Greetings once again, to all 3-1 Bucs fans. We are now going into week 5 and the Bucs sit atop the NFC South standing alongside the Carolina Panthers. Last week, we played a smash mouth game against the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers who? We held him to 165 yards, sacked him 3 times, and picked him off 3 times. Oh yeah, we also separated his shoulder and took him out of the game. Their star running back, Ryan Grant rushed 15 times, but for an anemic 20 yards. Man our defense looks good. Derrick Brooks was also named ‘Defensive Player’ of the week for his 3 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception, and 2 passes deflected, kudos to Mr. Brooks.

Our offense looks to be back in Bucs form as well. We are pounding the rock with a combo backfield of Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn. Graham has already rushed for 334 yards on 57 rushing attempts. For all you math geeks out there, that's a 5.9 yard per carry average. That is a spectacular average, and look for that to be consistent all season due to the fact, no one man can tackle this guy easily. It takes a team effort to bring the Florida Gator down. One topic of concern though is QB Brian Griese. Don't freak out, I know we've won the past 3 games he started, but he has thrown 6 interceptions in that time frame. The quickest way to get in Gruden's doghouse is to turn the ball over.

This week is the test. We play the Denver Broncos in Denver. They currently have the #1 rated offense, QB Jay Cutler seems to be throwing with ease to WR Brandon Marshall, and everyone else for that matter. Our secondary have their work cut out for them. Look for a lot of blanket coverage towards Brandon Marshall, since that seems to be the only way to contain him. Denver has also racked up an average of 137 rushing yards per game. However, they have not played us yet. We will not let their no-named backfield run on us like they have everyone else. This will let us key on the passing attack, which I think we can contain. Not stop, but contain.

To win this week, we will need to score some points. This will be a problem due to the fact that the Denver defense cannot stop anyone. They are currently rated the #31 defense in the NFL. My prediction, we play Buccaneer football and run the ball all over them and control the clock to keep their offense off the field. I'm looking for another 100 plus yard performance out of Graham this week with Warrick Dunn posting decent numbers as well. Overall, this will be a either a close game or a blowout (excuse the John Madden comment).

All in all, I think we advance to 4-1 this week. Tune in at 4:05pm on Sunday to find out with me.

See you next week,

Steve Fritch

SteveF@getinmagazine.com