The NFL season has already progressed into Week 4 with each Sunday seemingly flying by. This week, the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers host their third straight home game as they take on a struggling Green Bay Packers team. Both sides are performing at far below their typical standards, but someone\u2019s bound to bounce back today. Which team will capture a much-needed win in this one?<\/p>\n
Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET in Tampa Bay. Here\u2019s a preview, prediction and pick for Packers vs. Buccaneers in NFL Week 4.<\/p>\n
Packers vs. Buccaneers prediction, preview<\/p>\n
Very little has gone according to plan for either of these franchises this year.<\/p>\n
The Packers are severely underperforming at 1-2 after losses to the Vikings and Falcons, with the lone win an overtime victory over the Jets back in Week 2. Their problems are numerous, to say the least. They\u2019re down multiple offensive linemen and have virtually no run game, ranking 32nd in EPA\/rush with 48.7 YPG on the ground. Jordan Love is taking a beating under center. While he has 844 yards and six touchdowns to two interceptions, he\u2019s under constant pressure and doesn\u2019t have time to get comfortable, resulting in reduced efficiency with a 52.4% completion rate. At the very least, Christian Watson and Matthew Golden are in the midst of a breakout \u2013 the former has racked up 17 catches for 284 yards and four touchdowns while the latter has 15 grabs for 253 yards and one score. Still, it\u2019s not been enough to win football games, and certainly not with this defense. The Packers knew life would be rough while waiting for Micah Parsons to return from his Achilles tear. They probably didn\u2019t think it would get this bad, giving up 30.3 PPG (29th) and ranking 22nd in defensive EPA\/play. At the very least, they\u2019ve limited explosive plays at the fourth-best rate. That\u2019s hardly consolation, though.<\/p>\n
The Buccaneers are still winless, having suffered losses to the Bengals, Browns and Vikings over the first three weeks, two of which came at home. There\u2019s no worse offense than this one at the moment in terms of EPA\/play, and while they\u2019re 19th in scoring with 20.7 PPG, things probably won\u2019t get any better. Baker Mayfield, who has struggled mightily thus far, is out with an injury and will be replaced by UDFA rookie Jalon Daniels. There\u2019s upside in the quarterback\u2019s profile, but he went undrafted for a reason and only truly put his game together during his final collegiate season at Kansas, where he was largely quite prone to turnovers despite showing flashes of excellence. Emeka Egbuka has just 141 receiving yards and one score on 13 receptions this year and the remainder of the receiving core hasn\u2019t been stellar. If it\u2019s any consolation, Bucky Irving has looked solid with 141 scrimmage yards and a touchdown out of the backfield, but he can\u2019t carry this offense alone. Defensively, the Bucs<\/a> are allowing 26.3 PPG despite ranking sixth in EPA\/play allowed with top-12 marks against the run and pass. If the offense could get much going, perhaps things wouldn\u2019t be as dire in Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n Packers vs. Buccaneers pick, best bet<\/p>\n DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Packers as a -3 favorite on the road with -170 odds to win on the Moneyline. The Buccaneers are a +142 home underdog to win outright with the game total set at 38.5 combined points.<\/p>\n Green Bay should win this game even despite the glaring issues with the roster. The reason for that? It\u2019s simply Daniels\u2019 presence under center for the Bucs. The rookie quarterback impressed in the preseason but is unproven at this level, and it\u2019s quite a stretch to say he has an NFL-caliber arm. He cleaned up his turnover issues during his final season at Kansas with 22 touchdowns to seven picks, but he still threw 31 over his 49 collegiate games and tossed a Big 12-worst 12 of them during his 2024 campaign. The margin for error gets much smaller in the pros, even against a struggling defense.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one bet that I do feel rather sure about in this game, it\u2019s over for Jordan Love to record over 33.5 pass attempts. Through three weeks, he\u2019s dropped back the third-most times of any quarterback (excluding the two who played an extra game on Thursday Night Football this past week) and trails only Tyler Shough in pass attempts with 124. The Packers are having to air the ball out over and over to have a chance in games, and as the NFL\u2019s worst rushing attack by far faces a standout defensive front in terms of talent, they\u2019ll have to throw a ton in this matchup, too. Love averages 44 dropbacks and 41.3 pass attempts per game, so it shouldn\u2019t be difficult to clear this bar on Sunday.<\/p>\n