Chiefs and Buccaneers Battle in Pre-Season Action

Two teams that I feel have a tremendous chance to prove NFL handicappers wrong this season, will meet up on Friday night in pre-season week 1 action. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have something to build off of following a better-than-expected 2010. With practice time being cut back by the potential lock-out, almost every team will have to figure out what they have on the fly. Friday’s outcome won’t necessarily be a valid indication as to which one of these teams will have the upper hand heading into the season, but the fact that football experts have both of these teams finishing around .500 this season should be more than enough to motivate this highly talented and improved teams.

The Bucs are going back to the old school equation of running the ball and stout defense to compete in the NFC South. Last year they finished with the 8th best rushing attack, and the 7th best defense against the pass. They obviously need to bolster their front line to improve their stats against the run (28th), and they’ve put a tremendous amount of emphasis on just that. Both of their top picks in the 2010 NFL Draft were spent on defensive ends. They were lucky to get Adrian Clayborn in the first round at the 20th pick, but 2nd rounder Da’Quan Bowers has a huge upside, and could inevitably be the better pro when it’s all said and done.

The Chiefs are going to use the same philosophy that they used last season. Running the ball has always been a staple with the Kansas City organization, and Jamaal Charles is the leader of their attack. Charles came on strong over the second half of the season, and finished with 1467 yards. The one problem that Kansas City had was in the red-zone. As amazing as Charles was last season, he only had 5 touchdowns running the ball. Thomas Jones was brought in for goal-line situations, but failed miserably. Le’Ron McClain may be the man for the job this season, and if he can prove that to be true, look out for this Chiefs squad!

This should be a closely contested defensive battle. Tampa Bay is currently listed as a small 3 point favorite on the road, but I could see this game going either way. Tune in Friday as two of the teams that I feel will surpass many NFL predictions, go toe-to-toe in this pre-season showdown!

 

Related posts:

1. Buccaneers and Patriots in Pre-Season Showdown
2. Sunday Pre-Season Action: Raiders vs. Saints
3. Patriots host the Chiefs in Monday Night Battle
4. 2010 NFL Predictions: Kansas City Chiefs
5. Upstart Browns and Lions Battle in NFL Pre-Season

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