Eagles at Buccaneers 9/16/18 - NFL Picks & Predictions

The Philadelphia Eagles visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida for a Week 2 NFC showdown. The Eagles opened defense of their Super Bowl title on Thursday with an 18-12 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Jay Ajayi scored two rushing touchdowns in the win and the Eagles defense came up with a big stand late. The game ended with the Falcons on the Eagles 5 yard line and an incomplete pass from Matt Ryan to Julio Jones.

The Buccaneers opened the season with a 48-40 shootout win over the New Orleans Saints. Tampa Bay scored in 6 of its first 7 possessions of the game as quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick allayed concerns of Bucs fans over the loss of Jameis Winston for the first three games. Fitzpatrick threw four touchdowns including a 58-yard bomb into the end zone to DeSean Jackson. The Bucs ended the game with 529 total yards of offense. Nick Foles threw for 117 yards and one interception for the Eagles in Week 1. Jay Ajayi rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns, while Zach Ertz led all Eagles receivers with 48 yards. Jordan Hicks led the Eagles in tackles with 7, while Chris Long and Hicks each had 1.5 sacks apiece to lead the team.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 417 yards and four touchdowns. The leading rusher for Tampa Bay was Peyton Barber with 69 yards. Mike Evans leads the team in receiving with 7 receptions for 147 yards and one touchdown, while Desean Jackson finished with 5 receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Lavonte David leads the Bucs in tackles with 9, while Vinny Curry is the sacks leader with 1.0.