Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Tampa Bay 35 at Cincinnati 7 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Tampa Bay Buccaneers: QB Brad Johnson was in total command against an overmatched Cincinnati team. He spread the ball nicely between seven different receivers including two tight ends and two running backs. He showed terrific touch on deeper routes resulting in three touchdown passes of over thirty yards including a 65-yarder to a wide open Keenan McCardell. Did yield to Rob Johnson when the game was out of hand. Michael Pittman rebounded form an early fumble to run the ball well. Not great, but well enough to grab the lion's share of the carries. Was used extensively as a receiver totaling five catches. He was also pulled late in the game and got a 1-yard touchdown run vultured by Mike Alstott in garbage time. Keenan McCardell had a big game thanks to a 65-yard touchdown catch. He broke wide open when the safety bit on Keyshawn Johnson's slant route. Johnson showed nice touch hitting him in stride. Cincinnati Bengals: Akili Smith just might be a decent fantasy starter, next year. He's very mobile and looks comfortable throwing on the move. He just has no chemistry or timing with his receivers, who are not bad. Warrick can be exciting after the catch and Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson are fast enough to stretch defenses downfield. I would hesitate to have Smith anywhere near your roster this year, unless you play in a 32-team league. Corey Dillon had no room to run because the passing game was non-existent. Tampa Bay stacked the gaps and flooded the cutback lanes all day. Until the Cincinnati passing attack improves it's difficult to recommend starting him. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB: Brad Johnson looked confident in the pocket. Completed 63% of his passes to seven different receivers. Showed nice touch on the long TD to McCardell who was wide open due to a blown coverage. He looked to his tight ends often but only completed three passes to them. Two of those were touchdowns. Really used Michael Pittman well as a release valve when he felt pressure in the pocket. Threw the first interception when the Cincinnati linebacker jumped a slant route. The second interception was on a ball that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Brad Johnson was pulled from the game with just under seven minutes remaining for Rob Johnson. Brad Johnson didn't seem to be injured, it just looked like the starters were getting rested. Rob Johnson didn't attempt a pass, instead he handed the ball off on seven straight plays as the Buccaneers drove for their final score while trying to run out the clock. RB: Michael Pittman- Looked like the definition of 'downhill runner'. Was extra quick to the hole which was important this week given the speed of the Cincinnati linebackers. Was used extensively in the passing game as well, both on screens and as an outlet for Brad Johnson, totaling five catches for the game. He is clearly the focus of the TB running game on all three downs. Fumbled on his second carry of the game when Tampa Bay was in field goal range. Was replaced in the final five minutes by Mike Alstott as the Buccaneers were trying to run out the clock. Mike Alstott- Didn't see much action as a runner until the fourth quarter when he replaced Michael Pittman with about five minutes in the game. He carried the ball for the last five Tampa Bay offensive plays, including a 1-yard touchdown run. He did have a fumble on that last drive but the ball bounced out of bounds. He also had one catch for six yards in the game. Beware that Alstott bouncing off tacklers makes great highlight film material but this team looks to be focusing on Pittman. WR: Keyshawn Johnson- Didn't get as many looks as he thought he should, surprise. There were a few balls Johnson under threw that would have added to his totals (5-56) but an ordinary effort on the day overall. Tampa Bay only had one Red Zone opportunity and that was at the end of the game so it's hard to say who they would have targeted down there. He did draw a lot of attention in the secondary which freed up other receivers. Keenan McCardell- Scored from 65 yards out on a blown coverage that saw the Bengals' safety bite on a K Johnson slant route. Made terrific catches over the middle and down the side for his first 100-yard receiving game as a Buccaneer. Joe Jurevicius was hardly targeted and only caught one pass. TE: Ricky Dudley- Had just one catch in the game but it was for a touchdown. That's two touchdowns in his first two games as a Buccaneer. Ken Dilger- Added two catches with one of them going for a score. Both he and Dudley were looked to frequently. It will be difficult to guess which one will be the more prominent target week-to-week, though. Pass Defense: The defensive front was just too big and too fast for the Bengals to handle. Akili Smith was hit and harassed all day long and sacked three times. Warren Sapp recorded two of those. The secondary didn't need to use too many complex coverages because Smith had no time to read even their base defense. They recorded one interception and would have had another but for a drop by the cornerback. Rush Defense: Bottled Cory Dillon up all day long holding him to an average of under three yards per rush. It was, again, a matter of the TB defensive front being too fast for the Cincinnati offensive line. Holes would open but would close again by the time Dillon got there. Any runs to the outside were just strung out of bounds by the TB line backing corps. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Cincinnati Bengals QB: Akili Smith- He looked like it had been two years since his last start. While he looked pretty bad all day he looked most comfortable when he was rolling out of the pocket. He was not accurate, completing just over 36% (12-33) of his passes. To be fair, there mere numerous dropped passes by his receivers but there were an awful lot of balls that were just not catchable. He showed terrible touch on longer passes and overthrew open receivers on deep routes four times that could have been TDs. It's too early to tell if it's lack of talent or lack of practice but I know which way the Bengals are hoping. The lack of practice reps with his wide receivers was plain to see from the beginning of the game. When the routes run are dependent on reading coverage it's expected that the QB and the WR's will need some time to see the same things. The Bengals might be a few weeks away from that. RB: Corey Dillon- didn't stand a chance against the Buccaneers with the way Akili Smith was throwing the ball today. Tampa Bay stacked the line of scrimmage and shut down all of the running lanes holding Dillon to 59 yards for the game with a long run of just 9 yards. He was also completely ignored in the passing game. Dillon was, improbably, still carrying the ball in the fourth quarter on the wrong end of a 35-7 blowout but it was most likely to break the Cincinnati career rushing record in front of the home crowd. After he broke the record he was replaced on the field with Brandon Bennett. It's difficult to recommend starting Corey Dillon while the Cincinnati passing game is such a disaster. He just has no room to run. WR: Peter Warrick- I guess it's positive to say he had almost half of his team's total receiving yards. When you look to see that the team only had 117 of them, though, it's less impressive. He did drop one or two passes buy one or two more catches wouldn't have made much difference. TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson were wide open on 'go' routes four different times during the game. You'd be reading big things about the Cincinnati passing game if Smith had been able to complete those passes. He didn't, so instead you're reading this. TE: Matt Schobel had one catch for 4 yards. Pass Defense: Breakdowns in coverage and poor tackling will lose a lot of football games. The long touchdown to McCardell came when a safety bit on Keyshawn's slant route, letting McCardell break downfield all alone. The Dilger TD came when the big target broke down the seam of the zone and broke four tackles. They did register two interceptions, two sacks and one forced fumble. Rush Defense: The Bengal defense was just ground down from being on the field too long. This was typified on the last Tampa Bay scoring drive when the Buccaneers ran on seven consecutive plays for 46 yards and a touchdown. They're good but that cannot be expected to last for over thirty minutes of game time.