Bucs vs. Titans Preseason Prediction
Will the Tampa Bay Bucs and Tennessee Titans struggle to generate much offense when the non-conference foes meet at 8:00 p.m. ET?
Game Snapshot
425 Tampa Bay Rays at 426 Tennessee Titans
8:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, August 18, 2018
Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Titans are 3-point favorites to beat the Bucs. The total, meanwhile, sits at 42 points. As of this writing, 62% of the public betting tickets are on the Titans to cover the point spread.
Tampa Bay Bucs
Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said Peyton Barber “is our starter.” This kind of proclamation is easy to take with a grain of salt in May or June, but these comments come after Barber started and played all but one snap with the first-team offense in the preseason opener. Second-round rookie Ronald Jones dropped a pass on the only snap he played with the starting unit. “We’re definitely going to use Ronald Jones and take advantage of what he’s going to do,” Koetter said. “Again, we’ve got three more preseason games. Let’s just let it sort out a little more.” It still would be a surprise if Jones is not the starter when Week 1 rolls around, but he might not be the workhorse back fantasy players were hoping to see.
Tennessee Titans
Rishard Matthews (undisclosed) remains sidelined at Titans camp. Matthews made an appearance at Wednesday’s practice but was merely spotted watching the session from the sideline. The media still has no information on what exactly the issue is with Matthews, but he hasn’t practiced yet this summer and doesn’t have a known timetable for return. In his absence, Taywan Taylor has been getting first-team reps opposite Corey Davis, and by most accounts Taylor has been a standout.
NFL Betting Trends
Tampa Bay
The Bucs are 1-11 against the spread in their last 12 games played on Saturday.
Tennessee
The Titans are 5-1-1 against the spread in their last seven home games.
Prediction
While 53% of the betting tickets are on the over, 78% of the money wagered on this game is on the under. That represents a pretty significant split in public bettors are sharps, who look to be taking the under despite the line movement favoring the over. The under is where the value is tonight.
NFL Preseason Prediction: Bucs/Titans under 42