Predictions Summary Projections by Position Projection Team Boxes

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Prediction: MIN 17, TB 24 (Line: TB by 3)

Update: Vincent Jackson was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable, but all indications are he’ll play this week. Mike Evans is also good to go, and with the twin towers both active Louis Murphy’s projections have been tweaked downwards accordingly.

The 2-5 Vikings are on a three game losing streak and are only 1-3 away from home. The 1-5 Buccaneers are only 1-2 at home and on their own two game losing stretch. The Buccaneers are coming to terms with the season being over and are shopping Vincent Jackson around the league. This is a coin toss game but the homefield should be just enough to merit a win.

There is progress this season despite the current standings. Teddy Bridgewater was always a play for the future and would knowingly take a while to get on track. The Adrian Peterson situation could have imploded the team and it had an obvious effect, but the Vikes are moving on and Jerick McKinnon has eight more games to show them why there is no need to draft another back next April. This could be a much better team next year. Of course that is said almost every year by every team.

QUARTERBACK : After four games, Teddy Bridgewater finally passed for a touchdown in the NFL but his yardage away from home remains well below 200 each time. He’s a work in progress and is learning the hard way with 13 sacks over just the last two games.

RUNNING BACK : Jerick McKinnon comes off his second 100 yard effort when he ran 19 times for 103 yards in Buffalo. McKinnon still has not scored but has a firm grasp on the starting job and already showing up well against the softer defenses that they face. Matt Asiata remains just a relief player.

WIDE RECEIVER : It seems ironic that Bridgewater’s first NFL touchdown would end up with Cordarrelle Patterson given that he’s continued to be a major bust and only caught two passes for nine yards in the game. Greg Jennings and Jarius Wright come up with marginal yardage each week and this remains one of the worst set of fantasy wideouts in the league. All combined they’ve only scored twice on the year and rarely break 40 yards in a game.

TIGHT END : No fantasy value.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: The good news is that the Buccaneers have a terrible secondary and are ranked #32 against quarterbacks. But the Vikes rank #32 for quarterbacks. Trust Bridgewater to bring the average down. The Buccaneers are also weak versus the run and this is where the only reliable success will happen. Consider McKinnon a solid play this week with a great shot at his first NFL touchdown. The Bucs have already given up eight scores to the position. Any element of the Vikings passing game is too risky to warrant consideration even though they should score once via a pass.

This week is a good shot at that elusive second win and then hosting the Falcons at least offers promise. But the season is already over at 1-5 and at least one eye is on next season which always makes it tough to predict what an offense will do and which players they may use to do it. . The Bucs bad defense continues to be a blessing for fantasy teams but the offense is at least posting points every week and doing it in a predictable manner.

QUARTERBACK : Mike Glennon is better than last year at least in fantasy terms. He’s not only thrown for two scores in each of the last three games, but twice he topped 300 yards in the process while only throwing one interception per week. More impressive still – he threw for 302 yards in a road game in Pittsburgh and later 314 yards at home against the Ravens defense.

RUNNING BACK : The Buccaneers rarely get enough carries in games to matter. Aside from Bobby Rainey’s 144 yards against the Rams in week two, no runner has topped 45 rushing yards in a game. Doug Martin totals as much as 80 yards but he’s only been reliable for around 50 yards per week and scored just once. This is nothing like the Buccaneers rushing attack of 2012 that made Martin a star rookie. The overall team is so bad that the running effort rarely gets more than 18 or 20 carries per game and that gets split up between Martin and Rainey.

WIDE RECEIVER : Almost everything that Glennon does in the passing offense goes directly to this unit. Every passing touchdown ended up with a wideout and the addition of Louis Murphy makes it a three-man set to defend. Mike Evans is stuck at around 65 yards per game but scored in the last two that he played. Murphy also scored in his last two but varies wildly from 35 to 99 yards per week. Vincent Jackson also turned it up in the last two weeks with yardage since he posted 144 yards in New Orleans and then 66 yards versus the Ravens. He scored in the road trips to Atlanta and Pittsburgh though with minimal yardage. Whatever yardage happens when Glennon throws mostly goes throught just three wideouts.

Jackson will be playing with the specter of a trade hanging over him. His name is one of several believed to be in play before the trade deadline on the 28th of October.

TIGHT END : The rookie Austin Sefarian-Jenkins still has not scored but comes off a high game of 58 yards on four catches and is making incremental progress.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: The Vikings defense is better than most realize and have not allowed any 300 yard games by opposing quarterbacks despite facing Brady, Brees, Rodgers and Stafford. But they have allowed two or three passing scores in four different games. The rushing defense is their bigger weakness but the same is true for the Bucs offense. Consider as a moderate starter with Glennon, Martin, Jackson and Murphy but all have some upside as well since Glennon does not spread the ball around much.

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