NFL Predictions: Broncos vs. Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Denver Broncos at 4:05 p.m. ET today. It’s week four of the NFL season — we’re almost a quarter of the way in, and we’ve got at least a decent view of the quality of each NFL team.

For the Bucs, that’s....not good. The team is 1-2, with their only win being a close win over a team that has itself not been very impressive, the Atlanta Falcons. The Bucs got blown out by the Arizona Cardinals, who appear to not be as good as they were last year, and gave up 37 points to the Los Angeles Rams, who had scored just nine points in the previous two games.

Meanwhile, the Broncos are surprisingly strong. They’re 3-0 despite starting Trevor Siemian at quarterback after losing their top two signal callers in the offseason, mostly thanks to a dominant defense led by Von Miller.

In other words: Broncos good, Bucs bad.

I’m generally optimistic, but I can’t really see a way that the Bucs win this game. The Broncos defense is too good, the Bucs defense too iffy and injured, and recent performances too disparate to realistically expect a competitive game, let alone a Tampa Bay win.

And yet, the bookmakers disagree. They think the Broncos have just a three-point advantage over Tampa Bay, which would suggest a close game — albeit in large part because the game is played in Tampa, and not Denver.

So what do I say? Well, I’m sticking with a three-point loss. Going with the odds. Bucs 17, Broncos 20.

What’s your prediction?