The Buccaneers will face one of the most highly scrutinized rookies in New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones as he makes his first NFL start Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Giants head coach Pat Shurmer made the decision to switch from Eli Manning on Tuesday and for now Daniel Jones is the man.
Jones had a very impressive pre-season completing 29/34 passes with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 137.2 quarterback rating.
The Giants will bring an 0-2 record to Tampa, despite being 6th in the NFL in total offense averaging 420 yards a game.
There is no question the Giants offense is led by running back Saquon Barkley who is averaging a league leading 7.47 yards a carry. You could easily make a case for Barkley being the best back in the NFL as his running and pass catching ability make him even more of a threat.
All week long Bruce Arians talked about how special and dangerous Barkley is and how important it is to keep him contained. “He’s hard to bring down. He doesn’t run over many people he runs around them and runs past them. The size and the speed combination are extremely rare.”
The Bucs will not face another all purpose back like Saquon Barkley, this season.
The Bucs will hope to contain Barkley and have what Arians calls gap integrity to prevent those long runs by Barkley.
This should be a fascinating matchup with this 8th ranked Bucs defense against Saquon Barkley. Last week the Bucs shut down Carolina’s all purpose back Christian McCaffrey limiting him to just 53 total yards.
For the Bucs on offense look for wide receiver Mike Evans and tight end OJ Howard to finally get it going against the Giants defense.
The Giants are giving up 441 yards a game, and are ranked 30th against the pass giving up 321 yards a game.
Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins well get the honors of covering Mike Evans while Deandre Baker will be matched up with Chris Godwin.
The combination of Bruce Arians as head coach and Todd Bowles as defensive coordinator have never lost to a rookie quarterback. That should not change in this game.
Daniel Jones can create some problems for the defense as he is extremely mobile which is a big difference from Eli Manning and will be more effective moving in the pocket.
Wide receiver Sterling Sheppard will play against the Bucs giving Daniel Jones another weapon. Sheppard has been out sine the opening week at Dallas with a concussion.
The Bucs have ruled out four players all on defense for Sundays game. Rookie linebacker Devin White will miss the game as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
Corner back Jamel Dean, linebacker Davonte Bond, and quarterback Blaine Gabbert have also been ruled for Sunday’s game.
Look for the Bucs offense to finally have the game Buccaneer games have been waiting for this season as Jameis Winston finds that connection with Mike Evans.
The Bucs defense will have their hands full with Saquon Barkley, but I like the Bucs to get their first home win of the season on an afternoon that they will induct Ronde Barber into the Bucs Ring Of Honor. Bucs win 31-14 win over the Giants.
