Preseason Week 2 Preview: Buccaneers vs Dolphins
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Preseason Week 2 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Miami Dolphins
Out/Doubtful (subject to change) –
TB – Jason Pierre-Paul, Vita Vea, Lavonte David, Justin Evans, Nick Fitzgerald, Bryant Mitchell, Jeremiah Ledbetter, DaMarkus Lodge, Ruben Holcomb, Anthony Nelson, Mike Edwards, Corey Nelson, D’Cota Dixon, Michael Liedtke, Scotty Miller, Orion Stewart, Demar Dotson, Ryan Smith
Miami –
Jakeem Grant, Albert Wilson, Kenyan Drake, Jonathan Woodard, DeVante Parker
Notes:
The Bucs and Dolphins should both play their key starters about the same amount of snaps/time as they did last week, which for most of them was only the first drive. While we saw the 3rd string offenses and defenses on the field for quite a bit last week, we should see the 2nd string teams get a little more playing time this week as long as no major injuries occur.
The Dolphins aren’t battling nearly as many injuries, so they should have a little more depth throughout the game. While they’ll be without their star running back, we will get to see Kalen Ballage who will definitely test the Bucs run defense early.
Former Buccaneers’ QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is expected to get the starting nod over Josh Rosen, but after Fitz’s performance last week, and given the fact they’re looking at Rosen as the future, he should get a majority of the playing time.
The Bucs, who ranked 29th in the NFL with 95.2 rushing yards per game last season, will look to continue building on last week’s performance and again we should see a healthy dose of Barber, Jones, Ellington, and Dare with maybe a glimpse of Anderson.
Coach Arians has been rather vocal that he wants to see a lot fewer penalties this week, and you can be sure he’ll have an extra set of eyes on Sean Murphy-Bunting after his disappointing outing last week. If he hopes to secure a starting spot, he’s going to have to figure out how to not look totally lost and completely ineffective.
When/Where/How To Watch
Friday, August 16th 7:30 pm
Raymond James Stadium – Tampa (Temps in the low 80’s with isolated thunderstorms at kickoff)
Buccaneers.com will be live streaming [accessible only in areas where the game is on local TV]
NFL Game Pass will be showing the game live
WFLA – Tampa
WESH – Orlando
WFTX – Ft. Myers
WZDX – Huntsville
WOGX – Gainseville
WFNA – Mobile/Pensacola
WTLH – Tallahassee
WPBF – West Palm Beach
WMBB – Panama City
Prediction
It’s preseason, and that always means we wind up with starters vs second-string players and second-string players vs third-string players, vanilla play calling, way too many penalties, players still getting into the groove and into game shape, officials still mastering the rule book, and the weather will definitely play a part as well. The Buccaneers are 3.5 point favorites and they should cover that with no issues in front of the home crowd. The only concern for those placing a bet on this one will be the 4th quarter when the Dolphins could find themselves with a chance to sneak out a comeback win late in the game.
