. That’s overall a 50 degree drop from practice to game conditions.
This is the National Football League, and any team can beat any other team. It’s the reason why you don’t discredit the Bucs 10 wins last season. Anyone of those teams could have beaten the Bucs. We’ve seen this year the St.Louis Rams upset the New Orleans Saints when the black & gold did not go into the gateway to the west properly prepared. I’ve already detailed the intangible factors that could lead to an upset;
- Green Bay is in the middle of a 3 games in 11 days similar to what the Bucs did in 2006. They played Monday Night, play Sunday, then again on Thursday for Thanksgiving vs the Detroit Lions, maybe the only team that can score a lot of points to keep up (they keep telling themselves). If they are looking ahead, they will be ripe.
- The Bucs are coming off a humiliating defeat in which they were called embarrassing by the TV Announcer. They will be better mentally prepared.
- This Bucs team beat a similar Packers team in 2009 for Raheem Morris’ first win, so they have the mental blueprint.
But were not talking about intagables now, we need to talk about HOW the 4-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their almost dead last defense (31st) which is 28th against the pass and 29th against the run, can beat the Green Bay Packers who are a top 5 offense (4). Well for starters, Green Bay is ranked 21st rushing the ball, the Bucs are 24th. Their strength is Aaron Rogers arm, which is leading Green Bay to a 3rd ranked offense in passing scoring 28 TDs and only 4 interceptions. The Bucs will need to CAPITALIZE on any interceptions if they get any, and turn them into points. No dropped INTS Talib, Score with the ball Assante or Lynch. The Packers are not invincible, even though they do look that way at times with their 9-0 record, but Green Bay has the 28th ranked defense.
That’s right, 28th, and their strong suite is their Run Defense which is ranked 8th giving up 100.4 yards per game. The Bucs can run the ball if they stay in the game, but the Bucs best weapon is their Passing game, and Green Bay is ranked 31st!
You read correctly, The Packers have the 31st ranked Pass Defense, worst than the Bucs who are giving up 263 yard passing per game. Green Bay is yielding 284.3 and any talk of the Packers being unbeatable is simply the same old people who were spellbound by the greatest show on turf back in 1999, etc. The Bucs CAN use an effective passing game with some runs mixed in to keep Aaron Rogers on the Bench. Score on the Packers, and find a way to get the ball back, and the 4th quarter can be a big surprise. The Bucs have done it before, most notably in week 8 of 1998 when they took on the greatest offense ever put together- 1998 Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota came in undefeated and the Bucs ran the ball down their throats with Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn BOTH getting over 100 yards. The game went back and forth, but the Bucs took the lead first. The Bucs defense came up with its first stop in the 4th Qtr when they sacked Randall Cunningham and Mike Alstott scored to win the game. ’98 was not a very good year for the Bucs, they finished 8-8, and Minnesota went to the NFC Championship game with a 15-1 record, the lone loss coming at the hands of the Bucs. The Atlanta Falcons beat the Vikings in that Championship game with the game plan the Bucs used. But if the Bucs come out Sunday and play 2011 Buc Ball, game as usual, letting Green Bay score early, going up by two TDs early, forcing the Bucs to play catch-up, its not going to work.
IF however, big huge IF, the Bucs can FINALLY take that opening kickoff and go down field and score, they can give their defense the chance it needs to play from ahead. Geno Hayes returns to the lineup. While Hayes is inconsistent, this could be HIS week to shine. If everything plays right, Just right, the Bucs COULD upset the Green Bay Packers and come home with a signature win from the cold wintery Lambeau Field.
Raheem Morris is known for saying their are no moral victories. I disagree; losing to Green Bay by one score could go a long way for this team on the way to turning around this midseason crisis, and give the team a fighting identity heading into Tennessee to try to finish off the year at 8-8 on a positive note.
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