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It wasn’t a good week for the health of quarterbacks around the NFL, and while the loss of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay captured most of the headlines around the league, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to persevere without their gunslinger after Jameis Winston left in the first half with a shoulder injury. Winston didn’t return to the game, but he was seen on the sideline taking some throws, so maybe we’ll see the former No. 1 overall pick back on the field when the Bucs visit the Buffalo Bills in a Week 7 matchup.NFL ATS Pick – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Buffalo Bills Game Preview
This contest in Week 7 of the regular season will go down Sunday, October 22, 2017, at 1 p.m. ET at New Era Field.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Check Back Later)
Buffalo Bills (Check Back Later)
Over/Under (Check Back Later)
Odds Analysis
We won’t see an opening line on this game until further word of Winston’s injury becomes available. Buffalo enjoyed its bye and hopefully worked on some of its issues regarding the offense. The Bills will give at least the standard 3-points for home field advantage and the number will fluctuate from their depending on Winston’s availability. Don’t expect the Bills to breakthrough on the scoreboard with four of their first five playing below the closing total.
Injury Report
Jameis Winston – The Bucs actually rallied around backup Ryan Fitzpatrick and turned what was a route in Arizona into a closer than expected game. But let’s be real, this isn’t going to happen every outing with Fitz running the show. Winston’s injury didn’t require him to leave the bench and it’s nothing close to a break, but if he’s to miss a game, the Bucs chances of victory take a severe dip. He completed just 5 of 10 passes for 61 yards and his team was trailing 24-0 when he departed, but the Cards had plenty to do with that.
Charles Clay – There were some holes in the Bills pass offense after they parted with Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins and the production has been minimal. The Bills averaged 165 yards per game through the air to rank near the bottom of the league’s category, and they lost their leading receiver in the game prior to the bye when Clay suffered a knee injury. The burly tight end underwent surgery during the off-week and will be out a few games, putting more pressure on the run game to pick up the slack.
Matchup to Watch
Buffalo led the league in rushing the past two years and that part of their game will need to make an appearance, especially with the injury to Clay and Tyrod Taylor’s overall ineffectiveness in the passing game. The Bills are without a number of weapons in the passing game and that has taken its toll on Taylor, who looks hesitant to throw to his wide receivers and his accuracy has been questionable when he does.
That wouldn’t be a big deal if the Bills could run the ball, but they’ve been less than spectacular in that area as well. LeSean McCoy has just 279 yards rushing and his 3.2 yards per carry would be a career-low. Expect McCoy to get his opportunities against a Tampa Bay defense that failed to contain Adrian Peterson last week. The Bucs knew the Cards would run the ball with their new toy, yet they were unable to contain AP and fell behind early. In his first real action of the year, AP went off for 134 yards on 26 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
Free ATS Pick
At least the Bucs showed some fight and didn’t cave when falling behind 31-0 to the Cards. Behind Fitzpatrick, Tampa scored all their points in the second half with an amazing 27-point fourth quarter comeback. However, the deficit was too large and they ran out of time. The Cards did go into prevent mode and took the foot off the gas pedal, but rallying behind Fitz was a plus.
We don’t know the status of Winston moving forward and there might be some folks looking at Fitz to get the nod, especially against one of his former teams. But the Bucs are a better team with Winston running the show and the offense is built for him. If Winston can play you can bet he will be on the field and the numbers will be much better.
Buffalo needs to get Taylor in a groove and start opening holes for McCoy to get the offense in gear. The Bills have been competitive because of a stingy defense, but as we’ve seen in this game, that can change in a hurry. With Clay out and the Bucs focusing on McCoy, there won’t be a lot of points. However, the Bucs have a few more game-changers on offense and that will be the difference.
NFL Odds: Buccaneers 22, Bills 16
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