The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t been at their best in 2014. Riding a two game losing streak, the Buccaneers will return home and try to get their first home win of the year. Luckily they get to try to do so against an equally bad Minnesota Vikings team. Led by rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, the Vikings come in with a shaky defense and major inconsistency on offense. In fact, the Vikings are losers of three straight and have seemingly gotten blown out more than they’ve been competitive so far this season.
Despite both teams struggling, this should actually be a competitive game that goes down to the wire. A solid contest that gives Tampa Bay a real shot at notching their second win of the year offers decent value, as the game is 17% below the season average for Buccaneers tickets on the secondary market. The average price for Buccaneers vs Vikings tickets is currently $105.87 with a get-in price of just $22.
The beauty for Tampa Bay is they are in a weak division this year. The best team in the NFC South is just 3-3, meaning a win in Week 8 could put a young Buccaneers bunch back in contention for a division title. It’s not overly likely, but that attempt starts with a demolition of the Vikings. That process should begin with Tampa Bay’s defense tightening up in every respect. A unit defensive tackle Gerald McCoy deemed “soft” will need to be anything but, as they try to limit explosive plays out of the likes of Jerick McKinnon and Cordarrelle Patterson.
On the other side, Mike Glennon needs to continue his own maturation process under center. Above all else, however, the Bucs may want to force feed running back Doug Martin the rock and finally get the rushing attack going. That was supposed to be the Bucs’ bread and butter, and instead they’ve turned into an offense lacking a true identity. If they can get back to the basics this week, Tampa Bay should be able to end Week 8 with the win and slowly chip away inside their division.
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