Buccaneers vs. Giants: Monday Night Football Preview and Predictions

By Timothy An

Monday, Nov. 2 at 8:20 p.m. ET

ESPN

SPREAD: Bucs, -12.5

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter Week 8 with back-to-back dominating victories by over 20 points against two playoff contenders in the Green Bay Packers and the Las Vegas Raiders. This team has just added WR Antonio Brown to an already lethal offense led by QB Tom Brady. They also boast one of the best defensive units in the entire NFL. The Buccaneers currently sit atop the NFC South with a record of 5-2, and we will continue to see them improve throughout the season as Tom Brady gets more comfortable with the new schemes and teammates.

Buccaneers Offense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense is arguably one of the most talented offenses we have seen in the past decade. They have the 6-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady leading the offense at quarterback, along with two great running backs in Ronald Jones III and Leonard Fournette. They combine these weapons with wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Scotty Miller, the best wide receiving unit in all of football. Then you add future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski to this mix, and it becomes one of the scariest offensive units in the NFL. This Buccaneers offense currently ranks 3rd in the league in points per game averaging 31.7. This offense is led by Tom Brady, who is having another MVP-caliber season, throwing for 272.9 yards per game along with 18 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. The most impressive part of this unit is how well Ronald Jones has been playing. He ranks 5th in the league in rushing yards with 506, and if he can keep pounding the rock like this, this offense will continue to dominate defenses on a weekly basis. This offense will be without Chris Godwin this week due to injury, but with the plethora of weapons at Tom Brady’s disposal, he should not have a problem putting up points against the weak New York Giants team.

Buccaneers Defense

The Buccaneers statistically have one of the best defenses in the NFL, especially against the run. (USA TODAY Sports)

While the Buccaneers offense takes all the glory from sports analysts and fans, the defense has been equally as impressive so far into the season. This team has the perfect combination of veterans in Ndamukong Suh, Lavonte David, and Jason Pierre-Paul and of young stars in Devin White, Vita Vea, Shaquil Barrett, and Antoine Winfield Jr. This defense currently ranks 3rd in the NFL in yards allowed per game, giving up only 291.3 yards per game. This unit's pass defense has been average this year, but their run defense has been remarkable. They rank 1st in the league in rushing yards allowed per game, giving up only 66 rushing yards a game. Their front 7 is filled with talent, and their ability to stop the run game and rush the quarterback has proven to be worrisome for many offenses. We can expect the Buccaneers to continue this trend and shut down this Giant’s running attack without Saquon Barkley. 

New York Giants

The New York Giants are in a very interesting spot 7 games into the season. They currently boast the worst record in the entire NFC, sitting at 1-6. However, they are still in playoff contention, sitting 1.5 games behind the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East. It will be interesting to see whether the Giants decide to tank it for a top pick or try to challenge the Eagles to win the NFC East. 

Giants Offense

Daniel Jones falls down untouched against the Eagles. (USA TODAY Sports)

To put it simply, the Giants offense is awful. They rank 31st in the league in points per game, scoring 17.4 points per game. They also rank 31st in the league in yards per game with just 282.4 per game. They have no weapons and lost their best player, RB Saquon Barkley, early in the season due to injury. They are led by QB Daniel Jones who has shown a regression from last year to this season. In 7 games, he has only thrown for 1,410 yards for 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He hasn’t even been able to score a touchdown a game while averaging one interception per game. However, he has shown an ability to be an effective runner leading the team in rushing yards with 296 yards. Their backfield is a mess with running backs Devonta Freeman and Wayne Gallman showing an inability to get anything going on the ground. They have a combined 282 rushing yards in 6 games and will have trouble coming up against a stout Buccaneers front seven. The only bright spot in this offense has been second-year WR Darius Slayton who leads the team in receptions with 27, yards with 429 receiving yards, and touchdowns with 3. For the Giants to improve this season, playmakers Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram must step up their performances and allow Daniel Jones to find open targets down the field.

Giants Defense

The Giant’s defense has been the only somewhat decent aspect of this Giants team so far into the season. They rank 14th in the league in points allowed per game, giving up 24.9 per game. Though they haven’t been very great, compared to how poorly their offense has played, they have done a good job slowing down opposing offenses who consistently start their drives with good field position. This is a very young defensive unit featuring young stars in DE Leonard Williams, DT Dalvin Tomlinson, S Jabrill Peppers, and DT Dexter Lawrence. This season is all about development for this defensive unit. If they can continue their performance throughout the year and continue to get better, this defensive unit is what could keep this team in contention to win the NFC East.

Prediction

We can expect a blowout Monday night as the Buccaneers talent will overwhelm this Giants football team. I expect the Buccaneers defense to absolutely shut down this Giants running game and force Daniel Jones into some terrible throws with their great pass rush. The Buccaneers offense will be slowed down by this Giant’s defensive unit, but it is Tom Brady, and he will figure out a way to continue to put up points throughout the game.

SHAWN’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 35 - 17

AJ’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 38 - 10

CADE’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 35 - 10

TIMOTHY’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 31 - 17

JAKE’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 99 - 10

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