We are just halfway through the preseason, but some of the issues that plagued the Detroit Lions last season continue to be a problem. The Lions couldn’t protect Matthew Stafford and failed to generate much of a pass rush in a loss to the Giants last week, preventing Matt Patricia from getting his first win as Detroit’s coach. The good news is that the Lions still have time to figure things out and that starts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3 of the preseason.
This contest in Week 3 of the preseason will take place Friday, August 24, 2018, at 8 p.m. ET at Raymond James Stadium. The game will air live on CBS.
NFL Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Detroit Lions +3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3
Over/Under 45
Odds Analysis
It’s been a good start to the preseason for the Bucs, who improved to 2-0 SU and ATS by knocking off Tennessee last week. They return home for their final two exhibition matchups and are favored by the standard field goal for home field advantage. The Bucs scored a lot of points the first two weeks, cashing the over both times, and the total opened at 45.
Quarterback Rotation
Stafford saw his first action of the preseason last week and probably wished he hadn’t. With little time to operate, Stafford completed just 2 of 5 passes for 51 yards and was sacked twice in his three series. One of his completions went for 42 yards and set up a field goal on Detroit’s second drive. We should see Stafford get a few more reps as long as he has time to throw the football.
Jake Rudock came in with the second team and completed 23 of 30 for 171 yards with a touchdown. And there may be a controversy brewing for the backup job. Matt Cassel started the second half and tossed an interception on the first possession and fumbled on another drive. After three possessions he was replaced by Rudock, who finished the game.
Jameis Winston showed Bucs fans what they’re going to miss in the first three weeks of the season. Ryan Fitzpatrick showed them what they are going to get. Relieving Fitz in the second quarter, Winston was on fire completing 13 of 18 for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Winston had a full day of work in one quarter, leading the Bucs to points on all three drives.
Fitzpatrick missed open receivers and struggled in his second preseason start, ending his day 5 of 13 for 46 yards. With Winston serving his suspension to start the season, Fitzpatrick is the temporary starter and needs to find a groove with the first-teamers. It’s necessary to get Ryan Griffin some snaps since he will be the primary backup for the first three weeks. Griffin was 6 of 11 for 88 yards and a touchdown and has looked strong performing mostly against backups.
Players to Watch
Many players and coaches loathe the preseason, but it is essential for a number of reasons. One is to get a new coach acclimated to his team and to get his system in place with the guys that are going to be around once the regular season starts. Patricia has yet to accomplish that and he’s running out of time.
Following their ugly loss to the Giants last week, Patricia said his team has a “big job in front of us” and stated they didn’t play well at any position. That’s been the case for two games and things have to change moving forward. Detroit’s starters will get plenty of time on Friday to work out the issues and some progress will go a long way to getting the Lions some confidence for the regular season.
Free ATS Pick
The Lions don’t have to win a game but they do need to play much better than what we’ve seen in the first two preseason games. There is plenty of talent on offense but the line was a sieve last week giving up four sacks and not creating running room for the backs. We saw Patricia’s defense stumble out of the gate last season, but the Pats responded to turn things around.
We will see more of Fitzpatrick and Griffin this week and that’s good news for the Lions. The Bucs struggled with Fitz taking snaps last week and the group is built to work around Winston, unfortunately they’ll be without their starter for the opening part of the year. We will see some improvement from the Lions this week and it will be enough to get them a victory.
NFL Odds: Lions 24, Buccaneers 16
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