Buccaneers: Analyzing potential changes in the point spread
By Brian DeFeo
Week One Tampa Bay Bucs at Miami Dolphins
Vegas Spread: Dolphins (-1.5)
The Bucs start the season off against an in-state foe in the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins were a surprise playoff team last season at 10-6. They had to go against the high-powered Steelers without their starting quarterback. They were defeated 30-12 and the offense looked lost without Ryan Tannehill. Yes Ryan Tannehill has made the Dolphins offense competent recently with the breakout success of Jarvis Landry and Jay Ajayi. This off-season they really haven’t made any splashes. Drafting Charles Harris and re-signing Kenny Stills were their biggest moves.
The Bucs are vastly improved offensively from last season but still have question marks at running back and defensive consistency. How will the continued restructuring of the defensive backfield come together? Will Justin Evans be the impact safety that the Bucs have been looking for? The success of the pass defense will be key to overall success.
The Bucs are the better team right now but Vegas believes home field advantage will keep it close but edge to Miami. I feel the Bucs should win this game and Vegas will push the edge to the Bucs. It does remain close but Tampa takes a close one to open the 2017 season with a win.