🏈 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Washington Commanders Preview and Prediction - 1/12/25 👀
Two former Heisman winners meet in South Florida for a high flying matchup of surprise teams
Two of the NFL’s most exciting offenses, something we never would have guessed we would be saying when the season started 4 months ago, meet in a unexpected NFC Wild Card matchup when the ROTY Jayden Daniels takes his Washington Commanders to Tampa Bay to face Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers.
The Baker Mayfield era in Tampa Bay has been cemented this season, with the former #1 pick turned journeyman finally finding his footing in South Florida to the tune of division-leading 9-7 season to go along with his 4,000+ passing yards and over 40 passing touchdowns. The Bucs come into this one winning 5 out of their last 6, albeit against bottom tier competition for the most part, including a victory their last time out in unimpressive, but entertaining fashion. Baker and the Bucs were forced to come from behind against the lowly Saints, and they did so late while ensuring that Mike Evans had the moment of a lifetime to finish the game. A distressful afternoon became a gleeful one in a flurry, and the Bucs and their fans will be feeling the good vibes as they try to repeat their Wild Card round success from almost exactly one year ago when they blew out the Eagles at home 32-9. Tampa Bay will be feeling even more confident knowing that they also beat this year’s opponent in Week 1 of the regular season 37-20.
The Commanders could not have asked for anything more than this. After languishing near the bottom of the league and without a QB of note for…20 years…the Commanders have found their franchise QB and savior in Jayden Daniels, who is the clear ROTY in the NFL. Daniels has wiggled his way to an amazing 3500+ passing yard and 900+ rushing yard season while leading the Commanders to a shocking 12-5 record. We would be remiss if we didn’t also mention the notable impact of new head coach Dan Quinn and his offensive play caller Kliff Kingsbury, both of which will be strong favorites for coach of the year awards. Washington comes into this one have won all of their last 5 games, and will have the confidence to take their high flying show on the road against the weakest of the NFC playoff division winners. Washington NFL franchise fans will find this week’s opponent an oddly familiar one in the playoffs, as the Commanders last playoff game was also in Tampa Bay, a game in which they lost 31-23. On top of that, the Washington NFL franchise’s last playoff victory was also in Tampa Bay nearly 20 years ago, when they beat the Buccaneers 17-10 in Tampa Bay in 2006.
The Commanders come into this one very healthy, and we do not need to mention any of their slight concerns in detail. The same cannot be said for the Bucs, who have a couple of concerning questionable tags that have plagued them over the stretch run, including LB Lavonte David, CB Jamel Dean, and TE Cade Otton. A struggling New Orleans defense was able to take advantage of the Bucs defensive injury woes, so we expect Tampa Bay to prioritize getting as many defensive playoffs back out there as possible for this one.
It should be a pleasant and slightly chilly evening for South Florida, but there is not expected precipitation and very little wind in the forecast. Perfect conditions for a shootout.
The Owl predicts:
Washington 34 Tampa Bay 28
In their first meeting this season, Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay put on an aerial show and Todd Boles was able to contain Jayden Daniels in his first ever NFL start. Things have changed since then, with the Bucs losing some key pieces, notably Chris Godwin, and the Commanders defense improving greatly down the stretch. That being said, points should be fast and heavy in this one, as the offensive prowess of both teams will surely outweigh the defensive gains of Washington and the beaten down Bucs. Jayden Daniels has shown repeatedly this season that he has a flair for the dramatic, and the bigger the moment, the greater he performs. We expect that quality to be center stage this evening.
Consensus odds currently:
TB -3 O/U 50.5