Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) vs. Tennessee Titans (0-1) Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE

MIAMI – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) vs. Tennessee Titans (0-1)

Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL

Time: 7:30pmET/6:30pmCT

Nat’l TV: N/A

Local TV: BLACKOUT

Away TV: WKRN 2 (ABC)

Live Stream: NFL.com Preseason Live

Radio: WDAE 620AM (Tampa), 104.5FM (Tennessee)

Weather: 90°F, Scattered Clouds and Thunderstorms

Line: Bucs by 2

Key Matchup: Bucs defensive line vs. Chris Johnson

Last year Johnson shredded the Bucs D-line when the two teams met, and the first step to repairing their self-esteem will be to have a good outing against Johnson, even if it is just a preseason game. Johnson is expected to see a doubled workload tonight and it will be interesting to see how the Schiano defensive line fares in comparison to that of the Rah-Rah Raheem Morris one did.

Last Game: Buccaneers beat Dolphins 20-7, Titans lost to Seahawks 27-17

Last Meeting: November 27, 2011 – Buccaneers 17, Titans 23

Series History (Since 2001): Titans lead series 3-1

Key Bucs Storyline: Blount vs. Martin running back battle continues, Mark Barron set to make Bucs debut.

Opposing View: Chris Johnson is reportedly getting extra carries tonight and is looking to get back on track.

Last Minute Preview: After an overall impressive preseason debut against the Dolphins, the Bucs are looking to hit the mark again against the Titans. Last season when the Titans met the Bucs, it was an ugly affair all the way through, from the general execution by Tampa to the rainy weather.

It’s supposed to rain again tonight, which means for at least one series, we will see the exact two teams going at it again. Only this time around Greg Sciano is in charge and for the first time we will get to see his team play the same team that a Raheem Morris-led team squared off against.

So there’s that to look forward to tonight.

But there’s also the matter of roster spots to fill and fight for. The headline battle is at running back between LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin. Last time around they got the exact same amount of carries and basically performed on the same level, with Blount getting a few more yards.

This time around, Schiano may still continue to give both back the same amount of work to see well they do with the same reps. After all, that’s probably the best way to decide who’s better. Throw the same players out there behind the same line in the same system and see what they do with the exact same workload.

But there are other battles brewing, ones that will end with someone out of a job. Those are happening at wide receiver, safety, corner back and running back among other spots.

Last week Larry Asante and Cody Grimm turned in poor performances in the opener and are battling each other for the same string safety roster spot. In Schiano’s system, the safety positions are not interchangeable, so there’s a lot on the line here. At wide receiver, Sammie Stroughter and Ed Grant are battling it out and at running back Mossis Madu and Michael Smith are fighting for the third spot on the depth chart.

The final roster is far from completed, but as we enter the Bucs final three preseason games, there will be a lot of questions answered, and a few people out of work.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicked off their preseason against the Dolphins and looked much improved from their 2011 efforts, winning 20-7. (Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE)

The Buccaneers did something they needed to do to officially leave the Raheem Morris era in the past — win. That they did Friday night in Miami, trumping the Miami Dolphins 20-7 behind two touchdowns from their top two running backs.

LeGarrette Blount got the start for the Buccaneers in the backfield and made the most of it, getting used heavily in the Bucs first drive of the game, even going in motion and catching a pass at one point on the drive. Doug Martin didn’t let the man in front of him on the depth chart steal all the spotlight however. Martin started the second quarter for the Bucs and got his first NFL touchdown at the 10:31 mark.

Both touchdowns for both backs came at the goal line.

Schiano gave both backs exactly seven carries to see what each would do behind the same offensive line (which seems more than ready to rock and roll this season but we’ll get to that in a bit). Blount finished with 30 yards and score while Martin finished with 21 yards and a score.

So there is definitely a major, major battle brewing at the running back position which means two things: the rest of training camp and the preseason will be very entertaining to watch and the Buccaneers offense is going to greatly benefit from both backs entering the season at the top of their game.

Quarterbacks Have Superb Night

Josh Freeman played just one series but he completed 4 of 5 passes for 41 yards and no interceptions. Considering that last year Freeman could go five seconds without throwing to the other team this is very nice to see (get used to the sighs of relief when contrasted to last year). But Freeman wasn’t the only quarterback to have an impressive night.

Backup Dan Orlovsky went 8 for 8 and threw for 91 yards during his time in the game. The Buccaneers really didn’t have a backup option last year beyond Josh Johnson and all Johnson really was, was a trick play option. With Orlovsky’s 100 percent performance, the Bucs can begin to breathe easy when it comes to who’s lined up to go if, God forbid, something happens to Freeman.

Even third stringer Brett Ratliff had a decent night completing just over half of his passes. Tampa is trying to go with a strategy of being deep all over the roster and so far so good at quarterback.

O-Line Looks Ready

The offensive line is the one factor that this whole explosive offense thing rides on and it looked in regular season form on Friday. It created holes when it needed to and kept the Dolphins defense at bay. Granted it’s just the preseason and it’s only the Dolphins, but the fact that Josh Freeman looked comfortable under center and wasn’t blasted with the pass rush is a good sign after last year.

A big stat to take away from the game is that the line allowed zero sacks. When considering the brutalization of the line last season, the fact that not one Dolphins defender got to any quarterback, not just Freeman but all the quarterbacks who played, is something to get very excited about.

The Bucs get the the Tennessee Titans next at Raymond James Stadium. In between then they have some training camp time to try and weed out what little kinks it appears they have. Everything from Freeman to the offensive line to the running backs and even the defense looked pretty solid.

Tennessee is welcomed into the Ray J on August 17 at 7:30pm.

The Bucs kick off their preseason tonight against the Miami Dolphins and many questions will begin to be answered. (Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

MIAMI – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-0) at Miami Dolphins (0-0)

Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL

Time: 7:30pmET/6:30pmCT

Nat’l TV: N/A

Local TV: WSTP 10

Away TV: WFOR 4 (CBS)

Radio: WDAE 620AM (Tampa), Sirius 113, 136 (Nat’l)

Weather: 86°F, Chance for Thunderstorms

Line: Miami by 3

Key Matchup: Bucs new offense vs. Dolphins defense

It’s not like they’re going up against much, but don’t expect Greg Schiano to sit his starters like some teams did in their first preseason game. The Dolphins defense, as bad as it may be, is the first time this offense will be facing a live opposing defense.

Last Game: Buccaneers lost to Falcons 45-24, Dolphins beat Jets 19-17

Last Meeting: November 15, 2009 – Buccaneers 23, Dolphins 25

Series History (Since 2001): Series is tied 1-1

Key Bucs Storyline: Doug Martin and his Buccaneers Debut

Opposing View: Chad Johnson makes his Dolphins debut alongside rookie QB Ryan Tannehill

Last Minute Preview: Obviously all eyes will be on the Bucs new toys. We’ve seen them in camp, we’ve seen them in controlled environments but this is the first live game against another team and that’s huge. This Bucs team is new and improved but we don’t know just how improved it really is. 

Doug Martin will make his Bucs debut and his performance will be the top storyline heading into this game for the Bucs. (Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

Sure on paper it’s a better team, but last year they looked pretty good too.

Key players to watch tonight will be not just the new additions in Carl Nicks, Eric Wright and Vincent Jackson, but rather the draft picks and in particular Doug Martin. Everyone knew the Bucs were going defense with their first selection in the draft but the surprise came when thehy traded back into the first to take Martin.

Then the storm started. What does this mean for the offense, how does this effect the play calling and Josh Freeman’s pass game and more importantly, what does this mean for incumbent LeGarrette Blount?

That’s the real matchup to watch tonight. Yeah, it’s going to be nice to see how Freeman does with the new receiving corps, but the story that will steal the show is how well Doug Martin does in his Bucs debut.

We will also get to see how this offense will be run — which is really the overall theme of the night. Last year the offense was all over the place with end-arounds being run and just mass chaos pretty much on every drive. So far in camp and the offseason, Schiano and company have been hush-hush on how the offense will go.

The speculation is that it will be a run heavy offense since the Bucs have two great backs in Blount and Martin and Schiano’s past at Rutgers further suggests this (See: Ray Rice). But the Bucs didn’t throw all that money at Vincent Jackson for no reason. The hope is that with a balanced set of weapons, the offense will be more open as a result of defenses’s having to account for more than just one dimension.

All of this is still a mystery but we will finally get to see what this Bucs team is going to look like September 9th against the Panthers. It might be rough, but hey, it seriously can’t be any worse then last year.