Cribbs brings special skills

When the Buccaneers and Browns meet in the season opener, two of the league's premier special teams units will be on display.

Tampa Bay led the NFL in kick return average (26.3 yards) last year while finishing second to Cleveland in covering kickoffs.

The Bucs, who yielded a pair of long kickoff returns during the preseason, are gearing up for the dynamic skills of Browns WR Josh Cribbs, the first player in NFL history to register eight career TDs on kickoff returns.

"We settle the differences on Sunday," said LB Niko Koutouvides, who led the Bucs with 18 special team tackles in 2009. "Everyone knows about Cribbs. He's electric, he's fast, he's quick, he's smart and he runs strong. We can give him compliments forever. He's a game-changer and we've got to put ourselves in position to contain him."

After releasing former Pro Bowler Clifton Smith, the Bucs have handed their return duties to WR Micheal Spurlock.

Cribbs is equally dangerous returning punts and the Bucs will have a new rookie punter Sunday - either Aussie Chris Bryan or sixth-round draft choice Brent Bowden, currently on the practice squad.

"It'll be a tremendous challenge facing Cribbs," Bucs special teams coach Rich Bisaccia said. "People just fall off the guy trying to tackle him. Both clubs come off good 2009 seasons in terms of special teams, but we all know this is a new year."

The Browns are looking for inventive ways to get Cribbs the ball, utilizing him more as a receiver and experimenting with No. 16 in a Wildcat formation.

"I'm excited for the world to see our new Cleveland Browns offense," Cribbs said. "Our coach (Eric Mangini) is trying to calm us down because we're excited. The biggest difference around here is believing we can."

Vantage point

For Ronde Barber, it's all about the view.

Tampa Bay's five-time Pro Bowl cornerback failed to register an interception last season, marking the first time since Barber's 1997 rookie year that he failed to pick off at least one pass.

The Bucs struggled on defense in 2009 until head coach Raheem Morris assumed control from coordinator Jim Bates for the final six games and returned to the core Cover 2 principles that had proven so successful in Tampa.

"I didn't get as many chances for picks as I would have liked," said Barber, who has returned seven of his 37 career interceptions for scores. "Playing Bates' scheme last year, it had its merits, but as corners you don't really see the ball coming out. I'm a ball out kind of guy."

Extra points

Morris said Tampa Bay has no injury issues heading into the opener. ... The Bucs have 13 first-year players on the 53-man roster. ... St. Petersburg's Michael "Big Mike" Lynch, who reached the final four of "American Idol" in the spring, will sing the National Anthem on Sunday. ... The Glazer Family Foundation is requesting school supply donations before the game, with collection stations set up outside all gates.

Ira Kaufman