NFL Predictions: Week 2 Picks and Hot Takes From Across the League

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Arizona Cardinals, 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, FOX

Won’t this one be fun? On one side, you have a Tampa Bay team who came roaring out of the gate to open up their season in style. On the other, Bruce Arians’ “Super Bowl favorite” that couldn’t defeat Jimmy Garoppolo in what some called a cupcake opener. Let’s do this thing!

The key here for Tampa Bay will be capitalizing on their opponent’s week one loss, as odd as that might sound. Momentum is the most underrated aspect of NFL games (and seasons, truly). Coming off of a gut-punch of a loss in New England, there’s little doubt that Arians and Co. want to sprint out of the gate in front of their home crowd. If Tampa Bay finds a way to put points up early and devise a gameplan that limits the big play over the top, they’ll unquestionably be in contention to win the game in the fourth quarter.

The Buccaneers can afford to let Arizona dink and dunk their way down the field – what can’t happen centers directly around the trio of Alterraun Verner, Brent Grimes and Vernon Hargreaves. The Cardinals run deep in numbers at wide-out, perhaps more so than any other team in the league. Arians will test the Bucs secondary early and often, resulting in battles that could play the largest factor into the ultimate final result. If Tampa wants to pull off the upset, they’ll have to limit the big play and keep Arizona’s threats in check.

Both teams can run the football, but look for the respective passing games to decide which team takes home the win in a game that should end up being highly entertaining.

Cardinals get back on track, beat Bucs, 29-24.

Next: Jaguars/Chargers