Thursday Night Football: Bucs vs Eagles Betting Preview

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had one of the hottest offenses in the NFL this season, winning four of their five games. They roll into Philadelphia as 6.5-point favorites for their Thursday Night Football game against the Eagles.

But the Eagles are coming off of a win that they hope will help save their season and will look to keep their own momentum going en route to a second straight victory.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Last week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up 45 points in a blowout win over the Miami Dolphins at home. Coming off of an emotional win over the New England Patriots the week before, the Bucs caught fire with their passing game, with Tom Brady throwing five touchdown passes. This week, though, the Bucs go back on the road where things have not been easy for them this season.

In two road games this year, the Buccaneers are 1-1 and nearly lost the game that they won against the Patriots. Tampa Bay has scored at least 30 points in all of their home games this season but has failed to break 25 points in a road game. And with Tom Brady dealing with a thumb injury heading into this game against the Eagles, the Bucs might struggle to put points on the board again this week.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles broke a three-game losing streak last week when they came back to beat the Carolina Panthers on the road. Philadelphia trailed 15-3 in the game but scored 18 of the game’s final 21 points to come back and win to go to 2-3 on the year. While they are underdogs against the Buccaneers, a win will move the Eagles back to .500 and put them back into contention in the NFC East.

Philadelphia is going to need more from Jalen Hurts in this game if the Eagles are going to come away with a second straight victory. Hurts failed to break 200 passing yards and did not throw a touchdown pass against the Panthers. Against a Buccaneers defense that is just as capable of getting stops as Carolina, Hurts will need to do a better job of moving the ball.

Keys to the Game

The health of Tom Brady is the ultimate key to this game for the Buccaneers. Brady has been on fire to start this season, but his thumb will decide just how effective he can be, which will impact how effective the Tampa Bay offense is. Brady and the Bucs struggled in a Thursday night road game last year against the Chicago Bears, and any health issues could result in history repeating itself.

For the Eagles, getting the running game going is an important factor in this contest. Miles Sanders was their leading rusher against the Panthers with under 50 yards on the ground, which resulted in the Eagles’ offense sputtering for the majority of the game. If they want to get off to a better start on offense, the Eagles will need to rack up some rushing yards.