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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 3 matchup is a battle of legendary quarterbacks. Tom Brady leads the Buccaneers against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the Bucs home opener. We will be making our Buccaneers Week 3 predictions.
Tampa Bay is in a very weird spot. They are 2-0, which a lot of people thought would be the case through the first two weeks. But their offense has looked awful, with Brady 23rd in the NFL in passing yards with just 402. He also has just two passing touchdowns with one interception thus far. Last season, Brady led the NFL with over 5,300 passing yards and threw 43 touchdown passes.
Despite the poor showing from the Buccaneers offense, the defense has played lights out. They held the Dallas Cowboys to three points in the season opener. They followed that up holding the New Orleans Saints to 10 points in Week 2. The Bucs D is the primary reason they are still undefeated as Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers come to town for the Buccaneers home opener Sunday.
Looking for a 3-0 start to the season, here are our Buccaneers Week 3 predictions.
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4. Leonard Fournette has a big game vs. Packers
The aforementioned struggles on offense have primarily affected the Buccaneers passing game. But they have run the ball quite well early on this season. Bucs running back Leonard Fournette is fifth in the NFL thus far with 192 rushing yards on 45 carries. His carries are second most in football. Clearly, Tampa Bay wants to run the ball.
That will be especially true this week against a Packers defense that David Montgomery ran through last week. For anyone who didn't see the Packers-Bears game last week, Montgomery broke off chunk runs time after time. But Justin Fields inability to find open receivers, along with red zone ineffectiveness, kept the Bears in check.
I fully expect the Bucs to lean on Fournette in this game. Brady's pass catchers have been decimated by injuries this year. Pro Bowl receiver Chris Godwin hurt his hamstring in Week 1 and missed last week's game. He is not likely to suit up again this week. The same goes for Julio Jones, who is dealing with a knee injury. Mike Evans was suspended for this game after the confrontation with Saints DB Marshon Lattimore last week. He appealed the suspension but the ruling was upheld earlier Wednesday.
The team signed Cole Beasley this week. He will play alongside Russell Gage, Breshad Perriman and Scotty Miller as the team's receivers Sunday. That gives Brady and the Buccaneers even more reason to lean on the ground game. That is assuming of course that his limited status Wednesday was out of precaution.
INJURY UPDATE: @Buccaneers practice report for Wednesday
DID NOT PRACTICE:
Julio Jones (knee)
Chris Godwin (hamstring)
Mike Evans (suspended)LIMITED:
Leonard Fournette (hamstring)
Russell Gage (hamstring)
Scotty Miller (calf)
Breshad Perriman (knee)— The Fantasy Source (@FantasySource_) September 21, 2022
3. Tom Brady sacked three times, does not have a TD pass
A big part of the offensive struggles has been due to injuries up front. The Buccaneers are playing without three of the starting offensive lineman. Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen was hurt in training camp and is injured reserve. Left guard Aaron Stinnie is also on IR, as is left tackle Josh Wells. Even their back up left guard, Donovan Smith, is nursing an injury and is questionable to play Sunday.
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That has made it incredibly difficult for Brady to have time in the pocket. The Packers have one of the better pass rushes in the NFL. I would expect them to bring pressure through the middle and cause problems for Brady and his lackluster receiving corps.
2. Buccaneers D limits Aaron Rodgers to under 200 yards passing
I have spent a good deal of time diagnosing some of Tampa's offensive problems. But Green Bay has their own set of issues. Their receivers are healthy, they just aren't any good. Well, at least most of them are young and inexperienced. Randall Cobb is a fossil and Sammy Watkins is a shell of his rookie self.
In the Packers season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Rodgers struggled getting his young receivers the ball. It was a massive storyline coming out of training camp. Rodgers called out the young guys at one point. A lot of people think the issues are suddenly fixed now that they beat down the Bears again. They aren't. Even Robert Griffin III knows the problems facing Rodgers.
Aaron Rodgers has 3 big challenges-
1-ADJUSTING to not having a true #1
2-CHEMISTRY with his new receivers
3-Not getting frustrated as they develop
The WR room has a nice mix of veterans and young guys. Rodgers is catching up on the chemistry building he missed in the off-season— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) September 21, 2022
Green Bay ran efficiently and effectively against Chicago. That allowed Rodgers to use play action and find open guys in the secondary. The Buccaneers rush defense has been stellar, as usual. They have allowed 85 yards per game on the ground and have not given up a rushing touchdown yet.
I would expect the Buccaneers to load the box and stop Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon and the Packers run game. That means Rodgers will have a lot of one-on-one on the outside. The problem is the Bucs secondary is better than the Packers receivers. Green Bay's offense should struggle in this game.
1. Buccaneers win a tightly contested, low-scoring game
Points will be at a premium Sunday. I don't believe either quarterback will be able to do that much through the air. But one rush defense is dominant while the other is susceptible to the run. The Bucs should be able to do just enough to pull out a close win at home. Buccaneers beat the Packers 13-10.
