New York Jets vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Prediction: Expect an intriguing matchup

This Sunday's National Football League preseason action comes from MetLife Stadium and features a matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets. The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by ten points in the only preseason game that the Buccaneers had played thus far. As for the New York Jets, they have played on the field twice so far in the preseason, suffering a loss in the Hall of Fame Game before cruising to a decisive victory over the Carolina Panthers during the past weekend.

This year, the New York Jets' team was given the opportunity to compete against the Cleveland Browns in the annual Hall of Fame game. The New York Jets led 16-7 at halftime in that game, but they were unable to score after the break and ended up losing 21-16. Tim Boyle completed six of eleven passes for 61 yards, and Israel Abanikanda carried the ball nine times for a total of 27 yards and a touchdown. The longest reception of the game was made by Malik Taylor, which went for 57 yards. The New York Jets played the Carolina Panthers in Week 2 of the preseason and played considerably better than they did in Week 1. The New York Jets demonstrated their formidable defensive prowess with a victory by a score of 27 to 0. Michael Carter hauled in two passes for a total of 34 yards and contributed to the victory by catching three of the touchdown passes that were thrown by Zach Wilson and Boyle. Once again taking the lead in the rush, Abanikanda carried the ball 12 times for a total of 56 yards. The New York Jets have won their previous five games overall by a score of 5-0, and they have won their previous five games at home by a score of 4-1. In their previous four games played on turf, the New York Jets had a record of 0-4 against the spread.

The regular season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022 was a bit of an odd one. Although the team finished with an overall record of 8-9, they were still able to win the National Football Conference South title in a year when the division was rather weak. The postseason run of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was cut short, however, when the team was defeated by the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 14-3 in the Wild Card Playoffs. The Buccaneers were trailing the Steelers by 17 points at halftime of their first preseason game of the 2023 season, which was played against the Steelers. Even though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played evenly in the second half, they were still defeated 27-17. While quarterback John Wolford passed for 111 yards and a touchdown, running back Chase Edmonds led a mediocre rush that gained 18 yards. David Moore was the leader of the receivers with three receptions for 66 yards. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a record of 4-1 against the spread in their last five games played on grass and a record of 2-13-1 against the spread in their last 16 games overall. In addition, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a record of 1-9-1 against the opposition in their last 11 games played on Sunday.

In this matchup, I'm going to continue to back the New York Jets. In the first game of the season, against the Cleveland Browns, the backups for the New York Jets had a relatively average finish, but in the game against the Carolina Panthers, there wasn't much to complain about. In the victory, the New York Jets outgained the Carolina Panthers 333-165 (192 of those yards came by pass), racked up 21 first downs, converted 9 of 17 third- and fourth-down opportunities, committed only three penalties, and lost the ball just once. Despite utilizing largely their second- and third-string players, the New York Jets were able to limit the Carolina Panthers to only 10 first downs and a 3-of-13 mark on third and fourth downs. The Buccaneers have plenty to fix up in the meantime, including a tepid third-down conversion percentage and 12 penalties, which will make for an interesting clash with the passing attack of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (256 yards total in the previous game). If they continue their strong play, the New York Jets should be in command of this situation.