With The First Pick
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Patriots vs Buccaneers: Thursday Night Football – Game Pick

By Maurice Barksdale

TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 17: Quarterback Jameis Winston
TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 17: Quarterback Jameis Winston /
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The 2-2 New England Patriots go on the road to take on the 2-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 5, Thursday Night Football. Here is the pick for Patriots vs Buccaneers.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got back on the winning track in week 4 with a 25-23 victory at home over the New York Giants.  They won on a last second field goal.  However, in Patriots vs Buccaneers it will take them more than 25 points to win.

Primarily because the New England Patriots are averaging 32 points a game, ranking second in the league.  The Patriots offense is number one in the NFL.  The Buccaneers are also ranked in the top ten of the league, but are only scoring 21 points a game.  So they will need to find a way to generate more points to win.

It shouldn’t be too hard, as the New England Patriots defense is the worst in the NFL.  Quarterback Jameis Winston has a lot weapons at his disposal and the Buccaneers best running back Doug Martin will play tonight after coming back from suspension.

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The Buccaneers are ranked 26th in the league in rushing, so Doug Martin will certainly help them with that.  However, neither team has been very good defensively this season.  The Patriots are ranked last defensively and the Buccaneers are 30th.

So being that neither team is very good on defense, odds are this game will be a shootout.  The quarterbacks of each team will play a huge role in deciding the outcome of this game.  I think Jameis Winston will play well in this game, but Tom Brady will be better.

Brady knows that he has to score points in order to make up for the Patriots lack on offense.  He’s in attack mode constantly and while the Buccaneers will put up points too, it won’t be enough to beat the Patriots.  This will be a close game, but Patriots win.

Next: NFL Power Rankings – Week 5: Several teams making a jump

Winner:  Patriots

Score prediction:  33-27 Patriots

Points spread:  Patriots -5

Over/under:  55 – Over

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