The Eagles helped their quarterback to a record-setting performance in his second NFL start in their last game against the Kansas City Chiefs, and this week they'll be on the other side, playing against a quarterback making his second NFL start.
The Buccaneers' Josh Johnson was named starting quarterback heading into last week's game against the Washington Redskins, and he'll be thrown into the fire this week against an Eagles' team chomping at the bit to get back to football after a week off.
"I'm expecting a great atmosphere," said Johnson. "The Eagles have a great organization; they're one of the top teams every year.
"I feel like it's going to be a tough test for our team to go out there on Sunday and play these guys. They have great fans, from what I've heard it's pretty loud, I think it's going to be really loud. It's just a great opportunity for us to go out and get our first win and go against a good football team."
Johnson threw for only 106 yards, completing 13 of 22 attempts, in the 16-13 loss, notching one touchdown and one interception. But the young Johnson is also a running threat, accumulating 41 yards on the ground last Sunday.
"He came in last week and managed the game well," said first-year Bucs' head coach Raheem Morris of Johnson. "He has developed more confidence. He's had another week of preparation, one more week with the guys, one more week of familiarity.
"We're talking about a guy who has the mentality, the preparation of a starting quarterback even when he wasn't. That's kind of how you have to be in this league and hopefully get a little bit better this week and set us up for an opportunity to go out there and play our best football."
Johnson, in his second year, was the forgotten man in the Buccaneers' quarterback rotation in training camp, with Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown competing for the starting job and rookie Josh Freeman anointed as the player of the future. But he kept working and waiting for an opportunity.
"I've made a lot of progress within the past year, just running the game as a whole from the standpoint of games and understanding defenses a lot more," he said. "How to go about preparation, how to go about handling everything as a quarterback.
"It's slowed down a lot because now I'm seeing things a lot differently than I was last year. There's not as much thinking as I was doing as a rookie. Obviously I'm still thinking but I'm able to process things a lot faster. And then once I'm able to do that and understand how we are going to attack a defense, it allows me to see the defense a lot better and slow things down."
Johnson said the running game, led by Cadillac Williams and former-Giant Derrick Ward, will be the key to besting the Eagles this week.
"They keep us in second and third manageable situations because they're able to go get three or four or five yards," Johnson said of his running backs. "That's big for an offense, when you can constantly pick up yardage, gaining positive yardage and keep yourself out of third and long situations. It's tough in this league to go against these defenses when you get in ideal situations for them to do what they do best."
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 2:36 p.m., October 7
