After an impressive defeat of the Carolina Panthers, the Buccaneers travel to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to take on Eli Manning and the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. Everyone is expecting the Giants to roll through the Bucs, but I believe that the Bucs might be able to hold their own and possibly gain some more respect throughout the league.

If there is anyone that needs to step up and make that happen, it will have to be Josh Freeman. The Giants possess a secondary that is hurt and capable of being beaten. Freeman must seize the opportunity, if he wants to reclaim his respect around the league. Here is that opportunity on a golden platter, facing the Super Bowl Champs with a weak secondary.

The Giants will most likely stack the box and prepare to stop Doug Martin and the running game after seeing how committed the Bucs were to it in week one. It will be important to establish the running game and work off of the play action or establish the passing game and then spread the defense to create more running lanes for the Bucs running game.

My biggest spotlight will be on the Buccaneers defensive line, whom stepped up huge in week one by controlling the line of scrimmage from the beginning till the end. Now they will be on the same field as one of the best defensive front lines in the league and if they can give another impressive showing, they will then most definitely make a name for themselves. The Giants offensive line is not as impressive as it has been in the past so it is possible but I’m not guaranteeing another stellar performance of only allowing 10 yards rushing.

The secondary will have a tougher task facing Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz. I expect Aqib Talib to man Nicks and Eric Wright will take on the salsa dancer. These battles can go anyway but I think the front four will make life a lot easier for the guys covering these elite receivers.

This is a statement game for the Buccaneers, while the G-Men are most likely looking to make up for their opening loss to the Cowboys. The Giants most definitely believe they are the better team but do they necessarily want this game more than the Bucs. I think it will be a close one and one that will open the eyes around the NFL in regards to the Bucs.

I feel an upset with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking this one 20-17.

The Buccaneers started the 2012 season and Greg Schiano’s career off with a win against the Carolina Panthers. In Ronde Barber’s 200^th consecutive start, the Bucs defense was reminiscent of the squad that Ronde was a part of earlier in his career. It was a very impressive one-sided affair, regardless of the final score, and one that the Buccaneers will build confidence off of.

The game was blacked-out, even with the new blackout rule that the Bucs adopted where it only requires 85% of the stadium to be full. Although the stadium was not at full capacity, the Ray Jay was rocking. The Bucs fans were loud and made it a tough environment  for the Panthers; almost a week after Schiano’s plea for fan support.

The Buccaneers were able to use this added energy to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Which allowed the Buccaneers to control most of the game with having possession of the ball for 37:27 compared to the 22:33 for the Panthers.

The porous rush defense from last year was no longer there as the Bucs defense was a dominant as they come, only allowing 10 total rushing yards from one of the best ground attacks in the NFL over the past 5 years.

The defense were also able to put a lot of pressure on Cam Newton as he was sacked three times and hit numerous times that I lost count. The pressure led to Newton not having time to make the best decisions, throwing two interceptions; one to Ronde Barber and the other to Ahmad Black.

One of my favorite parts of the game was when Steve Smith had a nice catch and run but then he got the chance of meeting the rookie safety Mark Barron, who absolutely lit him up. The fans loved it, even though it was a big gain for the Panthers. Barron also had a nice pass breakup, where he extended his whole body to stop a huge pass that could have resulted in a touchdown had he missed the ball.

The offense controlled the game with the ground attack, rushing the ball 26 times to Freeman’s 24 passes. Rookie Doug Martin led the rushing attack with 24 carries for 95 yards but was unfortunately unable to reach the end zone at the one-yard line in one situation. Martin also had an acrobatic catch early in the game.

Freeman started the game off with eight consecutive completions and looked great from the start. He used his new weapons, Vincent Jackson and Dallas Clark, as the Bucs looked way better than last year while passing the ball. Even though Freeman only had 138 passing yards, he still had a great game and didn’t turn the ball over.

The future is bright for the Buccaneers as they showed in week one that they want to dominate all assets of the game. Schiano had his troops ready so lets give him credit and see if he can keep this Buccaneer attitude going throughout the whole season.

This Sunday at 4:25, The Buccaneers will kickoff their season under a new Head Coach Greg Schiano. The Bucs will welcome Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers to Raymond James Stadium to open up the 2012 NFL season.

Everybody now has a fresh start and that is exactly what the Buccaneers needed. Anything can happen in week one and I expect the Bucs to come out with a vengeance against Cam Newton, who torched the Bucs for a total of eight touchdowns in two games.

Newton took advantage of a team that had was depleted with injuries and had already given up on the season. The Bucs will come out hot but it they must do a superb job of keeping him in the pocket and forcing him to beat the Bucs defense with his arm rather than his legs.

The Panthers running game could be without Jonathon Stewart but in all honesty they might not miss a beat due to it being week one and DeAngelo Williams can handle more carries. The Panthers also added Mike Tolbert, a powerful running back, and of course will use Cam Newton in read options and other designed Quarterback running plays.

This is the first test of the 2012 season for Aqib Talib as he will take on Steve Smith. Smith only caught three balls for 41 yards in both of last years contest. Smith also missed some time in pre-season due to an infection in his foot but it doesn’t seem serious. If Talib can shut down number 89 for the Panthers, then Eric Wright and company must play up to par to keep up with the Panthers receivers, who aren’t exactly slouches.

On Offense, The Buccaneers offensive line should hold steady against this Panthers defensive line. If the Bucs can keep Freeman from running around the pocket and get to the second level on rushing plays, then the Bucs will be successful.

For the Bucs, game one starts at the offensive line and ends with the defense. We must keep our offense on the field and be able to get the ball into our playmakers hands to win this game and I believe the Bucs will do so. On defense, we must contain Cam Newton and force him to throw the ball more than he wants.

The Bucs will start Schiano’s NFL coaching  career off with a win. I think it will be a close one with a score of 27-24 in the Buccaneers favor.

After a pre-season of promise and scares, Buccaneer fans can now welcome a new era under Greg Schiano.

Schiano is a man who turned around one of the worst college football programs into a respectable one. One who will bring discipline and toughness to a team that was constantly shut down on offense and dominated on defense, whether the opposing team was airing it out or running all over the Bucs.

It seemed evident that when the Bucs were faced with a deficit they would quickly toss in the towel, give up, and allow teams to embarrass them. The Buccaneers allowed the most points in the league and franchise history (494), most yards per play (tied at 6.3 with Green Bay, too bad we didn’t have half the offense they do), and they also recorded a bunch of horrible other statistics so I’ll stop there.

That is the past and with each game we will see if the players are buying into Schiano and the new staffs system and giving it their all to regain their credibility of not being one of the laughingstocks in the league.

The additions that the Buccaneers have made will make a difference but is it fair to think that these new coaches and players will be able to change the culture from the previous year? I have high hopes for the Buccaneers but I believe we need to be patient with this team.

My favorite additions to the Buccaneers are Mark Barron and Carl Nicks. They both bring a swagger to each side of the team where they are going to knock you right in the mouth till you respect them and they are both winners.

My least favorite is Vincent Jackson, who is a big receiver with deceptive speed. I think that wide receiver position was a place the Buccaneers needed to upgrade but V-Jax has never caught more than 70 passes in a year and has only surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in three years of his seven year career. He did this with a proven quarterback in Phillip Rivers. Simply put, he will not make Josh Freeman better; Freeman will have to take that next step to further V-Jax career.

I believe the Buccaneers will finish the season with a record of 7-9. I also hate making full season predictions because so many unlikely things happen throughout the year and if a guy like Mike Vick, Peyton Manning, or even Matt Ryan takes a hit then the Bucs have better chances of taking those games later in the year.

The games that I consider Bucs winning: Panthers at home, Redskins at home, Saints at home, and the Rams at home. I believe that the Bucs will take two from their division rivals and those will most likely happen at the empty Raymond James.

The games I don’t think the Bucs will win: Giants in the Meadowlands, Cowboys in Dallas, Panthers in Charlotte, both Falcons games, Broncos in Denver, Eagles at the Ray Jay, and Saints in New Orleans.

The games I consider toss-ups right now: Chiefs at the Ray Jay, Vikings in Minnesota, Raiders in Oakland, and the Chargers at the Ray Jay.

My questions for this upcoming year are:

Can we really trust EJ Biggers and Myron Lewis as the third and fourth cornerback?

• Biggers ranks in the bottom five of all cornerbacks in success rate, yards after the catch, and the bottom ten for yards per pass. We will see how he handles this year after taking quite the stumble last year. Myron Lewis was in danger of getting cut; he has been awful since being drafted in the third round in 2010. It is believed that Ronde Barber will move down when the Bucs run the nickel and Ahmad Black will take over the free safety position. What would happen if Eric Wright or Aqib Talib gets in trouble or hurt?

Will the Defensive Line be able to stay healthy and be able to produce?

• Daquan Bowers is already out with a torn Achilles. Gerald McCoy has ended up on the injured reserve at end of his first two years as a professional with torn biceps. Adrian Clayborn hurt his elbow in the preseason game against the Patriots but it doesn’t seem to be serious. The D-Line must stay healthy and then create pressure to make the jobs for the other parts of the defense that much easier.

Will the Linebackers find their leader?

• Some believe that Lavonte David will become the leading tackler for the Bucs in this upcoming season. Some have even gone far enough to claim he will be the next coming of Derrick Brooks. A lot is being put on the shoulders of the young linebacker but he is most definitely the most skilled backer already. Quincy Black is an athletic freak with a poor football IQ and Mason Foster showed that he lacks the lateral movement and IQ to play at a high level in the middle.  The Bucs are relying on these three to enhance the porous rushing defense from last year.

Will the Offensive Line still be a strength without Davin Joseph?

• Joseph’s injury truly is costly to a solid line that would have been able to set the tempo in the running game and help keep Josh Freeman on his feet. Now steps in Ted Larsen, who has the talent but needs to become less penalty prone. That may be a problem due to Jeremy Trueblood being to his right, who also has a knack for holding.

Will the Running Backs be able to co-exist?

• The Bucs spent a first round pick on Doug Martin and have chosen him over LeGarrette Blount as the starter going into week one. There have also been rumors regarding LeGarrette being on the trade block. It seems odd to make a rookie back the workhorse especially in a league where running back committees seem to be the norm. I believe that Doug and LeGarrette can be very nice compliments and I hope that the Buccaneers stay committed to both of the backs throughout the whole year.

Can Josh Freeman find his mojo?

• After a solid sophomore year, Freeman fell off hard and a lot of it had to do with his footwork. His accuracy was way off for a whole year and that needs to change for the Buccaneers to succeed. They have placed many weapons around him. I believe that he has three capable receivers in Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams, and Arrellious Benn (my sleeper of the year), a dependable tight end in Dallas Clark, and a running back who can catch out of the backfield in Doug Martin. He has looked good in a couple of his series but he also flashed some of his weaknesses from last year. Will Freeman take the next step into becoming the elite Quarterback that the Bucs want him to be?

Everyone is so fascinated with the immediate impact that the Magic did not receive when they shipped away Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-team trade that immensely helped the other three teams.

This trade is in no way going to help the Magic in the near future but there is one positive, the front office can now forget about all of Dwight’s drama and focus on rebuilding. Since Dwight Howard claimed that he wanted to be traded, he has slowly ripped apart the Orlando Magic organization.

The ownership for the Orlando Magic did whatever they could to please Howard, firing head coach Stan Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith but in the end it did not matter because of one main factor. Over time, the Magic failed to upgrade the team around him.

Since the Magic reached the NBA Finals in 2009, the front office failed to put the right pieces around Howard.  Taking chances on numerous players such as Vince Carter, Gilbert Arenas, Matt Barnes, Jason Williams, Micakel Pietrus and Brandon Bass. I can go on and on about the numerous deals that they have made in the past three years and give my insight on each move but that will come in another post.

I still believe that this still falls on Dwight Howard. “Superman” showed the past two years that he was unwilling or incapable to carry the Magic. It never seemed as if Dwight ever lobbied for players that he would like to play with in Orlando but more towards the few teams that he would like to play for, making it much more difficult for the front office.

Looking forward, it was already assumed among most NBA critics that the Orlando Magic were not going to be a contender this upcoming season and possibly the following due to Howard’s actions and the overall talent on the team.

The Magic passed up an offer from the Brooklyn Nets that would have sent Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humprhries and four unprotected picks.

• Lopez is an average NBA center who doesn’t care to defend, rebound(65^th of 67 centers in defensive rebound rate), or create opportunities for his teammates (53^rd of 67 centers in assist rate). This guy would be the centerpiece of the Magic offense if the trade went through. He is not an elite center.
• MarShon Brooks is a nice talent, who possesses a nice mid-range shot but lacks the three-point shooting (.313% from the behind the 3-point line). Next year will only be his second year in the league and he will be turning 24 next January so it will be interesting to see how high his ceiling truly is.
• Kris Humphries is a hustler pure and simple. He used to take a lot of stupid jump shots but he has controlled himself a bit more. He is not a superstar.
• The first round draft picks would have been the best piece of the trade but they would have most likely been in the latter part of the first round.

The Rockets offer was also passed up which would have included a couple of future first-round picks, Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson, Maurice Morris, and the rights to one or two of the Rocket’s first round picks: Jeremy Lamb, Royce White, or Terrence Jones.

• Kevin Martin is technically the centerpiece that the Magic would receive, considering that he is the most established player. He can score at ease with his jump shot or driving to the basket, and he has a knack for drawing fouls. Martin would make this team competitive and keep them in games with his scoring but he wouldn’t carry the team.
• Patrick Patterson is a solid forward, who needs to improve getting to free throw line (shot 70% on only 57 attempts all season) or three-point shooting (0 three-pointers made) if he wants to become valuable on the offensive side. He is a solid defender with a great basketball IQ that does not mind to get physical.
• Maurice Morris failed to contribute in his rookie year and it is assumed that he has more upside at the 3 rather than the 4 due to his lack of size. If he wants to get better in that role he must improve his long-range shot to stretch the opposing defense.
• The most intriguing of all three prospects is Jeremy Lamb. He has a sweet shot but it can be assumed that he is not worthy of carrying a team as his production dropped this past year with Kemba Walker playing in the NBA.
• Royce White and Terrence Jones both have a high ceiling but there are factors that point to them being mainly role players. White has the NBA body, who plays physical, can score inside and outside, rebound and pass the ball well but he has an extreme anxiety disorder and nobody is quite sure he can handle the spotlight. Terrence Jones has always been a good contributor but has been overshadowed by the likes of John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. There are possibilities that they can excel but nothing is for sure.

The Magic ended up accepting a four-team deal which brought in Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Maurice Harkless, Josh McRoberts and Nikola Vucevic.

• Afflalo is the centerpiece of this deal for the Magic and the best attribute that he brings to the Magic is that he plays tough defense and he doesn’t take bad shots. He has never carried a team so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to being a player that is counted on to produce wins.
• Al Harrington is a player who is at the end of his career and was most likely included in this deal to make it happen. It is already assumed that the Magic will most likely put him on waivers some point this year or by the end of the year to create more flexibility for next year’s free agency. He shoots too many three’s and doesn’t want to bang down low for rebounds at this point in his career.
• Nikola Vucevic is a young 7-footer, who will turn 22 in October. He possesses a soft touch and is believed to have potential as a skilled low-post player with a mid-range shot. The big question marks lie on the defensive side of his game. Analysts question his physicality and his athleticism. Better rebounder than Brook Lopez though.
• Josh McRoberts has always been thought to have the potential to be a good offensive point forward but he has never tapped his potential. He has shown the jaw-dropping dunks and blocked shots but at most times he tries to do too much and causes a lot of turnovers or bad shots.
• Christian Eyenga is a freak-athlete but will need more time in live action to get better. He can block shots but is not a good defender and cannot rebound. Could possibly win the dunk contest if given the chance.

Would these deals have made the Magic a better team this upcoming year compared to the now Dwight-less Magic? Yes, I believe so but what would about in five years. I don’t believe that the Magic could compete with their counterparts in the East with a nucleus of those players and most likely mid-to-late first round draft picks.

I think both of those trades would have made the Magic a bit more competitive than the Magic that we are about to see this upcoming year but it seems hard to believe that those players would not be shipped elsewhere in due time as the Magic would continue to make moves to better their overall roster.

This trade shows that the Magic front office is not trying to put together a team that will get them to the playoffs but rather one that can compete for an NBA Championship. They understand that they must take the long road and build through the draft.

With this roster, the Magic faithful should be looking toward next years NBA Lottery and the possibilities of landing Shabazz Muhammad, Nerlens Noel, James Michael McAdoo, Cody Zeller, or the numerous prospects that could create some buzz this year.

Lets take a look at the roster before and after the trade:

Before the trade

PG 1. Jameer Nelson 2. Chris Duhon

SG 1. Jason Richardson, JJ Reddick

SF 1. Hedo Turkoglu 2. Quentin Richardson 3. Earl Clark

PF 1. Glen Davis 2. Andrew Nicholson 3. Justin Harper

C 1. Dwight Howard 2. Gustavo Ayon 2. Kyle O’Quinn

Magic projected starting lineup

PG 1. Jameer Nelson

SG 1. Arron Afflalo 2. J.J. Redick

SF 1. Hedo Turkoglu 2. Quentin Richardson 3. Maurice Harkless 4. Christian Eyenga

PF 1. Glen Davis 2. 3. Josh McRoberts 4. Andrew Nicholson 4. Justin Harper

C 1. Nikola Vucevic 2. Al Harrington  3.Gustavo Ayon 3. Kyle O’Quinn

With this roster, it is best to expect a maximum of 25 wins in a full 82 game season. I hate to say it but I think this trade puts the Magic in the bottom echelon of the NBA. Will the Magic be as bad as the Charlotte Bobcats of last year, who only won seven games in a 66 game season? No, they will not but the Magic will not be a good team.

Magic fans can expect to see Jameer Nelson, Glen Davis, Hedo Turkoglu, and the newly acquired Arron Affllalo to lead the way on offense. Nobody on the Magic’s roster has averaged over 20.0 points per game over the course of a season, other than Al Harrington in 2008-2009 with the New York Knicks when he averaged 20.7 PPG in 68 games.

The Magic does not have a superstar to carry this team and it will show through the course of the year. There is potential in Maurice Harkless, who was also acquired in the Dwight-deal, but he is probably a year away from contributing as a complete basketball player due to his streaky jump shot.

The Magic should look to build around a young nucleus of Maurice Harkless and Andrew Nicholson but these two players are not quite yet ready to be thrown in the fire of the NBA.

So who becomes expendable and what other options are out there? I’ll be back in a couple days with some of my own opinions regarding the Magic’s future.

In conclusion, I think it is safe to say that the Magic expect to suck it up to regain their form as an elite team rather than rely on players that can scratch their way to the playoffs but never achieve greatness.