Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Prediction, 8/11/2023 NFL Picks, Best Bets & Odds Preseason

Game: Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Date: Friday, August 11, 2023

Location: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL

TV: No TV

Odds/Point Spread: Buccaneers (+1.5)

Total/Over-Under: 40

Raymond James Stadium is the location where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9 last year) will play the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-8 last season) on Friday. Pittsburgh opens this matchup as 1.5-point favorites. The over/under comes in at 40.

The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the season having a 9-8 record. In their last game, the Steelers faced the Browns and notched a win by a score of 28-14. Kenny Pickett connected on 13/29 with 195 yards passing and 1 TD. He had a quarterback rate of 79 and walked away from the contest with no picks. George Pickens averaged 24.0 yds per catch by tallying 72 yds on 3 catches. Najee Harris led the offense in rushing for the Steelers with 23 totes for 84 yards (3.7 yards per carry). Overall, they tallied 67 plays which converted into 337 yards. The Pittsburgh Steelers ran the football 37 times and recorded 148 yards, which is an average of 4.0 yds per attempt. In the running game, the Steelers conceded 134 yards on 22 attempts, which is 6.1 yards per rush allowed. Pittsburgh conceded 19 completions on 29 tries for 173 yds, and a completion rate of 65.5%.

In terms of scoring points, the Pittsburgh Steelers averaged 18.1 points per outing. Offensively they had an average of 121.9 yards rushing, which was 16th in the league. The Steelers racked up 5,484 yards in total for the previous season. Pittsburgh totaled 189 1st downs offensively, and they committed 94 infractions for 711 yds. They gave the ball to the opposition 19 times (14 interceptions and 5 fumbles). Pittsburgh amassed 12 touchdowns through the air and 16 rushing touchdowns.

When it comes to yards via the pass, the Steelers gave up 3,779 yards which had them sitting in 20th in the National Football League. In their 17 games, they gave up 222.3 yards per outing via the pass as well as surrendering a completion percentage of 61.3%. They allowed 330.4 yards/contest which ranked them 13th in football. They allowed 29 touchdowns through the air as well as 7 touchdowns on the ground. They allowed teams to run for an average of 4.2 yards per rush on the ground and 108.1 rushing yards per game last year. In total, they gave up 1,838 rushing yards through 17 outings. The Steelers were sitting in 10th in the league regarding team defense, conceding 20.4 points per game.

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The Buccaneers ended the year having earned a 8-9 record. The last time they took the field, the Buccaneers took a loss by a score of 31-14 when they faced the Cowboys. Tom Brady (2 touchdowns) finished the contest with 351 yards on 35/66 passing while his quarterback rating was 72.2. He tossed 1 interception and his average yds per pass attempt was 5.3 yards. Rachaad White ran the ball 7 times for 41 yds, walking away from the contest with 5.9 yds per carry for Tampa Bay. Chris Godwin was the best receiver for the Buccaneers, catching 10 balls for 85 yards (8.5 yards per catch). Tampa Bay rushed for 4.3 yards per tote, finishing the contest with 52 yards on 12 carries. The Buccaneers finished the contest with 386 yards and they ran 80 plays (4.8 yds per play). The Buccaneers pass defense conceded a completion percentage of 75.8%, relinquishing 297 yds on 25 for 33 through the air. Tampa Bay conceded 35 run attempts for 128 yards (3.7 yds per carry).

In relation to their scoring prowess, the Buccaneers were ranked 25th in the NFL averaging 18.4 points per outing. Over the course of last season, the Buccaneers compiled 4,586 yards through the air as well as an average of 269.8 throwing yards per contest, giving them a rank of 2nd out of all NFL teams. They had an average of 76.9 yards via the ground game and ran for 1,308 yards for the season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held an average of 346.7 yards per outing which ranked them 15th in football. The Tampa Bay offense compiled 793 yards of penalties on 99 infractions, which had them sitting 13th in the league in terms of helping out the opposition. They threw 10 interceptions while allowing opponents to recover 12 fumbles and they earned 240 1st downs.

The Buccaneers allowed 21.1 points per game, which had them sitting 13th in the NFL. They allowed 29 touchdowns through the air and 203.6 yards/game, which had them in 9th in the NFL. Last season, they gave up 358 total points. Tampa Bay surrendered a total of 2,052 rushing yards (120.7 yards per contest) as well as 12 touchdowns rushing last season. The Buccaneers defense was on the field for 1,073 plays, which had them sitting 13th in the league. Their defense compiled 20 turnovers (10 fumbles recovered and 10 interceptions) during the previous year.

Who will win tonight's Steelers/Buccaneers NFL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Buccaneers +1.5

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