The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get the prime time treatment in Week Seven when they take on the red-hot Baltimore Ravens at Raymond James Stadium on Monday night. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson has been dominant both in prime time games and against NFC opponents, but the Buccaneers have the offensive firepower to hang with the visitors. To find out how to watch, listen and livestream the game, click here.
There are two Monday Night Football games this week, but this one could get top billing because it features two of the four highest-scoring teams in the league. The Buccaneers are coming off a 51-27 blowout of the Saints in New Orleans in which they rang up a team-record 594 yards of offense. Similarly, the Ravens pounded their Beltway rivals, the Washington Commanders, with 484 yards in a 30-23 Week Six victory.
As such most of the national analysts trying to pick a winner in this battle are anticipating a shootout with combined scores in the 60s. One expert pointed out that a Todd Bowles-led Buccaneers defense held Derrick Henry to 24 yards on 11 carries the last time they faced him in Tennessee, but also notes that he wasn't sharing a backfield with Jackson at the time. Another analyst suggested that the Buccaneers are developing into legitimate Super Bowl contenders, and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said that Bucs-Ravens could prove to be a Super Bowl preview…if Tampa Bay wins.
The Buccaneers enter the weekend as 3.5-point underdogs to last year's AFC runners-up. Many analysts see that line holding, but there are some dissenters who favor the home team. Here's what some of them are saying:
NFL.com – Four of five go with the Ravens, one citing Lamar Jackson's sparkling prime time record
ESPN.com – Two out of three analysts side with Baltimore but all predict at least 60 points scored
CBSSports.com – Pete Prisco envisions a shootout and thinks Bucs will have the ball last
USA Today – Six analysts, including Jarrett Bell and Nate Davis, six Ravens picks
Bleacher Report – Eight pickers split right down the middle,
Pro Football Talk – Mike Florio goes with Bucs, Chris Simms picks against his former team
Sports Illustrated – Six-man MMQB staff sides with Ravens, 4-2
Sporting News – Vinnie Iyer sees Ravens winning but not covering 3.5-point spread
