St. Louis Rams vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Complete Week 2 Preview for Tampa Bay
They say Rome wasn't built in a day. But after a week of having that cliche jammed in their ears, fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers probably wish it had.
After an offseason full of high expectations, the Bucs fell flat in a 20-14 loss to the Panthers last week to open the 2014 regular season. But head coach Lovie Smith has preached patience from Day 1, and his team will get a chance to right the ship this week when the St. Louis Rams come to town.
Sunday's game is scheduled to kick off at 4:05 p.m. ET at Raymond James Stadium.
Tampa Bay will face a Rams team struggling with injuries, as starting quarterback Sam Bradford has already been lost for the season with a torn ACL, while star defensive end Chris Long will miss the next 8-10 weeks following ankle surgery.
Bucs fans will be hoping their team fares better this week against a backup quarterback than it did against Carolina last week, when Derek Anderson carved up the defense in relief of the injured Cam Newton.
Despite last week's loss, head coach Lovie Smith remains optimistic about the Bucs' chances for success this season, according to ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas:
"As I told our football team after the game, we can’t go undefeated, and we’re one game out of first place. We’re going to build on some of the positive things that we saw late in the game. I’m talking about scoring 14 points and having the ball in position to score more.
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A good amount of optimism is healthy, but the Bucs will have to deliver some encouragement on the field this week if they want the fans to buy what Smith is selling.
Here's everything you need to know heading into this week's game.
Bucs Week 2 Recap
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Week 1 was an ugly affair for the Bucs, as they fell to the division rival Carolina Panthers, 20-14, at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.
Don't let the final score fool you: Carolina dominated both sides of the ball for most of the game, despite backup quarterback Derek Anderson starting in place of the injured Cam Newton. Anderson mostly had a field day, taking advantage of Tampa Bay's lack of pass rush.
Offensively, it was a story of too little, too late for the Bucs. Though he threw but one pick in his breakout season with the Bears last year, Josh McCown made pair of terrible decisions that resulted in two interceptions, helping the Panthers mount an early lead.
The Bucs managed just two first downs in the first half, allowed Carolina to dominate time of possession and didn't put anything on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter.
Tampa Bay's struggles on the offensive line continued, as tailbacks Doug Martin and Bobby Rainey combined to rush for just 21 yards on 13 carries and McCown was sacked three times, fumbling twice. Newly acquired left guard Logan Mankins left the game early with a knee injury and didn't return.
Gerald McCoy notched the only sack of the day for the Bucs, and the Tampa defense failed to register a takeaway. Panthers rookie first-rounder Kelvin Benjamin had his way with the Tampa Bay secondary, hauling in six passes for 92 yards and a touchdown, and tight end Greg Olsen had 83 yards on eight receptions, including a touchdown.
McCown generated a pair of late touchdown drives that got the Bucs within striking distance, but Dashon Goldson dropped what could have been a go-ahead pick-six deep in Carolina territory.
Tampa Bay would still get the ball back with a chance for a game-winning drive, but Rainey fumbled following a reception on the first play of the drive, ending all hope for Bucs fans of a happy ending.
News and Notes
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Jenkins to IR
The signing of cornerback Mike Jenkins to a one-year deal this offseason came with concerns about his ability to stay healthy. Those concerns have proved valid as the veteran has been placed on season-ending injured reserve thanks to a pectoral injury.
As Greg Auman and Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times point out, this leaves the Bucs without much experience at the position:
"Jenkins' injury leaves the Bucs with only two proven corners in Alterraun Verner and Johnthan Banks. The only backups are second-year pro Rashaan Melvin, who has never played in an NFL game, rookie Brandon Dixon, who made his debut on special teams Sunday, and newly signed Crezdon Butler, who joined the team Wednesday but has only eight career tackles in four NFL seasons.
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Verner and Banks still give the Bucs a strong pair of starters, but it gets pretty scary on the depth chart after those two. Tampa Bay can't afford any more significant injuries to this unit.
No Long-er a Factor
Bucs right tackle Demar Dotson will probably sleep a little better this week, knowing he won't have to face Rams defensive end Chris Long on Sunday. The star pass-rusher will miss the next 8-10 weeks after having ankle surgery this week.
Per John Breech of CBSSports.com, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher says he knows the absence of Long will have a significant impact:
"Chris Long has played in all 95 games in his career here. He is second in the league as far as consecutive starts at the defensive end position to Jared Allen. He will miss his first game this week and will miss a few more. The players are aware of it. Obviously, they're disappointed. I'm disappointed for Chris.
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St. Louis still has a strong defensive line aside from Long, but still his absence should be quite noticeable on Sunday.
Tedford's Return
After undergoing a medical procedure, Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford did not handle play-calling duties in Week 1, though he stayed involved from the booth. This week, it looks like Tedford should be cleared to return to his normal responsibilities.
Head coach Lovie Smith says they've been working Tedford back into the fold slowly, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times:
"As we talked about Jeff last week, we mentioned about him being able to do a little bit more. He was able to do that last week. Friday’s practice he was here. Of course (Sunday), he was in the press box, giving a little bit of input. But we were really kind of gearing towards him being ready this week. He’s in the office. He was in here early this morning. Full-time, ready to go, leading the meetings and we hope we’re back on track. We need Jeff out there of course.
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It's tough to put much of the blame for last week's offensive struggles on Tedford's absence, but it surely didn't help. Bucs fans will be hoping that having Tedford on the sidelines calling plays will help jump-start a unit that was completely ineffective for three quarters against Carolina.
Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Injury Status |
| Doug Martin | RB | Limited Participant |
| Logan Mankins | G | Limited Participant |
| Michael Johnson | DE | Did Not Participate |
| Demar Dotson | OT | Full Participant |
| Adrian Clayborn | DE | Limited Participant |
| Austin Seferian-Jenkins | TE | Did Not Participate |
| William Gholston | DE | Limited Participant |
| Da'Quan Bowers | DE | Full Participant |
| Rashaan Melvin | CB | Did Not Participate |
| Bradley McDougald | S | Limited Participant |
*All injury statuses courtesy of Buccaneers.com, based on participation in Thursday's practice.
The Bucs suffered some scary bumps and bruises last week, with a few key players popping up on this week's injury report.
The good news? Both Martin and Mankins returned to practice on Thursday in a limited capacity after being held out of Wednesday's session, while Dotson practiced fully after being limited earlier. The bad news? Johnson still hasn't practiced this week, and starting cornerback Mike Jenkins was placed on season-ending injured reserve after suffering a pectoral injury last week.
Almost every defensive end on the roster showed up on this week's report. Clayborn and Gholston have yet to participate fully in practice this week, though Bowers was a full participant on Thursday.
Melvin and Seferian-Jenkins have yet to see the practice this week, leaving Tampa Bay fairly thin at both corner and tight end should neither be able to suit up this week. McDougald has been a limited participant in practice this week and should be questionable for Sunday's game.
Depth in the secondary and along the defensive line could be a huge concern this week. Tomorrow's practice will be an important test to see if the big-name starters like Martin, Mankins, Johnson and Clayborn will be full-strength by Sunday.
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X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Rams defensive line vs. Bucs offensive line
Just like last week, Tampa Bay's weakest unit will be facing its opponent's strongest.
And it's right back in the trenches.
The Rams will be without one of the top defensive linemen in Chris Long, but Tampa Bay still faces a tall order against the likes of Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald. If the Bucs OL can't generate even a little push in the running game, it could be another long day for Josh McCown and the rest of the offense.
Bucs pass rush vs. Rams backup quarterback
Let's try this again, shall we? Last week, Panthers backup Derek Anderson was given a clean pocket for most of the afternoon, allowing him to carve up the Bucs secondary.
With Sam Bradford already out for the year, Shaun Hill has taken the reins as the Rams starting quarterback. However, even he could be in jeopardy of missing this week's game thanks to a quad injury, meaning the Bucs could be facing Austin Davis under center.
Last week's performance by Anderson proved that no matter who the opposing quarterback is, he can look like a star if given a clean pocket and enough time to survey the field. Whether it's Hill or Davis this week for the Rams, the Bucs will have to do a better job of collapsing the pocket and forcing bad decisions if they want to take advantage of this matchup.
Josh McCown vs. his own need to be the hero
He was billed as the perfect quarterback for a Lovie Smith team: a game manager who wouldn't lose games with stupid decisions and costly turnovers.
But Josh McCown was the complete opposite in last week's loss to Carolina, throwing a pair of bonehead interceptions when he should have simply taken a sack, thereby giving the Panthers a huge advantage in the first half.
If the Bucs hope to right the ship on offense this week, McCown needs to calm down and play within himself, remaining content to take what the defense gives him and live to fight another day. If he tries to play Superman again this week, Tampa Bay could be looking at 0-2.
Bucs X-factor of the Week: DE Michael Johnson
Tampa Bay spent big money to bring in Michael Johnson as a free agent this offseason, hoping he would provide the pass-rushing presence the team has been lacking off the edge since Simeon Rice.
Instead, Johnson has been seemingly nonexistent, from limited preseason action through last week's loss to Carolina. Gerald McCoy bagged the only sack for Tampa Bay last week, and Carolina repeatedly took advantage of Johnson's wide alignment in the running game.
The Bucs will need Johnson to start earning his hefty paycheck this week.
Prediction
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The Bucs have a lot of mistakes to correct this week, but they'll get to do it against a reeling Rams team who looks to be struggling even worse than they are. Even the Rams' backup quarterback is dealing with an injury, and the Bucs won't have to worry about one of St. Louis' feared edge-rushers.
That said, the Rams still boast an impressive defensive line: Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers and rookie first-rounder Aaron Donald still should give the Bucs' struggling offensive line all it can handle.
On offense, this game will come down to Josh McCown correcting his awful mistakes from last week and the Bucs being able to run the ball even just a little more effectively than they did in the opener. Defensively, they'll have to do better than one sack and no takeaways.
I wouldn't expect anything pretty in this one, but don't be surprised if the Bucs do just enough to get back to .500 this week.
PREDICTION: Bucs 16, Rams 13
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