Washington (10-6) at Tampa Bay (11-5)

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• EA Sports Preview: Redskins vs. Buccaneers

SCOUTING REPORT

Skins have edge in the trenchesThese two teams met in November in what was an evenly fought battle. Tampa Bay won 36-35 with a long touchdown pass and a controversial two-point conversion in the last minute. Expect another tight battle this week, as both teams will try to establish the run first, then take shots down the field. Although Tampa Bay is 6-2 at home this season, Washington is a dangerous underdog, having won five in a row to reach the postseason for the first time since 1999.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
WAS	1-1	27	30	0-0	1-1	0-0	1-1
TAM	0-1	10	17	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-1
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

Washington Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Campbe... 66.0 2126 10 9 Collin... 52.6 87 0 0

Tampa Bay Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Johnso... 50.4 685 4 8 Leftwi... 54.2 594 4 3

Washington Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Portis 124 494 4.0 1 Betts 56 210 3.8 2

Tampa Bay Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Willia... 117 450 3.8 3 Ward 66 243 3.7 1

Washington Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Moss 40 546 13.7 2 Randle... 34 366 10.8 0

Tampa Bay Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Winslo... 47 483 10.3 5 Bryant 19 269 14.2 2

Full Player Stats: Washington | Tampa Bay

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	WAS	331.0
	TAM	295.0
Yards Passing	WAS	194.1
	TAM	180.6
Yards Rushing	WAS	136.4
	TAM	114.1
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	WAS	297.9
	TAM	277.8
Pass Yds Allowed	WAS	192.6
	TAM	183.1
Rush Yds Allowed	WAS	105.4
	TAM	94.7

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
Series tied 2-2
Nov 13, 2005	WAS 35, TAM 36
Sep 12, 2004	WAS 16, @TAM 10
Oct 12, 2003	WAS 13, @TAM 35

Washington (10-6) at Tampa Bay (11-5) Saturday 4:30 pm EST NFC wild card

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs came out of retirement to restore the Washington Redskins to playoff glory.

Gibbs coaches his first postseason game in 13 years on Saturday when the Redskins meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round.

A three-time Super Bowl winner, Gibbs faces a coach who has a championship ring of his own. Three years ago, Gruden guided the Buccaneers to a 48-21 victory over Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Gibbs won Super Bowl titles in 1982, 1987 and 1991. His last playoff game was a 20-13 loss at San Francisco in January 1993. Gibbs was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

The Redskins made the playoffs just once in Gibbs' 11-year absence. In 1999, coach Norv Turner guided the Redskins into the postseason, where they beat Detroit before losing here to the Bucs, 14-13. Tampa Bay was coached then by Tony Dungy.

Ironically, Gibbs' first game out of retirement came against the Bucs in the 2004 season opener. Clinton Portis rushed for 148 yards, including a 64-yad touchdown on his first carry, to lead the Redskins to a 16-10 victory.

The teams met again here on November 13 in perhaps the best game of the NFL season. It certainly was memorable for Gruden, fullback Mike Alstott and quarterback Chris Simms.

Gruden gambled and called for a make-or-break two-point conversion after an offside penalty put the ball at the Washington 1 and Alstott managed to spin off a tackle and sneak into the end zone to give the Bucs a thrilling 36-35 win.

Alstott was hit at the line and appeared to be stopped, but twisted and kept his legs moving and barely got into the end zone. The Redskins challenged the call, but replay upheld the two-point conversion.

"Other than the Super Bowl, that was my biggest moment as a Buc, no question about it," said Alstott, who also rushed for two touchdowns in the game.

The Redskins jumped offside as they blocked the potential game-tying extra point by Matt Bryant, moving the ball half the distance to the 1. Rather than take a chance on losing a coin flip in overtime, Gruden seized the opportunity to try and win the game with Alstott just one yard away from the end zone.

Simms made the play possible, hitting Edell Shepherd with a 30-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter. It was the third touchdown pass of the day for Simms, who threw for 279 yards.

"That game gave me a lot of confidence," Simms said. "It showed that in a tight game I can get it done. I think, most important, it gave our offense a lot of confidence the rest of the season."

The Redskins had taken a 35-28 lead when Portis scored on an eight-yard run with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter. The touchdown capped a 16-play, 76-yard drive which lasted more than 8 1/2 minutes. Portis finished with 144 yards on 23 carries.

"His (Portis') offensive line does a good job of creating holes," Bucs perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "We've got our work cut out for us in stopping Clinton Portis."

Portis ranked third in the NFC with 1,516 rushing yards this season.

Mark Brunell threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions and Ladell Betts scored on a 94-yard kickoff return for Washington. Betts also caught a 17-yard touchdown pass.

The Redskins succeeded in stuffing rookie Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, who was held to 20 yards on 10 carries. Williams finished the year with 1,178 rushing yards.

But Washington had fits with wide receiver Joey Galloway, who had seven receptions for 131 yards.

The 34-year-old Galloway eclipsed 1,000 yards for the first time since 1998, catching 83 passes for 1,287 yards and 10 touchdowns.

"We expect it to be another slugfest," Galloway said. "The last one against them was extremely exciting. People still talk about it. We expect another one of those games."

Meanwhile, the Bucs' cover-2 scheme contained Pro Bowl receiver Santana Moss, who had four catches for 79 yards.

High-profile defensive coordinators Gregg Williams of Washington and Monte Kiffin of Tampa Bay would like to see their units perform better this time around.

But Bucs defensive end Simeon Rice doesn't fall in that category. He had two sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception. One of his forced fumbles was recovered by fellow end Dewayne White at the Washington 5, setting up a touchdown.

Matchup to watch: Moss, who finished with 84 receptions for 1,483 yards and nine touchdowns this season, faces left cornerback Brian Kelly. Kiffin may use Pro Bowl cornerback Ronde Barber to shadow Moss, although the Bucs usually stay true to their cover-2 scheme.

Series: Washington leads, 7-6.

Next week: Washington would visit Seattle, January 14 or 15 Tampa Bay would visit Chicago, January 14 or 15

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