While the Thursday night football game might not have an impact on the postseason, it does feature two players looking to earn Offensive Rookie of the Year as Jameis Winston and Todd Gurley face off. Winston has seen his share of ups and downs, but the quarterback is looking to end things on a high note in 2015. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to get a win, it will be without one of their biggest playmakers as Vincent Jackson will miss the matchup and could be done for the year.
According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, Jackson will not be active in Week 15 thanks to a knee injury and could be shut down for the season. Tampa Bay is a true long shot to make the playoffs after falling to the New Orleans Saints in Week 14 and the team could opt to shut Jackson down in order to let him heal. Losing Jackson is not an easy blow as he is the team's season leading receiver. With the number of injuries the Buccaneers have faced at the receiver position, they simply cannot afford to lose anyone else. Without Jackson, Adam Humphries or Russell Shepard will have to step up with Mike Evans.
With injuries hitting the Buccaneers, Evans is trying to finish strong and be the key piece for Winston to work with. As Jackson sits on the sideline, Evans will be the No.1 guy and the top target for Winston on Thursday. Evans has been the victim of a number of double teams this season and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter believes that has made things a lot tougher on him.
"I think people game-plan for Mike a lot more than maybe they did last year," said Koetter, via the team website. "Mike is drawing more double-teams than perhaps he did last year. Mike still has high 800s in yards. He's still probably going to go over 1,000 yards, unless something bad happens. I would just say, more than anything, defenses are probably more aware of him, and [there are] growing pains with a rookie quarterback, and we're running the ball more."
The run game will be a focus in Week 15 as Doug Martin looks to carry the offense. Statistically, the more carries Martin has, the better the chance Tampa Bay has of winning the game. Head coach Lovie Smith stressed that he would love to run the ball more than the Buccaneers have been, but time of possession and the defense play a big factor in the ongoing game plan. Martin told the media that he will do whatever is asked of him.
"As a running back, you'll always like to have a lot of carries," Martin said, via ESPN.com. "But due to the situation of the game [Sunday], we were down 14 so we stay away from the run. That's what the coaches thought we needed to do to get ahead."