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Game plan: 49ers-Bucs
By Ron Jaworski
ESPN.com

Five keys for the 49ers
1. Solid pass defense: That has been the 49ers' Achilles heel most of the season. During the regular season they were 22nd in pass defense and last in the NFL in third-down efficiency. Last week they could hardly slow down the Giants, particularly in the first half. This key leads to the next key. 2. Pressure Johnson: Good pass defense is a combination of coverage and rush. The 49ers need to pressure Brad Johnson, who has been out with a back injury. The Bucs use a lot of three- and five-step drops. That means the 49ers need to get pressure on Johnson up the middle and get people in his face. 3. Run inside: The Bucs' defense has only struggled against strong inside running games. The 49ers must attack inside with Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow and make the interior of the Bucs' defensive line defend the run. Although the 49ers haven't run the ball well lately, they have an advantage up front. On every snap they will double-team Chartric Darby, who is in for the injured Anthony McFarland. Center Jeremy Newberry and guards Ron Stone and Eric Heitmann can get movement in the middle, push Darby back into the linebackers and run on the inside. 4. Get Garcia on fire: Although he looked a bit skittish early, Jeff Garcia finished last week's game in a zone, where he felt he couldn't miss. The go-ahead touchdown pass to Tai Streets was as good as any throw I've seen all season. Steve Mariucci and offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will probably come out and be aggressive with three or four wideouts. Rather than a balanced attack, the 49ers may come out throwing the football so Garcia can develop some confidence early. 5. Spread the wealth: Garcia needs to get wide receivers other than Terrell Owens involved, as he did last week, when Streets caught five passes and tight end Eric Johnson caught eight. Despite the double-teams, Owens had a great game, but the complementary receivers need to come up big again against Tampa Bay.

Five keys for the Bucs
1. Contain Garcia: Big plays happen when Garcia moves around in the pocket and lets his receivers get open. It will be important for the Bucs collapse the pocket on him and get quick pressure from Simeon Rice outside. The Bucs know how to pressure and control quarterbacks. The opposing quarterback rate against the Bucs during the regular season was an absolutely phenomenal 48.4. Green Bay was second at 68.7. That's how good the Bucs are against the pass. 2. Double Owens: Against a base formation, the Bucs will play their "Cover 2" -- rolling the corners, having the safeties split and go deep, and then double-covering the wide receivers. But the Bucs need to take Owens out of the game. That will leave them vulnerable against the run with only seven in the box. So in addition to double-teaming Owens, the Bucs must get big games up front from their defensive tackles, Darby and Warren Sapp. 3. Barber on the blitz: When the Bucs blitz, they need someone with speed and quickness. In their nickel and dime packages, Ronde Barber will move over to cover the slot receiver, giving him a short corner to the quarterback. He must show color to Garcia quickly in order to break him down. 4. Balanced offense: The Bucs will not win by being one-dimensional, either throwing or running. They need to stay out of the third-and-long situations. The best way is to run successfully on the early downs and staying in manageable third-down situations for Brad Johnson, whose health is the most critical element of the game. The 49ers secondary can be exposed by a veteran quarterback who can read coverage and throw accurately, but no one knows if Johnson will be 100 percent. 5. Dynamic design: Head coach Jon Gruden is an excellent designer of offense. Contrary to how the Bucs play defense, they are slow and plodding offense. They get few explosive plays because Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell, Rickey Dudley, Ken Dilger and Joe Jurevicius are possession players. Gruden has still done a good job all year of manufacturing points by design, and he'll have to do the same against San Francisco. Ron Jaworski covers the NFL for ESPN.





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