Titans vs. Buccaneers Odds: Preseason Picks & Predictions

by Nick Galaida (nickgalaida) Last Updated 2021-08-20 19:52:40

With online sports betting in Tennessee, plenty of sports bettors will have something at on the line when the Titans take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night. Follow along as Nick Galaida previews the Week 2 preseason game and delivers picks on the moneyline and the total.

Titans vs. Buccaneers Odds

On Saturday evening, the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will each play their second game of the preseason. Oddsmakers have priced the Buccaneers as slight favorites for this contest, but let’s take a closer look at who is expected to play in this matchup, and where bettors can find value. I

Tennessee Titans

The Titans opened their exhibition slate with a dominating 23-3 victory against the Atlanta Falcons. Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley combined to complete 15 of 23 pass attempts for 106 yards and two touchdowns. The Tennessee rushing attack gained an additional 138 yards on the ground.

The Titans are unlikely to play the majority of their starters in this game, in large part because many of their starters have still not even been healthy enough to practice. In 16 practices since training camp began, their 11 projected offensive starters have yet to all be on the same field together. Prized off-season acquisition Julio Jones has been notably absent for an extended period of time and it remains uncertain what his status is for the start of the regular season. In Jones’ absence, Marcus Johnson has surprisingly been turning heads at wide receiver. Johnson should see plenty of reps on Saturday as he tries to secure himself a spot on the depth chart.

Tennessee has not made any official announcements about who will and who will not play in this game. However, after sitting Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, AJ Brown, and others in their Week 1 contest, it would be surprising if their key players did not play at least a couple of series.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The defending Super Bowl champions rested many starters in their preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the starters who did play only saw limited playing time. Blaine Gabbert, the presumed top backup option to Tom Brady again in 2021, completed six of 11 passes for 64 yards. The Tampa Bay rushing attack is what ultimately hurt the offense the most—gaining only 29 yards on 17 carries.

Head Coach Bruce Arians said that he does not expect any of his starters to play in this contest after an extremely physical week of practice. That means that Gabbert, Kyle Trask, and Ryan Griffin will once again split the snaps under center. Similar to their opener against Cincinnati, Tampa Bay could struggle to move the ball against a Tennessee defense that only allowed three points to the Falcons in Week 1. The Buccaneers could struggle even more if they are unable to improve their running game, and with all of their starters being rested—it seems unlikely that they will find much success.

Titans vs. Bucs Picks

It will be interesting to see how competitive this game ends up being. During joint practices this week, there were numerous on-field altercations that needed to be broken up. However, with many of the starters for each of these teams not suiting up on Saturday, the action could be far less emotional than the practices were. Arians seems to be treating this preseason game as a mandated NFL event, rather than a meaningful opportunity to see his team in action. Arians seems very pleased with the work that his players put in during the week, and is likely to devise a game plan for Saturday that emphasizes safe, conservative plays, with the ultimate goal being avoiding injury.

Tennessee could look to open up the playbook more on their side of the ball, but it is unclear how long their starters will play, and some of them might not play at all. Due to the vast amount of injuries with which the Titans are dealing, they could also opt for a more conservative approach in this game. If Tennessee plays any of their starters, they will be playing more first-team options than the Buccaneers, which makes it somewhat surprising to see the Titans listed as underdogs. Either way, both teams seem unlikely to push the envelope much on Saturday. Bettors should expect a low-scoring, rather uneventful affair. Tennessee could be worth a small play on the money line, but the under is where there is likely more value. As is always the case with the NFL preseason, there is a considerable amount of unpredictability in how this game will unfold, so proceed with caution.

PICK: Titans ML (+100), Under 35.5 (-110)

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