Tampa Bay @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 1, 2017 ) N.Y. Giants 23, Tampa Bay 25

Jason Pierre-Paul accepted his offseason trade from the New York Giants to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as strictly business, but it became personal when he failed to receive a phone call from his former team's brass prior to the move. The two-time Pro Bowl defensive end will have a chance to vent his frustrations on Sunday when the Buccaneers visit the Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

"Honestly, I had this game checked off since I left there, so emotions running big. I'm coming, man. I'm bringing the house down," said Pierre-Paul, who won a Super Bowl while spending his first eight NFL seasons with the Giants. Pierre-Paul has registered a team-high eight sacks and has his sights set on adding to that total when he sees Eli Manning, who did take the time to call the 29-year-old prior to the trade. Manning showed he still has more in the tank on Monday when he threw three touchdown passes -- including one to Sterling Shepard in the final minute -- as New York snapped a five-game losing skid with a 27-23 victory over San Francisco. The win guaranteed Manning the start versus the Buccaneers' 29th-ranked pass defense and nothing more from coach Pat Shurmur, although he has tossed at least two scoring strikes in his previous four encounters with Tampa Bay.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Giants -1.5 O/U: 52

ABOUT THE BUCCANEERS (3-6): Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to find plenty of "magic" as he recorded his NFL-best fourth 400-plus-yard passing performance this season on Sunday, but the end zone eluded him as Tampa Bay lost its third straight and sixth in seven outings with a 16-3 setback to Washington. The 35-year-old didn't help himself with a pair of interceptions and a lost fumble near the goal line to boost his turnover total to five in the last two games. "Turnovers are killing us right now," coach Dirk Koetter said. "We're minus-19. We're last in the league, 13 in the last four games. Thirteen turnovers and no takeaways. That's by far the No. 1 thing that's hurting our team." DeSean Jackson has tormented New York with five touchdowns (three receiving, two punt returns) in his last six meetings, although he has been held out of the end zone in six of his last seven games after scoring three touchdowns in the first two.

ABOUT THE GIANTS (2-7): Odell Beckham Jr. has made himself at home in the end zone with four scores in his last five games after being held without a touchdown reception in each of his previous four. Rookie Saquon Barkley has reached 90-plus scrimmage yards in all nine games this season and faces a Tampa Bay defense that has yielded at least 99 scrimmage yards to running backs in each of the past four weeks. A revamped offensive line paid dividends for both Barkley and Manning on Monday, as the former had a season-high 15 carries in the first half while the latter was sacked just once as opposed to 31 times in the previous eight contests. "I thought the offensive line played great. I thought they did a good job," Manning said.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Tampa Bay's injury-riddled linebacker corps sustained a significant hit with Lavonte David suffering a sprained MCL last week.

2. New York LB Olivier Vernon has three sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery in his last four home games.

3. Buccaneers DE Carl Nassib has four sacks in his last four contests.

PREDICTION: Buccaneers 31, Giants 24