The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have always been about defense.  That is no longer.

The past few seasons the organization has been more offensive minded.  This off-season they replaced Jeff Garcia and Brian Griese at quarterback with Byron Leftwich and rookie Josh Freeman.  The ground game was upgraded with the signing of the Giants’ Derrick Ward.  They traded draft picks to Cleveland to get TE Kellen Winslow II.

Coach Raheem Morris hired Jeff Jagodzinski to run the offense.  He has since been fired and replaced by Gregg Olsen.  The Bucs have shown that they can move the football fairly well vs two decent defenses (Dallas and Buffalo). 

They have to hope the Giants don’t come out blasting and put them down by 14 or 17 points in the first quarter.

What to expect from Tampa on Sunday…..

Leftwich has played well and is gaining confidence in the offense.  He has been forced to pass more than the team would like due to the fact the defense has been horrible and the Bucs have been playing from behind.

The running game is back, thanks to ex-Giant Ward, who vows to “run all over” his former mates this week.  I hope he’s just joshing.  His partner, Carnell “Cadillac” Williams is a dangerous player when he is healthy. This week, Cadillac is a bit nicked up with a sore knee from playing on the unforgiving turf in Buffalo last week.  If the Giants jump out to an early lead, this group will be negated.

C Jeff Faine, the anchor of the offensive line could miss Sunday’s game. His replacement, Sean Mahan was manhandled in Buffalo which shortened the pocket for Leftwich.  The Giants will send DTs Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins at him…watch out.

Even without Justin Tuck the Giants can cause havoc in opponents’ backfields. DEs Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka will be going against Tampa tackles Donald Penn and 6″8″ Jeremy Trueblood.  Neither player could be up to the task.  Leftwich is a stationary target, too, so this may not bode well for Tampa.

Winslow is a fine TE, but he’s no Jason Witten.  The Giants are used to dealing with the likes of Witten, Chris Cooley and Brent Celek….they should be able to handle Winslow.

At WR, the Bucs will be without Antonio Bryant, who is by far their best option. His replacement may end up being little-used reserve Brian Clark.   That will give the Giants the luxury of rolling up on the other WR, Michael Clayton.  This will be the Giants’ first game without S Kenny Phillips.  C.C. Brown will start in his place.   The secondary is thin, but the Tampa receiving corps may be even thinner.

Overall, the Giants have the advantage in almost every area.  They may be undermanned, but they have the talent to overcome their injuries….for this week, anyway…..but keep in mind it will be hot on the field and that depleted DL may wear down….

Immediately after RB Andre Brown was drafted in the 4th round, Ware had this to say:

I feel like I can replace Derrick Ward all day every day.

But today, Ware took a different approach, saying this:

For all of the fans who want to see who will replace Derrick Ward as Wind in the Earth, Wind & Fire backfield, I’ll tell you: I can’t replace Derrick and I don’t want to be known as the new Wind. Call me Water.

H2O is one of the most important resources known to man. I transform whenever my environment changes. When it’s hot, I’m in my liquid form and can move through any boundary. When it’s cold I freeze and turn to ice. And once I get rolling, nothing can stop me.

If it ever gets too hot, I evaporate, and it’s like I’m running on the clouds. But I never disappear because when it rains, it pours!

That’s who I am. Water.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Giants backfield situation shakes out.  Although Ahmad Bradshaw is expected to be Brandon Jacobs‘ change of pace back, nothing is written in stone.  Ware was impressive in the pre-season and he certainly has the confidence thing down.

According to a league source, Ward has agreed to terms on a four-year, $17 million deal.

He’ll earn $6 million guaranteed in the first year, $9.25 million over the first two, and $13 million over the first three.

Hat tip to yrmomsaninja for the news.

Ward, who along with Brandon Jacobs surpassed the 1,000 yard mark plans on being back with the Giants, even though the chances seem remote.

“It will work itself out,” the running back said. “I plan on being back. I can’t imagine it not working out.”

Rock writes that Amani Toomer has had some discussions about returning to the Giants already, despite the fact many have figured he’s already going to be leaving.

“I believe that there have been some preliminary talks (between his agent and the Giants) but how far they’ve gone I don’t really know yet. I also don’t really know how much interest the Giants have or how they view my role so I’ll have to wait and see if their ideas and my own can mesh. If I am to come back, I want to have a chance to compete. I don’t want to just come back and have no role in the offense.”

Peter Wade relays a report from Mike Garafolo at the Star-Ledger that doesn’t make it seem likely Toomer will return. Garafolo speculates on the Giants plans for receivers.

Something tells me the Giants have an ace up their sleeve. Something drastic must be coming. Anquan Boldin? Tony Gonzalez? Braylon Edwards? Trade up in the draft for a top receiver? No idea, but they have to do something … right?

Hat tip to Nathaniel for the news.

Update, 1-28 – 3:00 pm:

Jacobs will not sign if franchised, Vinny DeTrani of the Record is reporting that Jacobs told him:

…there is nothing new on his contract situation, but that he thinks something will happen before he becomes a free agent at the end of next month. He added, however, he would not sign the tender if the Giants decide to franchise him.

***

If you listen long enough, and believe me I torture myself, WFAN’s Mike Francesa actually produces some real news. Today, Fancesa had Kim Jones on and while most of their conversation centered around the Joe Torre book and Arod, right before Kim Jones left Mike asked her about the Yes Network’s “This Week In Football“.  Jones said she interviewed Giants GM Jerry Reese. The interview will air this Friday evening.

In the interview Jones told Francesa:

“He (Reese) brings up the subject that not only will they (the Giants), might, not be able to re-sign Brandon Jacobs they might not resign {Derrick} Ward either.”

Francesa: “Either one?”

Jones: “There is a chance that neither one will be a Giant and Jerry Reese brought that up.”

Now, Mike mostly brushed it off as a negotiating ploy with Jacobs and he might be correct but with all the time to fill during his show it does seem to be something to follow up on.

It is time to start to reflect on the past season and look at what deficiencies the team has and where they need to improve. I’ll start by doing a high level overview of these deficiencies and over the next few weeks drill into them in more detail.

Gilbride needs to do a better job at realizing what he is working with.

The Giants strength on offense is their rushing attack. Brandon Jacobs is the battering ram that allows other offensive weapons a path of least resistance by wearing down opposing defenses. Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride made a crucial mistake in the loss to the Eagles by using Jacobs just nine times in the first half of the game. When Plaxico Burress was still in the mix, it would have made sense to go to the air more often, but in his absence Gilbride needs to realize that a run first offense is imperitive. It seems that Gilbride needs to improve in his ability to make adjustments. If he can’t make them, perhaps someone else should.

The Giants need to get Plaxico back or replace him with a top receiver.

The Giants were a different team without Plaxico. His height, athleticism and ability to break big plays was crucial to giving the Giants a balanced offense. While the Giants strength is in their rushing game, having the ability to go to a receiver like Burress forces the defense to back off and give the Giants even more room to run. If Plaxico is given a jail sentance, then the Giants will have no choice but to look for a big ticket receiver. They might consider cutting him anyway and going after a player like T.J. Houshmandzadeh or Anquan Boldin. Both of them give the Giants the big play receiver they lacked when Burress shot himself, and consequently the Giants, in the foot.

Sign Brandon Jacobs, let Derrick Ward go.

While it would be nice to have both Jacobs and Derrick Ward, I don’t think the Giants can afford to bring them both back and replace Plaxico with a player like Houshmandzadah or Boldin. If they bring back Plaxico, then perhaps they can consider it. However I think it is more likely, and perhaps better in terms of having a more balanced offense to let Ward go and bring on Boldin or Houshmandzadah. Plaxico brings too much baggage and causes too many distractions. If I was Jerry Reese I would move on. Danny Ware is starting to come into his own and should be able to pick up the slack along with Ahmad Bradshaw.

I think right now these are the top three items on the Giants list. Adding some depth at linebacker is a concern as well, which I will address in a future post. I would love to hear your thoughts on these three items first though. Lets put together a plan of attack for the Giants offseason. Consider this a fans summit meeting. Post your ideas in the comment section.

In order to vote for Derrick head over to NFL.com/FedEx

Fans can vote up until 11 a.m. on Friday morning.  $1000 will be donated to the Safe Kids Coalition of New York if Ward wins.

Ward is 52 yards short of 1,000 yards. If he reaches the century mark, the Giants will be only the fourth team ever to have two running backs with 1,000 or more yards.

Well deserved for Ward to say the least.  As an FYI his competition is Cedric Benson and LeRon Mc Clain.  Good luck Derrick.

• The Giants rushed for the most yards in a game since 1959, ESPN.com reports.
• ESPN.com also reports that RB Derrick Ward had the highest yards per carry average in a single game in Giants history at 14.3  His 215 yards rushing was 4th all time in a single Giants game.
• Paul Schwartz of the NY Post believes the play of the game was P Jeff Feagles‘ punt which was knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line by CB Terrell Thomas.
• Schwartz also believes Coach Tom Coughlin will play most of his starters, but likely will rest anyone with medical issues.
• Tom Rock of Newsday goes through all of the NFL Playoff scenarios as we head into the final week of the regular season.
• David Scott of the Charlotte Observer writes a detailed story on K John Kasay’s 50 yard field goal miss that sent the game into OT.

“I call myself ‘Water.’ I can be slippery and break some tackles. Then again, if I need to run up somebody I can turn into a solid. I can maybe – maybe – evaporate. I’ve got all three qualities.”

A couple weeks ago I suggested that Ware should call himself Water, so it’s obvious that he is an avid reader of this blog. All we need now is for Ruben Droughns to start calling himself “Heart.” With their powers combined, we would have the first ever Captain Planet backfield.

Ware also believes that, with Brandon Jacobs ruled out, he could fill the Ahmad Bradshaw role; a few carries late in the fourth quarter.

“We just didn’t feel like he’d be ready to play,” Coughlin said.

Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News says Derrick Ward will start and when Coughlin was asked if Ahmad Bradshaw would see more action Coughlin responded:

“We’ll see how the game goes.”

Update 6:40 pm – In response to commenter LUNT101 question about whether or not Domenik Hixon practiced today, according to Vacchiano he and Fred Robbins are both questionable after being limited in practice today.