Tennessee Titans score prediction vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Our NFL Week 10 pick is in
The ingredients are there for Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis to have a repeat performance of his debut. But there are just as many ingredients in place for the Tennessee defense to struggle.
The Titans (3-5) visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday (noon, CBS). On Tuesday, coach Mike Vrabel named Levis the Titans' starter moving forward after the rookie threw for 500 yards and four touchdowns in two games combined. All four of those touchdowns, however, came in his debut against the Atlanta Falcons, a game where he connected on three touchdowns that traveled more than 50 yards in the air, representing some of the longest throws by any NFL quarterback this season.
The Buccaneers are coming off a game where they gave up 443 passing yards to Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, another AFC South rookie. But the Bucs' offense also put up 37 points in that game, a season high, and has consistently protected their quarterback as well as any team in football.
Here are The Tennessean's scouting report and score prediction for Sunday's game.
Titans offense vs. Buccaneers defense
Stroud and the Texans weren't the first team to shred the Bucs through the air. Tampa Bay has the NFL's second-worst pass defense by yards allowed per game and per attempt. Roughly 27% of the completions the Bucs have given up were gains of 15 or more yards. The only quarterback they have played who didn't have at least five 15-plus yards completions was New Orleans Saints passer Derek Carr, and he was playing with a sprained shoulder that day.
Levis should have opportunities to go deep, provided he can stay upright. The offensive line depth is depleted, and even when healthy, it has been a liability this season. The Buccaneers haven't been particularly effective rushing the passer, but they rank among the top five teams in the NFL when it comes to how frequently they blitz.
The most compelling matchup in this game might be the bad-on-bad battle on third downs. The Titans rank 29th in offensive third-down conversion rate and the Buccaneers rank 31st in defensive third-down conversion rate. Whichever unit can reverse trend against its struggling adversary probably wins the day.
Advantage: Titans, but barely.
Titans defense vs. Buccaneers offense
Baker Mayfield and the offense have been pretty solid because of how they've been able to minimize mistakes. Tampa Bay's 13 sacks allowed are the second-fewest in the NFL, and their seven giveaways are the fewest in the NFC.
Those strengths align about as perfectly as possible with the Titans' defensive weaknesses. They have created the fewest turnovers and have the fourth-lowest pressure rate in the NFL. These issues have been exacerbated on the road; the Titans have logged just two sacks and one turnover in their past three games outside of Tennessee.
Tampa's rushing attack is among the worst in the league, ranking 30th in yards per game and 32nd in yards per carry. This could be a salve for a Titans rushing defense that has gone from powerhouse to pedestrian the past four games. If it's not, though, the once fearsome Titans' rush defense can officially be labeled a problem area.
Advantage: Buccaneers on safety alone.
Prediction: Titans 23, Buccaneers 21
This is a tough one to predict, but ultimately Levis is protected just enough and able to take enough shots against a struggling secondary to carry the Titans to a road win. Finally.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nickusss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans vs. Buccaneers: Score prediction for Week 10
