Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preseason Pick

Thursday, 8:00 pm Eastern – Fox

The spotlight on Thursday night will be on the quarterback battle in Tampa Bay between Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown. Head coach Raheem Morris has not said which player will get the starting job but what is clear is that Thursday’s game could be the deciding factor.

Tampa Bay is a 2.5 point favorite with a total of 37 at Bookmaker.

Leftwich gets the start on Thursday and will play 1.5 quarters with the starters. McCown will play the next 1.5 quarters, also with the starters. Neither quarterback has been great during the preseason but both have had their moments. McCown is 10 of 17 passes (58.8%) for 70 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He has a quarterback rating of 107.5. Leftwich has completed 12 of 26 passes for 124 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and he has a QB rating of 73.2. Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman is not being considered at the moment for the starting job although the Bucs consider him their quarterback of the future. Tampa Bay will have Earnest Graham back in the starting lineup after he missed last week’s game against Jacksonville.

Miami comes into Thursday’s game looking good. They won 27-17 last week against Carolina and the first string offense looked strong. Chad Pennington was 8 for 11 for 105 yards and a TD. Miami is expected to player their starters into the third quarter in this game. Following Pennington at quarterback will be Chad Henne who has looked solid this NFL betting preseason. He has completed 17 of 27 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. “I think it’s about understanding what you’re going to go through in the preseason and just having the playbook underneath my belt for one year has just been a lot easier for me,” Henne said. “Repetition with the plays and just getting through them are what I am doing better at now. I definitely feel a lot better. I mean understanding defenses, understanding our offense, what matches with each other and just making smart decisions and knowing where to go with the ball allows me to feel so much more comfortable and the year really helped me a lot.”

The Dolphins and Bucs have met 23 times in the NFL betting preseason history with Miami holding a 14-9 lead. Last season it was Tampa Bay winning 17-6 in Miami in the preseason.

Pick: Dolphins