The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to defend a 2-0 record, but based on the way experts are picking this week, it may not seem like it.
Pundits and writers have released their Week 3 picks for the NFL slate this weekend, and Tampa Bay isn’t favored to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night football by most people’s metrics. The Bucs faced a similar situation in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings, but the team won that game 20-17. Now, the team seeks to prove the doubters wrong again and get a win against the defending NFC champions at home.
Here is how experts predicted Monday’s game will go:
Chris Bumbaca: Eagles
Jarrett Bell: Eagles
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Lorenzo Reyes: Eagles
Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz: Eagles
Nate Davis: Eagles
Safid Deen: Eagles
Tyler Dragon: Eagles
Victoria Davis: Eagles
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Ali Bhanpuri: Eagles
Brooke Cersosimo: Eagles
Dan Parr: Eagles
Gennaro Filice: Eagles
Tom Blair: Eagles
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Stephania Bell: Eagles
Matt Bowen: Eagles
Mike Clay: Eagles
Jeremy Fowler: Eagles
Dan Graziano: Eagles
Kimberley Martin: Eagles
Eric Moody: Eagles
Jason Reid: Eagles
Lindsey Thiry: Eagles
Sam Wickersham: Eagles
Pete Prisco: Eagles
Will Brinson: Eagles
Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Jared Dubin: Eagles
Ryan Wilson: Eagles
John Breech: Eagles
Tyler Sullivan: Eagles
Dave Richard: Eagles
Jamey Eisenberg: Eagles
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Albert Breer: Eagles
Mitch Goldich: Eagles
Claire Kuwana: Eagles
Gilberto Manzano: Eagles
Conor Orr: Eagles
John Pluym: Eagles
Matt Verderame: Eagles
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Bill Bender: Eagles 27, Bucs 17
The Buccaneers are off to a surprising 2-0 start with Baker Mayfield, who has a 69.1% completion percentage and has not thrown an interception. The Eagles, however, had extra rest coming off a Thursday Night Football victory. Philadelphia has just four sacks through two weeks. Still, Jalen Hurts should be even better with the emergence of D’Andre Swift in the backfield. Philadelphia keeps it rolling on the Monday Night Football spotlight.
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River Wells: Eagles
Jason Kanno: Eagles
Luke Adragna: Bucs
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
The Eagles led predictions 38-1, so its safe to say that the Birds are heavily favored. Despite this, though, it should be a close matchup between the teams on paper and could be a defining game for the NFC early on this year.
