Cadillac Driving Tampa Back Into the End Zone in Week 1

Cadillac Williams was running strong in this game. He looks to be back to his old self. I just hope he stays healthy. I continuously heard the announcer say that Cadillac ran for six or seven yards on most of the plays where he was running the ball. Early in the second quarter, Cadillac broke through for a 35-yard run and was stopped short of the endzone by a Cowboy defender. Cadillac finished the game with 97 rushing yards and a touchdown. Derrick Ward gave a good performance as well in his regular season debut as a Buccaneer, giving Cadillac a breather in Tampa's 2-2-1 rotation. Ward ran for 62 yards, 21 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown. Earnest Graham did not do much in this game, other than perhaps some blocking, rushing only once for one yard. (Fantasy tip: If you have Graham, I suggest you drop him unless you also have Cadillac and are in a deep league.)

I saw a lot of overthrown passes by Byron Leftwich which partially accounted for his 25 completions out of 41 attempts. Many of the overthrown passes were about five to ten yards ahead of the intended receiver. Despite the errant passes, Leftwich threw for 276 yards and a touchdown to the Buccaneers' new tight-end Kellen Winslow.

Wide receiver Michael Clayton did not record a touchdown last Sunday, he caught five passes for 93 yards. At one point, Clayton caught a 20-yard pass in the red zone where he was immediately hit by a Cowboys safety yet somehow was still able to hold onto the football and stay upright. As a Buccaneers fan, I am excited to see Clayton and Cadillac performing again.

The Buccaneers offensive line took a few hits in the game: Offensive tackle Jeremy Zuttah and Center Jeff Faine got injured. Faine is expected to be out for a few weeks. The Buccaneers just signed center/guard Sean Mahan. This will be Mahan's third tour with the Buccaneers and is merely in Tampa until Faine recovers from his injury and is able to start. Although Mahan is not exactly physically built to play center, he is able to play various positions on the o-line and has the awareness required for the position.


If the Buccaneers can continue to have this renewed success with the running game and Leftwich becomes more accurate, the Buccaneers could have a strong offense that could bring them back into playoff contention.

Submitted by Shirley.