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IS CADILLAC REALLY BACK?
The loss of Earnest Graham for the season might be more significant than some think right now. Graham has led the Bucs in rushing yards for two straight seasons. In 2008, Graham had rushed for 563 yards (4.3 avg.) and four touchdowns.

Unfortunately, Graham suffered a season-ending ankle injury vs. the Vikings last week, which means 33-year-old Warrick Dunn will be the primary ball carrier in head coach Jon Gruden's offense.

Dunn has rushed for over 10,000 yards during his career, but he no longer has the ability to carry the ball 25-plus times per game nor does he have the power to be effective in short-yardage situations, which is where Graham thrived.

While fullback B.J. Askew could be called on to carry the ball in short yardage situations, the Bucs will lean most on Dunn and rookie RB Clifton Smith. There's a chance Cadillac Williams, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list two weeks ago, will see his first game action in over a year vs. the Lions on Sunday.

Some believe the return of Williams will help fill the void left by Graham. While he certainly might contribute, that line of thinking might be wishful thinking when considering the fact that we don't know how much rust the former first-round pick has to shake off or how his surgically-repaired knee will hold up.

Health aside, it is important to note that Williams was not playing great football before he landed on injured reserve in Week 4 of the 2007 season.

His rookie season was impressive. Williams rushed for 1,178 yards (4.1 avg.) and six touchdowns en route to earning NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 2005, but the ensuing seasons proved to be sub-par.

In the 18 regular season games that followed his rookie campaign, Williams rushed for just 1,006 yards (3.6 avg.), caught 33 passes for 213 yards and scored four touchdowns.

In addition, Williams struggled with dropped passes and fumbles. He has eight fumbles in 32 career games, including two in the four contests he played in last year.

Unfortunately for Williams, he was having a great game vs. Carolina before his knee injury occurred, rushing the ball six times for 41 yards (6.8 avg.).

Several members of the Bucs front office believe that had he remained healthy throughout the entire 2007 season, Williams would have produced better numbers than Graham, who rushed for 898 yards (4.0 avg.) and 10 touchdowns while catching 49 passes for 324 yards, due to the fact that Tampa Bay's offensive line had a big hand in opening holes in the running game and Williams is considered a more gifted runner. The O-line is even better this year with the addition of center Jeff Faine.

Smith is averaging 5.4 yards per carry, but he is having similar issues in terms of securing the football. Smith has three fumbles in three games. The Bucs made a point to help Smith with his ball security in practice this week, swatting at the ball each time he carried it and hitting him with blocking pads each time he fielded punts.

Smith must take care of the football, especially this week since Williams might not play due to a hamstring injury and injuries sustained at key special teams positions, which could make newcomer Noah Herron active over Williams.

Williams and Tampa Bay's training staff deserve a tremendous amount of credit for getting the former Auburn standout to this point given the fact that torn patellar tendon injuries are sometimes considered career threatening. However, the knee injury clearly isn't the only obstacle Williams must overcome once he returns to the football field on game days.

STAT OF THE WEEK
The 0-10 Detroit Lions aren't doing many things well, which makes them a scary opponent for the 7-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have little room for error in a tight NFC playoff race.

Detroit ranks 28th and 31st overall in the NFL in total offense and defense, respectively. The Buccaneers, on the other hand, are one of only three teams - Arizona, Philadelphia and the New York Giants - that rank in the top 10 in total offense and defense.

But there's one thing the Bucs have done poorly and the Lions have actually done well this season, which is score touchdowns inside the red zone.

Tampa Bay ranks second-to-last (31st) in the NFL in red zone offense. The only team that ranks worse is the Oakland Raiders. The Buccaneers have been inside the red zone 42 times and scored just 14 touchdowns, which amounts to a 33.3 percent conversion rate. To put number that in perspective, only three teams - Arizona, Philadelphia and the Giants -- have been inside the red zone more than the Bucs, and they are converting at least 50 percent of those scoring opportunities into touchdowns.

Ironically, the winless Lions rank third overall in the NFL in red zone scoring offense. While they're converting those scoring opportunities into touchdowns 63.1 percent of the time, the Lions have scored 12 touchdowns in just 19 trips to the red zone.

Despite the fact that Tampa Bay is outgaining Detroit's offense by about 75 yard per game, it has scored just 16 offensive touchdowns, which is three less than the Lions' offensive TD total of 19.

The Bucs are on pace to score just 26 offensive touchdowns this season, which would be the second-lowest TD total under head coach Jon Gruden. The worst came in 2006 when the Bucs offense scored just 20 touchdowns in 16 regular season games en route to a 4-12 record.

Whether it is quarterback Jeff Garcia's decision making, Gruden's playcalling or simply player execution, the Bucs must remedy their red zone woes if they are going to defend their NFC South division title and make a serious run at the Super Bowl. Facing Detroit's 31st-ranked defense might just be what the doctor ordered for the Buccaneers.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Head coach Jon Gruden on the Detroit Lions having almost one dozen former Buccaneers coaches and players combined.

"Pretty much every week we see teams where there are Buccaneer connections. This one here is an understatement. We have a lot of respect for [head coach Rod Marinelli]. He's a great coach. Obviously [defensive coordinator] Joe Barry and a number of players - [cornerback] Brian Kelly and [defensive end] Dewayne White - those guys are champions. [Linebacker] Ryan Nece, [safety] Kalvin Pearson...a lot of guys. [Defenisve lineman] Corey Smith's there; [Defensive lineman] Chuck Darby. I'm excited to see these guys. At the same time we've got to play a lot better than we have on the road to win. Last I checked, we were down 24-3 in Arrowhead right before the half. So we've got to play better football on the road."

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