The Folks Picking the Buccaneers over Vikings
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings are five-point favorites one day before a showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1.
The Folks Picking the Buccaneers over Vikings
The Buccaneers lost the greatest football player of all time this offseason, although Tom Brady wasn’t quite the same during his final season. Minnesota, on the other hand, said goodbye to numerous expensive and aging veteran players like Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks, Patrick Peterson, and Za’Darius Smith, among others, in the last eight months.
According to NFLPickWatch, a website that logs NFL experts’ weekly picks, about 92% of folks believe Minnesota will take down the Buccaneers at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. The Vikings have a 33-23 (.589) all-time record against Tampa Bay.
A few notable personalities forecast a Buccaneers win over Minnesota, though, as the Vikings will experience a new-look Tampa Bay team led by the young journeyman Baker Mayfield at quarterback. Too, the Buccaneers still employ mighty names on defense like Vita Vea, Shaq Barrett, Antoine Winfield, Lavonte David, Devin White, and Jamel Dean, to name a few.
As of Saturday, these individuals predict Tampa Bay sending the Vikings to a 0-1 record out of the gate:
- Jarrett Bell of USA Today
- Will Brinson of CBS Sports
- Eric Moody of ESPN
- Kevin Patra of NFL.com
- Dave Ricard of CBS Sports
Bleacher Report’s staff largely picked the Buccaneers to cover the point spread, and BR‘s Wes O’Donnell explained, “I am genuinely baffled to be the only one in the group laying the points in this game. Everyone knows the Vikings won a ridiculous number of close games a season ago, were exposed in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs and probably got worse in the offseason, too. But a touchdown spread is essentially one Baker Mayfield-led Buccaneers mistake away from covering.”
NFL.com’s Brooke Cersosimo wrote about the Vikings winning the matchup, “Kevin O’Connell’s offense, buoyed by a QB playing some of his best football in his mid-30s (Kirk Cousins) and a young WR duo (reigning Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson and first-round pick Jordan Addison), should once again be the star of this year’s team. It’ll be up to new Vikings DC Brian Flores’ unit to ensure games don’t come down to the wire every week. The first test is a Bucs offense in transition, though one that has promise if the ever-erratic Baker Mayfield can limit the turnovers. (The key word: if.)”
The Detroit Lions unexpectedly toppled the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night, so Minnesota already needs an “easy” win to keep pace in the NFC North. Detroit is favored to win the division by a couple of games, with Minnesota slated for second place, according to oddsmakers.
If the Vikings end up winning the NFC North, it will represent their first back-to-back division titles since 2008-2009.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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