BUCS vs. RAIDERS
WHEN: Sunday, December 8, 2024 | WHERE: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, FL) | KICKOFF: 1:00 p.m. ET | TV: CBS
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Spero Dedes | ANALYST: Adam Archuleta | SIDELINE: Aditi Kinkhabwala
RADIO: 98 ROCK 97.9 FM | PLAY-BY-PLAY: Gene Deckerhoff | ANALYST: Dave Moore | SIDELINE: T.J. Rives
Game day is approaching, and it’s time for the Pewter Report staff to make its weekly game predictions and offer up our game preview of this week’s matchup. Let us know what you think in the article comments section and add your prediction, too.
Scott Reynolds: Bucs Snap Three-Game Losing Streak At Home On Sunday
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today
If there has been an under-reported and glaring detractor for this year’s 6-6 Bucs team it is that Tampa Bay is just 2-4 at home and 4-2 away from Raymond James Stadium. It should be noted that every team that has beaten the Bucs in Tampa – Denver, Baltimore and San Francisco – has a winning record or is at least .500, as is the case with 6-6 Atlanta. The last team with a losing record to come to Ray-Jay was the previous 0-2 Broncos, but Denver is 8-3 since claiming its first win of the year in Week 3 over the Bucs.
Now the 2-10 Raiders travel to Tampa Bay to play a game that should be the Bucs’ seventh win of the season.
This Raiders team is not as bad as the two-win Giants team that the Bucs destroyed, 30-7, in New York a few weeks ago. Yet not as good as the three-win Panthers squad that the Bucs beat in overtime, 26-23, last Sunday in Carolina. Las Vegas has played the Super Bowl champion Chiefs tough twice this year, losing 27-20 at home and 19-17 last week in Kansas City. The Raiders don’t have a lot of talent, but the talent the team does have is elite at a few positions such as tight end with rookie sensation Brock Bowers, and defensive end with Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby.
Those two can be game-wreckers if the Bucs don’t watch out. Tampa Bay has the better roster on paper and needs to play up to its potential. If that happens this could be – and should be – a blowout win for the Bucs. But if the team doesn’t play well enough – and that’s been the case in three straight losses at home – and lets the pressure of being on a playoff run get to it, Tampa Bay could get upset instead. I’m betting that the momentum generated from two straight wins doesn’t allow that to happen.
REYNOLDS’ GAME PREDICTION: Bucs 31, Raiders 23
REYNOLDS’ SEASON RECORD: 8-4
Matt Matera: Bucs Take Care Of Business To Move To 7-6
Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: USA Today
Hopefully, the Bucs have learned their lesson after a close overtime victory over the Panthers last week that they can’t just expect to show up and win just because they’re playing against a two-win Raiders team. Every game is a playoff game for Tampa Bay, or at least that’s what every player and coach is saying, so they should act like it. They all know what’s at stake. This is a winnable game, and with the Falcons playing the Vikings, it could be the Bucs in first place of the NFC South by day’s end.
Outside of a spectacular 30-second drive to force overtime and a solid go of it to set up the game-winning field goal, Baker Mayfield was terrible last week. I don’t expect that to happen again. The Bucs’ offense has one objective, and that’s to stop Maxx Crosby. It’ll help if Tristan Wirfs can play for the second game in a row. Tampa Bay doesn’t have to do anything exotic and they can stick to the same game plan from the last two weeks. Just run it, mostly with Bucky Irving, and get the ball to Mike Evans. Do that and the offense will be fine.
Where I’m most concerned for the Bucs is on defense. They’ve been terrible in pass coverage all season long and even worse when defending tight ends. They will have a very tough challenge facing Brock Bowers, and the question is how the Bucs want to cover him. Todd Bowles hasn’t pressed the right buttons yet. The good news is that the Raiders don’t run it well. The Bucs can make Las Vegas one-dimensional, and even though Aidan O’Connell may have some moments because of the Bucs’ pass defense, it won’t be enough to take over the game. The Raiders are turnover-heavy, too, so this might be the week someone on Tampa Bay records an interception. Regardless, the Bucs win.
MATERA’S GAME PREDICTION: Bucs 34, Raiders 27
MATERA’S SEASON RECORD: 7-5
Bailey Adams: Bucs Offense Leads The Way In Third Straight Win
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today
The Bucs just barely got the job done in Carolina last Sunday, avoiding the upset to win a second straight game to get back to .500 at 6-6. Just after the bye week, I wrote about how the three games out of that bye would be crucial for Tampa Bay. Now that the team has gotten far enough to get back to .500, it’s time to complete the job and get back above that mark at 7-6 before next week’s tough matchup against the Chargers in Los Angeles.
This is a Raiders team that has lost eight straight games, but they’re tricky. They’re coming off a 19-17 loss to the Chiefs on Black Friday, and it’s a game they should’ve won. Tampa Bay can’t take this Vegas squad lightly, even if it’s a 2-10 group that hasn’t won since Sept. 29. Brock Bowers is dangerous and has a favorable matchup against Todd Bowles’ defense, and there is a potential game-wrecker on the Raider defense in the form of Maxx Crosby.
But as important as it is for the Bucs not to take this one lightly, the reality is that it’s a game they should be winning. Bowers, Crosby and Jakobi Meyers are good players stuck on a bad team, but there’s not a whole lot of talent throughout the rest of the roster. Aidan O’Connell is coming off the best game of his young career, but the Buccaneer defense can’t allow him to beat them. Even if Vegas is scoring – and it surely will against this defense – I still trust Baker Mayfield and the offense to lead the way, put up a 30-point performance and get the team to 7-6.
As a bonus prediction, I like the Vikings to give the Falcons their fourth straight loss, sending Tampa Bay into first place in the NFC South.
ADAMS’ GAME PREDICTION: Bucs 30, Raiders 20
ADAMS’ SEASON RECORD: 8-4
Josh Queipo: Bucs Capture Division Lead With Win
Raiders TE Brock Bowers – Photo by: USA Today
I’m doubling up on this prediction. Not only will the Bucs win tomorrow, but the Falcons will lose to the Vikings sending Tampa Bay a game up on the Falcons. This will put Tampa Bay in the driver’s seat for the NFC South Division title and a home playoff game for the third year in a row.
While second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders offensive line have taken strides in the past couple of weeks, Las Vegas’ offense is still one of NFL’s worst. Since week 10, Vegas is 23rd in the league with a -0.034 EPA/play and tied for 19th in success rate at 42.3%.
The Raiders’ run game is one of the worst in the league and won’t match up well with the Bucs’ run defense. This will force O’Connell to have to be excellent through the air. And yes, rookie phenom Brock Bowers will most likely light up the Bucs’ porous middle-of-the-field defense. 50% of his catches this year have come in between the numbers. But a one-dimensional offense centered on him will only have a ceiling that is so high.
The real separation will come when Tampa Bay’s impressive offense faces off with the Raiders’ poor defense. And while defensive end Maxx Crosby is one of the top edge rushers in the game right now, he is facing off with one of the Bucs’ greatest strengths in their offensive line. Vegas will be hard-pressed to keep up with the Bucs’ creative, diverse and balanced offensive attack. The Bucs offense should allow them to run away with this one. Pun intended.
QUEIPO’S GAME PREDICTION: Bucs 26, Raiders 19
QUEIPO’S SEASON RECORD: 7-5
Adam Slivon: Bucs Win Battle Of The Pirates, Get First Home Win Since September
Bucs RB Bucky Irving Photo by: USA Today
The Bucs have another must-win game on the docket for Sunday as they prepare to face a Raiders team that fights – but is also fighting for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. At 2-10, it’s a Las Vegas squad devoid of a lot of top talent but has two of the game’s best at their respective positions in tight end Brock Bowers and defensive end Maxx Crosby. Bowers and Crosby are the biggest threats to swing the outcome of this game, and a lot of attention needs to be placed on them from a gameplanning standpoint. Taking them out leaves the cupboard bare for head coach Antonio Pierce to work with.
Offensively, they rank 27th in the league in scoring and fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy earlier this season. Tampa Bay faces Aidan O’Connell and a dead-last run game. That should be no problem for head coach Todd Bowles’ defense, right? With the Raiders operating on a -18 turnover deficit, this game is a prime opportunity to capitalize and get the unit’s first interception since Week 6 against the Saints to help put the game away.
Baker Mayfield did not have his best game against the Panthers last Sunday but got in a rhythm late. Facing the 28th-ranked scoring defense provides Mayfield an opportunity to have a bounceback game, one that should be reliant on feeding Mike Evans the ball and relying on Bucky Irving to do Bucky Irving things. Interestingly enough, Sunday’s game is the second anniversary of the “Mayfield Miracle” when he led the Rams on a game-winning 98-yard drive against the Raiders. It should not take that to win this time, as I predict the Bucs get an early lead and control things the rest of the way as the more talented team on both sides of the football.
SLIVON’S GAME PREDICTION: Bucs 31, Raiders 20
SLIVON’S SEASON RECORD: 8-4
