Game Preview - Week 13: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay: The Bucs are coming off an ugly win over the Redskins and may be without their quarterback against divisional rival New Orleans. Jeff Garcia was hurt on the first play last week and although he did return, he threw just four passes more passes before exiting for good. Bruce Gradkowski or Luke McCown would start if Garcia can't go. For his part, Gradkowski went 9 for 19 for 106 yards, not inspiring confidence in the process. This outcome of this game is simple… if Garcia plays it's a virtual coin toss, if he sits… the Saints win easily. Considering Jon Gruden's demeanor and reading between the lines, I don't expect Garcia to play; as a result, the Saints close the gap by one game.

Start: RB Earnest Graham
Consider: N/A
Sit: WR Joey Galloway, TE Alex Smith, QB Jeff Garcia, WR Ike Hilliard, TE Jerramy Stevens

New Orleans: The Saints had a bye last week… easily taking care of the pitiful Panthers, moving to 5-6 on the season, two games behind division leading Tampa Bay. Bothered by a shin injury, Reggie Bush played sparingly last week (9 carries 32 yards) allowing Aaron Stecker (13 carries 42 yards) and Pierre Thomas (12 carries 32 yards) increased playing time. Bush has participated in practice this week and should be ready to go at full strength. The Saints might be well advised to run the ball as Tampa's secondary is among the best only giving up 8 passing TDs through 12 games. The Saints were blown out by the Bucs in Week two 31-14.

Start: QB Drew Brees, WR Marques Colston
Consider: RB Reggie Bush, K Olindo Mare
Sit: WR David Patten, TE Eric Johnson, WR Devery Henderson, TE Mark Campbell

Krueger's Rankings/Projections

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 28	Bruce Gradkowski	Pass: 175, 0 Rush: 5, 0
RB 5	Earnest Graham	Rush: 105, 1 Rec: 5-35, 0
WR 35	Joey Galloway	Rec: 3-50, 0
WR 59	Ike Hilliard	Rec: 4-45, 0
TE 24	Alex Smith	Rec: 3-25, 0

New Orleans Saints
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 9	Drew Brees	Pass: 265, 2 Rush: 0, 0
RB 16	Reggie Bush	Rush: 65, 0 Rec: 5-40, 0
RB 39	Aaron Stecker	Rush: 20, 0 Rec: 3-20, 0
WR 17	Marques Colston	Rec: 6-80, 1
WR 29	David Patten	Rec: 5-55, 1
WR 82	Devery Henderson	Rec: 2-25, 0
TE 20	Eric Johnson	Rec: 3-30, 0

View all Week 13 Rankings or Projections

Past Results and Remaining Schedule

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-09	SEA	A	L 6-20	-14
2	2007-09-16	NO	H	W 31-14	+17
3	2007-09-23	STL	H	W 24-3	+21
4	2007-09-30	CAR	A	W 20-7	+13
5	2007-10-07	IND	A	L 14-33	-19
6	2007-10-14	TEN	H	W 13-10	+3
7	2007-10-21	DET	A	L 16-23	-7
8	2007-10-28	JAC	H	L 23-24	-1
9	2007-11-04	ARI	H	W 17-10	+7
10		Bye
11	2007-11-18	ATL	A	W 31-7	+24
12	2007-11-25	WAS	H	W 19-13	+6
13	2007-12-02	NO	A	W 27-23	+4
14	2007-12-09	HOU	A
15	2007-12-16	ATL	H
16	2007-12-23	SF	A
17	2007-12-30	CAR	H

New Orleans Saints
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-06	IND	A	L 10-41	-31
2	2007-09-16	TB	A	L 14-31	-17
3	2007-09-24	TEN	H	L 14-31	-17
4		Bye
5	2007-10-07	CAR	H	L 13-16	-3
6	2007-10-14	SEA	A	W 28-17	+11
7	2007-10-21	ATL	H	W 22-16	+6
8	2007-10-28	SF	A	W 31-10	+21
9	2007-11-04	JAC	H	W 41-24	+17
10	2007-11-11	STL	H	L 29-37	-8
11	2007-11-18	HOU	A	L 10-23	-13
12	2007-11-25	CAR	A	W 31-6	+25
13	2007-12-02	TB	H	L 23-27	-4
14	2007-12-10	ATL	A
15	2007-12-16	ARI	H
16	2007-12-23	PHI	H
17	2007-12-30	CHI	A

Offense Stats Comparison

	TB Offense	NO Offense	NFL Average
Points for	19.7	28.3	21.7
Rushing yards	136.3	85.8	105.5
Rushing yards per attempt	4.41	3.49	3.89
Completion %	60.8%	70.0%	61.7%
Passing yards	197.7	285.3	217.2
Passing yards per completion	10.25	10.56	10.45
Passing yards per attempt	6.23	7.39	6.45
Interceptions	0.0	1.0	1.0
Fumbles lost	0.7	0.5	0.8
Sacked	2.7	0.5	2.2

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 7 to 12 of the 2007 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 7 to 12 with no adjustment.

Defense Stats Comparison

	TB Defense	NO Defense	NFL Average
Points against	15.3	18.3	21.7
Rushing yards	100.7	87.3	105.5
Rushing yards per attempt	3.63	3.62	3.89
Completion %	57.7%	61.8%	61.7%
Passing yards	176.3	249.8	217.2
Passing yards per completion	9.65	10.99	10.45
Passing yards per attempt	5.56	6.80	6.45
INT return	1.3	0.8	1.0
Fumble recoveries	0.7	0.5	0.8
Sacks	2.3	2.0	2.2

Weather

Dome stadium

Team vs. Team History

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints
Season	Week	Date	Vis	Home	Score	Winner
2001	15	2001-12-23	NO	TB	21-48	TB
2002	1	2002-09-08	NO	TB	26-20	NO
2002	13	2002-12-01	TB	NO	20-23	NO
2003	9	2003-11-02	NO	TB	17-14	NO
2003	14	2003-12-07	TB	NO	14-7	TB
2004	5	2004-10-10	TB	NO	20-17	TB
2004	15	2004-12-18	NO	TB	21-17	NO
2005	13	2005-12-04	TB	NO	10-3	TB
2005	17	2006-01-01	NO	TB	13-27	TB
2006	5	2006-10-08	TB	NO	21-24	NO
2006	9	2006-11-05	NO	TB	31-14	NO
2007	2	2007-09-16	NO	TB	14-31	TB

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2006 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.

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