In the second game of the preseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars square off for a Thursday Night Football NFL Preseason battle at EverBank Field.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Jacksonville Jaguars Betting Prediction
When: August 17, 2017, 8:00 PM ET
Where: EverBank Field
Spread: Buccaneers -2
Over/Under: 40.5
Coverage: ABC
Betting on the Buccaneers
The Bucs won nine games last season, so as can be expected their expectations are high.
Nevertheless, because they’re in the NFC South, one of the toughest divisions in the NFL that includes teams that have played in the past two Super Bowls, there’s really no guarantee they’ll have the same success this season.
Their first preseason game this year was a bust, a 23-12 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Quarterback Jameis Winston did however play well in what little time spent on the field, completing 9 of 13 passes for 99 yards.
Wide receiver Mike Evans also looked sharp, grabbing four passes for 58 yards.
Regardless of how well they moved the ball down the field, the Bucs weren’t able to score a touchdown pass. Backup QB, Ryan Fitzpatrick scored the sole touchdown for Tampa Bay on a six yard run in the second quarter.
Tampa Bay had to settle for the most part for scoring field goals time and time over and it’s something that should be addressed before the start of the regular season.
One player who will not start this year on this team will be kicker Roberto Aguayo. The Buccaneers traded up to pick Aguayo in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft hoping he would turn into the next Sebastian Janikowski.
However, things with Aguayo did not pan out as he was seemingly unable to find his accuracy. Recently, the Bucs announced they released the player in what would have been his second year with the team and will go with Nick Folk.
"We're gonna release you."#HardKnocks takes us inside the moment that Roberto Aguayo learned he had been released by the Bucs. pic.twitter.com/0ytpxEmi6y
— NFL (@NFL) August 16, 2017
Betting on the Jaguars
Things can only get better for Jacksonville this year being that last season they won just three games.
Let’s hope they can turn things around this season, otherwise the rave reviews they’ve received in this year’s draft will fall on deaf ears. The only way to measure success in football is to win games.
Jacksonville started the preseason on a high note, as they defeated the current Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Obviously, the win didn’t carry much weight as most of New England’s starters didn’t play, but it was a move in a positive direction.
Quarterback Chad Henne looked as well as anyone could have hoped, finishing with a perfect passer rating after going 5 for 6 with 139 yards and 1 touchdown.
Blake Bortles better step up his game if he wants to keep the job and Henne keeps on playing like he did in the first game.
The Jaguars’ running game was also extremely effective against New England and will likely take the forefront against Tampa Bay. Corey Grant ran for 120 yards and one touchdown on eight carries, while rookie running back Leonard Fournette had 31 yards on nine carries in his NFL debut.
Pick and Prediction
The Jaguars’ offense played much better than that of Tampa Bay’s in their first game. However, the Buccaneers will likely send out their starters for more playing time and that changes things in my mind. Take the Buccaneers on the -2.
