OFFICIAL GDT - COWBOYS vs BUCCANNEERS!!!

[Underdog]

Buccaneers vs. Cowboys
Losing Streak Must End Against High-Flying Bucs

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GAME SET
WHAT: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2) at Dallas Cowboys (4-3)
WHEN: Sunday, Noon (CDT)
WHERE: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
TELEVISION: Fox (Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa)

BIG ISSUE: The Cowboys need to win this one. After dropping a clunker to the Rams last week, they've lost all room for error in terms of winning games while starting quarterback Tony Romo is out with a broken pinkie. Dallas is mired in third place in the NFC East behind the Giants and Redskins. The best-case scenario on Sunday would be a Cowboys win coupled with losses by both Washington (to winless Detroit - not likely to happen) and New York (to one-loss Pittsburgh - this game's a toss-up). That would place the Cowboys in a tie for second place with the Redskins (although Washington would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker) and within a half-game of the Giants again.

Things are a lot better for the Buccaneers than for the Cowboys right now. Tampa Bay is sitting at the top of their division at 5-2 with Carolina, and is tied for the second-best record in the NFC. Still, the Bucs can't afford a loss to drop them back into the pack. The Falcons are sitting a half-game back at 4-2, which nobody would have predicted. And the Saints (3-4) are much better than their record suggests. If all three of the other NFC South teams win and the Bucs lose, they suddenly go from first to third - a game behind Carolina and a half-game behind Atlanta.

NUMBERS, PLEASE: Cowboys running back Marion Barber ranks 10th in the league in yards per game with 77. The Buccaneers defense ranks 10th in rushing yards per game with 91.6. Barber has scored five times on the ground; the Bucs have yet to allow a rushing touchdown. Something's got to give on Sunday. The Buccaneers secondary is a veteran one, and it's moxie has shown in it's interception total - Tampa Bay is second to only Green Bay with 12 picks. The Cowboys, by comparison, are second-to-last with two. The Bucs' leader, though, is not a seasoned veteran, but a rookie cornerback Aqib Talib, who has three.

ONE-ON-ONE: The Buccaneers hardly have one guy who makes the rest of the offense go, but if forced to choose, it'd have to be running back Earnest Graham. Although he splits carries with Warrick Dunn, who has run for just 33 fewer yards, Graham is the back the Bucs rely on to score - he has four touchdowns to Dunn's one. Neither back is really used as a passing threat, so it will fall on Cowboys nose tackle Jay Ratliff to clog up the middle enough to make Graham a non-factor. When he splits carries with Dunn, Graham sometimes serves as a lead blocker for the former Falcon, and possibly even more this Sunday with fullback B.J. Askew unlikely to play. That makes it even more imperative Ratliff become disruptive at the line of scrimmage, closing any holes that might open. But Dunn is listed as questionable for the game, so Graham could receive the lion's share of the carries.

How long do you think defenses can actually keep Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens down? Buccaneers corners Ronde Barber and Phillip Buchanon intend to find out. Teams have essentially taken Owens out by playing the Tampa 2 defense the Bucs have perfected, which uses man coverage on Owens underneath and a safety over the top. The safety helps allow the corner to jam Owens at the line of scrimmage, and by the time he gets past the jam, the quarterback has moved on to a different read. But this time the Buccaneers secondary will have to deal with a threat on the other side of the field - wide receiver Roy Williams. Williams, traded for last week from Detroit, has had the benefit of another week of practice, and should record his first catch on Sunday. More catches for Williams will likely mean more for Owens, since teams will have to pay equal attention to both receivers.

SUPPORTING ROLE: As for the other Roy Williams, the safety, he's out for the season since the Cowboys placed him on injured reserve earlier in the week with a broken arm. That means sixth-year safety Keith Davis will again be called on to fill the void. Davis is very similar to Williams in a few respects - for one, he's a punishing hitter on the run. But, unlike Williams, he's also shown flashes of playmaking ability in pass coverage - see his two-point conversion-saving pass deflection on Cincinnati's Ben Utecht three weeks ago. Fellow safety Pat Watkins should finally play on Sunday after missing time with a bulging disc in his neck, but likely only on special teams. Then Courtney Brown will come in for Davis on the sub-packages so Davis can stay fresh for special teams, where he's a captain and emotional leader.

Cowboys fans will see a familiar face lining up at receiver on Sunday, although in a different uniform than they're used to. Very quietly, former Cowboys receiver Antonio Bryant has led the Bucs with 31 catches for 406 yards - twice as many as the next guy, Ike Hilliard. Hilliard and another former Cowboys receiver, Joey Galloway, are usually Tampa Bay's top two receiving threats, but both are questionable for Sunday's game. That would make Bryant the top receiving option. Bryant has a healthy yards-per-catch average at 13.1, but that's kind of distorted from last week's six-catch, 115-yard day against Seattle. Still, against a Cowboys secondary depleted by injuries, Bryant could have another career day at Texas Stadium, just not in the jersey he's used to.

HEADSET GAMES: You can't ask Cowboys backup quarterback Brad Johnson to win games for you - that much is evident from last week's 34-14 loss to the Rams. The Cowboys got behind early and Johnson isn't the kind of quick-strike passer who will get a team back into a game in a short amount of time. Therefore, the Cowboys must beat the Buccaneers at their own game - ball control. Marion Barber will be the focus of the offense for most of the day, and will receive little relief from rookie Tashard Choice until late in the game. Barber did manage a 100-yard rushing day last week, but his production, like the rest of the team's, faded as the game progressed. The Cowboys will need Barber to be his strongest at the end of the game, and that means the offensive line will have to be at its best in the final frame as well.

The Cowboys defense will go back to the basics against the Buccaneers. Nickel linebacker Kevin Burnett said the defense will only be running about 10 plays all game, so the emphasis will be on running them well. The Bucs are a ball-control team that relies on the run, although quarterback Jeff Garcia is able to win games with his arm. The Cowboys will still aim at stopping the run first, though, because they can't afford another opponent runner to have a career day against them like last week.

HEALTH WATCH:

Cowboys
It's in or out for the Cowboys this week. And for five players - running back Felix Jones (hamstring), starting left guard Kyle Kosier (foot), starting corner Terence Newman (abdomen surgery), starting quarterback Tony Romo (broken finger) and backup outside linebacker Anthony Spencer (hamstring) - it's out. For the other five players on the injury report - nickel linebacker Kevin Burnett (calf), starting linebacker Greg Ellis (calf), starting linebacker Bradie James (elbow), backup nose tackle Tank Johnson (ankle) and backup safety Pat Watkins (neck) - they're all listed as probable and should play. And don't forget, safety Roy Williams (fractured arm) already has been placed on injured reserve and Pacman Jones is serving the second of a minimum four-game suspension.

Buccaneers
There is a chance every player on the Bucs' injury report will or won't play. Likely not to play are fullback B.J. Askew (hamstring) and wide receiver Maurice Stovall (hamstring) - both are listed as doubtful. Four players have 50-50 odds of playing and are listed as questionable - starting running back Warrick Dunn (back), starting wide receivers Joey Galloway (foot) and Ike Hilliard (head) and quarterback Brian Griese (elbow). Another four players are listed as probable, meaning they have better than even chances to play - kicker Matt Bryant (hamstring), long snapper Andrew Economos (shoulder), starting middle linebacker Barrett Rudd (knee), and starting left guard Aaron Sears (back).