Pewter Pirate Predictions: Week Six – Buccaneers vs Lions

Are you ready for some football? This week the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will star on Monday night football as the travel north to play fellow Super Bowl contender the Detroit Lions. It’s a primetime matchup if there ever was one this year.

Unfortunately, this will not be as good of a game as it could be. Both are entering this game with a lot of injuries, so we won’t see either team anywhere near full strength. In some ways it will be a battle of depth as if it were a preseason game. 

With so many unknowns entering this game, it makes the game that much harder to predict. However, there are some things that I think we can expect. Here are my week six Pewter Pirate Predictions.

Quarterback Will Lack

This is a game that I believe the quarterbacks will struggle in to a degree. Both teams bring in a good defense and I expect both units to make plays. Each quarterback will be challenged in different ways.

Jared Goff will be going against a strong secondary that is getting healthy. It’s a unit that can match the many playmakers that the Lions will roll out. I believe that we will see at least one turnover from Goff in this game and if I’m calling my shot it will be rookie nickel corner Jacob Parrish’s first career interception. 

For Baker Mayfield, it will be all about dealing with pressure. Aidan Hutchinson had 4.5 sacks the last time these two teams played and even though that was against a backup right tackle that will be the case again this time. The Lions are also getting their star defensive tackle Alim McNeill back from injury right at the same time the Bucs will likely be starting their fourth string right guard. Not ideal.

Gibbs Get Right

The Lions have a very clear identity. They want to be a smashmouth physical running team. However, they have struggled with that more this year than they have the last few seasons. This is largely due to the change on their interior offensive line.

All-Pro center Frank Ragnow retired in the offseason and that loss can’t be overstated. They are also starting a rookie right guard in Tate Ratledge and a second year pro and first year starter at left guard in Christian Mahogany. There is a lot of talent in this group, but with inexperience comes growing pains.

I expect that this unit will get better and better with each passing week. That means more and more opportunities for star running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Considering the game changing speed that Gibbs has, it only takes one missed tackle for him to break out. I think he will do that in this game and go for over 100 rushing yards.

Buckle Up!

These are two of the most talented offenses in the NFL. And even with the Bucs being extremely short handed on offense in this game, I am still expecting fireworks from both teams. Get ready to see a lot of splash plays. 

No team in the NFL has more 20+ yard rushing plays than the Lions do. On the flip side, the Bucs are second in the NFL in pass plays of 20+ yards. The Lions also rank 10th in pass plays of 20+ yards.

These are two great offenses that create a lot of big plays. I don’t care what the matchup is or who the Bucs are starting, I expect that trend to continue this week.

Overall

It’s really hard to get a pulse on this game. There are so many injuries, it feels like a preseason game in some ways. However, we still get super stars like Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield Jr, Amon-Ra St.Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Baker Mayfield and Aidan Hutchinson. It really is a weird but interesting game. 

Because there are so many injuries, I find it hard to predict this game. Will the Buccaneers 7th wide receiver out perform the Lions practice squad corners? Yes? Maybe? Bueller? I think it will be a very interesting and competitive game, but I don’t have strong convictions about the winner either way. Deep down, I’ll favor the healthier team.

Score

Buccaneers – 23
Lions – 27