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The Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off on Saturday in the second week of the preseason. It's time to continue our NFL odds series and make a Titans-Buccaneers prediction and pick.
The Titans were one of the most successful teams in the first week of the preseason, scoring a dominant victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The Buccaneers weren't quite as sharp as Tennessee, dropping their first game to the Cincinnati Bengals by five points. These preseason games mean absolutely nothing to the Bucs, who returned every single starter from their Super Bowl-winning season. There aren't many position battles in Tampa Bay, but Tennessee still has some lineup decisions to iron out. Look for both teams to play their depth for a vast majority of this matchup to help find potential starters and quality backups.
Here's how the bookmakers have set the lines for Saturday's matchup.
NFL Odds: Titans-Buccaneers Odds
Tennessee Titans +1 (-110)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -1 (-110)
Over 35 points (-110)
Under 35 points (-110)
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Why The Titans Could Win
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Tennessee's defense dominated four four quarters in week one of the preseason, holding the Falcons to less than 170 yards of total offense. The Titans second and third-string defenders looked more like starters throughout the whole game, led by rookie edge rusher Rashad Weaver. Weaver and former undrafted free agent Wyatt Ray combined for three sacks and ten tackles. The secondary also played fantastic football, giving up only 52 passing yards throughout the entire game. It's unreasonable to expect another performance as good as the last one, but these Titans backups have shown that they are capable of completely shutting down an offense.
Tennessee's backup quarterbacks weren't exactly must-see TV in week one, but they played extremely efficiently. Combined, Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley only threw eight incomplete passes over the course of the game. It's far from exciting football, but it's winning football in the preseason. Another tame, under-control performance from both signal-callers is certainly possible against the Buccaneers.
Why The Buccaneers Could Win
Tampa Bay's offense was horrendous last week, but that won't happen again. Backup quarterback Ryan Griffin threw two interceptions, which is more of an anomaly than an indication of skill level. Griffin is more than capable of playing at a high level against a defense that's full of players who won't end up on an active NFL roster. Rookie signal caller Kyle Trask should also see more of the field in this one, as head coach Bruce Arians likely wants to see how far he's progressed throughout training camp. Trask was a highly touted prospect coming out of the University of Florida, so a decent performance from him isn't out of the question. Overall, Tampa Bay's offense should see a drastic improvement from their first outing.
The Buccaneers' defense has plenty of players fighting for second-string jobs, which means that there are plenty of capable players who will see the field on Saturday. First-round rookie edge rusher Joe Tryon leads the second team defense that has seven players with legitimate NFL experience. Tampa Bay has quality backups at every level of the defense, so the Titans should have a significantly more difficult time running their offense in this game.
Final Titans-Buccaneers Prediction & Pick
Neither side of the spread is a great pick, as preseason football is insanely unpredictable. One stable factor of the preseason is that most offenses struggle to find their footing. The under is the right pick here, as neither team has an offense that can score points in a hurry and both defenses played great football in their first preseason games.
FINAL PICK: Under 35 points (-110)
