Gameday Tampa Bay
November 28th, 2010
Week 12
Bucs at Crows
Kickoff: 4:15 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally, DirecTV 711
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); Sirius Channel 90.
Weather: Per Accuweather.com, a sunny but a c-c-c-c-cold day along the Chesapeake Bay. Temperature at kickoff is expected to be 45 with little to no winds and will drop into the 30s as sun sets.
Odds: Per Bodog.com, Crows -7.5.
Outlook: When the Bucs prepared to play the Steelers, despite having an undefeated record at the time, Sirius NFL Radio host Ross Tucker said of the game, “Playing the Steelers is big boy football.” We all know how that turned out, don’t we? The Crows are a mirror-image of the Steelers. They play punishing, bruising, suffocating defense and an equally punishing ground game led by Ray Rice. Though the Bucs did a marvelous job in stuffing Frank Gore last week, who Joe believes is every bit as good as Rice, Joe has to wonder whether that was an aberration or the start of a pattern? Once again Joe believes for the Bucs to win they have to get the Crows out of their running game and to do that, get a lead early. But that could be a pick-your-poison scenario. The Crows have some damned good receivers, including Anquan Boldin who loves mixing it up with cornerbacks. If Aqib Talib is the Pro Bowl cornerback Bucs fans think he can, it’s time for him to winย battles with solid receivers, unlike the battles he lost when playing the Steelers and Saints. That too, will be a key. Joe knows that Bucs fans hate this, but until or unless the Bucs beat a team that has a winning record, there will be doubts and questions about the Bucs. Sure, the Bucs hung with the Dixie Chicks, but they didn’t get the job done; the Bucs lost. If the Bucs are to be taken seriouslyas a playoff contender, a win over the Crows on the road in the cold were be a major first step towards that goal. Oh, and with a win the playoffs are damned near a lock.
Video: NFL Films has its preview of the Bucs-Crows game. … the TBO.com gang looks as the smart moves by Team Glazer and the career of Ronde Barber. … good guy Stephen Holder and Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times discuss GMC and Cody Grimm. … slur-hurling Trey Wingo, Tedy Bruschi and Marcellus Wiley of BSPN break down the Bucs-Crows. … “The Professor,” John Clayton discusses how important this game is for the Bucs.
Fun facts: Crows coach John Harbaugh has never lost to an NFC opponent at home. … Terrell Suggs has three sacks in his last three games. … Josh Freeman has won six of his last seven road starts.
November 28th, 2010 at 11:08 am
The Ravens aren’t a mirror image of the Steelers. The steelers at least have decent corners. The Ravens don’t. Their pass rush usually prevents their secondary from being exposed but we all know J. Freeze is capable of offsetting a good pass rush with his escapability. If the O-line can help keep Freeman’s jersey somewhat clean this game is there for the taking.
November 28th, 2010 at 11:53 am
I agree gitarluvr, the Crows are a bunch of Steeler wanna bees. They are not near as complete a team as the Steelers are, and they can be had. Hey Joe, why not reconsider roll over ads on this blog ? They can make it hard to post if your mouse happens to pass over them.
November 28th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Hey, everyone watch for me on TV! I’ll be the tall, scrawny guy in the #7 Garcia jersey standing up alone in my section if the Bucs are winning, haha.
November 28th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Marshall Faulk is swigging the Buccaneers koolaid bigtime He got us getting in the playoffs and beating the Ravens 2day
November 28th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
@leroy…
just saw that, he was the only one on NFL network to pick us today, but also he is the only one who gave intelligent reasoning to his argument. Sapp/irvin/Mucc “this is too big a test” “this isn’t san francisco”
Faulk “ravens have CB problems and don’t like guys running up the gut on them” etc etc.
November 28th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Dear National ANAL-ists,
Start racking your brain for ways to characterize the Ravens as a bad team. You’re gonna need them, to support your baseless opinion of the Bucs, after we beat the birds today.
Bob Ley said today, “The Bucs have only played 3 contenders and were blown out by all 3.” Losing by an inch in Atlanta is now considered a blow out. Why don’t you hire people that actually want to watch sports before expressing thoughtless opinions?
November 28th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Bob ley is asleep all week til they call him on sunday morning to do 30 minutes of sportscenter.
November 28th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
re: Bob Ley.
He works for BSPN, what do you expect? Unless it’s the Cowboys, Patriots, Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Yankees, Red Sox, NBA and golf, they don’t know nor do they care.
It’s why Joe has BSPN blocked on his DirecTV along with the NBA-TV, LOGO and all the mindless shopping channels.
November 28th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Did anyone else see AFC Matchup on NFLN this week? The entire segment on this game was spent gushing over the Ravens. The Bucs barely got mentioned at the end and were dismissed as having no chance. God I hope they win this one…
November 28th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
@Joe and Simeon
Oh I wouldn’t expect anything less from them…
November 28th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Chris Mortenson said “Mike Williams blew under the legal limit of 8.0”
More moments of brilliance by the the bumbling idiots of ESPN.
Maybe if they took a break from sexually harassing the women in studio, they could get some facts right. I can’t wait until that ESPN book drops this summer.
November 28th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
45ห isn’t so bad because if it is sunny with no wind. That is actually pretty good weather.
November 28th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
BSPN Game picks:
ALL picked against the Bucs.
C’mon, man! Bucs, time to make them eat a little Raven (crow). It is not TOO bad if you grill it and used plenty of salt.
November 28th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Sapp should get on the wagon along with Faulk.Sapp has no faith in the Defense. Faulk is all over the Buccaneers giving mucho love to the Buccaneers and Freeman lets get it on Blount Object in t knife fight anyday
November 28th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Jacksonville is beating the NY Giants right now. Good.
Thinking about it, I’m not quite sure who I want to win the Falcons vs. Packers game. I mean, it might seem pretty obvious that you’re supposed to root against a division rival, but a Packers victory hurts us as well. If the Falcons lose, that gives us a better chance at still getting the division title. If the Packers lose, that’ll help us in getting the wild card spot.
November 28th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Joe you should start the chat early so we can talk about all the other nfc games! ๐ ๐ ๐ so excited for today
November 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Hey you guys, I plan on chatting more today. during the game. One question, in the past, my text has shown up in a smaller font and blue. Is that just the way it looks to the user, or did I do something wrong?
November 28th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Pete, that’s normal
November 28th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Thought so, but wanted to check, thanks HGO.
BTW, interesting name change/tweak, lol.
November 28th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Pete: The chat moderator (which is one of the Joes) has to approve your comments for instant posting. It’s a pre-moderation to keep the riff raff out. If I understand correctly, That means Joe has to read our comments, figure out who is who, and approve them while watching the game and taking notes.
It’s pretty hectic, and frustrating, but that is why it takes some time. I usually find the Moderator Joe, and send them an instant message saying “Hi, Joe…LET ME IN!!”
But with the number of people posting as ‘Caddy’ or ‘John McKays Ghost’, I can see it taking some time.
November 28th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
SkookumSmitty that is funny with the “Ghost People.”
I understand the need for moderation though
November 28th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Gavster:
WWWAAAYYY too much work.
November 28th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Here’s the scoop on CoverItLive chats:
The first 15 people to the party get unmoderated status. This is set up by the chat software which Joe has zero control over. If you are not one of the first 15, Joe has to approve each and ever message. You can imagine how difficult this can get if the chat gets busy and Joe is trying to watch the game (and juggle a laptop).
Sometimes, the messages are delayed. This is why. Not only is Joe trying to watch the game, he also has to answer the call of nature, get something to drink or eat, answer texts, Twitter… ect.
If Joe just monitored the chat, Joe wouldn’t see one play of the game.
November 28th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
SkookumSmitty:
Thanks for the explanation and having Joe’s back. ๐
November 28th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Makes sense Joe, thanks for the info.
November 28th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Joe, do you sleep? Your site is my home page. Live it. Anyways, I was listening to Ravens game day on my phone and they’re actually giving us quite a bit of respect. They had some pretty good commentary on Free, MWilliams etc. They still think they’re going to win, but it’s refreshing to actually hear intelligent banter as opposed to the national garbage out there. Thanks again for the effort to make this THE place for real Bucs fans to congregate.
November 28th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Meant ‘love it’ but perhaps ‘live it’ is appropriate as well
November 28th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
I’m sorry I just can’t seem to focus on the gameday info.. there’ a stunning redhead in a blue bikini that I think is checking me out
November 28th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I’m to be in Ecuador (wife’s homeland) for the ATL game and will be traveling home the day of the Detroit game, so this site will be huge.
My brother in law has DirectTV and and I think he gets the nationally televised NFL games, so I may be good for next Sunday.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
No matter who wins this ATL-GB game, we win as we don’t have to listen to Brian Billick for the rest of the day.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Man, the Falcons goal line D has been amazing!
November 28th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
TDDDDDD, YESSS
November 28th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Thanks for the live/love Al! ๐ Much appreciated.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
We really have that “no nobody believes in us” factor going for us today (except marshal faulk i guess but at least he’s willing to do his homework and recognize when a team has a legit chance) cuz we really could pull this out. I’d love to shut the haters up, especially the marionettes in Bristol.
Freeman has been good but not great recently. It could take him stepping it up today, and I hope he delivers. If we are gunna take it to the next level, HE needs to take it to the next level.