Baltimore Ravens vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Complete Week 6 Preview for Tampa Bay

Coming off a three-game road trip, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4) return home to face the Baltimore Ravens (3-2) before heading into their bye week. 

The game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET at Raymond James Stadium.

The Bucs have gone through back-to-back nail biters the past two weeks, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final seconds for their first win of the season and falling to the New Orleans Saints in overtime last week.

After dropping their season opener, the Ravens rattled off three straight wins before being halted by the Indianapolis Colts last week, 20-13.

Will the Bucs finally get their running game going this week?  Will Mike Glennon continue to spark the Tampa Bay offense in Josh McCown's absence?  How much will key injuries impact this week's matchup?

Here's everything you need to know heading into this week's game.

Bucs Week 5 Recap

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The Bucs made some big plays on defense, and Mike Glennon proved he could hang with Drew Brees in a shootout.  But penalties and poor fundamentals down the stretch led to a 37-31 road loss against the New Orleans Saints last week.

Tampa Bay's offense followed up their win at Pittsburgh with another solid outing in a hostile environment, as Glennon threw for 249 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Vincent Jackson had a season-best eight receptions for 144 yards.  Louis Murphy made an impressive, heel-tapping touchdown catch, while rookie sixth-rounder Robert Herron caught his first career score.

On the ground, however, the Bucs continued to struggle.  Doug Martin had a few something-out-of-nothing runs, but the team still averaged just 3.1 yards per carry and totaled just 66 yards rushing for the game.

On defense, the Bucs came up with the takeaways Lovie Smith has been searching for all season, but they were rendered fairly useless by poor tackling and ill-timed penalties. 

Cornerbacks Alterraun Verner and Johnthan Banks each had an interception, while reserve linebacker Danny Lansanah collected his second pick-six of the season.  But penalties on key third-down situations kept the Saints on the field, allowing Brees to ultimately lead his team to yet another comeback win.

Tampa Bay twice had an 11-point lead, but couldn't hang on in the game's final minutes.

Despite the three interceptions and not having star tight end Jimmy Graham for most of the game due to injury, Brees threw for 371 yards and a pair of touchdowns, driving the Saints to the game-winning score without allowing the Bucs' offense to touch the ball in overtime.

Lavonte David had a stellar performance in a losing effort for the Bucs, tallying 14 total tackles and single-handedly ending a key New Orleans possession with three straight stops.

News and Notes

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Lovie Likes Glennon...For Now

Josh McCown and Mike Glennon have each had 2.5 games of action at quarterback, and it doesn't take a film genius to see who has performed better.  The Tampa Bay offense sputtered with McCown at the helm, but has seen marked improvement under Glennon's direction.

But that doesn't mean head coach Lovie Smith is ready to commit to Glennon as the starter for the rest of the season.  When faced with the question about the quarterback situation, Smith kept things fairly generic, according to ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas:

"

I don't know why we have to go there right now.

I'll say this about Mike: Mike has played two great games. Odds are Mike will start for us this week. He's had two opportunities to play and he's played well. I could talk about Mike the rest of the time. I've been just excited about everything he's done. But we go from day to day. We need to get our football team better. The quarterback position isn't one that I'm really concerned about.

"

Glennon only got the starting job because McCown injured the thumb on his throwing hand, and many Bucs fans are concerned that Smith will return to his hand-picked veteran starter once he's healthy, despite his early-season struggles.

At this point, it should be a no-brainer for the Bucs to stick with Glennon for the rest of the season.  Tampa Bay fans should find out soon whether their head coach agrees.

A Familiar Foe

Tampa Bay fans are well-acquainted with Baltimore's top receiving target, as former Carolina Panthers star Steve Smith returns to face his former division rivals.

Zach Shapiro of PewterReport.com points out Smith's impressive overall numbers during his tenure in Carolina, including plenty of success against the Bucs:

"

After 13 seasons in Charlotte, the former Utah Ute became the franchises’ all-time leader in touchdowns (69), receptions (800), and receiving yards (11,785). The Buccaneers can attest to his greatness. In 22 career games against them, he’s caught 98 passes for 1,404 yards and six touchdowns.

"

Smith continues to prove he's still a dangerous playmaker, leading the Ravens in receiving by a large margin and eclipsing the century mark in receiving yards in three of his five starts this season.  As usual, you can bet he'll get plenty of attention from the Tampa Bay secondary this week.

Martin Still Lead Dog

After missing half of last season with a shoulder injury, Doug Martin has struggled to show flashes of his rookie form that made him a Pro Bowl selection.  But despite his uninspiring production of late, Lovie Smith says he's not moving away from Martin as his top back, per Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune:

"

We’re staying the course.

Doug has done some good things. When you’re the starting tailback, you know what goes along with that. We’d like Doug to get 200 yards every game, but we’re not there yet. But in time, he’ll break out.

"

Martin dealt with a knee injury early in the season, which has no doubt contributed to his average of just 2.5 yards per carry so far this year.  He showed some fight last week, turning some no-gainers into positive yardage and showing improvement in pass protection, but the Bucs' running game needs a jolt from their bell-cow back.

Injury Report

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Player	Position	Injury Status
Vincent Jackson	WR	Did Not Participate
Mike Evans	WR	Limited Participant
Josh McCown	QB	Did Not Participate
Mason Foster	LB	Full Participant
Johnthan Banks	CB	Did Not Participate
Dashon Goldson	S	Did Not Participate
Larry English	DE	Limited Participant
Jonathan Casillas	LB	Did Not Participate

*All injury statuses courtesy of Buccaneers.com, based on participation in Thursday's practice.

 Another week, another list of key players on the injury report for Tampa Bay.

On offense, concerns about the depth at receiver aren't helped by Jackson (ribs) not participating in practice yet this week, though it's encouraging to see Evans (groin) already getting limited action.  No matter what happens with those two, the Bucs will be looking for more big plays from Louis Murphy and rookie Robert Herron, both of whom found the end zone last week.

McCown is still out nursing a sprained thumb on his throwing hand, and surgery still remains an option.  Mike Glennon should get his third straight start this week.

There are similar concerns in the secondary, as both Banks (neck) and Goldson (ankle) have yet to practice this week.  Major Wright could be looking at his second consecutive start if Goldson can't go, while Banks' absence would leave the Bucs particularly thin at corner, with Mike Jenkins already on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

But there's also good news on the defensive side of the ball, as Foster (shoulder) has been a full participant in practice all week after missing the last three games.  Dane Fletcher has struggled mightily in Foster's stead at middle linebacker, so his return would be most welcome.

Both English and Casillas are nursing hamstring injuries, which could impact Tampa Bay's depth on special teams.

X-Factor and Matchups to Watch

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Ravens' Speedy Receivers vs. Bucs' Secondary

Tampa Bay's defensive backfield is a bit banged up, and it will be tested this week by a pair of receivers with speed to burn. 

Steve Smith has a long track record of success against the Bucs over 13 seasons with the Carolina Panthers, and he's already shown this season that he can still take the top off a defense.  Torrey Smith is having a slow start to a season filled with high expectations, but he's due for a breakout game.

The Bucs have been particularly susceptible to big pass plays down the middle of the field, so look for the Ravens to try and exploit that part of the field this week.

Lavonte David vs. C.J. Mosley

These two defenders won't be on the field at the same time, but that won't stop them from competing hard against one another.  David is one of the best young defensive players in the league, while Mosley is already having an instant impact after being chosen in the first round of this year's draft.

Both David and Mosley tallied 14 tackles each last week, and they'll be hoping to have a similar impact for their team this week.  Splash plays on defense can change the momentum of any game, and either of these guys could easily turn the tide on Sunday.

Bucs' Pass Rush vs. Joe Flacco

Flacco is completing over 60 percent of his passes so far this season, and the former Super Bowl MVP has thrown just three interceptions.  One reason for his efficiency is the play of his offensive line, which has given up just seven sacks over the first five games.

The Bucs proved two weeks ago how capable they are of getting after an AFC North quarterback, sacking Ben Roethlisberger five times in the first half.  They'll have to pressure Flacco early and often this week if they want to force him into some uncharacteristic mistakes.

Bucs' X-Factor of the Week: WR Louis Murphy

Two weeks ago, Louis Murphy was a former Buccaneer who had been released after struggling with an injury during training camp.  But the veteran was signed back during Week 4, and he's made a sizable impact.

Murphy was instrumental in Tampa Bay's win over the Steelers, leading the team with six catches for 99 yards, including a 41-yarder to set up the game-winning score.  The former Florida Gator added an acrobatic touchdown catch against the Saints last week.

With both Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans nursing injuries, the Bucs will need yet another big contribution from Murphy.

Prediction

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The Bucs have a perfect opportunity to grab a huge home win before heading into their bye week. 

They have proven they can get pressure and create turnovers against some of the league's best quarterbacks over the past two weeks, and they'll have the home crowd to help them accomplish the same this week.

The Ravens are thin at corner, so Tampa Bay should be able to have success through the air, especially if Mike Evans happens to make it back from his groin injury.  If the Bucs can't do better than their customary three yards per carry on the ground, they'll likely need another impressive, efficient performance from Mike Glennon to come away with a victory.

So far, Glennon hasn't given any reason to doubt he's capable of just that.

PREDICTION: Bucs 27, Ravens 20