From rested to tested

November 13, 9:43 AMTampa Bay Buccaneers ExaminerJ.J. Rodriguez

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RB Adrian Peterson carries Minnesota into contention 

This weekend another former NFC Central division foe heads into Tampa with a full head of steam. Minnesota has won four of their last five games, including last weekend's exciting 28-27 come from behind win over the Packers. They've done so on the legs of the NFL's leading rusher Adrian Peterson and a resurgence by journeyman QB Gus Frerotte. The Vikings come into this week's game tied with Chicago for first-place atop the NFC North with a 5-4 record.

This season the Buccaneer defense has surrendered 99.3 rush yards/gm, which is 14 yards less than Peterson's average of 113/gm. The Bucs had prevented a 100 yard rusher all season until two week's ago, when KC's rookie tailback Jamaal Charles went for 106 on 18 carries. You have to imagine the Vikings have watched plenty of film from Tampa's week 9 struggles  with Charles, and will implement their own schemes and formations to exploit Tampa Bay's penchant for being softer on bigger, downhill-type back's like Peterson. My full Tampa Bay-Minnesota game preview will be coming this Sunday prior to their 1pm kickoff time.

Injury/Roster news:

As expected, the Bucs activated RB Carnell "Cadillac" Williams on Wednesday and released RB Michael Bennett to make room for him on the 53-man roster. Williams is expected to get reps during their game on Sunday, but is unlikely to be their feature back. Also, the Bucs lost WR Maurice Stovall for the season with a hamstring injury. WR Brian Clark, a Tampa native, was promoted from the practice squad.

In other news:

There have been some media reports that have loosely linked head coach Jon Gruden to the coaching vacancy at the University of Tennesee, which of course Gruden has repudiated. Let me start by saying, anyone who has watched Gruden coach and understands his tendency to favor veteran players would get a kick out of any idea of Gruden leaving the NFL to coach 18-22 year olds. He's made it no secret that he doesn't trust rookies or younger players, with Cadillac being one of the rare exceptions. Look at Gruden's teams in the past decade he has coached. They're all veteran-laden teams. Rich Gannon and Jeff Garcia are nearly identical in nature (smaller, scrappy QB's). Jerry Rice and Tim Brown in Oakland, Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard in Tampa Bay. The mere thought of Gruden coaching at the collegiate level is comic. Could you imagine ol' Chucky firing F-Bombs on the sideline at Neyland Stadium after the Vols blow a 4th quarter lead to Florida? His style of being rough on younger players and his inclination for 30-somethings rule out the possibility of any college program luring him from the comforts of the NFL.

Unless somehow Rich Gannon has a year of eligibility left.