Thought I would post this in Fanposts. I am currently on a road trip with friends that will culminate in attending the Ravens game this weekend. Therefore this is a quick grading the units segment this week: 

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An offensive identity has officially been established in Tampa. The Buccaneers relied heavily on their offense to pull away to a 31-16 victory over the Carolina Panthers this past Sunday. Josh Freeman torched the Carolina secondary while the running game was effective enough to help the Bucs control the contest and move to 6-3 on the season. While it wasn't the most consistent performance we'll ever see, any time you can win by 2 touchdowns in the NFL it is an accomplishment. Let's wrap up Sunday's victory over the Panthers by taking a quick look at how each unit fared.

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Wait a minute: A close game, and we lost? Not possible. Sadly enough, the Buccaneers were unable to complete their fifth 4^th quarter comeback of the season and fell 27-21 to the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome. The Bucs spotted their opponents a 14 point lead in the first quarter, only to close the gap numerous times that eventually culminated in the game's final drive. However they were unable to close the deal and complete the fightback and fell to 5-3 on the season. There were plenty of talking points from the game against the Falcons, so let's take a look at how each unit fared in Sunday's narrow defeat.

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23 Points. That is how much the Bucs have won their five games by. Total. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continued their mastery of winning close games Sunday with a thrilling 38-35 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Josh Freeman was at the center of things again, leading the team back from a 4^th quarter deficit after letting a comfortable lead slip away in the second half. It was a topsy-turvy affair as both teams set their highs for points scored this year. Both teams had plenty of chances to win the game, but the Bucs survived and now hold a share of first place in the NFC South. Let's take a look at how each side of the football performed as the Buccaneers moved to 5-2 on the season.

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Six games into the season, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have surpassed their win total from all of last year. Now that is some progress. Everyone in the organization deserves credit for turning around the franchise in this quick a manner. Although a lot of work still has to be done, its nice to see the team competitive once again. And as fans, that's all we can ask for. We want to come home from a long week of work, sit on the couch, and watch the Bucs compete and be in contention for victories. Last year was a complete nightmare to witness, but there is now hope going forward that there will be meaningful football in January. The latest victory came in dramatic fashion, as the Bucs overcame a 14 point deficit a home to topple the St. Louis Rams. Let's take a look at how each unit fared in this nail-biting contest.

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Last week's performance was certainly not what we were looking for from our Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New Orleans put the Bucs in their place, and there is still a lot of work to do going forward to ensure 2010 is a successful season. Now that we can move on from the beatdown the Saints gave us, let's take a look at our next opponent, the St. Louis Rams. This team is similar in many ways to ours. First round QB, unproven head coach, a team attempting to re-establish themselves amidst an apathetic fan base after many years without a playoff victory following a Superbowl trophy, and a rebuilding effort done almost exclusively through the draft. Although the Rams have not looked great for long stretches during games, this is a team that could realistically be 5-1. I watched their game last week against the Chargers, and tried to pick out what they did and didn't do well. Below are a few things that you may (or may not have) known about our opponents on Sunday afternoon.

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It appears to be 2009 all over again for our Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The blowout count is now at two through five games, a decent improvement from the four beatdowns they incurred through five a year ago. They were destroyed for the second consecutive game at home to the New Orleans Saints who leapfrogged the Bucs into a tie for first place in the NFC South. There are a host of problems on both sides of the ball that leave more questions than answers going forward. It appears now that the defense could not stop B.J. Daniels and the collegiate team they share a stadium with, let alone a viable offense in the NFL. All three phases clearly struggled mightily against the defending Superbowl champions, which lowered our record to 3-2. Let's take a quick look at what went wrong in this latest home drubbing.

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Wow. Just wow. What a victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It's hard to even gather thoughts about such an emotional fightback in a game that could obviously have gone either way. The team showed a lot of heart in scoring 10 points with under two minutes to play, which was their second come-from-behind win of the season. The Bucs now sit at 3-1 after the first quarter of the season, something I'm sure everyone predicted in training camp. Let's take a quick look at how each unit performed and what can be taken going into the big game against the 3-2 New Orleans Saints.

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Week 4 was my favorite week of NFL action. Not that this was the best week of action on the field, but simply because it was the one Sunday out of the entire season that I did not have to worry about how the Buccaneers would fare. When fervently supporting a team to the degree I (and I’m sure most here) do, enjoying other big match-ups is often difficult to do. Considering the swoon the entire organization has been in since December of 2008, that is a long time between meaningful football for our Bucs. With that said, it is time to get the team back on the field. Tampa currently sits at 2-1, and has a big game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon. The Bengals are coming off of a frustrating loss to the Cleveland Browns and will look to improve on their 2-2 record. Let’s take a quick look at what Cincinnati does on both sides of the ball and what the Bucs need to do to pick up the victory.

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Hopefully Bucs Nation has recovered from Sunday’s annihilation by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The performance was not pretty by any means. The Buccaneers gave up at least 28 points on 7 occasions a year ago, and the defense appears to have major issues again in 2010. It appears that losing Tanard Jackson is going to be a major problem, as Charlie-freaking-Batch was able to chuck the ball deep down the field at will. Let’s take a quick look at what went wrong and what the Buccaneers can work on as they enter the bye week.

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Most of the focus around Bucs Nation will most likely be on the long term suspension of safety Tanard Jackson. This is a major blow to the secondary, which was a major problem in 2009. Although the team has gotten off to a good start, there are still signs that the secondary will sorely miss T-Jack. They have given up a big play in each contest so far (touchdowns to Mohammed Massaquoi and Steve Smith), something that has to be alarming considering the schedule is about to get much more difficult. That said, Bucs have "got what they got" so to speak, and must find a way to come together as a team.  The most important thing going forward is Sunday afternoon at 1 PM.  This week our Bucs take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are also 2-0. The similarities of course do not end here. Both squads have used dominating defensive schemes that propelled them to a championship (two in the case of Pittsburgh) over the last decade. Head coaches Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris were both defensive coaches on Tampa’s lone Super Bowl team, and both have had to deal with a fair amount of issues over the past 12 months. This Sunday, both will try to move their respective squads to 3-0. Let’s take a quick look at what the Steelers do on both sides of the ball, and what the Buccaneers will have to do to get the victory.

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Wow. 2-0. Not many thought the Buccaneers would be able to win consecutive games to start the season, let alone with such dominance on a certain side of the ball. This week's victory was particularly gratifying as it came against the hated Carolina Panthers. Let's take a quick look back on Sunday's win to see how each unit performed and what the team has to do better if they want to keep this momentum going.

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Winning in the National Football League is very difficult. Not that any of us need that fact reiterated, because our '09 Bucs only managed to win 3 out of 16 games. Sunday's triumph against the Cleveland Browns marks the first opening day win since 2005. Although it wasn't pretty, the team overcame an 11 point deficit in the second quarter and pitched a shutout in the second half. Let's take a quick look at how each unit (Offense, Defense, Special Teams) contributed to yesterday's win.

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Now that the season is finally about to begin, I thought it would be fun to take a break from the breakdown of the 2010 Buccaneers and take a little trip down memory lane. The 2002 Buccaneers captured the franchise's first and only Superbowl to date, and entered the 2003 season with nearly the entire roster in tact with aspirations of repeating. Many expected a letdown in week 1 with a very difficult road test, but the team passed with flying colors and looked well on their way to another dominating season.

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As August rolls on, the Buccaneers are looking forward to Saturday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. I am going to be honest: I do not watch many preseason games. It simply does not interest me. As much as I love the Buccaneers, individual positional battles between second and third stringers are not my bread and butter. That said, I am fascinated by these last two games, because of the major void that has been created at the QB position. The timing of Josh Freeman’s injury could not be worse from an organizational standpoint. Although word is Freeman will be ready to go against the Browns in week one, there is always a chance that he will have some sort of setback on his road to recovery. With only two weeks to pick up a veteran backup that would right the ship should Freeman be unable to complete the 16 game schedule in 2010. If Freeman is unable to go, it appears the frontrunner for the opening day start would be Josh Johnson. Behind him on the depth chart are 2^nd year QB Rudy Carpenter and undrafted rookie Jevan Snead. All three will see significant action against the Jaguars and Texans. Let’s take a quick look at this mini-battle and see what the Buccaneers currently have at the Quarterback position without Freeman at the helm.

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As training camp rolls along, one of the positions in focus for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is defensive tackle. This is primarily because the Bucs drafted two DT’s with their first choices in April’s draft. Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, both first team All-Americans in their final year at the collegiate level, are now assigned to become major contributors on a rebuilding franchise. Both will most likely be starters in week one, with Roy Miller and Ryan Simsrotating in and out. The question is however, what can we expect from the two in terms of production? Defensive tackle is one of the hardest positions to have an impact from as a rookie, and with the unit as a whole struggling in 2009, is it unfair to expect a great deal from either?

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Yahoo Sports is currently running a feature with the teams of the National Hockey League, highlighting the faces of each franchise that would earn them spots on a theoretical Mount Rushmore. I thought it would be fun to create one for the Buccaneers, with the assumption it will spark interesting debate.

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With Craig doing a great job with Dave regarding the 2009 Buccaneers, I would like to take a look at their chapter in Football Outsiders Almanac 2010 (my annual bible), and attempt to analyze what the Bucs have going forward. I’ll leave aside the errors of the chapter, which have been mentioned in previous posts. 

One of the first things that jump out to me is the mean win projection. 8.0 wins? A 77% chance of winning at least 7 games? I’m pretty sure every Buc fan would be overjoyed with that outcome. Of course, these are only pre-season estimations, and we all know by now that the line between success and failure in the NFL is excruciatingly thin. However there are a few signs of optimism that  point to the 2010 Bucs achieving this relatively steep win total.

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