Buccaneers Jaguars Line

Written by Steve Janus - Google +

This Sunday the Jacksonville Jaguars will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a meaningless matchup between two of the worst teams in the league. The Jaguars fell to 3-9 with their 14-38 beating they got on Monday Night Football by the Chargers. The only team worse than the Jacksonville in the AFC is the winless Colts. Things aren’t much better in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers dropped to 4-8 after getting crushed 19-38 at home by Carolina. Only the Vikings (2-10) and Rams (2-10) are worse off in the NFC.

Taking a look at the week 13 lines, oddsmakers currently have the Buccaneers favored by 1-point over the Jaguars with the total set at 38 points.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The Buccaneers loss to the Panthers put an end to their slim playoff hopes. It was their sixth straight loss since starting the season 4-2. While the postseason is out of the question, head coach Raheem Morris needs to figure out a way to build some kind of momentum going into next season. The Jaguars could very well be just the team to get them out of their funk.

Last week against the Panthers, the Buccaneers were forced to start Josh Johnson at quarterback in place of the injured Josh Freeman. Johnson threw for 229 yards on 16 of 27 passing, but struggled to make the big play when they got the ball inside Carolina territory. While the Panthers were scoring touchdowns, the Buccaneers settled for four field goals in the first half. Johnson would eventually hit Dexmon Briscoe for a 23-yard touchdown, but that came late in the fourth quarter when Tampa Bay was down 12-38. Freeman is expected to be in the lineup this week against the Jaguars.

Johnson didn’t exactly get a whole lot of help from running back LaGarrette Blount, who managed to finish the game with just 19 yards on 11 attempts. Blount had rushed for over 100 yards in each of his last two games, but for whatever reason struggled to get going against a Carolina defense that has the 27th worst run defense in the league.

The Jaguars defense gave up 433 yards and five touchdowns in their loss to the Chargers. Jacksonville depleted secondary allowed Philip Rivers to complete 22 of 28 attempts for 294 yards and three touchdowns. Even the Buccaneers struggling offense should be able to have success against an unmotivated Jaguars defense.

Jacksonville Jaguars:

It was a tough first game for interim head coach Mel Tucker, as he took over team that has been completely wiped out with injuries. Jacksonville currently has 12 players on I-R. The only reason the Jaguars have even been competitive up to this point is the strong play of their defense, but they are now without their top three corners and backup Dwight Lowery is listed as questionable. If the defense continues to play like it did against the Chargers at home, this team is in for a long four weeks before the season is over.

For a moment it looked like Blaine Gabbert and the offense were going to break out with a big game against the Chargers, as Gabbert threw two second quarter touchdown passes to give the Jaguars a 14-10 lead. However, that would be the last time the Jaguars would put points on the board. Gabbert ended up going just 19 of 33 for 195 yards with an interception. While Gabbert gets a lot of the blame for the offense, this guy has little to work with at receiver.

It’s a good thing running back Maurice Jones-Drew has been able to stay healthy, or this team would be in some serious trouble. Not only did Jones-Drew lead the team with 97 rushing yards on 20 attempts, he was the leading receiver with six catches for 91 yards and a score. Expect to see a heavy dose of Jones-Drew against the Buccaneers 29th ranked run defense.

Betting Trends:

Tampa Bay is 11-3-1 ATS in their last 15 road games.

Jacksonville is 2-8-1 ATS in their last 11 games when playing on Sunday following a Monday night game.

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