Tampa’s offense will be pitted against a much tougher defense than they faced last week. The Cardinals secondary boasts one of the NFL’s top secondary’s last year, but in order to beat Tampa, they will have to play a lot better than they did against the Patriots.
Jameis Winston has some big, talented targets to throw to and considering the Cardinals had not played a blitz heavy scheme against the Patriots, they will likely do so against the Bucs. The Buccaneer offensive line allowed no sacks on Jameis from the blitz-happy Falcons unit, last week. If Tampa is to have success, they must establish the run early, and protect Jameis Winston.
Cardinals tackling was poor last week, hopefully, this week they will continue that trend allowing Doug Martin to break into the secondary on a few big runs. Charles Sims played outstanding football last week, proving that he is not easy to bring down. With the sloppy tackling that the Cardinals produce, Charles Sims should have another outstanding game, on Sunday.
Tyrann Mathieu is not 100% healthy and was limited in his role last week. There is a definite talent with Mathieu, arguably the best safety in the NFL, and teamed up with Patrick Peterson, Brandon Williams, Marcus Cooper and the newly acquired, now-healthy, Tharold Simon, the secondary has all the makings of another shutdown squad.
If Jameis Winston can get on the same page and remain there with his receivers, that secondary will have to play to every bit of their potential, in order to stop the gunslinging second-year man out of FSU. Especially, if their team leading defenders continue to play like trash.
Bucs need to start fast once again, but this time, maintain that aggressiveness and finish strong, not allowing the comeback.
