Philadelphia at Tampa Bay Wild Card Playoff Prediction, Game Preview
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay prediction, game preview, how to watch: Sunday, January 9
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay How To Watch
Date: Sunday, January 16
Game Time: 1:00 ET
Venue: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
How To Watch: FOX
Record: Philadelphia (9-8), Tampa Bay (13-4)
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Philadelphia at Tampa Bay Game Preview
Why Philadelphia Will Win The NFL Wild Card
This isn’t your 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneer team.
It’s older, it’s missing parts, it’s hurt, and it’s not playing all that well. Oh sure, 12 is still slinging it around – the Buccaneers have the best passing game in the NFL – but oooooooooh, they beat Carolina twice and struggled to survive the Jets over the last three games.
That was coming off the 9-0 shutout loss to the Saints.
Blow off the Week 6 28-22 win over the Eagles – this is a different Tampa Bay team.
Philadelphia struggled to find its way in, but the running game is still terrific – it leads the NFL in yards – Jalen Hurts is a dangerous X factor – and for all the problems at times over the last few weeks defensively, the pass defense hasn’t been totally miserable.
However …
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– What’s Going To Happen, Who’ll Win
NEXT: Why Tampa Bay Will Win the NFC Wild Card
Why Tampa Bay Will Win the NFC Wild Card
Dallas 51, Philadelphia 26.
It wasn’t even that close as Dak Prescott and company turned the lights out right away in an ugly Week 18 win. Tom Brady is about to follow suit.
Yeah, missing Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown isn’t a plus, but there’s a nice array of young weapons to work with, Mike Evans has gone off, and this is a smart enough and veteran enough team to know how to turn it on.
It would’ve been nice to get the No. 1 seed and the time off, but being the team is the two for a reason.
It might have fattened up on a whole lot of cream puffs, but even if it was a tad rocky at times, we all know what’s about to happen when the focus and attention go up a few notches with this bunch.
Remember, it was a wee bit of a struggle to put away Washington in the Wild Card around last year and everything turned out to be fine. This time around it gets Hurts and that running game, but …
– What’s Going To Happen, Who’ll Win
NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Who’s Going To Win The NFC Wild Card
What’s Going To Happen, Who’s Going To Win The NFC Wild Card
Be very, very, very careful of this Philadelphia Eagle team.
The temptation will be to assume that it’s playoff time, Tom Brady gets out of bed and throws for 360 yards and four touchdowns on the way to the next round, but this might be a more dangerous Eagle team than the Buccaneers might like.
Again, don’t overlook just how soft a whole lot of the Tampa Bay wins have been.
Yes, the Eagles got the Giants, and the Jets, and the Football team, and they don’t actually have a win over a team that’s in the playoffs, but Tampa Bay was a bit too inconsistent, sputtered a tad at times, and now needs Leonard Fournette to be healthy and regain his form fast to make a deep run in this thing.
Philadelphia is playing with house money. It’s the 7 seed, it’s supposed to lose, and expectations are way low after the way Week 18 went against the Cowboys – even though Jalen Hurts and a slew of key parts were sitting.
However, the Tampa Bay run defense will rise up when it has to.
Brady will get off to a good start, and then, just when it seems like the blowout is coming, the Philadelphia defense will settle in as this starts to get tight early in the fourth quarter.
The Buccaneers will survive and advance, but not before Hurts makes some noise late as the gap closes and it looks like things might be slipping away.
Tom Brady isn’t going to lose this, though. Neither will the Tampa Bay defense over the final six minutes.
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Philadelphia at Tampa Bay Prediction, Line
Tampa Bay 31, Philadelphia 23
Line: Tampa Bay -8.5, o/u: 45.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 4.5
5: Top Gun: Maverick
1: Don’t Look Up
NFL Playoff Wild Card Expert Picks
Las Vegas at Cincinnati | New England at Buffalo
Phil at Tampa Bay | San Fran at Dallas
Pittsburgh at Kansas City | Arizona at LA Rams
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