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Roy Cummings' Keys To Bucs-Giants

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2008

Stop The Run On Defense

There's no sense trying to dress this one up. Job 1 on defense in the NFL is to stop the run, especially come playoff time, and especially when your opponent is a Giants team that ranked fourth in the league in rushing. The Bucs' ultimate objective will be to make the Giants' attack one-dimensional, which means forcing QB Eli Manning into a situation where he must throw the ball to win the game. If the Bucs can't do that, they could be in for a long day.

Brandon Jacobs is a powerful runner who can break off large gains and keep the chains moving. He'll follow his guards and his center on an attack that goes right through the middle of the defense, so the Bucs have to fill well from the secondary and get top-level play from DTs Jovan Haye and Chris Hovan.

Beat The Giants' Blitz

The Giants have two great strengths: running the ball and rushing the passer. The Giants led the league in sacks, a lot of which came off blitz schemes that created one-on-one situations for ends Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora. The Bucs can slow that blitz and eliminate some of those one-on-one matchups by hitting their hot reads and making the Giants pay for sending extra pass rushers into Tampa Bay's backfield.

The key is for Bucs QB Jeff Garcia to be on his game and have superb communication with his wideouts. Garcia has been a master at beating the blitz this year, but he has yet to face a pass rush like he'll face today. With smart changes at the line, Garcia can get the Bucs into plays that beat that rush and the blitz and keep the ball moving.

Commit To The Run

Bucs coach Jon Gruden has done a good job of establishing and sticking with the running game this year. Even when his team has fallen behind, he has stayed with it, which is something of a diversion from the past. Gruden must try to keep the trend alive today. The Giants had the league's 11th-ranked rushing defense, but injuries to their top safeties have left them a little more susceptible to a good running attack.

Earnest Graham is the kind of back who can beat them because he makes his first move after he gets past the line and does a good job of breaking tackles against undersized defensive backs. Even if it requires going to a committee approach, Gruden must work early to establish a sound rushing attack and then stick to it. That will allow the Bucs to control the clock, move the chains and reduce the effectiveness of the Giants' pass rush.

Stick To The Basics

Giants QB Eli Manning has yet to develop into a player who can beat you by himself. Given too much responsibility, he's more likely to beat his own team than his opponent. The problem is not mechanics; Manning is above average there.

Where he really struggles is making plays on the run. If the Bucs' front four can flush Manning out of the pocket and get him on the move, they can gain an edge because they can further clog up the passing lanes by leaving their linebackers and defensive backs in coverage. Without a lot of time to find targets and make throws, Manning will struggle to make plays against a Cover 2 scheme, so the Bucs want to stick with their basic system today, limit the blitzes and leave Manning to make the mistakes he seems bound to make in a pressurized situation.

Freeze The Giants' Front Four

The Giants' front four is going to come hard at the Bucs' offensive front. They're going to stunt and launch blitzes in an effort to disrupt the Bucs' attack, but the Bucs can counter-balance the Giants' rush by freezing them in their tracks with good play-action fakes. That would give QB Jeff Garcia an extra second or two, and that's usually all he needs to make a play. If that play can be deep downfield to Joey Galloway or Ike Hilliard, the Bucs can develop a balanced attack that will allow them to control the ball and make big plays in the passing game.

Blocking help from backs such as Michael Pittman and B.J. Askew will be a necessity because the Giants will bring a lot of pass-rushers. However, that also will make them vulnerable downfield in one-on-one matchups with Galloway and Hilliard.

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