Bucs come off a big win but have a short week to prepare to meet a team desparate for a win. Quarterback change for Jacksonville could mean good things but at the least the Jags defense is playing well.

Coin toss game that favors the home team against an inconsistent team coming off a win.

Tampa Bay Notes

The Bucs rise to a lofty 5-6 on the season without Keyshawn. What a shock. Not.

Quarterbacks:: Brad Johnson, now the only Buc Johnson, comes off a solid 269 yard, one touchdown effort last Monday night and apparently does not miss Keyshawn.

Running Backs: Michael Pittman had 19 carries against the Giants but only gained 55 yards and Gruden increased the role of Thomas Jones after his big game in week 11. Jones had ten carries for 27 yards and scored the lone rushing touchdown. Look for that 2:1 ratio to continue.

Receivers: Keenan McCardell was the main target on Monday, catching nine of his 13 passes for 83 yards but the most exciting development was the use of Charles Lee with Keyshawn gone. Lee had five receptions for 91 yards and scored the lone receiving touchdown. Lee was a star during training camp but was cut at the start of the season to make room on the roster for other needs.

In his first regular season game, Lee came through with flying colors.

Joe Jurevicius improved from the previous week but only managed to gain 43 yards on three receptions. Both he and Lee had the same amount of passes, Lee just did more with his.

Match against the Defense: The Jaguars have been playing solid defense lately, just not quite good enough to win. They held Pennington to only 236 yards and one score and Steve McNair has twice played them and never had more than 187 yards. Jacksonville also has at least one interception in each of the last six games.

This is a solid defense still working on the spectacular angle. They have only allowed one 100 yard rusher and that was in the opening game.

This game should end up as a low scoring affair and the Bucs are on the road after a short week with a Thanksgiving wedged in there. Johnson should manage at least one passing score since almost all teams have but not much more than that.

The duo of Jones and Pittman could turn in a cumulative 100 yards but half of Jacksonville's games have prevented any ground touchdowns.

Jacksonville Notes

The Jaguars fall to 2-9 with they latest close loss to the Jets.

Quarterbacks:: The growing pains of Byron Leftwich are growing thin since he has given up 12 interceptions and six lost fumbles against only eight touchdowns. He only has three scores in the past six games and the last four losses by Jacksonville have been by a touchdown or less. When you are 2-9, that matters a whole bunch.

HC Jack Del Rio has decided not to make a change to David Garrard at starting quarterback this week.

Running Backs: Though he had a sore knee, Fred Taylor still had 32 carries for 119 yards last week which leaves him only 81 yards away from a 1000 yard season in 2003.

Receivers: Though Leftwich only had 172 yards last week, it went directly to the two main wideouts. Jimmy Smith had six catches for 63 yards while Troy Edwards was tossed in the dumpster and had no throws, let alone any catches. Instead, Kevin Johnson took his first start as a Jaguar and led the team with 77 yards on five catches.

Still too early to say that Johnson will finally provide the McCardell role that has been missing the past two years, but it is time to say forget about Troy Edwards.

Match against the Defense: The Bucanneers could be tired and winded from their short week and big win over the Giants.

Tampa Bay still has a top pass defense, so Leftwich will likely not shine too brightly this week and the new duo of Johnson and Smith will have a tougher time meeting the numbers of last week.

Fred Taylor faces an average rush defense, but at home and with plenty of carries he should manage at least respectable numbers.

* Fantasy point rankings calculated using standard Huddle fantasy points