By Robert Mills
ORLANDO, FL – In preseason football action, the Buccaneers will face off against the Titans at home 7pm on Saturday August 21st. With week 1 behind us it’s safe to say we have a decent idea what to expect, but there are still some items up for debate. Will we see more Tom Brady? Will we get to see Mike Evans and Chris Godwin get some reps? Titans are coming off a 23-3 victory over the Falcons, so they should not be taken lightly and have some momentum.
Looking at the offense, considering it’s still preseason football I’m sure we will get to see the backups and 3rd strings play. Maybe a little more Tom Brady? I would say yes as preseason is only 3 weeks. More Gabbert for sure and some Griffin. Trask may be limited, if we see him at all. Considering I don’t foresee him being a 3rd string this season. Titans played notable starters on defense for week 1 including David Long and Amani Hooker in their defensive powerhouse showing against the falcons, applying plenty of pressure to the backup O-Line of the falcons. Expect to see more of this in game 2. Will the Buccaneers play some starting O-Line men to counter this? Let’s hope so, last thing we need to see is an injured backup QB. We should also get to see more action from Mike Evans and Chris Godwin for this game, but expect them to get limited reps again for this game. Chris Godwin struggled mightily at the end of last season holding onto the football and bringing down catches, so I will be watching closely if he has any dropped passes this game.
For defense the Buccaneers should have a relatively easy night if the Titans play the same O-Line. Titans played their backups in week 1 and it left Logan Woodside under pressure majority of the night. If this continues, with the Buccaneers D-Line containing backups like Joe Tryon the Titans may need to put some starters up front. Expect to see the defense put a lot of pressure up front and put the QB under pressure. A lot of blitz plays will likely result in this case.
My outlook on this game would be the Buccaneers walking away with a gritty 17-14 victory. I expect to see a cleaner game as likely more starters for both teams will play, but can the Buccaneers actually hold onto the football for this game? Dropped passes everywhere in week 1, but hopefully dryer conditions for this game.
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