Here we go into week 8 of the 2022 NFL season with a matchup on Thursday night between the Baltimore Ravens and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two teams that aren’t where they were expected to be at the start of the season. Both teams struggling to find ways to win games or just struggling to compete at times and that has dealt with major injuries to their rosters. Each quarterback has something to prove this week and it’s a must-win for both teams to turn around their seasons in a matchup of the future and from what it looks like the past in their second matchup in their careers.
Did anyone expect the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be 3-4 at this point of this season I sure didn’t. The Bucs are coming off a blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers which no one expected to happen after recent trade made by the Panthers. They have been struggling this season going into week 8 with so many injuries that included Julio Jones missing some time due to knee issues having only played 2 games so far and recently losing starters in secondary Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Antoine Winfield Jr. who is out for Thursday nights game. The Buccaneers will also be without TE Cameron Brate due to a neck injury. Things aren’t getting any better for the Bucs and possibly may not get better. So that begins to make fans wonder if should have Tom Brady come back for this season and just should have stayed retired because he is not playing his best now. Brady is currently in the top ten in yards and passing percentage but has yet to break 10 touchdowns on the season sitting at 8 when last year he had 10 touchdowns by week 3. So, is Tom Brady not as great as he was last year, and age is starting to show, or is it just this entire Buccaneers team that is the problem and all their injuries? Maybe Thursday night’s matchup versus the Ravens may give us our answer.
On the other sideline, we have the Baltimore Ravens who aren’t that far off from the way the Bucs have been playing despite having superstar Lamar Jackson. The Ravens looked to be the team to beat early in the season with Lamar Jackson putting up Madden numbers racking 10 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns in the first three games but since he has only recorded 1 passing touchdown per game and zero rushing. But unlike Tom Brady, there are better chances of Lamar Jackson getting out of his funk and putting up the numbers we expect, and leading the Ravens to wins. Despite only being 4-3 the Ravens are at the top of their division but tied with the Bengals for the lead. Just like the Buccaneers, the Ravens have been dealing with their own injury issues that could have been part of the reason for some of their losses. And the injuries continue as J.K Dobbins has been ruled out for 4-6 weeks after going through arthroscopic surgery on his knee so it is next man-up situation for Kenyan Drake and Justice Hill who just came back after missing two weeks due to hamstring injury. As for Thursday night’s game, Calais Campbell has also been ruled out due to illness which marks his first missed game in his 5-year career. With these recent injuries will the Baltimore Ravens overcome them and turn their season around with a win this week? I say chances are high and we could see the Lamar Jackson we saw early this season.
PREDICTION: Baltimore Ravens 34 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17
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