
I'd probably lose the respect of a couple members of this Site had I not conveyed the following story...
A Buc 'Em contributer once said,
Going into tomorrow's Playoff Game against the New York Giants, alot of the talk has been about the Skill Positions; QB Eli Manning and whether he'll bring his "A" Game or "No" Game... CB Ronde Barber talking smack about the SORRY Giants and so on and so on... What usually gets overlooked during this time however is the Offensive Line.
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post once again, presents us with a great article about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers YOUNG Offensive Line and the Battle it will face when the Giants Veteran Defensive Line comes into town.
Our offensive line is the youngest in the NFL with an Average Age of 25 years old. This entire unit has yet to make a name for itself, but 2nd Year Right Tackle Jeremy Trueblood hopes to change that Sunday:
Everyone on the line except 10 year Veteran Center John Wade will be making their first Playoff Appearance. Starting Left Tackle Donald Penn, who took over for Off-Season Acquisition Luke Petitgout, will have a tough task protecting QB Jeff Garcia from DE Osi Umenyiora. Petitgout has been preparing Donald for Osi this week. Here's what Giants DE Umenyiora had to say about his opposition's study habits:
That's alot of RESPECT coming from a man who has 13 Sacks on the season. Not bad for a undrafted Free Agent from Utah State, Way to go Donald...
Ancient Giants Veteran in DE Michael Strahan even had nice things to say about this young Bucs Offensive Line:
Giants DE Justin Tuck (10 Sacks), seems to value the Experience his team has:
As Buccaneers WR Ike Hilliard says below, the Bucs Offensive Line shouldn't read these headlines and get full of themselves:
The Battle in the Trenches will definitely be something to watch for both teams...